The Bible

by desib77 55 Replies latest jw friends

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  desib77

  I am meeting a coworker tonight at a coffee shop for a "bible study". It started out that she was interested in my past and my current questions / viewpoints and we were just going to visit. Now she is referring to it as a "bible study" which implies that she thinks I need to be taught. I believe I screwed up in agreeing to this thinking that someone else may be on the same quest for clarity but now I'm just trying to collect my thoughts on the issues.

  The thing that we are going to talk about today is the bible and its authenticity and whether or not it is the word of God. I tend to be sceptical about it.

  I guess what I am wondering is what everyone else thinks on the subject. Any nuggets of wisdom that you want to share regardless of what you believe about it?

  This is probably the only real discussion about it I will get today.
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  Black Sheep

  Insist that you start by just reading it from the beginning.

  Creation is two contradictory stories that are at complete odds with modern science.

  Point out every contradiction.

  Point out the flaws in her 'explanations'

  Control the direction of the study. She will probably want to lead you on a merry dance all over the Bible like a JW. Stop her. Bring her back to your subject.

  Above all, have fun.

  Cheers

  Chris
• 

  jaguarbass

  Ill tell you what I think on the subject is the bible the word of God.

  The answer depends on what you want to believe.

  We see what we want to see.

  If you want to believe the bible is the word of God. You can google the question and start collecting

  datta and books that the bible is the word of God and you will be collecting and sifting

  information from the day you start to the day you die.

  If you want to believe the bible is not the word of God you can do the same thing google it

  and you can collect books, datta and all sorts of information proving the bible is not the word of

  God.

  The same goes for the arguments is there a God or is there no God.

  And as you gather your information supporting the position you choose, you will

  find friends, allies and supporters, you can call them your army.

  But in the end when it comes time to die, you will be like everybody else and

  you wont realy know.

  You might think you know.

  But when you think you know something remember when you were a witness and you knew

  the world was going to end in 1975, or you knew something else the witnesses told

  you possitievely absolutely that proved to be so much horse shxt.
• 

  reniaa

  You can go their and hear for yourself what she says and if it answers some of your questions.

  Reniaa
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  Black Sheep

  You can go their and hear for yourself what she says and if it answers some of your questions.

  Are you still OK with that if she is recruiting for a different cult Ren?

  She could be Moonie, Mormon, SDA or some other religion. You can't tell from the conversation so far.
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  Narkissos

  I'm not sure I have understood the situation either (JW or other religion?).

  In any case I don't think discussing the (alleged) general status of a book ("Word of God" or not) is a necessary, or the best, or even a helpful starting point in studying it. Why not just start reading it, as you would do with any other book? Then you can make your mind about "what the book is" if you still feel like doing so.
• 

  VoidEater

  ^ This.

  You cannot even discuss the book's merits, let alone if it is The Inspired Word of God, without *first* reading it.

  The most you should do is discuss *how* you might determine the value of the book - what makes it good? What would make it suspect? What conditions need to be met for it to become The Inspired Word of God?
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  allelsefails

  The "Bible" is not a book. It is a collection of books. Each book would have to be discussed on its own merit - not as if it were one book written by one person. ALL christian faiths I have discussed this with want to say "the Bible" and cannot even have a discussion about the books themselves.

  Many OT books have good authority and most have a historical accuracy that is supported. They are accepted as HOLY books by 2/3 of the world. Christians/Muslims/Jews.

  NT books - Still debated to this day what belongs. Only Revelation "claims" inspiration. Of course Paul claims a personal "inspiration" that did not come from the established church, but he never said "God is telling me to write this" Like Moses and Daniel and many of the "prophets" did.

  A discussion of the Bible as a classic church collection of books is one thing - you could argue that one book belongs were another doesn't. But a discussion of the "inerrant word of God" is something else. No support for this is given in history or the scriptures themselves (exc. 2Tim 3:16 - where scriptures = OT)

  There is about 2,000 years worth of research and debate on this topic.
• 

  Atomahawk

  2/3 of the world

  Allelsefails: 2.1 billion Christians, 1.5 billion Muslims and a population of 6.7 Billion people on earth makes it a tad over 1/2 the population not 2/3
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  The Almighty Homer

  The bible = a chronology a past human ignorances,

  isn't it wonderful now that mankind has advanced in the knowledge of are selves and the world around us.