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There is, however, one point which Christians tend to agree on: they all say that the scriptures point to their particular interpretation (86:2) This being the current situation, we are then led to a new set of questions: Which of the Christian denominations is the one with the correct interpretation? And how do we know that they have the correct interpretation? Do we ask them if their interpretation is correct? (86:3) I'm being halfway facetious here, but only halfway. In all seriousness, I put forward this question: Why do not the words of the Bible hold but one meaning for Christ's followers? (86:4) I'm sure that Christians can explain why there are currently divers and mutually conflicting interpretations regarding the Second Coming. I'm sure also, however, that the answers provided by those holding to these interpretations will themselves be mutually conflicting. If we were then to consider these different explanations, we would simply have ended up on another level of the same argument (86:5) What does this all mean? If this is the current state of affairs in man's attempt to understand prophecy, what assurance can anyone have in their interpretation? Can we just ignore this situation? Or can we look it squarely in the eye, ponder on it, and realize that these prophecies cannot be understood until Christ returns and fulfills them according to God's plan. If Christians have figured out from prophecy what amounts to completely different interpretations, haven't they in reality, figured out nothing at all? (86:6) An analogy comes to mind that I would like to share to illustrate my understanding of the situation. I was one time teaching high school chemistry and was preparing an experiment for the class which involved measuring temperature. I opened up a box of about twenty thermometers for this purpose. For this experiment, the students needed to know very accurately the temperature and, therefore, I desired to know the accuracy of the thermometers (86:7) I could have tested the thermometers by comparing their readings with a standard, for example, by placing them all in boiling or freezing water and seeing if they read the known temperatures of these processes. My test of these thermometers, however, was infinitely simpler: I just looked at them. I lined them all up to see whether they all read exactly the same temperature: they didn't
(86:8)
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