A good majority of Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired (by God), innerant Word of God. How many people here think that if the Bible was proven to be errant (which it can be), that it can no longer believe to be inspired?
2006-08-24 14:35:38 · 10 answers · asked by Nowhere Man 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The Bible cannot be proven errant to believers.
Logic has little place in religion; therefore it cannot be used effectively as a weapon against it. They will always make an excuse in regards to errors, and they will always believe it.
All that we can say to them is that the Bible is illogical and un-scientific, but this will have no effect as they place little to no value on these two concepts.
To them, the Bible is truth, whole and complete, and anything that disagrees with it is not true. This is called the Logical Fallacy of Invincible Ignorance. It's quite common, really.
2006-08-24 15:24:09 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Reading that question on Yahoo! Answers reminds me of the time the long time pastor of First Baptist, Dallas, TX, W.A. Criswell preached at a conference in Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Criswell stated (and dramatically demonstrated by dropping his Bible on the floor) that if a person could prove that there were errors in the Bible, then the Bible would no longer be the Word of God.
Well...there are errors in the Bible. I agree with you. Jesus said that the mustard seed is the smallest of seeds planted (see Mark 4:30-32). Literally, that is not true...but if you just focus on all of the errors, a person misses the point of the compilation of writings that have come to be known as the Bible. If there are textbooks with errors in them (and there are), newspaper articles with spelling errors, factual errors and sometimes even logical errors in them, and all kinds of other writings that have errors in them, even with the best software and well intentioned fact checking, then how in the world is the Bible is going to stand without factual errors, particularly when one realizes that the text of the Bible was hand copied over and over again by people who may or may not have had the capacity to understand what they were writing (I;m taking this thought from Dr. Bart Ehrman, a Biblical scholar). I still read the newspaper, still use textbooks and other reference information, so why would not a person read the Bible within its intended purpose, which is to say a religious one. When the texts that composed the Bible were written, there were no word processors, modern science did not exist, and gee, it was a little difficult to go to the library, since there were very few of those and many "libraries" that did exist were private collections of rich people.
But, why do we read the Bible? Why do Christians cherish these texts that compose what we call the Bible? The purpose of the Bible is to bring people into relationship with God in the person of Jesus Christ--not to provide a scientific education or a historical treatise on the ancient past (although I will say that people who study the ancient Near East will often go to the Bible as a jumping off point for research). The reason why these texts were gathered was because it was believed these texts were a witness to God, and could be used as a means to come to a relationship with God in the person of Jesus Christ. If the texts of the Bible do not fulfill that purpose, I believe, based upon my own study, that the overwhelming majority of those people who gave their lives so that we have these texts would be gravely disappointed.
In conclusion, does the Bible have errors in it? Sure...but to focus on the errors is to miss the bigger picture, which is this: Can reading the Bible bring you closer to God? Is the essential message of the Old Testament and particularly the New Testament true? I believe the answer is yes to both questions, but every person has to draw his or her own conclusions.
2006-08-24 23:19:01 · answer #2 · answered by blue nickel 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you can only attempt to prove the Bible errant by your own point of view and modern understanding of things. If you approach the Bible from the point of view and culture in which it was written, you will have a much better understanding. When you becaom a Hebrew scholar and fully understand the mindset, the language and the idioms, the culture of that day, then I will give you the time of day to ATTEMPT to prove the Bible errant, until then, my faith and trust will remain in an eternal, all powerful, wise God rather than my or your three pounds of rotting worm food.
2006-08-24 21:44:28 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
You take the documents used in translating the modern versions of the NIV, NASB, HCSB, ESV, (there are more) and prove them errant-then we will discuss inspiration. But no-go on different word choices (by publishers) in English translations.
2006-08-24 21:50:01 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason" debunked the myth of "devine inspiration" hundreds of years ago. Christians were obviously to busy reading the Bible to catch that.
2006-08-24 21:42:17 · answer #5 · answered by nick g 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Bible is inerrant in history, doctrine and ethics. The few "errors" are transcribing errors. Since its beginning, people have tried to find errors in these three areas, and have failed. I highly doubt anything new will show up to refute its inerrancy. I am not concerned at all about it.
2006-08-24 21:56:01 · answer #6 · answered by BrotherMichael 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would still have to trust God. I have too much proof that it isn't errant. Thanks for checking in!
2006-08-24 21:41:06 · answer #7 · answered by Strange question... 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I still EAT every word.
Takes a lot of PRAYER and understanding though.
2006-08-24 21:38:28 · answer #8 · answered by whynotaskdon 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Many have tried. No one has convinced.
2006-08-24 21:41:17 · answer #9 · answered by hisnamesaves 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not gonna happen
2006-08-24 21:58:35 · answer #10 · answered by Hope 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋