Why do people believe that the bible is the literal word of God?

Question

I often hear people refer to the Bible as the work of God or the word of God. However, the bible itself is the work of the human mind, several human minds in fact, and has been altered down the centuries by different interpretations and translations. Some things have even been deliberately altered to suit the opinions of the times. There has also been several books omitted from the bible some of which have been found at a later time. The dead sea scrolls for example. What has given rise to the believe that this is literal word of God? I am not saying that the bible isn't an important book nor am I dismissing some of the messages, particularly from the new testament. I went to a religious school and spent the best part of 14 years studying the bible and the Christian faith in general. However, I always viewed it as a series of books written by humans. Is there anyone out there who believes this is the literal word of God? Does anyone know why this has happened?

Answer 1

According to the Bible itself, the only part that was written by God are the Ten Commandments. The text says that these were written on the stone tablets by God's own finger. The first five books, Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, Dueteronomy, were then *dictated* to Moses by God (whatever that could possibly mean). A few other books--such as Ezekial and Revelations--are human reports of visions that were divinely sent, according to the authors.

People who think that the Bible is the word of God most likely have not read the bible--at best, only selected parts.

Like other sacred texts, such as the Koran, saying that a book is the word of God is a great way to advertise your religion and to recruit members.......Unfortunately religious institutions usually have a different agenda than what is contained in their sacred texts. Namely, the first priority of every institution is *self perpetuation.*

If you read the Bible, however, you will see that God or the prophets say that our first priority should be things like justice, or love. Pretty different from things like money and power--which are the primary elements for an institution's continued existence.

That is, in a nutshell, why the Catholic Church made it illegal for anyone, other than clergy, to learn how to read and write for a thousand years. Anyone who had these skills was tried and killed for witchcraft. That is why this period of history is known as "The Dark Ages."

Answer 2

Jesus Christ foresaw that there will be groups that will breakaway from the Church he founded and so he gave the Church the sole authority to interpret Sacred Scripture. The teaching authority of the Catholic Church comes directly from Christ and is, therefore, infallible.
Matthew 16,18-20: "And so I tell you Peter, you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my Church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven."
Matthew 28,20: "And teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age."
Timothy 3,15: "But if I delay, this letter will let you know how we should conduct ourselves in God's household, WHICH IS THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD, THE PILLAR AND FOUNDATION OF TRUTH."

Is the Bible the "pillar of truth" in the Christian religion? No. According to the Bible Itself, the Church is the "pillar of truth" (1 Timothy 3:15), not the Bible. Some "Bible" Christians insist that a "pillar" (the Church) was created to "hold up" another structure (the Bible). They claim the Bible is the structure being held up according to this passage. Well, if that is the case, how did the early Church "hold up" the Bible for the first three to four hundred years when the Bible Itself didn't even exist? Also, even if the Church is only a "pillar" holding up the Bible, doesn't that mean that the Church is the interpreter of Scripture rather than the individual?

Did the early Christians have the Bible as we know it? No. The Bible as a whole was not compiled until the late 4th century and then it was compiled by a Catholic saint (St. Jerome) at the request of a Catholic pope (St. Damasus I). So how were the early Christians saved if they did not possess the entire written "Word of God" to follow His teachings? Well, naturally, they were the Body of Christ and were taught through "oral" teachings by the Church, not by writings.

What did Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer, state about the Bible? In his "Commentary On St. John," he stated the following: "We are compelled to concede to the Papists that they have the Word of God, that we have received It from them, and that without them we should have no knowledge of It at all." Regardless of what non-Catholic Christians may think or say, according to secular, objective historians, the Catholic Church alone preserved Sacred Scripture throughout the persecution of the Roman Empire and during the Dark Ages. All non-Catholic Christian denominations owe the existence of the Bible to the Catholic Church alone. Why did God choose the Catholic Church to preserve Scripture if It is not His Church?

Answer 3

I'm a Catholic. According to my faith, while the Bible is indeed the work of human minds, it is divinely inspired. Thus, though the original authors were writing and thinking in their own contexts and times, the message they convey contains the underlying salvific truths that make the Bible the word of God.

There has been too much attention given to tiny details of the text. The Bible should be seen and read as a whole, as an entire work that communicates to us a simple message: God loves us. All the fuss about the other details stems from a desperate sort of fundamentalism that relies too much on a literal interpretation of the text to provide a step-by-step procedure to get to heaven.

The Bible was compiled around a century after the death of Christ. A council was convened to sift through the current literature that had been written about Christ by that time and determine which ones were consistent with the verifiable practices and beliefs of the Christian people. If a lot of books were omitted, that was because these were deemed inconsistent with what was passed on by the Apostles and thus considered deviant/heretical.

The Bible has been subject to abuse from people who tamper with it to suit their own ends, thus the abundance of translations. My faith teaches me that the Holy Spirit, who guides the Church, ensures that the core salvific truths of the Bible are preserved during translation, or something to that effect. The Vatican works to keep the Catholic version of the Bible as updated with current scholarly research as possible.

Some people believe that the Bible is the literal word of God either because they are poorly catechized or because they are fundamentalists. Which, I think, amount to the same thing.

Answer 4

examine Scripture via here standards. a million) Does its biology, ecology, geology, astronomy, organic heritage and so on. line up with what technological awareness has found. if so, settle for it. If not, parent the author has a distinctive evaluate strategies. 2) Does its cultural heritage properly portray the peoples it mentions in accordance to the ideal archaeological evidence? if so, settle for it as is. If not, seem for the theological which potential. 3) Earth is the midsection of the universe, not in the astronomical experience, yet in the experience of OUR thought. God has given us lots and from us He demands little in return. yet He DOES require it. That makes this international important; what you may desire to call the midsection of issues, the midsection of all of it. 4) No, you at the instant are not devil's minion. you're a man or woman with a strategies and a interest. Satisy it with an open strategies, a loving coronary heart and a questing spirit. And undergo in strategies, He thinks you are the ideal element because of the fact that sliced bread, no rely what you think of of Him.

Answer 5

I don't view it as his 'literal' word, it could never be as it was written by man. Those who think it is are to me misguided (and a bit simple to be honest). I've always said I cannot fully put my trust in the writing of someone I never met (just as I wouldn't trust someone shouting something on the street).

To me it's a guidebook written by some people who actually met Jesus and got to quote him and speak with him. Personally some things I have issues with and prefer to use my own judgement, using God as I view him personally as a bigger guide.

Answer 6

I agree with you 100%, people can choose any section of the bible to justify any belief they have to further their own aims, a prime example was slavery! ( the passage is to do with one of Noahs sons) hardly a 'christian practice'! What also is ignored is the fact it was written 100s years after some of the events.

Its a 'story' to portray a message, a very important message, but to say ''its the word of god' makes it unquestionable, and therefore impossible to argue against. Which suits the readers. How can you hold a debate if one person has God on their side, and you just have logic! There is no contest, and no debate, in their eyes, of course.

Answer 7

I can't speak for everyone, but your understanding of what people generally mean, and have meant historically, when they speak of the Bible as the "Word of God", is a bit off. Taking your remarks point by point:

(1)"The bible itself is the work of the human mind, several human minds in fact"

Except for the few who subscribe to some sore of "dictation theory" for the whole thing, the historical view is that human beings did, indeed, write the words. Some parts may be "dictated", but in many their OWN thoughts and personalities are expressed. BUT it is believe that God so INFLUENCED them and the circumstances, and OVERSAW the whole process in such a way that what HE wanted to communicate was written. (see the reference to 2 Peter 1:20-21 below)

(2) "has been altered down the centuries by different interpretations and translations. Some things have even been deliberately altered to suit the opinions of the times. "

No doubt there HAVE been those who have pushed various INTERPRETATIONS of Scripture (e.g., various cults), and there is always going to be some element of interpretation involved in translating a text from one language to another. But if you study the history of the actual TEXTS and their TRANSLATION, there is NO evidence of the sort of significant and delibetate alterations you speak of.

(3) "several books omitted from the bible some of which have been found at a later time. The dead sea scrolls for example. "

Sorry, but you don't know what you are talking about! The Dead Sea Scrolls are the documents of a reclusive Jewish religious community and reflecting their beliefs BEFORE the coming of Christ. They were NOT Christians of any sort --so, for instance, the claim that this community had "lost gospels" is utter, ignorant nonsense. They had no gospels at all!

You're probably thinking of the "lost gospels" Dan Brown and others have been pushing. But the historical record of these is quite clear. These Gnostic gospels are MUCH later than the NT writings, are not even really in the FORM of gospels (no real storyline), were NEVER accepted by the churches, only by small fringe groups. Note too that EACH of these gospels claims to be THE real "hidden" revelation that only a few understand... taken seriously each of them rules out all the others!! (Also, if you start actually studying these documents you will probably not be so excited about them -- they have a VERY low view of women, the human body, etc., which is VERY unlike the positive view of the material world in mainstream Jewish and Christian belief. .. another evidence that this is not a restoration of early Jewish Christan belief, but a corruption of it by absorbing a few Christian ideas into quite another belief system.)

Nor did the Council of Nicea --or Constantine who called it but did NOT run it-- do or say anything at all about these documents! They were there solely to resolve questions about the best way to understand the nature of Jesus Christ -esp. his deity, which they ALL accepted. (This is another piece of nonsense recently foisted on us by Dan Brown and others who have, sadly, failed to do even the most basic historical research.)

(4) "What has given rise to the belief that this is literal word of God?"

I'm a bit surprised that, given the upbringing you speak of, you are not familiar with the various passages of the Bible that speak about it as the word of God, of the nature of divine inspiration itself. A few examples:

"All Scripture is 'God-breathed'" (2 Tim. 3:16)
"Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 21For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:20-21 -- in context Peter is speaking of how Jesus fulfilled Old Testament Scriptures)

The New Testament repeatedly speaks of events as having been spoken about in the Old Testament Scriptures and now being FULFILLED in the actions and words of Jesus, and are said to "testify" to him, though written centuries before. Surely the writers did not regard those Scriptures as "just human thoughts"!
(to see several you might look up "Scripture" in a concordance, e.g., here:
http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=Scripture&searchtype=any&version1=31

Beside specific passages which claim to report some specific words of God to people, there are a number of places where OTHER Scriptures are quoted which were NOT such a report, and the citations introduce them as something GOD said -- example: Hebrews 1:5-13 (various quotes from the Psalms) Similarly, Jesus refers to a Psalm quote as "David, speaking by the Spirit said. . . ", and Peter and Paul do very similar things in Acts (esp. ch 1-2, 4 and 28 -- look up "Spirit" and "spoke" in the tool linked above)

You don't have to agree, you may have questions. . . but this TEACHING about the Scriptures being God's own Word (spoken TO and THROUGH men) is found in the Bible itself. It is not some recent invention.

Answer 8

Belief in the Bible as the sole source of God's revelation and instruction, and the belief that it is the literal word of God meant to be interpreted literally, is a product of Fundamentalism.

Two facts:

1 - Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the Bible itself is to be considered the sole source of revelation.

2 - Nowhere in the Bible does it say that everything in the Bible is meant to be taken literally, for all time.

God does most of His work on earth through men, who are imperfect. If the Bible is not perfect, it is a reflection of the imperfection of man, not of God.

Why God chooses to work this way (through mankind, rather than just directly) is a mystery to us. He has decided to voluntarily place this limitation upon Himself in regard to His interactions with humans. That is why prayer is effective. God can and will respond to prayer, and not respond to a lack of it. There are plenty of instances of this in the Bible. For example when He was going to destroy Ninevah, but the people repented, covered themselves in ashes and wore sackcloth. God relented and spared the city.

I believe that the Bible is the true and inspired word of God, but it has to be interpreted and read in it's proper context, taking into account the book as a whole, the times and culture that the participants were living in. It is both divinely inspired *and* written by humans.

Answer 9

John,
It is the INspired WORD of GOD. There are some books that are not written literally. Many are written literally. The New Testament writers followed Jesus and gave us wht we need to become Christians and honor our FATHER. Have a great week.
Thanks,
Eds, Christian

Answer 10

I Trust God to have enough Power to get the Scriptures to us that were are to believe and be Saved by and then in the Judgment we will be Judged by the same scriptures.
The Religious leaders from the time that the first scripture was written until today have tried to force people to come to the and pay great sums of money or honor or other things to receive God Word but God has foiled all such wicked people and organizations to protect His Holy Word for Us today. Praise God!

Source(s):

60 years of experiencing God's Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ.