God’s own Word must not be taken
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Concerning Female Ancestor in Stanza 5 of Hymn #591 in Chinese
The first four lines of stanza 5 in hymn #591 in Chinese say, "To touch the Bible in order to gain knowledge / Is to imitate what Eve did; / It was through knowledge that Satan / Lured our female ancestor to sin." The term female ancestor refers to Eve. Although the Bible does not say that we are Eve's descendants, as a matter of fact, we are her descendants. What is the point of criticizing us for speaking of Eve as our "female ancestor" according to this fact?
White Rock, BC, Canada
In John 6:63, Jesus tells us that "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life." Hence, "God’s own Word must not be taken just as knowledge but as life" (cf. stanza 1). If we read God's Word (the Bible) just for knowledge, we need to remember "....for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Cor. 3:6b), and we are like Eve, taking of the tree of knowledge. Lord, my our eyes be opened to see that we need to come to Your Word in spirit and reality, to take (eat) of the tree of life!