Both on recieving the message, and in relaying the message to the masses, how can we be sure the intended message was and has been recieved?
2006-07-13 18:59:24 · 21 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
God supernaturally, by His Holy Spirit, ensured that there were no mistakes in the writing of His Word.
2006-07-13 19:58:16 · answer #1 · answered by Cameron 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We can't.
Most Christians believe the Bible is divinely inspired and its content is kept pure by God. However this is doubtful.
Sadly, the original manuscripts of the Bible have been lost/destroyed and no two translations that exist today are the same.
Take solice in the fact that no religion's holy book is any more accurate. They all are flawed by men in some way.
A good example is the 10 commandments. Even the most sacred set of laws in history have been interpreted several ways. "Thou shall not kill" (Old King James) may not seem totally different than "Thou shall not commit murder"(New Kings James/International Version), but it is. In some situations it is possible to kill without committing murder.
In the end, its all goes back to faith. You read a bit of the Bible and ask yourself, "Is this worthy of faith?". If so, then you are a Christian.
Even in the end......what message could God possibly trying to tell us? I believe is just as simple as "BE GOOD!". It might take 1000 pages to get that message across, but still it comes through pretty clear even after 2000 years.
2006-07-14 02:09:00 · answer #2 · answered by broxolm 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Questioning the bible is like questioning all of the history books ever written. The bible is a learning tool. It tells of people who came before us. Some of those people believed and some didn't. Its all about what you believee in your heart. I believ that there are things in this world that cannot be explained. The bible gives an interpretation, a written testimony to the power of an all knowing all seeing god and how God has blessed us and how the events in the bible affect us today. I believe in the power of god not because I read it but because I feel it.
2006-07-14 04:45:57 · answer #3 · answered by Gavin F 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, assume God is real. If he chose to rely his message through men, he'd probably be able to make it clear enough to them what needed to be in it. But if you don't beleive God exists, then the idea is totally out there. It all starts with that, and then your belief system about what is real (scripture, miracles, whatever) developes.
Also remember the authors didn't sit down and say "Hey, God, I'm gonna write part of the Bible today. Tell me what you want in it". They were writting to an audience to convey a certain message, and then God just guided the message along. A group of priests/cardinals later on sat down with all the books and assembled them into the Bible. Once again, if you believe God is real, it isn't a stretch for him to get the books he wanted in. If God isn't real, it is totally arbitrary and done to support hidden agendas.
2006-07-14 02:08:04 · answer #4 · answered by tyhollo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We can't. That's why there are so many different religions. No one person's interpretation of God's message/the bible is the same as the next.
Also, when you consider that the bible contradicts itself in a lot of ways, it's not impossible to think mistakes were made somewhere.
Still, I think the bible is a valuable and necessary tool and not to be shunned.
2006-07-14 02:04:36 · answer #5 · answered by WhyAskWhy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What gives us reason to think they received any message at all? What makes us think it's divine in any form or fashion, as opposed to the wild guesses and stories of a bunch of primitive old men huddling in caves?
People believe in the bible because they believe in the bible. It's that simple, really. They just believe - no rhyme or reason behind it. If they were in it for reasoning, for the truth, then they wouldn't consider the bible such a fantastic source of "knowledge".
2006-07-14 02:04:04 · answer #6 · answered by extton 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can't ..there for the bible is all just mythology like The Norse and Greek Gods... Christians some you can't actually think would say they are just storys to help us live in a socity together... the ones who take it to the extreme are the scary ones.. they want to follow certains rules of the bible to the T other rules they dismiss ..like stoning people for adulty and children who disoby there father and mother...
2006-07-14 02:08:16 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
We can't be sure. We also can't be sure they received any message to begin with. All we have is their word for it. Amazing huh? The entire belief in the Bible is based on people remarkable willingness...EAGERNESS in fact to believe some men who lived several hundred years ago and that they tell us they supposedly received information from God.
2006-07-14 02:06:13 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
All channeling is tainted by the thoughts of the receiver, with only about 50-60% correct.
2006-07-14 09:17:19 · answer #9 · answered by American Spirit 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
God guided the men as they wrote things down...
We can misinterpret the Bible -- however using the historic-grammatic-linguistic method can reduce the likelihood of misinterpretation.
Cordially,
John
2006-07-14 02:07:44 · answer #10 · answered by John 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋