How do Christians know.....?

Question

...that the authors of the bible were not complete crack pots?

The bible books were put together by a rabble of christian and jewish religious men, who decided which books were written by people with the guidance of God, and the books which were not and discarded from the bible.

How did they decide this?
Did Revelations slip past them?
And why did they let the boring Psalms get in?

PhotoMe.... Beowulf has stood the test of time pretty well.... but that does not claim to be the whole truth!

oh and revelations is by far the best book of the bible!!!!!!!! But it does seem to be written by a loony!!

People I am not asking whether I should believe in it or not! I am asking how we can be so sure it is what God wanted us to hear, when it was put together by men! (Christian scholars don't deny this)

Frndofzion!!! I never once said I am not a christain. I was raised in a highly relgious family and calling christians stupid would be like calling my mom stupid!! If you want to contribute to the question just answer it and stop being all defensive like a silly little baby! So there!! And by the way pity has one t.

primoa1970 - A lot of people claim to write things saying that God told them to. How is the bible different?

Answer 1

You should read the book Misquoting Jesus. It was written by a man who used to be a priest, but now is agnostic. He researched thousands of ancient text that were supposedly the forebears to the modern King James Bible. What he found was that a VAST majority of the bible was falsified and made up by scribes and translators.
But hey, Christians still want to believe in it, then they can just go right ahead. I guess that believing in a lie is better than not believing at all, right?

Answer 2

We have scriptural writings that date back to Jesus' day and even before him. The oldest is "The Dead Sea Scrolls". It's part of the book of Isaiah. There are tons of writings like this that have been found and the translation remains exactly the same with each historical writing we find when compared to today's Bibles. All the Bible is primarily is eyewitness testimony. It was written by someone who wrote down what they saw. All of history, not just the Bible, is based on eyewitness testimony. If you call to question the Bible then you have to question anything that was ever written about history. Christianity has lasted throughout thousands of years and spread like wildfire during the time of Roman rule after Jesus' death. We know this not because the Bible says so, but because history (as in non-religious historical writings) says so. I do believe that people in that time would have been smart enough to reject a bunch crackpot's trying to start a religion. And It continues to be the most widespread religion worldwide today. As much as people like to debunkify the Bible without anything backing up what they have to say, it remains one of the most historically accurate documents to this day and continues to line up historically with other documents and writings all over the place.

And Psalms is boring?! Psalms is the deepest cry to God about sufferings of the heart and mind as well as physical suffering. David is scared for his life from things such as old age, illness and real people and nations that wanted him dead. Try reading the Psalms as if you are saying these things directly to God, that is if you believe in God. If you don't I don't know why you're reading the Bible in the first place, not that you shouldn't be - maybe God'll surprise you in what he reveals to you through it.

Answer 3

The Bible has unity:
First, the Bible was written over a span of fifteen hundred years. Second, it was written by more than forty men from every walk of life. For example, Moses was educated in Egypt, Peter was a fisherman, Solomon was a king, Luke was a doctor, Amos was a shepherd, and Matthew was a tax collector. All the writers were of vastly different occupations and backgrounds.
Third, it was written in many different places. The Bible was written on three different continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe. Moses wrote in the desert of Sinai, Paul wrote in a prison in Rome, Daniel wrote in exile in Babylon, and Ezra wrote in the ruined city of Jerusalem.
Fourth, it was written under many different circumstances. David wrote during a time of war, Jeremiah wrote at the sorrowful time of Israel's downfall, Peter wrote while Israel was under Roman domination, and Joshua wrote while invading the land of Canaan.
Fifth, the writers had different purposes for writing. Isaiah wrote to warn Israel of God's coming judgment on their sin; Matthew wrote to prove to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah; Zechariah wrote to encourage a disheartened Israel who had returned from Babylonian exile; and Paul wrote addressing problems in different Asian and European churches.
If we put all these factors together—the Bible was written over fifteen hundred years by forty different authors at different places, under various circumstances, and addressing a multitude of issues—how amazing that with such diversity, the Bible proclaims a unified message! That unity is organized around one theme: God's redemption of man and all of creation. The writers address numerous controversial subjects yet contradictions never appear. The Bible is an incredible document.
Let me offer you a good illustration. Suppose ten medical students graduating in the same year from medical school wrote position papers on four controversial subjects. Would they all agree on each point? No, we would have disagreements from one author to another. Now look at the authorship of the Bible. All these authors, from a span of fifteen hundred years, wrote on many controversial subjects, yet they do not contradict one another.
It seems one author guided these writers through the whole process: the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21 states, “No prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” The unity of the Bible is just one more amazing proof of the divine inspiration and authority of the Bible.

Answer 4

Well a lot of it has to do with finding original texts (at least in the case of the New Testament) and not including the Appocraphyl books that were written about Jesus at least 100 years after His ascencion into Heaven.

They had their reasons and if you really look into (instead of reading The Davinci Code), you will see why.

Revelations is awesome.

Can u honestly tell me u don't like Song of Songs?

Answer 5

How do you know that Shakespeare was a literary genius?
You know by reading Shakespeare.
God-fearing, God-loving, God-seeking men down through the ages have read the Scriptures and come to the common conclusion - This is the Word of God.
I concur.

Answer 6

And do you know for sure that it *was* written by a bunch of crack pots?

If I were you, I wouldn't try to disprove a book that has stood the test of time.

Answer 7

I bet you are one of those ppl who cries "foul" when a Christian talks openly about GOD. I bet you get all offended and stuff. Yet it's okay for you to come on here and say such stupid things that are clearly intended to insult Christians and the Holy Bible. GOD is a BIG BOY!! HE will defend HIMSELF!! I pitty your soul come judgment day! (in fact, I pitty you now. How miserable!)

Answer 8

Crackpots, much like Crackheads, will always buy whatever their dealer pushes on them.......


PS: The poster above says her lame pamphlet has "withstood the test of time"..........

So then the Earth is flat and Noah's Ark is on display for everyone to see and touch??????

Jizzus Crized!!

Answer 9

"Because the bible says so," is the common Christian answer. They'll believe in all the supernatural mumbo-jumbo in the bible but eschew magic and Harry Potter.

A right conundrum, if you ask me.

Answer 10

One day in the near future, you will see the truth first hand.