What good would it do for me to quote the scripture alone and give my own personal understanding of it? The position here that the Bible is the authority is carried to a point of absurdity since all anybody can give is their own interpretation of the Bible, which ends up with them treating their own interpretation as if it were God's own word.

There wouldn't be a problem if all true Christians always understood it the same, but that is not the case. I consider it humble to consult many other points of view on the Bible passage instead of just flat-out declaring my understanding as if it were the Truth as so many here do.

I'm no humanist, George, I am not man-centered at all, and I rely on the Holy Spirit, not my intellect, to lead me in my understanding of scripture. Nevertheless I'm sure I get it wrong at times. I suspect that some here who give their pat answers as if they were Bible truth may be relying on their fallible intellects more than I do.

I'm sorry for losing my temper. I may not answer some of your posts because I disagree with you and am not sure how to disagree in a Christian spirit.