How can you christians be so sure?

Question

What do you Christians base your belief on?
The teachings in the Bilbe?
I believe so because the Bible is the only source
of truth that God left for people. There really
is nothing else to base your beliefs on.
However, there are so many false and inaccurate
things in the Bible, for instance, the earth is flat!!
Well you christians will say that it was a false prophet
that wrote that. So how would you possibly know which
stories to believe in? How could you be so sure that
the stories you think are true are not written by a false prophet?
Faith? Faith comes from the things you believe to be true.
The things in the Bible in unreliable so how can you have
faith in something you can't even be sure to be true?
I want to accept Jesus but i just don't know how to since
the Bible really makes no sense. How can you be so sure
Jesus sacrificed himself or that he will come for the second
time? It might have been a false prophet that wrote that.
Really need some answers.

Answer 1

Our Lord founded a Church (Matthew 16:18-19), not a book, which was to be the pillar and ground of Truth (1 Timothy 3:15). We can know what this Church teaches by looking not only at Sacred Scripture, but into History and by reading what the earliest Christians have written, what those who've sat on the Chair of Peter have spoken consistently with Scripture and Tradition, and what they've solemnly defined. To believe that the Bible is our only source of Christian Truth is unbiblical and illogical.

During the Reformation, primarily for doctrinal reasons, Protestants removed seven books from the Old Testament: 1 and 2 Maccabees, Sirach, Wisdom, Baruch, Tobit, and Judith, and parts of two others, Daniel and Esther. They did so even though these books had been regarded as canonical since the beginning of Church history.

When examining the question of what books were originally included in the Old Testament canon, it is important to note that some of the books of the Bible have been known by more than one name. Sirach is also known as Ecclesiasticus, 1 and 2 Chronicles as 1 and 2 Paralipomenon, Ezra and Nehemiah as 1 and 2 Esdras, and 1 and 2 Samuel with 1 and 2 Kings as 1, 2, 3, and 4 Kings—that is, 1 and 2 Samuel are named 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Kings are named 3 and 4 Kings. The history and use of these designations is explained more fully in Scripture reference works.


"To get the full flavor of an herb, it must be pressed between the fingers, so it is the same with the Scriptures; the more familiar they become, the more they reveal their hidden treasures and yield their indescribable riches."-- St. John Chrysostom, A.D. 347-407



The Process of Lectio Divina
A VERY ANCIENT art, practiced at one time by all Christians, is the technique known as lectio divina - a slow, contemplative praying of the Scriptures which enables the Bible, the Word of God, to become a means of union with God. This ancient practice has been kept alive in the Christian monastic tradition. Together with the Liturgy and daily manual labor, time set aside in a special way for lectio divina enables us to discover in our daily life an underlying spiritual rhythm. Within this rhythm we discover an increasing ability to offer more of ourselves and our relationships to God, and to accept the embrace that God is continuously extending to us in the person of Jesus Christ.

Lectio - reading/listening
THE ART of lectio divina begins with cultivating the ability to listen deeply. When we read the Scriptures we should try to imitate the prophet Elijah. We should allow ourselves to become women and men who are able to listen for the still, small voice of God (I Kings 19:12); the "faint murmuring sound" which is God's word for us, God's voice touching our hearts. This gentle listening is an "attunement" to the presence of God in that special part of God's creation which is the Scriptures.

THE CRY of the prophets to ancient Israel was the joy-filled command to "Listen!" "Sh'ma Israel: Hear, O Israel!" In lectio divina we, too, heed that command and turn to the Scriptures, knowing that we must "hear" - listen- to the voice of God, which often speaks very softly. In order to hear someone speaking softly we must learn to be silent. We must learn to love silence. If we are constantly speaking or if we are surrounded with noise, we cannot hear gentle sounds. The practice of lectio divina, therefore, requires that we first quiet down in order to hear God's word to us. This is the first step of lectio divina, appropriately called lectio - reading.

THE READING or listening which is the first step in lectio divina is very different from the speed reading which modern Christians apply to newspapers, books and even to the Bible. Lectio is reverential listening; listening both in a spirit of silence and of awe. We are listening for the still, small voice of God that will speak to us personally - not loudly, but intimately. In lectio we read slowly, attentively, gently listening to hear a word or phrase that is God's word for us this day.

Meditation
ONCE WE have found a word or a passage in the Scriptures which speaks to us in a personal way, we must take it in and "ruminate" on it. The image of the ruminant animal quietly chewing its cud was used in antiquity as a symbol of the Christian pondering the Word of God. Christians have always seen a scriptural invitation to lectio divina in the example of the Virgin Mary "pondering in her heart" what she saw and heard of Christ (Luke 2:19). For us today these images are a reminder that we must take in the word - that is, memorize it - and while gently repeating it to ourselves, allow it to interact with our thoughts, our hopes, our memories, our desires. This is the second step or stage in lectio divina - meditation. Through meditation we allow God's word to become His word for us, a word that touches us and affects us at our deepest levels.

Prayer
THE THIRD step in lectio divina is prayer: prayer understood both as dialogue with God, that is, as loving conversation with the One who has invited us into an embrace; and as consecration, prayer as the priestly offering to God of those parts of ourselves that we have not previously believed God wants. In this consecration-prayer we allow the word that we have taken in and on which we are pondering to touch and change our deepest selves. Just as a priest consecrates the elements of bread and wine at the Eucharist, God invites us in lectio divina to hold up our most difficult and pain-filled experiences, and to gently recite over them the healing word or phrase God has given us in our lectio and meditation. In this prayer, this consecration-prayer, we allow our real selves to be touched and changed by the Word of God.

Contemplation
FINALLY, WE simply rest in the presence of the One who has used the Scripture word as a means of inviting us to accept a transforming embrace. No one who has ever been in love needs to be reminded that there are moments in loving relationships when words are unnecessary. It is the same in our relationship with God. Wordless, quiet rest in the presence of the One who loves us has a name in the Christian tradition - contemplation. Once again we practice silence, letting go of our own words; this time simply enjoying the experience of being in the presence of God.




"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." -- St. Jerome, A.D. 340-420

Answer 2

You Don't want to Find Jesus, you want to Insult Other peoples Beliefs.

One's Heart is the Only place to Find Truth. My Beliefs are not Based on 1 Source, but Teaching through a Lifetime. Memorizing a Book does not bring Faith....I'm sure Lucifer could Quote Bible verse Exactly.

Many references in the Bible are not Meant to be taken Literally. Jesus taught in Parables, meant to be Examples of Concepts of How to Live one's Life, and Treat Others. Try reading the Concepts, instead of the Exact word....the Book is the Work of Hundreds of People over 3000 years!

Find your Favorite Clergy and Discuss how you Feel. Perhaps a Different View, from a Learned Person, would Help your Confusion and Frustration.

Answer 3

Christianity is based on a personal relationship with God. God communicates with us with the Bible. When you get to know the Bible more, you will realize that it is very reliable and is not having a lot of " false and inaccurate" things.

Jesus confirmed the Old Testament, and the New Testament came from very reliable sources. No false prophet wrote that. The Bible makes a lot of sense when you ask God's Holy Spirit to guide you in your reading process.

Answer 4

Well, I don't think the bible say the earth is flat. Where do you find it? Because Isaiah stated that the earth is round way before any sailors try to prove it.

It is good that you study the bible first before you believe it. If you find any more troubles, just ask.
Many what seems to be inconsistency in the Bible, will become consistent if you know all the informations regarding the issues

Answer 5

"How can you have faith in something you can't even be sure to be true?". Well, you can't have "faith" in something you CAN be sure is true - because then it won't be faith.

There is more than just the Bible that tells of God... many religions and many scriptures speak of a single divine entity... there are saints, prophets and mystics in every age: Adam, Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Jesus, Paul, Mohammed, Ignatius, Athanasius, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, Richard Hooker, George Fox, John Paul II etc. etc.

Answer 6

The Bible is not an encyclopedia.

The Church has a group called Canon that studied all the Books in the Bible so that the Books that are in it are sure to be inspired by the Spirit of God

Jesus came to the earth to save us.

Answer 7

Troll, read his other posts.

They are sure by faith. That is what belief systems are about. They aren't about science, logic, or anything else. They are about things science can't prove or disprove. It isn't about that, and never was. At least Christianity has grown to accept much of science, unlike some religions, like Islam, that still believe in the utter infallibility of their holy texts despite some real whoppers!

Answer 8

Forget faith, fiction false prophets or foolishness just look all around you even your logical mind that little voice inside is telling you there is a supreme being, even your gut instinct alludes to it, because the God of the universe is a real presence and being..... just ask him to prove himself to you IF HE IS REAL. AND IF HEAVEN'S A MYTH and question: what if erroneous as it may appear what if you are in fact wrong and the surreality of the Bible is right and you are one day looking in the face of a real angry God for your denial of him, what answer would you give? I was a non beleiver who scoffed at the probability of his reality or presence, I ask him the question [PROVE IT IF YOU ARE] and he did, since then I have experienced a continual growth in faith b'cuz I don't rely upon doctrine or religion, I have real experiences personal ones like his real voice, instant lumps disappearing from my body, God opening up & confirming himself in his spoken voice and his words (written in red in the Bible I know of) by opening impossible doors, for me, my daughter's full scholarships, my home, my businss, and more, you see you grow in faith and simultaneously he becomes your strength, your everything just fill in the blank spaces. and he gives you your desires, [ I CHALLENGE YOU to try him for 6 months and then if he don't prove himself to you I WILL GIVE UP MY BELIEF IN HIM......just as an act of trial start with reading our Bible the Book of Acts 1st chapter and John chapter 1 it is not about what they, it, them, or whomever says, its a closeup, and nitty dirty personal relation with him and the closer you get to him the greater you will hear him speak directions for your life and then it becomes more prominent as you develop your trust in him, the faith is not the brothers or th martyrs faith but it begins with that GUT FEELING inside, I do pray you find him like I have he's for real... so go ahead i beg you to be daring and ask him to [PROVE IT IF YOU ARE FOR REAL]

Answer 9

As a Christian I suppose that there's just one God and calling Him the "Judeo-Christian" God could be very slender in who He is and who He is over: a million Kings 20:23-28 KJV "And the servants of the king of Syria mentioned unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; for this reason they have been more potent than we; however allow us to combat in opposition to them within the simple, and certainly we will be more potent than they. And do that factor, Take the kings away, each guy out of his position, and placed captains of their rooms: And quantity thee an navy, just like the navy that thou hast misplaced, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will be able to combat in opposition to them within the simple, and certainly we will be more potent than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so. And it got here to move on the go back of the 12 months, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went as much as Aphek, to combat in opposition to Israel. And the youngsters of Israel have been numbered, and have been all reward, and went in opposition to them: and the youngsters of Israel pitched earlier than them like 2 little flocks of children; however the Syrians stuffed the nation. And there got here a person of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and mentioned, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have mentioned, The Lord is God of the hills, however he isn't God of the valleys, for this reason will I supply all this first-class multitude into thine hand, and ye shall recognise that I am the Lord." He's no longer simply the God of Christians but in addition the God of Atheists, Hindus, Pagans, Buddhists, Wiccans, Jews, Muslims, the Baha'i, Sikh's, and so on. He is the writer of the Heavens and the Earth and He created guy from filth and lady from guy's rib so He is God of all, a few folks prefer simply to recognize Him even as others worship Him a few reject Him and worship demons rather and others prefer to disclaim His lifestyles all in combination however both method, there may be one God and He is God of all. I am one hundred% definite of that.