Religious folk, a question for you to ask yourself?

Question

have you ever questioned the religious text you follow?
who wrote it? why they wrote it? what was the mental state of the person that wrote it? for the purpose of this question i'm not going to deny the existance of god, what i'm questioning(or wanting you to question) is the validity of the text on which a lot of your faith is based, i perticulaly would like to hear from the few folk that think whatever religious text they follow is infallible. since you base how you live your lives on these books i was wondering, have you questioned them or did you just get told it was true so believe them without reservation?

Answer 1

I was raised catholic and I did question the religious text so I studied other religions but I still had the same questions. My belief is this. There is a God however this God did not write any of the religious texts that are floating around here on earth. I believe that men wrote these religious texts and these texts are filled with these mens opinions, beliefs and words, Therefore I do not follow any of these religious texts. Remember when we were kids and we used to play the game where I would tell you something and then it would get told over and over again by the time that it got to the end of the line the original statement is no where to be found. I think that this is what has happened in the religious texts.

Answer 2

Not that I expect you to pay any attention to this answer, since the way you phrase your question causes me to suspect that you have your mind made up already, but yes - of course I've questioned the origin and provenance of Scripture. Before I became a Christian, I read all of the New Testament and part of the Old, portions of the Koran (in English, so I know it doesn't count, but still), and as many books and texts on other religions as I could find. Since becoming a Christian I have looked into the history of the canonical texts. Most recently, I've been digging into how the current Protestant Bible took its form, how and why that form differs from the Catholic texts, and how and why the books that form the Catholic Bible came to be in there and, more importantly, why others were excluded. I'm a bit crippled by the fact that I'm a mathematician, not a historian, but I get by.

Do you really believe that every believer in the world does so completely uncritically? If so, then you know very few believers, and very little about faith. I have a question for you to consider: has it ever occurred to you that someone might come to different conclusions from you without being evil or stupid or both?

Answer 3

You bet!
The Christian faith is only as certain as the Bible is trustworthy.

The Bible has been found to be authentic and accurate. The fact is that the Bible has better manuscript credentials than those of ANY other ancient literature or written work. There is even more evidence of Jesus' existence than Alexander the Great.

People often talk about how the Bible has been altered and changed through the years. How can we trust it? It changes with every translation. The fact is the Bible is virtually unchanged. The Dead Sea Scrolls confirmed this.
There are also rules as to how a translation is done.

I could go on on why the Bible is trustworthy but I guess I have answered your question :) - Yes I have questioned the religious text I follow.

Answer 4

Good question. I became a Christian aged 28, a few years ago, only after I had a personal experience of Jesus. I discovered my experience to be relatively similar to that of St. Paul (book of Acts) in the Bible. Although I was unsure whether or not to follow everything the Bible says, I did at least know Jesus is alive and wants a relationship with me. I have spent most of my Christian life reading what other believers have to say about the validity of the Bible, and I can recommend many. One of my favourites is called, 'why trust the Bible' by Amy Orr-Ewing, an intelligent lady who went to Oxford University and has answered the question in a very sensitive way. I have also looked at the views of scientists who claim they believe in Creation, in 'In 6 days: why 50 scientists choose to believe in creation.' Then there is my personal experiences of putting my faith in God, looking at how those in the Bible handled the situations I face, and finding that giving God the reins to guide me through (instead of trying to sort it out myself) works. He has been faithful to answer many prayers including prayers of healing, and in response to my prayers my 3 closest friends have become believers too.
Let me see, there's also the books by learned men such as CS Lewis and GK Chesterton that confirm my belief that all people from all walks of life are Christians, and in my church we have professionals such as doctors and accountants, teachers, nurses, getting along very well with ex addicts, homeless, housewives, etc.
I looked at how the Bible was put together, who chose the books and why, and why others were rejected.
In short, I have made it my job to know about my faith because although I know Jesus, I'm not prepared to lead others into anything that is a lie, as I am very much opposed to lies and lying. I am convinced on the evidence I have seen and read and experienced that Jesus is who he says he is, and that the Bible is therefore the Word of God.

Answer 5

By reading the texts and applying the lessons / beliefs to your life for a while you can see that only good comes from them (so long as the extremists don’t get in there).

As the Bible says that God is good, I can only make the informed decision (via direct application to my life) that yes, the texts are the word of God and are 100% believable and reliable (they have been in my life).

All of the writers do not disappoint nor have they let me down. Some people may consider them to be mad but me...I consider them instruments of God.

Good question though....have a star!

Answer 6

First I was told the bible was infallible. Then I read in the bible that the book was written by men and inspired by God. Then I saw the power of the Word in my life. It became alive and real and gave me the answers I was looking for. All of this is backed up by thousands of manuscripts over time that do not contradict each other. Now I believe without reservation.

Answer 7

although through life I've been a bit of both a sinner n a saint i truly found god and the power of Christ along the way.although i question the bible i DO NOT question my faith in the lord nor his faith in me . i have always been a strong believer, though the bible is full of claims that are just so hard to believe, but as I've said before truth can either be over exaggerate or totally misleading but this doesn't mean theres no truth in it at all.

Answer 8

I study the bible. The more I examine it the more I come to realize that it is all true. It's an amazing book. Now ... here's why so many people just don't get it.

The bible itself says that unless you have the power of the Holy Spirit within you, you cannot understand it. And that power can only come through faith in God. It's a very spiritual thing.

Perhaps none of this makes sense. That's understandable. Each of us has to take that first step of faith and reach out to God. If you're sincere about it, God will revel Himself to your through the bible.

If you prefer to keep your distance, then so will God and you'll never understand.

Answer 9

I even have heard God often. many times He has spoken to me of destiny events; and that they got here approximately precisely as He pronounced they could. My famous is the time i replaced into as quickly as teaching Bible training, and a female counseled me she had misplaced her umbrella. I pronounced i could go searching for it. The church replaced into as quickly as extensive- it may have been everywhere.After she left, i desperate to ask God the place it replaced into. He reported, "that is in the placement of enterprise." So I walked each and each of how all the way down to the placement of artwork, and there it was, status by the door. i replaced into as quickly as little doubt surprised. yet yet all over lower back He advised me that as quickly as I have been given to the subsequent church we've been going to, i used to be to ask Him for a sprint one grand, as i'm a piano participant. The church we've been given to had maximum efficient an upright. I pronounced no longer something to every person, yet asked God to recent me the baby grand He promised me. 2 weeks later, the pastor stood up and reported, "Now that we've a piano participant, i think we ought to get a baby grand for this church". That replaced into as quickly as large cool. i've got many greater examine like that. the superb way which you will tell in case you particularly heard God is while the failings He tells you happens.

Answer 10

Yes, I did, for twenty years. Is that long enough?

Edit: Heidi is incorrect. The Bible was COMPILED three hundred years after Jesus lived, died and was resurrected, but it was WRITTEN by the end of the first century A.D.