Why do you believe in god when....?

Question

If you've ever played chinese whispers, a line of people whisper a sentence to each other one by one. By the end of the line the sentence at the end bears no resemblance to the one at the start. Why therefore do peolpe believe the bible or any other religious scripture which are basically a version of Chinese whispers. in the bibles case it was written over 1000 years later! Also when you consider the time at whic these were written the church was nothing more than a corrupt business taking advantage of the masses. I just don't get it, why should we belive a word that is written?

Answer 1

I've often felt the same way as you. In the US, we call the game "Telephone." The stories of the Bible were passed on by mouth for so many generations and after so many years, things are bound to change a bit here and there or simply be misinterpreted and passed on through each individuals perspective.
I simply think it's a book full of stories with morals at the end sort of like "Aesops Fables" and is not meant to be taken literally.
My humble opinion. Thanks for the insightful ?.


I cannot believe the folks that simply answer "faith." copout.

Answer 2

Preparing answer. I'll be right back.
People, please withhold judgement until I come back. Thanks!

Okay. Deep breath.
First, I'd like to know if you're just asking this question to make a statement, or if you really want to know. If you really want to know, I'll gladly oblige. If you're just making a statement...well...
I'm going to assume the best, that you REALLY want to know.
Here goes:
If you take a look at the lists of who "begat" who in the Old Testament, you'll notice that the lines are extensive. People during those times kept careful records of their geneology. What else did they have to do? They couldn't go watch "Friends"!
When I say careful records, I mean REALLY careful. Children were often raised with having their forefathers' names, how old they were when they died, and how many children they had dictated to them. Repeatedly.
Around the time of Moses was when records began to be written down, permanently. Thus the Torah was born.
Your analogy of "Chinese whispers" WOULD be true, except for the fact that if you have the same thing repeated to you for years, you're going to retain the memory of it. In Chinese whispers, it's only repeated once.
Now, the church was NOT a corrupt business. It became that way later, as through the ages it's been diluted. But in the beginning, it was pure, mostly because it was highly persecuted.
For example, Israel was conquered by the Romans. There was much bloodshed within the Holy Temples. It was awful.
The Bible was written over 1500 years, by over 40 different authors, varying from kings (David) to peasants (Matthew was a tax collector), and everyone in between.
The fact that the same theme is followed from beginning to end is a miracle in itself.
Also, consider the comparisons between the Bible and other ancient documents (some of which aren't even as old!):
Caesar-written 100-44 BC Earliest copy-900 AD Number of copies-10
Plato (Tetralogies)- written 427-347 BC Earliest copy-900 AD Number of copies-7
Sophocles- written 496-406 BC Earliest copy-1000 AD Copies-193
Aristotle-written 384-322 BC Earliest copy-1100 AD Copies-no more than 49 of any one work
Homer's Iliad-written 900 BC Earliest copy-400 BC Number of copies: 643
The Bible's New Testament-written between 40-100 AD Earliest copy-125 AD Number of copies-over 24,000

There are more lines in doubt in Shakepeare's plays than there are in the Bible. The Bible is over 98.44% accurate. It's not unusual that not many copies of the Old Testament have survived...most would have disintigrated, others would have been burned.
Scribes considered the newer copies to actually be better than the older ones, and great care was taken in preserving the accuracy of the words they wrote. They were not allowed to write even ONE WORD from memory, without first glancing at the original manuscript.
The only change from the original copies to the newer versions, is that they have been translated into other languages. That's it!
If you would like to know more, please read the book Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh MacDowell, or just about any book by Lee Strobel.

Furthermore, much of what was in the Bible has been PROVEN. There have been archaelogical expeditions that corroborate stories told in the Bible.
Also, some of the oldest versions of the Bible that have been found, for example the Dead Sea scrolls, which contained portions of the Old Testament AND the New had parts that were dated back to before Christ.

So, if you believe that Plato existed, and Aristotle, perhaps it's true that ALL of the authors in the Bible existed. AND they had nothing to gain by lying!

Answer 3

You are right, the bible has been through a lot of hands. The King James version was re-written for the old English kings; it but the king level with God. If you look at a Greek and Hebrew bible, with goes a little more in detail about Gods convent. Now, Back to God, Lets say he is real, don't you think he is powerful enough to keep the bible on track?

Answer 4

Well it has been proven that the Christian scriptures show signs of editing over the centuries by various scribes and commentors.
But the Jewish scriptures are not so casually handled.

The process of making a new copy of Jewish scripture is done very carefully and checked for even the smallest error. If a mistake is made, as in a case of making a copy of Torah, one mistake makes the entire scroll void. Not even the smallest errors or changes are tolerated.

One instance of proof of the accuracy of Jewish texts, when the Dead Sea Scrolls were found and being investigated, a scroll having a copy of the book of Isaiah was shown to be the same as its modern day version. And the scroll was dated to just before the time of Christ. With only having two letters changed yet not change the meaning or context of the word is a testement to how Jewish text hasn't been corrupted for over 2,000 years. Christian cannot make that same claim of the New Testement, unfortunately.

Answer 5

To begin with you have your facts wrong. Most of the new testament was written during or just after the time Jesus rose from the grave and left for Heaven. Not a thousand years after. Some of the writers were there during Christ time and were disciples. Regardless, the Bible was inspired by God and is true in every instance. Much smarter people than you have tried for many years to disprove the book and have in every case been unsuccessful. That's why it's the most sold book in the world. You, being not a Christian will never know why people move to Christianity because you might never experience the joy and peace it gives you to know God is with you and loves you so very much. He wants you to succeed in life and with Him you will.

Answer 6

Why do you believe? The answer lies in your body itself, just look at you and see how God has made you in such a perfection. He give you the toung to speak the eyes to see and a nose to smell, let you cut off your toung and see whether it can speak or not? it doesnt because the God has given power to a small piece of your flush to speak. We human beings after thousands of years still could not understand full about this universe, there are still a lot of wonders in this world which our limited thinking brain could not find out? If you do not find a reason to believe, then my dear friend, you have not opened your eyes yet, you have not opened your ears yet, so open your eyes and ears wide, listen for those sounds that which you never heard and see things that you never see..... you will definitely will believe, this universe itself is a wonder, dont you believe it?

Answer 7

I will only agree with fathead to the tune of about 12%. Your argument has merit. But at the same time we would have to assume that "keepers of the faith" or story tellers at least got it a little better than the Chinese whispers game, IE, fatheads argument that the story tellers got to repeat the story several times to get it right. surely much was lost, and over time embellished. to assume that something like bible stories could survive in spoken traditions is ignorant. There are how many versions(written) today?

Answer 8

I don't know your educational background, but let me help you out. The words for the Bible was verbally memorized for 2 generations until men started to write it down. It was finished 100 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. People like Moses, David, Isaiah and Jacob were personally talked to by God Himself. God made these men remember it all. During their lives, they repeatedly told a select few (selected by God) their words. These men started to write the words down shortly after Moses, David, Isaiah and Jacob died. The first written language consisted of symbols and markings, not like letters are know now. With the written word, the oral words were still past on for generations. So with each generation, the son would be in charge of keeping it all in line and true from the first word to the last. Remember that during Pentecost, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit onto the apostles so they were not to be in error when speaking about God. The Holy Spirit is our advocate. He makes sure that the Bible is correct in it's translations. The Bible never changes until 500 yrs later when kings didn't agree with some of it's context and had it rewritten to fit into their lifestyle. This is when the Church started to be divided and the division kept going. Today the Christian religion has 3000 denominations and over 400 different holy books (bibles). When you study history, languages, and the early church fathers, you will see that the Catholic Church holds the true words from ancient times. Christian churches such as Lutherans, Pentecostals, Anglicans (and others) have a different bible. Parts of their bibles have pieces that were omitted or added that the original didn't have.

Christians are followers of Christ. Jesus knew the Hebrew Bible (Torah and old scripture by heart) [many men in that time were to memorize it by heart, word for word.] Jesus memorized it, studied as a child, Mary taught Him, plus He is God so He just knows it. Christians, many Jews converted from Judaism when they began to believe He was truly the Son of God, followed these teachings. Peter was the first pope of Jesus' Church. But when some men decided that they wanted some changes, they started their own church but continued to call themselves Christians, because they followed Christ (not His Church). The Church that Peter started then called themselves Catholic, meaning 'universal'. Hence, the Catholic Church has the words of the Hebrew Bible and the words of Jesus. All other Christian churches have taken out and added to the Hebrew Bible and what Jesus said to fit their needs.

Answer 9

You can go to the most uncivilized place in the world, find a culture that is pretty much still close to the cave man, EVEN they know that there is a Higher Being. I watched a very tiny spider race across the floor at lightning speed a while ago, and thought to myself "that didn't just happen by accident, that was designed", there is no way us puny Humans could even attempt to make something that complex that can do that ! even as "WONDERFUL" as we think we are !

Answer 10

I believe in God, because I have faith. I know that there must be a higher power out there somewhere, watching us, and loving us. I don't, however, believe in all the things the bible says, but much of it is historical fact. Not to mention that most of the rules are good ones, and if more people followed them then this world would be a much better place.