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Think about it, any contradictions are disputed with the 'God can do anything' circular reasoned answer. That's not supporting fact, that's simply taking the easy way out of attempting to answer a rational question with a rational answer.

I mean, I get that answer in here, 'the bible has never been contradicted because it's all true and fact'

no, it has, and will continue to be, except you can't dispute circular reasoning, which is what preachers and leaders so tightly hold onto and ingrain into their followers. In their heads, "god can do anything and make anything happen, and all questions that dispute this is satan trying to trick you'.....is that fact? No, it's circular reasoning, and what has been the tool of control used for the last 2000 years to keep that book at the forefront of mainstream belief systems.

Like the religious right, which has toppled shown in the last elections, extreme religious behavior will begin to fade as the youth gets more educated.

2006-11-14 06:11:55 · 11 answers · asked by systematic_punt 1 in Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality

11 answers

Well, kudos for the point, but it is far more than that. It has stood because it is the Truth. There are contridictions in the bible but they are on a smaller scale and do not effect the over-all meaning that is apparent through the whole bible, which is God's love letter, God's plan and God's wishes for us.

2006-11-14 06:14:32 · answer #1 · answered by newcovenant0 5 · 2 2

As to your final remark, I was under th4e impression that today's youth are already quite educated. You make it sound as though it is a thing of the future.
As to your question: has the Bible withstood the test of time because it's protected by circular reasoning? Well, a lot of other writings should have withstood the test of time on the same basis! Actually, I do not believe those particular arguments are what have helped the Bible to withstand the test of time. There are many other arguments, such as archeological findings, people's personal spiritual experience, etc. As to the "contradictions" the "God can do anything" argument would not respond to a seeming contradiction, but trather to a seeming impossibility. For instance, if you object to the parting of the Red Sea, I would respond "God can do anything" which would be quite legitimate although not convincing if you did not believe that in the first place. On the other hand when people point out what they see as contradictions in the Bible, the response would be to examine the facts and see if the different claims actually contradict eachother. I have been exposed to loads of these seeming contradictions, and in each case as I examined them more closely in their context, I have found that either there was no contradiction at all, or that these apparent contradictions were quite explainable if we had the whole storyh. In other words, none of the contradictions would stand up in a court of law, unless there was only a lawyer on one side!
If you give the Bikble the benefit of the doubt, it is not too difficult to resolve the objections. However you have to have a reason to give the Bible the benefit of the doubt. I began to do that when I had a personal encounter with its divine Author (who is behind the human writers). I couldn't expect you to give the Bible the benefit of the doubt if you did not have such an encounter, so all I can really suggest is that you seek him.
Your comment does provoke a question in my mind: I wonder if you are implying that belief in the Bible as the inspired Word of God would be, in your mind, extreme religious behaviour?
There are things I would call extreme religious behaviour, but that could be very subjective, couldn't it?

2006-11-14 06:26:37 · answer #2 · answered by Mr Ed 7 · 0 0

1. "The Bible has stood the test of time..." is not meaningful statement. What is this test? What are its parameters? Who conducts it?

2. There is no need to answer questions of real or apparent contradictions with circular reasoning. The fact that many defend their intrepetation of the Bible with less-than-sound reasoning has no bearing on the integrity of the document(s) in question.

3. Your interpretation of the last election, as some kind of repudiation of religion or a result of an increase in education, makes the strained and circular reasoning of many Christians seem positively ingenious.

2006-11-14 06:59:10 · answer #3 · answered by davidscottwoodruff 3 · 0 0

The Bible does not contradict itself, it never has and never will. What you may perceive as a contradiction would have a reasonable explanation of which you are unaware. The Bible is the most persecuted book in the history of mankind and yet it remains; unaltered, completely accurate and totally relevant for all mankind regarding all circumstances. There is no other book or written document from ancient history with as much supporting manuscript evidence for its accuracy and authenticity. The reason the Bible has stood the test of time is because it's God's Word. "Grass withers and flowers fade, but the Word of God endureth forever".

2006-11-14 06:19:24 · answer #4 · answered by utuseclocal483 5 · 3 0

All of the Bible is the truth. God used human beings to physically pen the biblical text. But remember God is the author, they are His words. The Bible is inspired by God. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew. The New Testament was originally written in Greek (with a few portions in aramaic). Learn those languages so you can read it for yourself in it's original. Check out some good commentaries (NIV Application commentary, Anchor Bible Commentary, New International Commentary on the New Testament (also one on OT), New International Greek Testament Commentary).

The Bible is inerrant and infallible. Inerrant means it is incapable of having errors, and infallible means incapable of being false. So this means that God protected the Bible while it was being translated to other languages and other translations.

2006-11-14 07:26:56 · answer #5 · answered by cnm 4 · 1 0

"Christians can?t use ?circular reasoning? by trying to prove the Bible by quoting from the Bible!"

The "circular reasoning" argument is absurd. That?s like saying you can?t prove that the President lives in the White House by looking into the White House. It is looking into the White House that will provide the necessary proof. The fulfilled prophecies, the amazing consistency, and the many scientific statements of the Bible prove it to be the Word of God. They provide evidence that it is supernatural in origin. See also Psalm 119:105 footnote.

2006-11-14 06:53:34 · answer #6 · answered by Derek B 4 · 1 0

Hello, I will attempt to answer your question, the Bible is more than just a book, it is a library of 66 books, containing law, prophecy, history, poetry, counsel, and more. Before the birth of Christ, 39 books of the Bible had been written, mostly in Hebrew, the language of the people of the Bible. {Israelites} Over 3,000 yrs. ago, Israel was one small nation among many in the Middle East. The Israelites were not the only ones to produce religious literature. IE: "Gilgamesh" from Mesopotamia, and" Ras Shamra" epics, and at that time these books were probably very popular. The literature of that era also included works such as the "The Admonitions of Ipu-wer" and the "The Prophecy of Nefer-rohu" in the Egyptian language, hymns to different divinities in Sumerian and prophetic works in Akkadian. The reason I refer to these writings however, is that they all met the same fate. They were forgotten, and even the languages they were written in became extinct. Only recently has archaeology and philologists' learned of their existence and discovered how to read them. But, the Hebrew books of the Bible survived right up to our own time and are still widely read. Some claim that the Hebrew books in the Bible were derived from the other ancient literary works, the fact that so much of that literature was forgotten while the Hebrew Bible survived, marks the Bible as significantly different.
The communities that produced it suffered difficult trials and bitter oppression that its survival to our day is truly remarkable. Israel had to fight for its life against such nations as, the Philistines, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Edomites, there are even reports of attempted genocide against the Israelites. Back in the days of Moses the Pharaoh ordered the murder of all newborn boys. Later when the Jews came under Persian rule, their enemies plotted to get a law passed to exterminate them. The failure of this scheme is still celebrated in the Jewish Festival of Purim. Their are many instances where the Jews were subject to to nations that attempted to Hellenize them, forcing them to follow Greek customs and worship Greek gods. Insted of being wiped out or assimilated, the Jews survived while one after another most of the national groups around them disappeared. And the scriptures survived with them.
The Christians, who produced the second part of the Bible, were also an oppressed group. Their leader Jesus, was killed like a common criminal. In the days following his death, Jewish authorities in Palestine tried to suppress them. When Christianity spread to other lands, the Jews hounded them, trying to hinder their missionary work. In the time of Nero, the initially tolerant attitude of the Romans changed. Tacitus boasted of the "exquisite tortures" inflicted on Christians, and from his time on, being a Christian was a capitol offense.{one was put to death if it became known they were a Christian}
These campains of oppression and genocide were a real threat to the Bible's survival. If the Jews has gone the way of the Philistines and the Moabites or if the efforts of first the Jewish and then the Roman authorities to stamp out Christianity had succeeded? Happily, the guardians of the Bible--first the Jews, and then the Christians, were not wiped out, and the Bible survived. There have been even more threats to the survival of the Bible, and yet it survives, even an examination of the Dead Sea Scrolls, of the Book of Isaiah, have shown that there is not much of a textual variation of the message of the Book of Isaiah.
To appreciate how well the established test of the Bible is, we have only to compare it with another body of literature that has come to us from antiquity: the classical writings of Greece and Rome. Most of this literature was written after the Hebrew scriputures were completed. There was no recorded genocide attempts against the Greeks or Romans, and their literature was not preserved in the face of persecution. Yet, how many of the books are known of by the general populace, today? Surely, for a book to have survived all these many thousands of years, in the face of genocide and persecution, shows that this remarkable book has the backing of God, so that mankind can both learn of him, and his relationship, with the people of the time of the Bible's writing. Helping us to establish a relationship with Him.

2006-11-14 07:14:16 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

I don't think it has stood the test of time. A century and a half ago ago its literal truth was universally accepted whereas now only a small minority of ultra conservative Christians believe that it is literally the word of God.

2006-11-14 06:15:33 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

I'll counter that. I'm a follower in a religion that dates back at least 2000years before the Bible, or any of the events within it were ever conceived. So I don't believe in the bible at all, so far I see no truth in it at all.

2006-11-14 06:18:19 · answer #9 · answered by lavos1412 3 · 1 1

Quite possibly. It could also be that people are afraid and fear does strange things to people when they lack an education and understanding of anything else.

2006-11-14 06:13:59 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

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