OK, so you don't have to believe everything in the bible. AND it's the inspired word of god. Am I (details) ?

Question

Am I the only one who sees a contradiction here?

Please explain it like I'm stupid.

Answer 1

I think you are confusing theist fundies with normal theists.
Normal theists believe god inspired people, fundies believe god dictated it to them.

Answer 2

Dear Stupid,

The original parchments and scrolls were the authentic, written word of God, as given to the holy writers by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who is God himself.

God knew precisely what he wanted written, and he made certain that the writers accurately set down his words.

Procedures were also put in place to make sure that subsequent replacement copies of the originals would be faithfully reproduced.

The fairly recent discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Qumran, Israel, proved that the old testament writings were indeed remarkably faithful in all of their reproductions, over a period of some 1500 years.

These, as well as the later, new testament writings have been similarly preserved and dutifully cared for, by the Catholic Church.

Numerous fulfilled prophecies, thorough and consistent historical "provenance" and scholarship, as well as the constant testimony of the Church, from the earliest days, all testify to the divinely inspired status of "the Book".

Hence, the Bible is in fact, the authentic, God-inspired, inerrant, written Word of God, but the oldest original texts have mostly been lost to history, with only a relative few of the earliest documents still in existence, (and not very many people read Greek and Hebrew anymore, anyway)so we must take care choosing exactly what we believe.

Further complicating the matter are the the numerous divisions and fractures in the present day Body of Christ (the Church) so we now have quite a number of different Bible versions and translations, which agree on the great bulk of most things, but which differ on a number of other significant points.

This is the only reason that any apparent contradictions even exist.

In closing:

God knows that what he caused to be written is true.

We know from experience that the original writings were true, because the majority of old testament prophecies have actually already come to pass.

We know that the copies we discovered in Qumran were accurate, and we have a complete historical and theological provenance for all of the new testament writings, as well as independent written and eye witness testimony with which to back them up.

So, based on all of this (and more) I trust that even someone who is Stupid, like yourself, can, after sufficient study, prayer, and meditation, find it in their heart to believe.

Sincerely,

Just Another Faithful Catholic

Answer 3

I believe the Bible is the inspired word of God. I just might not believe your own personal interpretation that God has no concept of different literary forms to use.

Some interpret it one way because they, for whatever reason, think that's the only way God would know how to write. For example, to think that God "wrote" Genesis as a science text book is almost like telling God you don't care what His message is. His message should be exactly how the earth was created because that's how YOU read it. Listen to the Holy Spirit when reading and you'll see a lot more of what God's message is.

If that's not what you meant, please clarify your question. But it seems like you're asking why anyone that doesn't interpret it like a fundamentalist believes it's the word of God. As far as I can see it, the Fundamentalists tend to look for God's message in scripture a lot less.

Answer 4

You see, the answer to your question is very simple. If the bible really was the inspired word of God or that God had dicted it to some, then there really should have been only one bible!.

However there are more than 200 different version of the Bible, and no christian priest will tell you this that no too are identicale. Does God change his mind so often that different bibles were dictated. Obviously Not.

The bible was only one, however later people like paul, luke and jhon claimed to see jesus in dreams and claimed to have been inspired by god to write the bible. Hogwash.

For example, lets just take the concept of orignal Sin. It says that since adam ate the forbidden fruit, all later mankind will be born in sin and to repay that sin, God sacrificed his only begotten son in sacrifice to repay our sins.

But I ask you, did adam ask me before eating the forbidden fruit. If not, then why should I be held responsible. Is God so cruel that punishing adam by pushing him out of heaven wasnt enough. I am in no way born in Sin. That is also what God says in the Quran, It says that every child is born sinless.
Its what way they choose later in life is what will decide their fate.

Plus paul introduced the idea of God's son dieying for us in sacrifice so that all later christians could do what ever they want.

Answer 5

Ok.

You ever get an inspiration for a song/ story/ poem? That poem/ song/ story usually ends up being the best one you've written.

Then there are the other times when you force yourself to come up with an idea and it turns out terrible.

Like how bands only have music videos for their best songs, the other songs on the album are good, just not AS good.

My finisher: God inspired the Bible, but the inspiration was corrupted.

Any Real Christian wouldn't agree with half the stuff in the Bible.

Even Fred Phelps doesn't agree with rape or incest.

Answer 6

Simple.
The Bible is not "the word of God." The subject matter is inspired - the text is not dictated by God. In order to understand and apply the Bible, you have to analyze the intentions and limitations of its authors, piece together the origins of its myths, uncover the philosophical and psychological principles beneath the surface of the text. Christianity was not founded on the Bible - the Bible was adopted gradually, over many centuries, as a reference work, and was understood allegorically by ancient theologians.

Around 15% of modern Christians adhere to a view of Scripture that was invented in the 17th century, and which only gained prominance in the 19th. They see the Bible as the inspired Word of God, and go to great lengths to ignore its literary genres, its original language, its symbolic meanings, the intentions of the authors, and its cultural context. They believe that the Bible was dictated by God, that God wrote it. Unfortunately, of the 15% of Christians who adhere to this view, they make up close to 60% of American Christianity. As a result, people associate this ahistorical, anti-traditional minority view with the Christian religion, and assume that Christianity itself is inherently self-contradictory. But what are you going to do?

Answer 7

The King James bible is the infallible and inerrant word of God. Every word of the bible is true; every word is inspired by God and there is no contradiction to be found in the bible.

The problem lies in the fact that many will say that we have the best available translation, or that our translation is based on the best available manuscripts, but that means that they believe that the infallible and inerrant word of God for the people living today does not exist. When they make that statement, directly or indirectly, they are denying that God has preserved his word and made the fact that he did known to us, and they are calling into question everything that the bible says that can not be changed in order to make it more appealing to unregenerate man, whom the Holy Spirit will convict based on the truth that is found within it if it is not tampered with.

Answer 8

What I will tell you is that Jesus is the center of what the Bible is about. it's about a lot of other things, but that is the central theme both in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Don't worry about how I know that, just give me the benefit of the doubt for a minute.

There are so many subjects to go into in the Bible. Many of those are not referring to the focus of faith. Some of them have to do with exact times, or references that could be taken literal or figurative.

For instance, What did Ham do to his father in the tent after Noah got drunk? That has nothing to do with Jesus, who places himself as the religious center of the universe.

The bottom line in all this Christianity stuff is; When God says something, he means it; He's trustworthy. If your rendition of the Bible causes you to doubt or mistrust God, then there is a problem. The men who wrote it, and the years that have passed by notwithstanding, God is num,ber one and trusting Him makes you different to Him compared to all other people who don't trust Him. That's God's opinion by the way.

So yes, you can theorize the real meaning behind the Noah's ark thing, and wonder about the angels being held back for weeks by a human Prince of Persia, or a demonic/ spirit prince of Persia, but Christ is central to the faith of those who want to be saved! Nothing else is so important for understanding Christianity.

Answer 9

Who said you dont have to believe everything?

If you are chosing to believe in the bible, you are choosing it because it is the truth, If you are only "picking and choosing" what to believe, then you are not fully believing in the bible, and making up your own "comfortable religion" to believe in.

This is the bottom line:

Jesus proclaimed the bible as 100% truth. The Bible states Jesus as the only way to salvation (John 14:6).

If you choose to believe that Jesus is your only way to heaven, you need to believe everything he said and stood for.



Because If something is partially true, but has some lie to it, it is a lie.

www.carm.org

Answer 10

I think it's a case of people who still believe (or want to believe) but who also want to continue to live life in a way that isn't consistent with the Bible. You're absolutely right though. It's not consistent thought.