?? for Muslims, Jews, Christians, Bahi, and any other religion.?

Question

If your respected Holy Book is right in general about what it talks about, but is not "without error", would this be damaging to your religious/personal belief system?

Are the general facts enough? Can your faith stand on it's own or does it need "inerrent" writtings?

And please, no "it says it's without error, so, therefore it is." answers. that's just a dog chasing it's tail.

Answer 1

i'm a christian. i don't know about this? but i guess if a word for word literal translation, every word perfect, was necessary. Then why was the New Testament written in Greek? Wouldn't God have had it written in aramaic? So, since He didn't I guess all we need is for His "voice" to come out throught the text.
that would be alot smarter on Gods part. think about it. if God wanted to say something in a way that everyone could read and understand it in their own language, then it wouldn't be necessary for every letter to be right, just every concept.
So, make a way for a neutral translation for everybody to translate into their own language. if this didn't happen then people would be worshipping the book and letters rather than the creator.
I guess those who get so mad they kill because their book has been disgraced, worship the book and not God. But, I know there arn't any wacko's like that on yahoo questions. or are there? (peace be upon them)

Answer 2

I prefer not to view my religion as a means of getting into Heaven, rather I view it as a means of living my life on Earth, of dealing with the challenges I face in life and dealing with the questions like why am I here? I think putting so much emphasis on getting into Heaven is what has ruined religion for so many people- yes the reward of eternal life is a tremendous thing to strive for, but life itself as we know it is also a gift. Nobody knows what the afterlife will bring for sure. The idea that other religions are another way to Heaven doesn't bother me, in fact it makes me want to believe what I believe even more, because it emphasizes that it's my choice for the present. I could care less what other people believe. I do believe certain individuals will go directly to Hell though.

Answer 3

Any faith that claims to be the "one true way" must, necessarily, have an exclusive claim to truth. In other words, for one such faith to be true, all other faiths must be flawed.

As a result, it pretty much has to have an inerrant text, because if the text is not inerrant, the faith is itself flawed and cannot be the only true way to paradise/heaven/whatever you want to call it.

Anyway, your question "can your faith stand on its own, or does it need inerrant writings" is a pointless question. If a "faith" could stand on the basis of, oh say, provable facts or evidence, rather than on "inerrant writings", it would not require much faith to believe it, now would it?

Answer 4

If someone showed me how the bible is erronous, then my faith would change. Whether it would be 'damaging' to my faith remains to be seen. The bible teaches that 'with evidence, faith is not needed'. However, until someone proves that GOD either exists or doesnt exist, my faith will stand strong. I believe in GOD and I believe in Jesus.

If i required 'inerrant writings' for my faith to survive, then it wouldnt be faith. The notion that someone will believe in GOD if he can prove GOD exists is an oxymoron in my opinion. Faith is defined as 'belief in that which is unseen'. Once, he proves that GOD exists, his faith or ability to have faith will cease.

My faith stands strong until GOD reveals himself to me, or until GOD shows me the errors in my belief system. When he reveals himself to me, my faith turns into 'experience'. When GOD shows me the errors, my faulty faith turns into repentance.

Faith always comes first, even in the scientific method. You can't take a hypothesis to the lab without first having faith in it.

Make sense?

I have alot of faith in the bible. Is it possible that there are errors? especially after its gone through so many hands? I guess anything is possible. But, maybe, just maybe, it is exactly what GOD intended it to be.

Answer 5

The Quran mentions that jesus was sent after moses to keep the people on the straight path.Also that mankind had tampered with their books.And that Allah had the Quran sent down as the last book from him (God)Allah.And it will never be messed with.That is Allahs word.
Can your faith stand on it's own or does it need"inerrent" writtings?
It is forbidden to add/change any writings
there are also proves of past events and future

And there is no bahi
http://www.55a.net/firas/english/?page=show&select_page=7
http://quran-wa-sunnah.tripod.com/

Answer 6

There is no book. Well, Wiccans have the Rede I guess. But no one difinative book. Besides, we all acknowlege that Wicca was created in the 1950's-ish by Gerald Gardner, and he's certainly not perfect or unrefutably inspired by the gods.

And then there are ecclectics like me, who have tons of books, but none with sacred rules and laws or anything. We kind of make our own way.

So I guess, my answer is, the question does not apply, since our faith has to stand on it's own. :)

Answer 7

My religion/spirituality has no holy books, so we don't have to worry about that. My faith does stand on its own without the so-called support of any supposedly holy texts.

Answer 8

The Christian Bible is a collection of writings handed down for generations and has been transcribed and translated and retranscribed and retranslated. Knowing that there are factual errors contained therein does not lessen the message. It still tells the story of God's interaction with humankind.

All you really have to remember (and Jesus said it) is that God is Love. If you love God and love your fellow human, everything else will work out.

Answer 9

You have not asked about Hindu religion which has one Billion followers all over the world.However i give my reply to your question.
Our Religious Texts(Vedam) are not in written form and it can NOT be written also.It can only be learned by Hear-& Recite from a Teacher.So it is called "SRUTHI"(srothram=Ear--Srothas=Bronchi/&upper alimentary canal) used in Sound production(Recitation)--and there are several metres(Chandas) like Gayatram,Anushtup,Trishtup,Jagathi,Bangthi etc for Recitation.The text is learned in 5 forms of Paatam,Kramam,---------,----------,Ganam.In Paatam the syllables are arranged1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8.9.10---100 that way.In Kramam(Order)it is arranged 1,2,-1,2-,2,1-,2,3,-2,3 like that.In Ganam they are arranged 1,2,1,2,1,2,--2,1,21,1,2,,--2,3,2,3,3,2,1---2,3,2,3,3,4,3,4,4,3,2--etc.So when during recitation-in the metre and syllable arrangement,even if there is ONE MISTAKE, an ordinary man's ear toocan easily identify things are going wrong.You ,Yourself can purchase a DVD of Rk or Yajur or Saaman Vedam- GANAM recitation by a REPUTED Ganapaati(one who is a certified Ganam Reciter)-listen-you will understand what i try to say.So in the recitation of Vedam the question of "Error" does not arise.

While posting the preview many words are dropped out. The following words are missing:--- Srotha =Bronchi & alimentary canal--------in Chandas Jagathi and Bangthi--------in five forms GANAM is missing----Ganam they are arranged 1,2,1,2,1,2,--2,1,21,1,2,,--2,3,2,3,3,2,1---2,3,2,3,3,4,3,4,4,3,2--etc

Answer 10

the bible never says it without error it just says its the word of God, from God and that its Gods job to protect his truth. man has made this whole without error up because they dont see how God s word could be truth if it has errors. but that wont help you issue becasue you dont want any truth becaseu if its true than God has the right to tell you what to do - and you want , what you precieve to be freedom from God. God will allow you choice to not have him but its lonely without peace and not any real happiness - becasue thoes are only found in the truth ie god word.