A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE

          An idiom is a form of speech that articulates an idea in a somewhat regional setting (a colloquialism).  Different cultures have various ways of saying things.  Having stood the test of time, many idioms become truisms (statements of obvious truth).  Yet some

truisms appear contradictory.  For example, consider the “tension” within these well-known and readily-accepted couplets:

Out of sight, out of mind! …… Absence makes the heart grow fonder!

The pen is mightier than the sword! …… Actions speak louder than words!

What you see is what you get! …… Don’t judge a book by its cover!

Birds of a feather flock together! …… Opposites attract!

Many hands make light work! …… Too many cooks spoil the broth!

          A similar tension (although not strictly idiom-related) can be observed in the sacred writings we commonly call The Bible.

With God all things are possible (Mt.19:26) …… It is impossible for God to lie (Heb.6:18)

God is a Spirit (Jn.4:24) …… (God gave Moses) tablets of stone, written by the finger of God (Ex.31:8)

Being justified freely by His grace (Rom.3:24) …… By grace you have been saved through faith (Eph.2:8)

If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works (Rom.11:6) …… Faith without works is dead (Js.2:26)

Come unto Me and I will give you rest (Mt.11:28) …… All who lived godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (2Tim.3:12)

I have come that you may have life (Jn.10:10) …… Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies (Jn.12:24)

We reap what we sow (Gal.6:7) …… God send the rain on the just and the unjust (Mt.5:45)

These textual couplets are claimed by skeptics to be discrepancies in Scripture, rendering The Bible untrustworthy and contradictory.

The truth is, these are not discrepancies at all - - both halves of each couplet are true.  As with colloquial truisms, we are not con-strained to choose one over the other.  THE FULL TRUTH IS THAT BOTH ARE TRUE.  The veracity of each half is a matter perspective.  On the surface the above may sound contradictory, but when you look deeper, both halves of each couplet are true.

                                                                Terry Siverd / Cortland Church of Christ