How is the Bible considered the "word of god"?

Question

The Bible was written by men, not god. How do you know that the translation from the original text to English was correct? How do you know that there aren't pieces of the Bible left out to keep certain details from public knowledge? How do you know which "version" is correct, the KJV or the NIV? How can any of them be correct when they are just a "version" of the original? Doesn't that mean that someone changed things a little to produce what they considered to be "correct"?

Please do me a favor and answer using your own words and not quoting some scripture that a "man" wrote.

Answer 1

A reasonable question, definitely an involved subject. But here goes. Yes, God used humans to do the writing. It was inspired, not given a a verbatim by God. How do we know that the books collected in the Bible are inspired, and that nothing was left out? Jesus established his authority among men - his Apostles. His Apostles have passed that same authority to their predecessors - the Bishops. It is by that authority that we know which books are and which books are not of the Bible. Translation is a better term than version, but yes, we need to look to the same authority to see that the translation is faithful to the Tradition passed down to the Apostles. In some translations, one can find where people have made changes. Martin Luther added the word "alone" in his translation of the Bible to bolster his idea that we are "saved by faith alone" (sola fide). Hope this helps.

Answer 2

The men writing the bible were possessed by the holy spirit, or something like that. It's in the bible, so if you believe that the bible is true, then you'd believe that statement.

By extension, the translators were possessed by the holy spirit (I know that "possessed" isn't the right word...I just can't think of a better one right now).

And yes, there were parts of the bible that were edited out. This is fact. They're called the Apocrypha (I probably spelled that wrong). Some versions of the bible contain these sections in the back. The book of Thomas, and of Mary, are part of this group. They're basically the books that didn't make the final cut into the official bible.

And supposedly, God and the holy spirit possess you when you read the bible (assuming you have faith in it). This holy spirit makes you interpret the bible the way it was supposed to be interpretted. So if the KJV or NIV use different wording in a particular section, you'll come away with the same meaning.

Answer 3

I suppose that you are going to trust what this man writes. ( ;

Okay. I believe that the Bible is the 'inspired word of God,' and that it is the best source for finding out what God did, and how He thinks because it corresponds to the urgings of the Holy Spirit. If a person does NOT have the Holy Spirit, the very texts in the Bible are not understood. An unbeliever does not know how to interpret it, and the weight of the issues are confused as well.

I guess you could say that the unbeliever is off balance with it.

The Bible is still used as a source for Archaeologists, in order to find lost places. It is the source of guidance to those that believe it, and is often quoted even by those that do not, sometime revealing that they do not understand it.

The daily miracle involved in this is that it can be so apparent to the believer in what it's talking about, yet those that claim it's a farce : !) do not claim to be believer's, 2) do not claim to have the Holy Spirit, 3) do not confess that Jesus is Lord and the Christ.

This tells me that there is a constant witness to the believer that the Bible IS true! Why would that show me that? How?
Because it tells me that the wisdom of God is in God (and they claim not to have the Spirit), and those that don't understand it are in the dark (they doubt it), and that to them it is either foolishness or needs a miracle to be true and they have the one I am talking about; the resurrection and the understanding.

I would refer you to 1 Corinthians 1:18-30.

Answer 4

Dear Rhainne Droppe-

Many people question the authenticity of the bible, for a variety of reasons. The main one would be that they have never studied it.

A book that is "God breathed" or inspired by God holds the absolute truth.

Those who do not want a source of absolute truth in their lives will do everything they can to discredit it. You will find many arguments against the bible.

The truth of the matter is that we all have a "god consciousness", a part within us that knows about the work of God's hand, in creating us and in all of creation.

If you are ever interested in learning about God, pray and ask Him to reveal the truth to you.

I use the New American Standard Bible from Precept Ministries. It is translated word for word from the original languages. I also use Greek and Hebrew Lexicons, thereby eliminating the worry of the meaning getting "lost in the translation".

It is disconcerting to have so many translations of the bible. Especially with really watered down versions. This in itself is an attack on Christianity.

Hope you get a chance to read and study for yourself-
Sincerely - Redeemed

Answer 5

Yes the Bible is made up of manuscripts written by men - the original languages are Hebrew and Greek. I believe that God inspired these men to write the original words to His inspiration. I also believe that God inspired the original King James Version 1611 to become the English translation by inspiring men of God to tediously and carefully translate His word to a Gentile nation. There are too many things in the Bible that have been prophecied that have come to pass to dispute its accuracy. English versions done after the KJV 1611 have been done in an attempt to clarify to a more modern language, but they change the wording (sometimes I believe this waters things down). That is the reason that I stick with the KJV 1611. Can I prove without a doubt that there are no errors? No, I can't. I believe in God to preserve His precious Word to us, so I believe that the closest thing to the original writings are what we need to focus on. A little faith in God here to take care of us helps as well. I do believe that Jesus came and died for the sins of the world, and that to spend eternity with Him, I must receive, by faith, Jesus as my personal Saviour. The KJV 1611 makes this, to me, very clear. Regardless of what we think or what knowledge men may try to impose, we need Jesus to see Heaven. God bless you, and I hope that I have helped to satisfy your question.

Answer 6

The original Bible no longer exsists. There are the 4 most ancient of the manuscrpts (copies of the original)---, then there are many many copies of these which span through out hundreds of years. No TWO are identical.

An example: The Ascension of Jesus...

Look at Mark 9-16. These versus are in None of the most ancient manuscripts. They appear in 3 of the later copies, and have been accepted as part of the Bible. Out of thousands of copies that did not have these passages.... it was still considered 'inspired work of God'. So you see it in the bibles of today.
Also, in the books of Moses- he seems to have written his own obituary: Deut. 34:5-10 "So Moses died...and God buried him...he was 120 years old when he died..." Now they are saying someone else wrote the last few pages, but it's all just a confusing mess.
The 1971 version of the RSV which consisted of 32 scholars said in their opening preface "The KJV has grave deffects, and these defects are so many and so serious as to call for revision"

Perhaps the original Bible had all the answers. Maybe the most ancient ones hold great meaning. But most of the additions that are in our bibles today-- I believe them to be very misleading.
I have many other such examples, but wont waste my time.

I believe that there are Parts of the Bible which MAY be inspired, but there is so much in it that leads me to a big Question mark.

Answer 7

I believe that the Bible was written by men yes, but it was spirit led. I don't think that ALL the books in the Bible were spirit written though (ie the epistles written by paul). All of the versions of the Bible were translated from the orignal text, and put into words of that time. The "Message" Bible was written for our time. Just remember, the Bible was God inspired, and written by man. You should go to this site if you have any more questions.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/qa.asp

God Bless

Answer 8

Regarding it being from God or man: It contains information that could not possibly have come from a human source. Details about the future that have always proved to be completely accurate.
Regarding the Bible being changed over time: There are about 6,000 handwritten copies containing all or part of the Hebrew scriptures; the oldest dates back to the third century B.C.E. Of the Greek scriptures, there are some 5,000, the oldest dating back to the beginning of the second century C.E.

Answer 9

There are many books on the origin(s) of our modern day Bible. Before you ask such a question, you would be well advised to read one or two of them.

An evolutionist friend of mine did just that in an attempt to prove the Bible wrong. He ended up believing God's Word and he now teaches and writes on the accuracy of the Bible.

66 Books
40 "authors"
written over a span of thousands of years.
a single theme : redemption of creation

Answer 10

We can never understand the Scripture until we believe it first. You cannot understand nuclear physics unless you first believe the underlying axioms that have to do with this realm of human knowledge. You cannot understand chemistry unless you are willing to accept certain of the chemical formulas that have been proposed. You cannot believe anything until you accept it as genuine and put it to the test of experience, and this is true of the Word. When you believe that this book is from God and, as Proverbs says, "Cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures" {Prov 2:3:4 RSV}, then this book will reveal to you the marvels of a deliberately patterned structure that can only be of God's making, and reveal to you astounding grasps of life and explanations of how the human heart operates.

Ray C. Stedman