Hi MC1171611 and avbunyan,

I am not at all saying the message is all that matters and the words do not. They both do, they are intertwined with each other: a message needs words to be conveyed, and words without a message is just meaningless ink on paper. However, they are not so tightly bound that a set of words can have only one specific meaning they convey, or that a meaning can have only one specific set of words to convey it.

MC1171611, you mention verses like “Matt. 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” and “1Pet. 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” What do you think these verses meant in 1600? Aren’t some of you saying that the word did in fact pass away, and did not abide forever, but was “scattered” and needed to be gathered/resurrected/purified? You see, I believe those verses are true, were true prior to 1611, and are true today with the same meaning they were true before 1611.

God bless,
Brian