Why the Bible anyway?

by willy_think 23 Replies latest watchtower bible

willy_think

Why do I believe the Bible is the inspired word of God anyway?
Here are some answers I consider wrong
1. It just fell out of the sky.
(Yeah sure it did.)
2. It is "inspirational"
(But so is a lot of poetry and fiction)
3. It says so, some books do anyway like Daniel and Revelations.
(But so says also the Koran and Book of Mormon, which both claim to be the inspired word of God)
4. The Holy Spirit tells me it is inspired by the feeling I get reading it.
(One can evoke similar feelings by reading devotionals like Thomas A Kempis' Imitation of Christ, What's the difference?)
Besides "Numbers" and "Leviticus" can get pretty boring.
Now Here is the correct answer.
First one must prove the "historicity" (historical accuracy) of the Bible.
Now Jesus was either a madman or he was everything he claimed to be. He could not have been just an ordinary, but exceptionally good man, because he claimed to be God. No "good" man goes around claiming to be God. So which is it, madman or God?
Well, all his followers died for their preaching that Jesus was God and risen from the dead. They could not have been perpetuating some kind of hoax, (the old empty tomb objection). People never voluntarily sacrifice their lives for what they know is a hoax. This reasoning authenticates the historical value of the Bible; therefore, Jesus must be God.
Well, God said he would build a church against which the gates of Hades would not prevail (Matt 16:18), Hades means death. Thus the church would never die. It must be the same church in the year one as in the year 2001 and so on until he returns.
To this church he gave his own stamp of authority. (Luke 10:16) "He who hears you hears me." (John 21:21) "As the father sent me, even so I send you." The church has "power of attorney". (Matt 16:18) "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven." (see also Isaiah 22:22)
This church has declared that the Bible is inspired. When? The church listed the inspired books and letters at the synods of Carthage and Hippo in 393AD and 397AD and confirmed infallibly the table of contents of the Bible at later ecumenical councils.
How was this possible? To the church Jesus also gave the power to bind and to loose (Matt 16&18) (see: Binding and Loosing ). Prior to the above mentioned councils, many ancient texts existed which Christians thought were inspired. Among these were, Epistle of Barnabus, two epistles of Clement, Shepherd of Hermas and Gospel of Thomas. The church bound these as not inspired. At the same time, some Christians rejected the letter to the Hebrews, Revelations, Jude and 2nd. Peter, which the church declared among the inspired works.
This is how a Christian knows that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, because the authoratative voice which Christ left here on earth tells us so.
The Great and Powerful Oz:
pay no attention to the man behind the curtain
rem

First one must prove the "historicity" (historical accuracy) of the Bible.
Good start.
Now Jesus was either a madman or he was everything he claimed to be. He could not have been just an ordinary, but exceptionally good man, because he claimed to be God. No "good" man goes around claiming to be God. So which is it, madman or God?
False dichotomy. What if there really was no Jesus and it was made up? What if he did exist and didn’t claim to be anything that later writers wrote? How do you know Jesus claimed to be God? Did he write those words himself, or did you get this information from second-hand sources?
Well, all his followers died for their preaching that Jesus was God and risen from the dead. They could not have been perpetuating some kind of hoax, (the old empty tomb objection). People never voluntarily sacrifice their lives for what they know is a hoax. This reasoning authenticates the historical value of the Bible; therefore, Jesus must be God.
Ever heard of the Mormons and the golden tablets? Do you assume that the golden tablets must be real because people would not risk their health/life over things that are made up? Do you not believe that people can really believe in things that are not true and can be willing to risk their life for things that are obviously false to an outsider?
Well, God said he would build a church against which the gates of Hades would not prevail (Matt 16:18), Hades means death. Thus the church would never die. It must be the same church in the year one as in the year 2001 and so on until he returns.
How do you know these are the words of God and not just the words of men? Have you heard of other non-Christian religions? Surely you realize that there are other religions that are older than Christianity. It’s also difficult to say to what extent the original Christian church has stayed constant. What do you consider the original Christian church and what is the correct church today? Ever heard of the Gnostic Christians? How do you know that they were not the original Christians and the Literal Christians just arose by a fluke of history?
To this church he gave his own stamp of authority. (Luke 10:16) "He who hears you hears me." (John 21:21) "As the father sent me, even so I send you." The church has "power of attorney". (Matt 16:18) "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven." (see also Isaiah 22:22)
This church has declared that the Bible is inspired. When? The church listed the inspired books and letters at the synods of Carthage and Hippo in 393AD and 397AD and confirmed infallibly the table of contents of the Bible at later ecumenical councils.
How was this possible? To the church Jesus also gave the power to bind and to loose (Matt 16&18) (see: Binding and Loosing ). Prior to the above mentioned councils, many ancient texts existed which Christians thought were inspired. Among these were, Epistle of Barnabus, two epistles of Clement, Shepherd of Hermas and Gospel of Thomas. The church bound these as not inspired. At the same time, some Christians rejected the letter to the Hebrews, Revelations, Jude and 2nd. Peter, which the church declared among the inspired works.
This is how a Christian knows that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, because the authoratative voice which Christ left here on earth tells us so.
So basically you know the Bible is inspired because the Bible and the Catholics said so with authority. Wow, you’ve convinced me!
rem
"We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking." - Mark Twain
ElijahTheThird

Why the Bible anyway?
Why not? Do you think that there hasnt been interaction between mankind and their maker?
The bible is a book of history, current events, and the destiny of the human race. If you really want to go to the stars (heavens) then you need to understand that the message of how is wrote in languages that are at least 2000years old and had very little tech understanding as we do today. Try to understand it from a very modern and possibly futuristic point of view.
Get a clue,,,, grins.
Norval
rem

Why the Bible anyway?
Why not? Do you think that there hasnt been interaction between mankind and their maker?
Then why the Bible over the Hindu Vedas or the Quran or the Book of Mormon or the Book of the Dead, or A Tale of Two Cities? How do you even know that we have a maker with a personality? Because the Bible says so? Sounds circular to me.
rem
"We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking." - Mark Twain
bluesapphire

Rem:
Ever heard of the Mormons and the golden tablets? Do you assume that the golden tablets must be real because people would not risk their health/life over things that are made up? Do you not believe that people can really believe in things that are not true and can be willing to risk their life for things that are obviously false to an outsider?
I haven't heard of people who are actually perpetuating a hoax being willing to die for the hoax which they know to be a hoax. IOW, people who believe in the hoax without knowing it is a hoax (such as the Mormons and the tablets, etc.) might be willing to die in error. But would the author of the hoax be willing to make the same sacrifice?
Peter was put to death on an upside down cross. Would he have been willing to undergo this if he knew he had made up the resurrection? Same could be said of Stephen, Paul and others.
I see a significant difference between the eyewitnesses of the resurrected Jesus being willing to die for their beliefs and the inheritors of the Mormon hoax.
rem

Did Joseph Smith inherit this hoax or did he create it? If you look in the book of Mormon, supposedly several people witnessed these tablets and they were persecuted for this. All it takes is a psychologically unbalanced person to create a hoax or a lie and actually believe it is true. Did not David Koresh really believe he was Jesus? He died for his belief, and he was the perpetrator - the hoaxter. Some people believe their own lies - they are stuck in their own fantasy. I don't understand why that is so difficult to understand.
Anyway, the whole thing about Peter being hung upside down on a cross is just tradition - it is not based on any eye witness or contemporary evidence. For all we know, the original perpetrators may not have suffered for their faith, but the followers years later believed the stories and martyred themselves.
rem
"We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking." - Mark Twain
willy_think

So basically you know the Bible is inspired because the Bible and the Catholics said so with authority. Wow, you've convinced me!
well only a cupple books of the bible "said so" lol.....ya the Catholics convinced the WT too.
rem,
you have good points. when i chose to believe in a God i chose the Christian God and there book is the bible. i realized that by accepting the bible I was accepting the authority of the church. after all that is what Jesus left us a church with authority not a bible.
Then why the Bible over the Hindu Vedas or the Quern or the Book of Mormon or the Book of the Dead, or A Tale of Two Cities? How do you even know that we have a maker with a personality? Because the Bible says so? Sounds circular to me.
that is curricular, but that is not why, the bible is part of the Tradition Jesus gave us. It comes from the church that declared the Bible inspired.
The Great and Powerful Oz:
pay no attention to the man behind the curtain
dedalus

Then why the Bible over the Hindu Vedas or the Quran or the Book of Mormon or the Book of the Dead, or A Tale of Two Cities?
I vote for A Tale of Two Cities!
Dedalus
JosephAlward

You're doing a great job, Rem.
Joseph F. Alward
"Skeptical Views of Christianity and the Bible"
* http://members.aol.com/jalw/joseph_alward.html
DanielHaase

Yeah, well, if it was inspired by a maker, they did a damn crummy job of transcribing it. And you would think, that after 2000 years, there wouldbe some kind of "update" from the creator. Much has changed since then, so why isn't he/she helping us out on some new shit? And I'm not talking about "new light"...
"Brother, you better get down on your knees and pay...a thousand more fools are being born every f***ing day" -Bad Religion

Why the Bible anyway?

Share this