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In and of themselves? No. By way of the Holy Spirit? Yes. If you took the words only by what they say it could lead to the conclusion that the disciples had the power and authority to forgive sins in and of themselves. But, that would contradict the fact that only God can forgive sins. So...

First, in order for me to answer that, we have to try to get on the same page so that we're talking about the same thing here. Do you agree that only God can forgive sins? Other scripture teaches that. Should we not interpret this passage in light of the passages which indicate that only God can...

First, can you address my point? Do you agree with what I said or not? What was quoted specifically in Hebrews 8:8-12 was Jeremiah 31:31-34, not Jeremiah 31:35-37, so let's talk about that first. If we can't even agree on that, then it's pointless to talk about what follows that.

Right, I know. And that passage you referenced should be understood in light of that, right? That's my point.

Where in the OT does it make it clear that the Messiah would come to the earth from heaven, die for the sins of the world, rise again from the dead in 3 days and later ascend back to heaven? Are there any prophecies there that clearly spell these things out to the point where we could say they...

That is how it seems to me as well.

Why is it that you ask me questions that I already answered? Did you somehow miss that I already addressed what I believe the passage means? Other scripture indicates that only God can forgive sins. Do you suppose we should take that into account when interpreting that passage? I do. Or do you...

We all knew that, but we discussed these things, anyway. Mostly respectfully. But, if you have decided to end the discussion, then I'll just say thanks for the discussion. Though I may respond to other posts that I haven't read yet. Don't feel obligated to respond in kind if you don't want to...

What does that mean? Huh?

It depends on what you mean by literal or figurative here. It's not literal in the sense that we (believers) can forgive sins. Only God can forgive sins. The Pharisees and scribes got mad at Jesus because He was forgiving people's sins by His own authority, thereby equating Himself with God...

Give me an example of a fact in the Bible and then I'll tell you. Until then, I'm not even sure what you're talking about. Do you understand that we are mostly discussing our BELIEFS in this thread and not proven facts? I don't know. You tell me. I thought we were mostly discussing our beliefs...

Can you please address what I said about the Hebrews 8:6-13 passage first before I address what you're saying here? It seems that you expect me to answer all your questions without you answering any of mine first. Do you believe that Hebrews 8:6-13 speaks of the past establishment of the new...

I believe that is a useless concept then since we don't all always agree on when the Bible is stating something plainly. Who is the one who gets to decide what is supposedly stated plainly? You? I agree with that. That was a case where Jesus explained exactly what something in a parable meant...

I don't like the way you worded this, as if I don't accept some of what it says. I accept ALL of what it says and you believe you accept all that it says. The difference between you and me isn't that you accept what it says and I don't. That's ridiculous. No, the difference between you and me is...

We all have beliefs and interpretations of scripture. I don't know what you mean by Biblical authority exactly. Our interpretations of any given verse or passage should not contradict any scripture, obviously. So, I try to interpret any given verse or passage with that in mind. As for knowing...

That is literal. How I know is that there is other scripture which teaches the same thing. Why did you ask me this? It's not as if I said nothing is literal.

Your point was that there are no contradictions in scripture? Who here doesn't believe that? Why did you think that point needed to be made, as if anyone here doesn't already know that? I don't feel that I've gone off topic. If I have, then so have you as far as I'm concerned.

The impression you give is that you come into it with the assumption that everything will be literal unless it explicitly says otherwise. How is that a case of using spiritual discernment? Spiritual discernment comes from taking an objective, non-biased approach to the sciriptures and then...

In my view there is no need to break the prophecy down like this and try to figure out what every word means. In my view all we need to know is that Paul (I assume he wrote the book of Hebrews) said that the establishment of the new covenant which replaced the old covenant was the fulfillment of...

Of course. But doing that does not require making assumptions that everything is literal and straightfoward unless explicitly stated otherwise. That is just simply not the case. Your method of interpretation scripture requires no spiritual discernment from the Holy Spirit at all. Is that what...