Can I be Christian without reading the Bible?

Question

If I eventually believe that Jesus was our Savior, and all that fancy stuff...but decide not to read the Bible, do you think God will be pissed? The Bible turns me away from God. When I went through a "I want to be closer to God" phase, I listened to music, went to Church etc. It was...okay. and for a moment, I thought there might be a God (might is a key word). Then I started to read the Bible, and that actually made my atheist feelings stronger! In truth, I want to laugh at most of the text. The more I read, the more I had to criticize.

So the question is, since the Bible was written by MAN, it is bound to have mistakes...can I just not read the Bible. Don't kid yourselves, the Bible contradticts itself. There is no way that a story could be handed down and still be the same from what was known "originally." But Jesus supposedly had 500 witnesses see him arise or something. So that's more credible.
What do you think? Keep in mind, right now, I'm about 99.9% atheist.

I mean, I'll live by the rules and stuff of the Bible

I don't really mind books..like the ones by Lewis or Yancey. But I just become "more atheist" with the Bible...does this make sense?

Answer 1

I think God doesnt care if you read the bible or not cause experts have proofed the bible is only a big book of fairytales and fiction....you can be a good christian without the bible....

Answer 2

It was written by men lots of men maybe about 10-20 men but in those men's hearts God was telling them what to write. The stuff in Revelations WILL COME TRUE!!!! Be cause the stuff in the old testament DID COME TRUE. Some stuff r coming true today. I know that it is getting closer to the Rapture each and every day. Because u know why? Because in trhe Bible it said that he would build a temple to where the temple used to be and now they r startin g to build a temple there!!!! That is part nof the Rapture. God would love u to read the Bible. Also the only reason of how to LIVE FOREVER ETERNALLY is to ask Jesus and pray that he will come into ur heart!!! And u could see how so much is coming TRUE!!!! Well I hope this works for u.

Answer 3

Do you want to be a Christian? Do you beleive that Jesus was sent here to save us from our sins?

Ok, if that is true, dedicate you life to serving other people before yourself. Give your time to helping others in need, from your heart. You will feel Jesus work through you as you give of yourself and touch the hearts and lives of others. This is what a Christian needs to do in order to walk in His footsteps. Not everyone does this, but that is what He wants from us.

You did ask if you can be a Christian without reading the Bible. This is just the start. Once you serve, you need to grow. Consider attending church again on Sundays for spiritual nourishment. That will strengthen you for your serving during the week. If you listen to music, that may inspire you as well.

Praying for your success as a Christian.

Answer 4

To answer simply...yes, I suppose you CAN be a Christian and not read the Bible. However, through reading His word we can learn and understand more about his character. It is nourishment of our souls. You could still be a Christian, but you're limiting your walk, you won't be able to mature as a Christian without delving into the one book that God gave us to live by. The Bible is the inerrant, infallible, inspired word of God.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. -2 Timothy 3:16

Answer 5

As long as you are a good human being and you do good deeds towards others - that is enough. God is fair. If there is God. And if there is no God, at least you will be remembered as a good person in others hearts.

Answer 6

Of course you can be Christian and not read the Bible!
It's called Catholicism. ;)
Don't let religion get in the way of your spirituality.

Answer 7

Sort of like navigating the Yukon without a map...
You can do it but it won't be easy...it will be really really really hard...like pretty close to impossible....


How can you obey the commands if you don't know what they are?

Answer 8

How can you be a Christian and not read the Bible? In it it tells you what God is like How He wants you to live and tells us the plan of salvation.

Please read the attachment it will help you see the bible in a differnt light.

M-A-P-S to Guide You through Biblical Reliability

by Hank Hanegraaff

Use M-A-P-S to guide you through Biblical reliability:

Manuscripts, Archaeology, Prophecy, Statistics



Have you tried to show someone the historical reliability of the Scriptures, and not known where to start? A quick trip to your local well-stocked Christian bookstore likely will overwhelm you. Where among the dozens of impressive, comprehensive reference books should you start?



Fortunately, while there is a wealth of information available to support the reliability of Scripture, you don’t have to burn, the midnight oil to give a reasonable answer to those who ask, “How can we know the Bible is reliable?” Four basic principle chart your way to understanding basic biblical reliability.



To help you remember, I’ve developed the simple acronym “MAPS.” Remember the word MAPS and you will be able to chart Bible reliability.



Manuscripts



Manuscripts relates to the tests used to determine the reliability of the extant manuscript copies of the original documents penned by the Scripture writers (we do not possess these originals). In determining manuscript reliability, we deal with the question: How can we test to see that the text we possess in the manuscript copies is an accurate rendition of the original? There are three main manuscript tests: the Bibliographic, Eyewitness, and External (a second acronym — BEE — will help you remember these).



The bibliographic test considers the quantity of manuscripts and manuscript fragments, and also the time span between the original documents and our earliest copies. The more copies, the better able we are to work back to the original. The closer the time span between the copies and the original, the less likely it is that serious textual error would creep in. The Bible has stronger bibliographic support than any classical literature — including Homer, Tacitus, Pliny, and Aristotle.



We have more than 14,000 manuscripts and fragments of the Old Testament of three main types: (a) approximately 10,000 from the Cairo Geniza (storeroom) find of 1897, dating back as far as about AD. 800; (b) about 190 from the Dead Sea Scrolls find of 1947-1955, the oldest dating back to 250-200 B.C.; and (c) at least 4,314 assorted other copies. The short time between the original Old Testament manuscripts (completed around 400 B.C.) and the first extensive copies (about 250 B.C.) — coupled with the more than 14,000 copies that have been discovered — ensures the trustworthiness of the Old Testament text. The earliest quoted verses (Num. 6:24-26) date from 800-700 B.C.



The same is true of the New Testament text. The abundance of textual witnesses is amazing. We possess over 5,300 manuscripts or portions of the (Greek) New Testament — almost 800 copied before A.D. 1000. The time between the original composition and our earliest copies is an unbelievably short 60 years or so. The overwhelming bibliographic reliability of the Bible is clearly evident.



The eyewitness document test (“E”), sometimes referred to as the internal test, focuses on the eyewitness credentials of the authors. The Old and New Testament authors were eyewitnesses of — or interviewed eyewitnesses of — the majority of the events they described. Moses participated in and was an eyewitness of the remarkable events of the Egyptian captivity, the Exodus, the forty years in the desert, and Israel’s final encampment before entering the Promised Land. These events he chronicled in the first five books of the Old Testament.



The New Testament writers had the same eyewitness authenticity. Luke, who wrote the Books of Luke and Acts, says that he gathered eyewitness testimony and “carefully investigated everything” (Luke 1:1-3). Peter reminded his readers that the disciples “were eyewitnesses of [Jesus’] majesty” and “did not follow cleverly invented stories” (2 Pet. 1:16). Truly, the Bible affirms the eyewitness credibility of its writers.



The external evidence test looks outside the texts themselves to ascertain the historical reliability of the historical events, geographical locations, and cultural consistency of the biblical texts. Unlike writings from other world religions which make no historical references or which fabricate histories, the Bible refers to historical events and assumes its historical accuracy. The Bible is not only the inspired Word of God, it is also a history book — and the historical assertions it makes have been proven time and again.



Many of the events, people, places, and customs in the New Testament are confirmed by secular historians who were almost contemporaries with New Testament writers. Secular historians like the Jewish Josephus (before A.D. 100), the Roman Tacitus (around A.D. 120), the Roman Suetonius (A.D. 110), and the Roman governor Pliny Secundus (A.D. 100-110) make direct reference to Jesus or affirm one or more historical New Testament references. Early church leaders such as Irenaeus, Tertullian, Julius Africanus, and Clement of Rome — all writing before A.D. 250 — shed light on New Testament historical accuracy. Even skeptical historians agree that the New Testament is a remarkable historical document. Hence, it is clear that there is strong external evidence to support the Bible’s manuscript reliability.



Archaeology

Returning to our MAPS acronym, we have established ,the first principle, manuscript reliability. Let us consider our second principle, archaeological evidence. Over and over again, comprehensive field work (archaeology) and careful biblical interpretation affirms the reliability of the Bible. It is telling when a secular scholar must revise his biblical criticism in light of solid archaeological evidence.



For years critics dismissed the Book of Daniel, partly because there was no evidence that a king named Belshazzar ruled in Babylon during that time period. However, later archaeological research confirmed that the reigning monarch, Nabonidus, appointed Belshazzar as his co-regent whi1e he was away from Babylon.



One of the most well-known New Testament examples concerns the Books of Luke and Acts. A biblical skeptic, Sir William Ramsay, trained as an archaeologist and then set out to disprove the historical reliability of this portion of the New Testament. However, through his painstaking Mediterranean archaeological trips, he became converted as — one after another — of the historical statements of Luke were proved accurate. Archaeological evidence thus confirms the trustworthiness of the Bible.



Prophecy

The third principle of Bible reliability is Prophecy, or predictive ability. The Bible records predictions of events that could not be known or predicted by chance or common sense. Surprisingly, the predictive nature of many Bible passages was once a popular argument (by liberals) against the reliability of the Bible. Critics argued that the prophecies actually were written after the events and that editors had merely dressed up the Bible text to look like they contained predictions made before the events. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. The many predictions of Christ’s birth, life and death (see below) were indisputably rendered more than a century before they occurred as proven by the Dead Sea Scrolls of Isaiah and other prophetic books as well as by the Septuagint translation, all dating from earlier than 100 B.C.



Old Testament prophecies concerning the Phoenician city of Tyre were fulfilled in ancient times, including prophecies that the city would be opposed by many nations (Ezek. 26:3); its walls would be destroyed and towers broken down (26:4); and its stones, timbers, and debris would be thrown into the water (26:12). Similar prophecies were fulfilled concerning Sidon (Ezek. 28:23; Isa. 23; Jer. 27:3-6; 47:4) and Babylon (Jer. 50:13, 39; 51:26, 42-43, 58; Isa. 13:20-21).



Since Christ is the culminating theme of the Old Testament and the Living Word of the New Testament, it should not surprise us that prophecies regarding Him outnumber any others. Many of these prophecies would have been impossible for Jesus to deliberately conspire to fulfill — such as His descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen. 12:3; 17:19; Num. 24:21-24); His birth in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2); His crucifixion with criminals (Isa. 53:12); the piercing of His hands and feet at the crucifixion (Ps. 22:16); the soldiers’ gambling for His clothes (Ps. 22:18); the piercing of His side and the fact that His bones were not broken at His death (Zech. 12:10; Ps. 34:20); and His burial among the rich (Isa. 53:9). Jesus also predicted His own death and resurrection (John 2:19-22). Predictive Prophecy is a principle of Bible reliability that often reaches even the hard-boiled skeptic!







Statistics

Our fourth MAPS principle works well with predictive prophecy, because it is Statistically preposterous that any or all of the Bible’s very specific, detailed prophecies could have been fulfilled through chance, good guessing, or deliberate deceit. When you look at some of the improbable prophecies of the Old and New Testaments, it seems incredible that skeptics — knowing the authenticity and historicity of the texts — could reject the statistical verdict: the Bible is the Word of God, and Jesus Christ is the Son of God, just as Scripture predicted many times and in many ways.



The Bible was written over a span of 1500 years by forty different human authors in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), on hundreds of subjects. And yet there is one consistent, noncontradictory theme that runs through it all: God’s redemption of humankind. Clearly, Statistical probability is a powerful indicator of the trustworthiness of Scripture.



The next time someone denies the reliability of Scripture, just remember the acronym MAPS, and you will be equipped to give an answer and a reason for the hope that lies within you (1 Pet. 3:15). Manuscripts, Archaeology, Prophecy, and Statistics not only chart a secure course on the turnpikes of skepticism but also demonstrate definitively that the Bible is indeed divine rather than human in origin.