Someone doesnt believe in the bible, what do you say?

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

If someone doesn't believe in the Bible, you probably don't understand what they think. In fact, usually the more educated people, the ones that know where the Bible actually came from are the ones that don't take it word for word. I am a Christian, I was raised a Christian, and I believe in God. But the Bible is NOT magic, and God did not write it himself. It has been translated and re-translated, and people over the years, especially Roman Catholics, actually chose what was going into the Bible and what was not going into the Bible. Not only did they pretty much make it the way they wanted, but they kept all of the followers of the religion from being able to read and understand it for themselves. Thus, these followers of the religion were naive, and counted on the priests to tell them what is expected of their religion. None of these people had even read the Bible before. It wasn't until the printing press made copies readily available, and until Martin Luther posted the 95 thesis on the door of the Roman Catholic Church, that people were allowed to read the Bible and read it for themselves. Unfortunately, these people were uneducated and did not understand the background and history of the Bible, and took it WORD for WORD. This has been passed down for YEARS, and religion itself would make a lot more sense if people would think for themselves and keep an open mind about the metaphorical meanings and truths that come from the Bible. It IS possible to "believe in the Bible" and believe in God without taking it word for word. The thought of that scares people though, and they close their minds, because they think that if they don't believe every thing in the Bible that they will go to hell or something. Come on people, use your brain.

Answer 3

The Bible is more than a book based on faith or belief.. it is full of interesting stories that give a reflection into the everyday lives.... It is full of allegories of the era, parables, and stories that give some history of BC and AD life.

The Bible is considered a historical book by many scholars. You do not always have to take it on "faith" that it is the inspired word of God... in fact, there are similar stories and parables within other religions such as Muslim, Buddhism, etc. that are not unique to our Christian Bible.

For instance, the story of the flood is told in nearly every other culture besides those that are predominantly Christian....

So... if someone doesn't "believe" in the Bible, stop trying to make it an issue of faith and show them that they are merely losing an opportunity to look into another window that paints a picture of history.

Instead of trying to push it as a book that is religious in nature, try studying it for its historical value.... not hysterical... historical....

Answer 4

Actually nothing you say .. even inspite of your good intentions to convince them that the Bible is the Eternal True Word of God. I would simply start praying for this one... that the Lord will unlock their hearts from satan's grip and lies and over time keep bringing the matter before the Lord and when the Lord gives you the sense in your spirit to speak something small to this person then do so. But prayer can break down any lies satan constructs. I have family from so many backgrounds .. hindu.. muslim.. atheist.. who have come to know and love the Lord

' Prayer is to God what tracks are to trains"

Pray back the word to God .. " for God desires all men to be saved and to COME TO the Full knowledge of the truth"


take care
sandy

Answer 5

I usually understand why they don't. The bible has been severely changed by a lot of ppl. However, the new testament has wonderful guidance for how to live life. I believe in God as I understand God. We understand each other just fine. But those who do not read it anyway are still missing a lot of stuff that's really cool, and some even true.

Blessed Be

Answer 6

It is the fundamentalists/literalists fault for pretending to know all and have all of the answers...and pretending that the Bible has all of the answers for all people.

It just doesn't work that way...the fundamentalists say...the Bible is the Word of God...Why? because God said so, where? in the Bible. It is a circular argument...and that will turn anyone away from truth. People should speak from their heart...not just regurgitate memorzied verses.

Answer 7

If someone doesn't believe in the bible I would ask them what is wrong with them. The bible is a physical object. It is there, it can be measured. Now belief in the content being correct.... now that is another question entirely.

Answer 8

Without confirmation from the Bible, any spiritual experience that you may have is based on your own subjective human reasoning, and, nothing that the one true and living God will bring into your life would ever disagree with the Bible.

Answer 9

Demonstrate its veracity.

Just like if someone didn't believe in, ooooh say evolution, I would question what they didn't agree with and then point them in the way of evidence that supported it. I might have to attempt a refutation of their world-view, to show that there were questions answered by evolution that were not adequately answered by their thesis.

So that's what you do - show them evidence. Show them what the Bible explains that their point of view doesn't.

Just one thing: if you embark on this rational way of discussing the issue you do, implicitly, agree that if THEIR point of view turns out to be more rational you will dump the Bible in favour of it.

Now how confident are you REALLY in the Bible?

Answer 10

I would love to believe the Bible, but wanting to believe is not enough.

Answer 11

I believe in the bible, I saw one at the book store last week. The bible does exist. however IT IS JUST ANOTHER BOOK!!