I’ve been a Christian for 39 years.  In that time, I’ve learned much about the Bible from my own study, and from formal academic study.  I’m continually amazed that Christians can sit in church for years and never hear or understand basic Christian concepts.  I’m probably going to make some people mad with this post, but there are some ideas that Christians believe are found in the Bible, and honestly, they are just plain wrong.  Here is a partial list of some of those wrong ideas:

Jehovah

Jehovah is not God’s personal name.  Never has been, and never will be.  I don’t care how many songs, hymns, choruses, with Jehovah in the title, stanzas, or verses all of these songs have God’s personal name completely wrong.  You’re thinking, “My Bible that my Grandma gave me when I was a little boy/girl has the name Jehovah in it, and Grandma was a devout Christian lady.”  Look, I’m not casting aspersions on your Grandma.  Some of my Grandma’s Bibles had Jehovah in them too, but those translations botched God’s name too.  So, how did this Jehovah business come about anyway?

For starters, when the Hebrew Bible was being written, there were no vowel points written until scribes from approximately A.D. 500-900 added the vowel points to the text.  I’m glad they did, or I would probably have never learned Hebrew.  Because these scribes did not want to violate the command not to take the LORD’s name in vain, when they wrote the Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh), they wrote the vowel points for another title for God, Adonai.  In other words, when you read the text, you were supposed to substitute the word Adonai for Yahweh.  Well, along the way, someone, perhaps a Pope, or Peter Galatin (1460-1540), or someone, misread the consonants of YHWH along with the vowel points of Adonai, and it sounded like Yehovah, which became Anglicized to Jehovah.  Look it up in any Jewish Encyclopedia and it will tell you that Jehovah is a mispronunciation of the Divine Name ( http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/directory/J/8567).

Lucifer

Like Jehovah, Lucifer is not found in the Hebrew Bible either.  What then is the origin of Lucifer, you ask?  The name Lucifer comes from the Latin translation of Isaiah 14:12.  The name Lucifer is not found in the Hebrew Scriptures.  Of course, there are many names for evil in the Hebrew Scriptures (e.g. Rahab, Leviathan, Baal, Asherah, Ashtoreth, etc.) The name used in the Hebrew Scriptures for the Devil is Satan.

God Helps Those Who Help Themselves.

This quote, though often thought to be found in the Bible, is absent from its pages.

To Thine Own Self Be True.

Again, absent from the Bible.  Try Shakespeare.

Cleanliness Is Next To Godliness.

Nope, this one is not there either.  This quote has been attributed to Francis Bacon and John Wesley.

You get the idea.  Open your Bible and a good concordance and I’m sure you will find more pithy quotes which you thought were found in Scripture, but are blaringly absent.  If this little post inspired you to open your Bible and read it for yourself, then I’ve done my job.