I need help, how do you explain to someone that the bible is inspired by?

Question

God, he keeps insisting when the king james was written and all the other different translations that it was just people writing stuff, that it isn't from God. How do you explain correctly the bible to someone and where it comes from and what it means, HELP!!!!

Answer 1

Do you really want to know if the Bible is the word of God? Here is a time-tested method for uncovering the mystery of the Word of God: "the child of God (that's me) takes the Word of God (the Scriptures) into the presence of God (prayer) and lets the Holy Spirit of God (the Author) make that Word come to life for me and, more importantly, in me."

Another advice: if you want to prove to yourself or anyone else that the Bible is the Word of God, then I suggest you put the teaching of Jesus on forgiveness into practice. Forgive everyone, especially the people who have hurt you the most. If you find it difficult to forgive, ask God to help you forgive them. Pray for this every day, for weeks, even months until you can honestly say to yourself that you have forgiven them. Forgive also yourself - for the things you did and did not do. I guarantee you a miracle will happen in your life. If there is no miracle, come back to me and say the Bible is not the Word of God. I will believe you.

Peace and every blessing!

Answer 2

The Catholic Encyclopedia states Bible is Skeptic and Concocted
A. THE FORMATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON (A.D. 100-220)
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03274a.htm
The idea of a complete and clear-cut canon of the New Testament existing from the beginning, that is from Apostolic times, has no foundation in history. The Canon of the New Testament, like that of the Old, is the result of a development, of a process at once stimulated by disputes with doubters, both within and without the Church, and retarded by certain obscurities and natural hesitations, and which did not reach its final term until the dogmatic definition of the Tridentine Council. ("Canon of the New Testament")
There is a lot of confusion about the earliest existing texts of the Bible. The oldest extant manuscript of the Bible is believed to be the Codex Vaticanus, (preserved in the Vatican Library), which is slightly older than the Codex Sinaiticus (preserved in the British Library), both of which were transcribed in the fourth century.
As for the story of Jesus, there were at least 50 gospels written in the first and second century CE. Four of them (Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John) were included in the official canon during the fourth century CE and are found today in every Bible. All of the original copies of the gospels were lost. What we have now are handwritten copies, which are an unknown number of replications removed from the originals.
Rudolf Bultmann, a prominent 20th-century professor of New Testament studies writes about the life of Jesus:
We can now know almost nothing concerning the life and personality of Jesus, since the early Christian sources show no interest in either, are moreover fragmentary and often legendary; and other sources about Jesus do not exist. (Bultmann 8)
Example of Confliction in Bible
II Samuel 8:4 (vs) II Samuel 8:9-10 II Kings 8:26
II Samuel 6:23 Genesis 6:3 John 5:37
John 5:31 I Chronicles 18:4 I Chronicles 18:9-10
II Chronicles 22:2 II Samuel 21:8 Genesis 9:29
John 14:9 John 8:14

Answer 3

I would say I used to be one of those that did not believe in the Bible because of it having been written over and over again at the hands of different people. So, instead of being judgemental about a book I had no idea about, I did my own research into its origins.

The writers of the King James Bible, in fact, did not change the Bible as it was written from the original Hebrew and Greek texts in terms of meaning.

The only thing that was change was grammar and puncutation. Commas and breaks, paragraphs broken down, etc. was added later on for better understanding of the text. Certain words or phrases were "added" to help with clarification of a passage because there are words in the Hebrew and Greek texts which have no translation in the English form. As a matter of fact, these words are italicized in the Bible so we are clear as readers to know which words had no translations.

The actual meaning behind the passages has never changed. There are many other ancient texts that coincide with the events in the Bible.

Besides this evidence, there is amazing consistency within the Bible itself that can only be inspired by the hand of God. Numbers, events, times, names, etc. All these things have incredible consistency. All it takes is a little reading and research.

I used to say the very same thing. But I have come to realize that those who say the Bible is not real or a fake also has not read it, understand it, or do their own research on its origins. Sometimes, however, it will never matter what you say or what they discover. If they are not open to receiving that truth, they would not believe it even if it fell from the sky and landed on their face.

The Bible is the only text to ever have been written that can answer EVERY question a person will ever have in their lifetime. Another fascination fact about the Bible is that learning the Bible is always changing. You can read it a thousand times and learn something new every time you read it. Only a book inspired by God can have such an impact.

Remember, there are a million ways you can rewrite a sentence to mean the same thing. As generations come and go, language changes. To understand the Bible and the message you have to remain a student. Meaning you have to be willing to constantly learn and study. Believe it or not, if someone simply sits down and reads it with an open mind, the messages behind the passages will be revealed. The more you read the more you will understand it....

Answer 4

The answer lies in the "key word" that you used...

...."inspired"...

Have you considered that both of you may be right in your own way (or perspective of it)?

And that both of you "being right" have nothing to do with the situation, nor the solution you find yourself in with your friend?

Are you sure that part of the problem isn't due to YOUR insistence that either ALL The Bible is "inspired" or that it is the ONLY source of "inspiration"?

How is it that you believe you can convince your friend (or any one for that matter) via any kind of external 'proof or reasoning" that something is or isn't "inspired"?

Ask yourself...

Does it matter WHO wrote The Bible? Or that there are other 'translations', interpretations, etc.?

Most will say absolutely, and until everyone realizes that who actually committed these teachings to script is less important than -- as you stated -- that they are recognized as being "inspired".

Think of how many 'interpretations' and 'translations' of The Bible there are that are being used by all the various Chrisitan faiths?

How is it that all these Chrisitans believe their own 'version' is inspired, yet disagree that the others version is correct?

Is it really the words in The Bible or the 'authenticity' or 'authorship', etc., that they are "seeing" as being "inspired" or is it something else?

The important thing is that each of you sincerely seek the truth and do so with the intention of coming to an agreement (common ground) that a, or any particular teaching is "inspired".

Meaning what is more important to each of you? Proving or convincing the other that the Bible is "inspired" and/or who it is or isn't written by, etc., or is it the discovery of, or the knowledge of "the truth"?

For instance, could you both agree that "the Golden Rule" is a teaching that would represent a teaching which is written in the Bible -- is something that is "inspired" regardless of who actually wrote it down?

Then from there, you can cite other teachings which you, and/or your friend can agree are "inspired" -- or not.

In support of your use of The Bible, you may wish to point out to your friends that regardless of who wrote them:

"The words of Jesus are quoted more than any other person on the earth, published in more languages, used in more speeches and has inspired more thought word for word than any other person in history. And their impact shows no signs of fading. The words of Christ are indeed 'eternal words' that shall 'not pass away.'"

What are "inspired" writings, teachings, scriptures, etc.?

There are two kinds of words spoken and/or used in this world. The most common are just 'regular words', and the other words are what might be referred to as being "eternal words" -- or words that convey or communicate a 'principle' which was true back at the time of Jesus (or before), and still is true today -- and will remain true throughout eternity.

How then does one discern whether a book, writing or teaching is "inspired' (eternal words) or not?

Well, one way is through a "meeting of the minds"; i.e., for instance if each of you agrees that teaching of The Golden Rule is "inspired", then you have come to an agreement of 'the minds'.

I believe that YOU have the hardest task before you, as you may have to open yourself up to the possibility that "inspiration" (inspired writings, etc) are not limited to The Bible, but may, in fact, come from any source.

The 'problem' (as it were) is your willingness and/or ability to discern whether a teaching, book, person, etc., is "inspired" and what they are "saying" IS "the truth".

Regards,

Answer 5

It took almost 2500 yrs to compile the entire Bible. Written by more than 40 different authors from Different places at Different Times and at Different seasons. Many of the Authors haven't seen one another.......YET THE BIBLE IS THE SAME IN ITS CONTENT. No Portion of the Bible Is Condradicting with any other. No context is an any way teaching two diverse subjects. After all, All books in the Bible point to Jesus Christ.

"How is all this possible?" u may think. It's No coincidence BUT all happened under the Divine Inspiration of God.

II Timothy 3:16,17 (with explanation)
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God,..profitable for
Doctrine - for the Spiritual life
Reproof - shows the truth
Correction - corrects us when we are wrong
Instruction - guidelines us for our daily life.
that the man of God may be perfect..."

Answer 6

well seeing as the original texts of the bible were significantly editted with different generations choosing what parts to put in and which ones to hide away, translated in different languages, full of violence, slavery, incest, sexist ideologies and mythical stories that were mostly borrowed from other ancient religions esp the religion of the ancient greeks and persians (if you doubt this read the greek mythology and the persian god- all include a god who came down and died and rose on the 3rd day, the flood, water to wine, etc). With all these heinous acts and copied stories plus deletions hidden by the church, it is great that your friend does not believe that such a heinous text could have come from god. Think about it, if you can prove to your friend that they did then you will have to explain why any logical person will want to have anything to do with such a god

Answer 7

All of my class mates and I got confused about that in Bible class last year so our teacher kind of explained it for us. You just pray to God for help understanding His word. Every time they re-translate it they ask God for help to translate it well. They may even start from the Hebrew, Greek, etc. and translate it into modern language. I'm not sure but that am be correct. It's okay to think that the King James version is the only good translation also. Many people belive that it is the best or just prefer it. It's whatever you were raised with. I prefer NIV because that's what I've heard all my life.

Answer 8

First the Bible clearly states "All scripture is given by inspiration or God-breathed, and is useful for teaching, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Also, God is not going to let what is so important for us be tampered with. Our current Bible translations and versions are translated from Latin and Greek original manuscripts of which there are over 300. Besides this, the Dead Sea Scrolls (from current archeological finds in the caves of Qumran) offer validation that those manuscripts are accurate. Furthermore, the accuracy of the copiers was far superior than today's textbooks. When they made a mistake, I heard they threw that page away and started again.

Here is what Wikipedia states are the numbers of copies of each of these books of the Bible (all old testatment).

Books Ranked According to Number of Manuscripts found (top 16)[5]

Books Number found
Psalms 39
Deuteronomy 33
1 Enoch 25
Genesis 24
Isaiah 22
Jubilees 21
Exodus 18
Leviticus 17
Numbers 11
Minor Prophets 10
Daniel 8
Jeremiah 6
Ezekiel 6
Job 6
1 & 2 Samuel 4

God bless you and your frined. I hope he is open to God. Ask him to give God a chance. Put God to the test. Let God reveal Himself in a personal way to him. Open to His great love to him. God is soo good.

"I am an ever present help in time of trouble." and "Tell them 'I AM' sent you." (Exodus, Moses speaking)

Also, "Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Jesus." Isn't that a wonderful promise. If you let God in, He will not disappoint. You yearn to know the one who knows you and actually sent his loving Son to pay the penalty for your sin.
Ah sin. That is the place most likely that you have a hard time admitting you sin. You brush it aside but it's still there.
It really isn't the fact that God has more manuscripts for the Bible (His Story) than any other book in the world, but it is the fact that you want to keep your dirty little and big sins. Sorry, but sin separates us from God. If that is what you want, you'll be sorry, because sin does not satisify and it keeps you in the network on a downward spiral toward hell. God did not create hell for any humans, but Satan. Because Eve sinned in the Garden, listening to Satan, He has become the prince and power of this world, even though God's beauty shines through, it is all contaminated with sin, sickness, death, disease, and darkness. We need to realize this is not what God's ideal plan was. It was spoiled by his creatures, Adam and Eve. We need a new Adam -- a new beginning -- to be given the hope we all yearn for -- eternal LIFE. God did not leave or abandon us. He sent JESUS his only son that who ever would BELIEVE in Him would not perish but have eternal life. God did not sent His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that they might have life through Him." John 3:16-17

He who has the Son has LIFE; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. God bless you both.

Answer 9

You need to study the original texts (that means knowing the languages), study the history of the church, study the changes, etc. If you don't, you are blindly believing, which is what your OWN BIBLE tells you to NOT do. If you really cared about a religion that concerns your potential eternal life, wouldn't you devote a lot of your time to understanding everything about it? Believe it or not, there ARE important matters that have arisen in history, important changes made... and the churches are heavily influenced by both internal and external politics, non-Biblical texts, etc. You need to think for yourself, not be told what other people believe. Do your own homework - it's "God's will."

Answer 10

hey pink,
inspired just means influenced in spirit. i could even write something about God and His salvation out of the love in my heart for Him, and it would be truly inspired. not by my means, but by trusting that God can give me the words because He knows that i am wanting to get the truth out so hat His truth is known; so that God is considered correctly.
God's Word is living and powerful; Spirit. anything put into human words will surely have something lost in translation (or even mis-translated).
the worst contradictions in the bible are things like: God says don't kill and then sends His people to war to kill even children, or, that a God of love and mercy would require a "human sacrifice" of the innocent to appease Himself. (isn't that what we scoff at the heathen for?). to me, this contradicts a true God of infinite love, mercy, patience, forgiveness and understanding compassion.
satan influenced many through fear and control, history gets distorted, etc. many men wrote many things about our good Lord but keep in mind that mankind is prideful and satan can also inspire by deceit and confusion. the people who wrote the stuff that ended up in the bible where all seeking to describe and explain God. good intentions, but they were still human (not perfect in spirit).
if you want to read something that was not only inspired by God and His Christ, but un-influenced by pride or satan, read "Toward the Light" (it's my bible now). if i would have read this book *before* i got a hold of the bible, i would have made the same recommendation to the one who gave me the bible.
but, please, don't throw out the baby with the bath water. God's truth can be found in the bible, but let your conscience (God's influencing connection) be your guide. He will never let you stay un-enlightened. He will never deny anyone who seeks Him in truth and love, you will have a greater connection than any book can ever give.
i don't want to influence you by hype (about "Toward the light"), it needs none. i'll just say that all my questions are answered and the kind of love that Christ had when he said (about His torturers) "Father, forgive them..", is a reality for me now (not just something i muster up). expect your life to change. any questios? [e-mail]
i'd say, instead of trying to convince anyone that the Bible is absolute, just tell them to read it with a child-like trust that God will show them truth. the thief on the cross never had the bible, just the experience of knowing his guilt and the glory of God.
God said "all". don't let the bible or any man tell you any different
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