Why do Christians believe the Bible?

Question

It was edited and cut by different people and interpreted how THEY thought it should be interpreted. Many gospels were even left out. Gospels that would have just as much authenticity as the ones that were put in. Christianity was a combination of many different religions (especially Paganism) that were very popular at the time it was put together. The same religions that the church tried to get rid of. Don't you find this strange?

The Bible is full of contradictions and could easily be a fraud. Christians believe the Quran is fraud. Why not the Bible? The church has every reason to lie. Why should anyone believe it?

Just for the record, I don't believe it.

OK.. How can I make myself more clear?

THE CHURCH HAS EVERY REASON TO LIE TO YOU.

1. Jesus Christ is a major part of what makes up Christianity. He is taught to be the son of God and a role model for Christians. Few people know that everything that supposedly makes Jesus divine, was copied off Pagan stories of Gods around before Jesus was even born. Here are a few:

A. Vespatian's spittle healed a blind man.

B. Apollonius of Tyana raised a girl from death

C. Pythia , the priestess at the Oracle at Delphi prophesied, the prophecies came true.

D. Dionysus turned water into wine and Dionysus believers are filled with atay, the Spirit of God

E. Romulus, Alexander the Great, Augustus, Dionysus, and Scipio Africanus is described as the Son of God, born of a virgin.

F. The souls of Dionysus followers in the afterlife, drinking not from one particular spring in Hades, but from another cool pool—and that will give them divinity and eternal life.

G.Those who descended into Hell and rose again in three days; Zoroaster, Osiris, Horus, Adonis, Bacchus, Hercules, Mercury, Balder and Quetzalcotle.

H. Gods who were hung on a cross. Prometheus, Crishna, Indra.

I. Gods who were saviors; Bacchus, Hercules, Apollo, Serapis, Mithras, Hermes.

http://www.rickrichards.com/bible/Bible.html
http://www.egodeath.com/CrossMetaphor.htm

It appears to the thinking mind and with much musing that the doctrines taught based on the Bible cannot be supported by what has been made both evident and quite contradictory within its own canonized contents. Even with the censorship and editing, the Bible hold contradictions within itself - which contradiction is embedded deeply within nature of mankind. In summary, the Bible is a highly evolved, metaphysical document, compiled from various manuscripts through history, designed by certain perpetrators to uphold a single orthodox doctrine. This single doctrine cannot suffice, because the nature of the Bible itself beholds that mankind seek within their metaphysical, spiritual being for truth and not to let the actions and orthodoxy of others guide them. It does not teach disestablishment, but instead the establishment of a single truth known within the spirit of mankind - their God. Thus, guided by that single truth - any person could compose a "Bible".

Answer 1

Because the bible says it's true. What more proof do you want?

Answer 2

How do you know that it wasn't reliably preserved? In fact, the manuscript evidence for the bible is better than for all of ancient history combined. There is good evidence that the gospels that were left out had a heavy gnostic influcence and included legendary embellishment.

And the bible is only full of contradictions when you dissect it according to our modern requirements for accuracy. In the ancient world the main point of a story had to be accurately conveyed, while the local coloring (details) were free to be changed by the storyteller. This is exactly what we find in the gospels; uniformity on key points and variance on details. That actually strengthens it's authenticity. If all four gospels had the exact same langauge in them, people would think it's fixed or fradulent. But because discrepancy exists on the details, this actually strengthens the case that you have seperate attested accounts.

Take for instance a trial where the testimony from the witnesses was identical. They used the same words and descriptions. That would appear fixed. However a more reliable testimony from witnesses would be identical on the main points, but vary in the finer details. That is what you find in the gospels.

There are many more compelling reasons for belief. But there is one thing that is certain. It is the most reliably preserved book from antiquity. The way to demonstrate this is by the thousands of early manuscripts, which were translated into various langauges. When you compare several different translations from different time periods (there are 24,000 biblical manuscripts) you can determine where or if editing, or erroneous translation took place.

Answer 3

I don't know. How can you have a reasonable discussion who is just vomitting back what Dan Brown and Richard Dawkins spoon fed him? Who thinks he knows about the history or theology of the Bible when his own words make it blatantly clear that the most "research" he's done is reading the DaVinci Code.

A. Vespatian's spittle healed a blind man.

Yeah, and that story came after Jesus' disciples taught about His healings. Who's borrowing from whom?

B. Apollonius of Tyana raised a girl from death

Such stories of Apollonius of Tyana didn't begin to circulate until well after Christianity was established.

C. Pythia , the priestess at the Oracle at Delphi prophesied, the prophecies came true.

Name one. You will see how they were so deliberately vague that they couldn't possibly NOT have come true, and they had no predictive value until AFTER the event they allegedly predicted.

D. Dionysus turned water into wine and Dionysus believers are filled with atay, the Spirit of God

No, that story is a fairly modern invention, not a source for Christianity.

E. Romulus, Alexander the Great, Augustus, Dionysus, and Scipio Africanus is described as the Son of God, born of a virgin.

1. Romulus was born to a girl after she was raped, not impregnated by fiat.
2. There is no story in antiquity of Alexander, Augustus, or Africanus being born of a virgin.
3. Dionysus' mother was impregnated by Zeus, not a virgin birth.

F. The souls of Dionysus followers in the afterlife, drinking not from one particular spring in Hades, but from another cool pool—and that will give them divinity and eternal life.

And they remain just that: in Hades. Not resurrected and returned to life, as Christianity teaches.

G.Those who descended into Hell and rose again in three days; Zoroaster, Osiris, Horus, Adonis, Bacchus, Hercules, Mercury, Balder and Quetzalcotle.

None of those descended into Hell, and none of those rose in the same sense that Jesus rose.

H. Gods who were hung on a cross. Prometheus, Crishna, Indra.

None of those were hung on a cross. Prometheus, for example, was chained to a rock.

I. Gods who were saviors; Bacchus, Hercules, Apollo, Serapis, Mithras, Hermes.
But the question is - saving from what? And how did they save their followers? You will see that the answers to those questions are wildly different from the Christian answers.

And those two websites are pathetic. They quote Acharya S. as an authority.

You revel in your ignorance. You're not even reading scholarship, you're reading propaganda. There is plenty of good scholarship that analyzes the Bible and Christian origins, but you are content with paranoid conspiracy theories and latent anti-semitism.

Answer 4

You are incorrect.
1.Why do you say that it was 'edited and cut by different people and interpreted how THEY thought it should be interpreted' ? Where is your proof?
2.No,there weren't any gospels left out.The so-called 'lost books' were never considered to be inspired or part of the accepted canon.There weren't any books 'left out' because they were never even in there to begin with.I think an education in Biblical and Christian history would help you out a lot.(The DaVinci Code doesn't count)
3.Christanity was not a combination of different religions that were popular at the time.All the themes of the New Testament are found in the Old Testament,including the virgin birth,the resurrection,crucifixion and baptism.
Neither was Jesus based on pagan myths.His life fulfills the Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament.
http://www.carm.org/evidence/ot_nt_themes.htm
http://www.tektonics.org/copycat/copycathub.html
4.No,the Bible is not full of contradictions.Such problems arise when people do not understand the text they are reading.
http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/bible.htm

Answer 5

Christains believe the Bible because of blind faith (blind being the operative word), which is often the result of brainwashing, or when they are dying or have had a near death experience (the grim reaper inspires many). Even though I should believe the Bible like my minister, (my father), my mother, and both of my brothers, I don't. Even after over 900 sermons from the Bible, I don't believe it is inspired by god. I've read it (a number of times), and it's not even written very well!

Answer 6

"Now here's the picture: 1,600 years, 60 generations, 40-plus authors, different walks of life, different places, different times, different moods, different continents, three languages, writing on hundreds of controversial subjects and yet when they are brought together, there is absolute harmony from beginning to end...There is no other book in history to even compare to the uniqueness of this continuity."
- Josh McDowell

what do you count as Christianity, and what religions were supposedly combined to make Christianity?

there are no contradictions in the Bible:
http://www.angelfire.com/mi/dinosaurs/contradictions.html
http://www.drdino.com/articles.php?cat=15
http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/bible.htm

there are also incredible scientific facts in the Bible:
http://www.inplainsite.org/html/scientific_facts_in_the_bible.html
http://www.sbea.mtu.edu/users/slstonge/science.html

and oh yeah, by the way, there is a major difference between the characters you mention and Jesus Christ:
the similar stories to the stories in the Bible you mention are applied not to real flesh-and-blood individuals but to mythical characters (most of what you mention anyway) wheras events of Jesus were recorded by people who knew him personally...

Answer 7

First, you believe the bible by faith.

Second, the bible never contradicts itself.

Third, the bible was written by men under the inspiration and knowledge of the holy spirit and God

note: The most correct and accurate version of the bible are the King James and Amplified

Answer 8

You are saying the God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit do not have the power to control what is in the Holy Bible and what they did not want in it is kept out.

I believe that the One who created the universe and everything that is in it has the power over editing the Holy Bible.

Answer 9

Christians believe in the Bible for various reasons. I believe it because we have found old manuscripts that verify newer ones proving to us there were not all these changes as you claim. Also the Bible is historically accurate. Also there is fulfilled prophecy in it that we know was written before the event occurred. Of course you'll never accept the Bible unless you humble yourself first and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

Answer 10

For some of us it’s like this. The Church is the “Oyster”, and the bible is a “Pearl”. Now, every pearl starts with a grain of sand, which is called “The Truth”. The real trick is to Eat the oyster, smash the pearl, and find that one grain of sand...