if you believe the bible to be the word of god...?

Question

aren't you putting an awful lot of faith in man not to lie? let's put it this way. there either is or there isn't a god. right? so i'll be fair and say that it's equally likely in either case that a god exists or doesn't exist. that being said. you're already starting out with a 50% chance that the claim the bible is the word of god is a lie. now, assuming there is a god, how can we be sure that the bible is his word? again, to be fair, we'll assign a 50/50 probability that the people who wrote it lied to suit what they believed god wanted vs. what god actually wanted. so what you end up with, and this is being generous, is that the bible is at best has 25% probability that it actually is the word of god. this is not taking into account all the other religions of the world who claim their holy books are the word of god.

Answer 1

Then you have to assume that the bible was translated correctly into english from the originals. And we know that takes more stupidity than faith to believe.

Answer 2

Why do you believe in the law of gravity? Well than, that's the same reason for which I believe in God and His Testimony. All the Law and prophesy of the Bible are the Testimony of God. They are all centered around love. They are founded upon the same perfect love proclaimed by the Ten Commandments (also called the 'Testimony' in the Bible). It's a very simple truth. There's no need for a calculator, micrometer, or stethoscope. But, all the calculations and miscalculations in the world would not lead you to what you can't accept - the simple truth.

God's ways are not man's ways. If They were there would be a lot less tragedy in the world. Man's self destructive thought process is enmity to God and enmity to his own survival. That's why life for so many here is the way it is. There is no 'survival of the fittest'. The 'fit' even die here. Man has more than enough science to flatter himself with and still can't get it right. Because he has no love and no light in him. He's cured a few diseases but, the disease in his sinful heart is killing him and everything around him. He has every tool at his disposal to make the world a better place yet, it continues to worsen.

Now, what's the probability of that?

Answer 3

If you look at the order in nature and believe it just happened by accident, then you have abandoned logic and reason and the laws of physics. I believe in God because I have experienced God. The Bible makes a great deal of sense. I'm sorry you do not see that. The first chapter of Genesis declares we are made of the same substance as earth. Modern man only recently discovered this. The Bible foretells future events. That is a fact. If you live long enough you will see Damascus destroyed. You will see many dead Iranians buried to the east of Israel. You will see a temple on the temple mount.

Answer 4

Okay... so much to untangle, so little time....

The first line in this knot is the whole notion of "lies and truth telling." I assume that you are trying to make the point that The Garden of Eden probably didn't exist, nor did Noah's Ark, the miracles of Jesus, yada yada yada.

The problem is that theology, much like any other branch of knowledge and learning, uses its own language. A great many scholars have pointed out that the language of theology is metaphor.

The writers of the Scriptures knew this. They knew that in order to get a very difficult concept across to an illiterate and uneducated population, they needed to make the stories as concrete as possible. For example, the creation myths in Genesis were designed to express not only that God created the heaven and the earth, but how and why we as humans came to feel disconnected from our own Creator, and the whole question of why God allowed evil into the world.

With the Enlightenment came a loss of understanding that stories can convey truth without themselves being "literally true." Now, to be sure, the Enlightenment brought us a great many things of value as well, so I'm not knocking it. But all things have their negative as well as their positive aspects.

So, when you accuse the writers of not being "truthful," I think you're imposing your own bias about truth being the same thing as fact. That needs to be considered in your analysis.

Also what needs to be considered in your analysis is that the Scriptures have been long under consideration, revision, acceptance, rejection, etc. since they were first written. For example, we know of literally hundreds of Gospel accounts. Why did the four become incorporated into the canon when the others did not? The cynic might argue that it was because they fit the church structure the best, but, in truth, the canonical Gospels really don't offer a lot of comfort to a church hierarchy. So there must be another, deeper reason.

Second, the whole notion of "the Word of God." That concept comes from John, who used the Greek term "Logos." "Logos" is commonly defined as "word," but it can be better defined as "thought, opinion, account." Also, please note that we always say the "Word OF God," not the "Word BY God." That is an important distinction. We are thinking about the Scriptures as the thoughts of God, as best understood by men.

Finally, your statistical analysis, and your issues with the writings associated with other religions. First, humans are not statistical probabilities. They can, and often do, act in ways that statistics cannot predict. They can do things for reasons that are often contradictory. Whether what they do is useful or not useful in the hands of God is for God to decide, not ours.

Second, it is always a source of bemusement to me that Christians and non-Christians alike get hung up on articles of speech like "the" (as in: I am The Way, The Truth and The Light.) rather than focusing on the words with actual meanings -- especially in light of the fact that ancient Greek didn't HAVE articles of speech like "the" "an" or "a".

I hope this helps.

Answer 5

Five hundred years after one prophet's death another prophet writes the beginning of the other prophet's story and both declare the coming of the Son of God.

Every prophet in the Bible has prophesied truth. All has come true.

Do I believe that a group of men who lived far a part and at different times in history write the Bible? No. I do not. The Holy Spirit in these men wrote the Bible.

The Bible is written line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little and the Holy Spirit teaches us all things concerning Christ. The Bible is layers of history proclaiming one special event in history.

There is nothing new under the sun. And if you look far enough back into Bible history, you will see the future as God declares it.

To me, knowing God's Word, the greatest event in history was in May 1948 when God brought His people back to Israel from the ends of the earth and they are still coming back. The Bible says " a nation will be born in a day." Israel became a nation in one day. God said when He scattered Israel that He would always save a remnant of Israel and God has done exactly that.

Keep your eyes on Israel and watch the Bible unfold in front of your very eyes.

And remember, There is only One true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob whose Son is Jesus the Christ.
My God had His people keep His Word and write it by His Holy Spirit.

Salvation is from the Jews my friend. The Jews are your example to live by. They forgot God and God destroyed most of them and sent them into captivity.

Forget God and watch yourself either be destroyed or go into captivity. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of Almighty God.

Answer 6

There is more evidence towards there being a God, than there is evidence for no God, thus eliminating your "generous" 50-50 odds of there being a God. All one has to do is look at Creation, and order, and nature, and the invisible constants in the universe that couldn't have just happened through a big explosion and you'll soon figure out there's a 90-10 favor of there being a God based on this alone. Not to mention the historical, statistical, documental, and archeological evidence that backs up the Bible. So it's more like 99.999999999% chance of there being a God, which makes it 100% reasonable to believe.

Answer 7

Once you place your faith in Christ, He sends the Holy Spirit to indwell you and transform you into an ever-increasing Christ-like person. Part of that process also takes Scripture and applies it to your life in amazing ways. God opens your eyes, i.e. understanding, to what His Word says and how it applies to you right now! The proof is in changed lives, filled with testimonials.

To the unbeliever, the Bible is just another holy book of another religion that claims it is the truth.

The Bible claims to be 'spired' from the Greek...not just 'inspired.' That means 'God-breathed.' Just like so many other things, God chooses to use men to do His will, and chose men to write His word. He does not need men, e.g. He wrote the 10 Commandments in stone tablets with His own finger -- read Exodus. Still, He had Moses cut the second set of tablets out of rock for Him to write on.

So, the Bible is not for us to pick and choose what we believe, or re-interpret what it says in light of popular, secular beliefs of the day. You either accept the Bible as is, or you deny it. In a larger sense you either accept God for who He is, or you deny Him.

Your belief in God, or lack thereof, neither adds to nor takes away anything from who God is. For the unbeliever, however, the wager is this:

If you believe in God and the Bible, and He exists, you gain everything; otherwise, you lose nothing.
On the contrary, if you deny God and the Bible, and He exists, you lose everything; otherwise, you lose nothing.

The choice is each of ours, and where we spend eternity depends, according to the Bible, depends soley on our faith in Christ...Jesus Christ of the Bible -- the Word made flesh.

Answer 8

Jesus confirmed the OT, and promised the NT. The truth is not about the popular vote and odds against it does not change it. You either believe it or you do not. You have a free will to choose. I have a personal relationship with God and no one can take it away from me.

Answer 9

This is a useless, futile question to present to believers, Mr. Just Curious. I would consider it a minor miracle if a believer responds intelligently instead of with the same tired old "the Bible tells me so" spiel. It would be a minor miracle because believers are incapable of defending their faith through logic and reason (how can they, when all that is required is unquestioning belief).

Answer 10

Well would you be willing to continue with something that you claimed to have seen, but was in reality only a lie? Even if it meant torture and death? People will die for their beliefs, but how many people willingly die for their lies?
These men personally knew Jesus and they died insisting He was the Saviour.
1.) Peter- crucified head downward.
2.) Thomas- speared to death.
3.) James- beheaded by Herod.
4.) Matthew- martyred.
5.) Andrew- crucified.
6.) James- crucified.
7.) Philip- martyred.
8.) Jude- shot with arrows.
9.) Simon the Zealot- crucified.
10.) Bartholomew- flogged to death.
11.) Matthias- axed to death.