Where does your faith in the bible come from?

Question

Ask questions about your religion. Each question begs another questions. I have talked to pastors, elders, students of theology... and asked questions about the things that don't make sense in Christianity. The only thing any could ever come up with was this: "You have to take it on faith."

This is blind faith. And if all you have left to justify your beliefs is blind faith, then there's no better reason to be a Christian than to be a Muslim, or a Buddhist, or Hindu, or even an atheist.

So where does your faith come from? Have you seen irrefutable proof of your religion? Or is it because you were raised Christian and/or someone charismatic managed to convince you of it?

Not that this will stop anyone.. but you can't use the bible to proove the bible.

Answer 1

Now you're getting it. Blind faith is a sham. When populations began to grow and cities to form, rulers had to find a way to unite the people into a common idealogy. They took parts from pagan religions and unified them into a few main religions. These rulers realized that practioners of these pagan beliefs wouldn't just give up their ways, so they created the idea of "divine communication", in which they were "appointed" as spokesperson for "god" and the people would just have to believe what they were saying as the divine truth. Yes, they would have to have "faith." If people refused, well history is filled with examples of this, they were persecuted, tortured, and/or killed. Look at what happened to Jesus. He bucked the established system (questioned the divine authority of the rulers of the region), and they crucified him.

Answer 2

My faith started when I was young. Yeah, at first, it's blind faith, because you can't see what you believe in. But after having a life with Christ, you begin to see many things happen in your life that change you and too many "coincidences" that are unexplainable (yes, there are natural coincidences, but many are definately God-sent). Also, what's better visible proof than Jesus dying on a cross? Or do you not believe in that because you weren't there to see it? If that's the case, then maybe you shouldn't believe that George Washington was our first president, because you didn't see that happen. Which do you think would be better: believe your whole life that God is real & what He has done for you is real and know that where you're going when you die is a whole lot better than earth, OR live a life without God, die, find out you were wrong, & be eternally tortured where you can't escape?

If you know the history is true, then it's harder NOT to believe it than it is to turn your back from it.

And just to mention this, evolution & "millions of years ago" beliefs were created by a bunch of people who didn't believe in God. Who would actually believe some junk that was made up just to disagree with what God did? Did you know that people believed we came from some soup that came from a rock that came from....nothing? Now, let's think how my faith goes into creation.....everything in our universe is designed from a higher power, not just scrambled together in some explosion or mess of some sort. However, if you go back & look at what they say compared to what actually happened, they seem crazy. (I'm not gonna go any further, but if you'd like more info about this, go to www.drdino.com)

Anyways, that's my schpeel about my faith and some other tidbits. God bless!

Answer 3

Marvelous question and you sound very intelligent. I'll give you what I got...... Investigate them all !! Its one of the wonderful freedoms you have. Try some for a while. I don't think God cares.
I figure he's just happy you're doing something. In my opinion most people get too whacked about religion. I figure my brain has been dulled from all the answers for a reason. If I knew them well I guess I'd be God wouldn't I? I don't need the pressure. I get really comfy with the whole thing when I go sit in a beautiful place or hear a baby gurgle and coo or see how my dog loves me. To be techinical. Religion is dogma created by men. None of us and I repeat none that have ever lived knows the real answers. Unless Jesus if you're Christian and others if you're not. But none of us average guys. So I don't have faith. At least not labeled faith. I have too much fun scheduled to worry about that crap. God's in charge (If thats his/her/its name) and I'm sure if I'm nice to everyone and myself I'll be ok. I like to call it spirituality. You call it what you like......Good luck...Stew

Answer 4

Well just one thing I can think off the top of my head, you can use three passages in the bible to give you a perfect map of the solar system, with all 9 planets. Now the king james version of the bible- was put together in 1611 i think and pluto was discovered in 1930 , some christians think they have to have blind faith. Hoever there are facts of faith and they are present for those who are willing to scrutinize the bible and find them. Ive also had a personal experience, I have seen something supernatural with my naked eye. If you want to know how to find the map of the solar system or what I have seen you will have to ask another question. God doesnt really expect us to have blind faith.

Answer 5

Well, of course you can't use the bible to prove the bible. The bible was written by a number of men. Meaning it has no more merit than any book that's written today. None of those men can prove it's "the word of god." They just claim god told them what to write. All religion is about faith. Faith IS blind. That's why it's called faith. If a person needed proof in order to believe in something, it wouldn't be a belief. It would be something they would know to be true.
But no one knows if any particular religion is true. That's where the faith comes in.

Answer 6

How about this , been to church 4 times in my life , 1 when i was a kid and had no choice ! 2 times to weddings ! 1 time because a pastor asked me to and i said i would ! where does my faith come from ? up to a year and a few days ago i did nothing but work and party ! i have always knew there was a creator ! my faith just recently got jarred awake (fully awake) , how , by a hand laid on my shoulder so real i turned around to see who it was , no one was there , that was not enough to convince me , when the words in a dictionary were changed before my very eyes that did it ! where does my faith come from from within my heart , from the facts that i research every day , from the fact that mankind is hiding many things from the people , goverment ******** , why would they hide so much , this is a fact where there is smoke there is fire !

Answer 7

So, your implication is that most people who profess religious faith give little thought to why they believe what they do or to whether there is a reasonable basis for their faith.

Although some churches claim that their faith is based on the Bible, their message of 'believe in Jesus and you will be saved' does away with the need for serious Bible study.

The interesting thing about these people is, in their everyday life, the same people who give little thought to the accuracy or truthfulness of their religious beliefs often think other matters through very carefully. Does it not strike you as odd that the person who does extensive research just to buy a car—which one day will end up on the scrap heap—would say regarding his religion, 'If it was good enough for my parents, it's good enough for me'?

Only by a thorough, careful approach to their beliefs can Christians build faith that is pleasing to God and is equal to the tests that arise in life.To help others build such faith, early Christian evangelizers "reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving by references" the things taught.

So, it really is impossible to have true faith without a thorough study of the Bible. "Blind faith" comes from NOT doing the study or research into the Bible.

I know you didn't want any scriptures, but in order to answer your question about the Bible not making sense and religious teachers telling you that you just have to "believe," I have to say, that is not what God wanted...Please, notice what the Bible does say, "This is fine and acceptable in the sight of our Savior, God, whose will is that all sorts of men should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth." (1 Timothy 2:3, 4) He doesn't want things to be hidden.

If it is God's will that people should come to an accurate knowledge of truth, would he unfairly conceal it from them? Not according to the Bible, which says: "If you search for [God], he will let himself be found by you."—1 Chronicles 28:9. The problem comes back to what I mentioned at the beginning. People don't want to learn. The have what you said, "blind faith"

However, I would have to say that my faith comes from my personal, deep, meditative study of God's word.

Answer 8

But you can use the principals it teaches to prove it.

Not everyone experiences miraculous events, and not everyones faith is blind.

You can try to prove the bible by human reasoning, and you'll just end up with nothing. God doesnt function that way, he didnt say, when you can prove that iam truthful then you will believe. He said faith pleases him.

On a personal level, i have lived the life, and i have seen the principals worked out before me. I have had nothing and gained, i have had and lost, i have needed and gotten, i have been sick and healed, i have been broken and healed, i have been hopeless and had faith.

Ive seen the same things in other peoples lives. not even doctors can explain the things that have happened in mine and my family's lives.

Judging someone for their belief doesnt make any sense, you're better to have your own belief and then stand by it, while we do the same. We function on two completely separate circuts, you reason with your head and your knowledge, we dont. And thats okay, theres no reason to belittle someone for how they believe.

Answer 9

I don't use the Bible to prove the Bible, but I believe what I do because I've felt it work in my life. I know what my life was like as a person without faith and I know what my life is like now with faith. I don't try to force it on others because I know that when people tried to force it on me, it just confused me and made me more determined to not believe. But when I finally realized that my life was a train wreck, something felt right about turning to God.

I don't know all the answers - if I were the same person in a place like Iraq, I might have turned to Islam. But I am a western person, and with my western upbringing, Christianity was the place I turned. And it's worked in my life.

I don't know if God really cares if you get His word from the Q'ran or from the Bible. I have faith in my heart that I am following the way I am supposed to. I feel it. And that's the best I can do.

Answer 10

I'm sorry but I just don't have any faith in the bible...I was raised a catholic, but once I got old enough to think for myself, I descided it just wasn't for me....I need proof of things to believe them....And I truely believe that if there were a god, they would not allow such horrible things to happen in this world....babies dying, kids with cancer, starving countries...how can any of this come from some "great and mearciful" being? I consider the bible to be a great work of fiction, and think that this is all it was ever meant to be, people have just gone crazy about it.....kind of like the scientologists and L Ron Hubbard??????