The question of biblical authority is a burning one, so much so that to some theologians and preachers it is too hot to handle.

Some writers, reportedly of high intellectual and spiritual standing, look upon the Bible as a book which, to them, is obviously marked by inconsistency, historical inaccuracy and self contradiction. They see the Bible as a book which, to them, is obviously marked by inconsistency and self-contradiction.

They see the Bible as "containing" but not as "being" the Word of God. While they are telling us that the Bible contains errors, incorrect dates, and fictitious authorships, they claim that in this Book one may "find" the Word of God.

These men say that they are our brethren in Christ, and some of them might be, but I find it very hard to ientify myself with such teachers and teaching.

(To be continued.....)

I totally understand what your saying Yasha.

Im always having to explain to people that just because you dont understand something doesnt mean that others dont.

I know you will continue this but just my thoughts real quick.... the bible is a human interpretation of God's word not a book written by Him... we humans are inconsistant in our very nature!!! I believe as we grow older in our spirituality we understand the "code" of the bible better and God puts the translation in our hearts bringing us closer to Holiness... even something like that was written in the bible itself... We won't even unlock the entire mystory of God but it is our job to at least take care of this world and BE NICE to each other...

haha
ok thanks for your time

I agree in that those who don't believe are judging something merely from an "intellectual" POV & not from personal experience....a relationship with God.

That is certainly why they don't agree. No matter, it doesn't change what God says because He doesn't move, people do.

Well actually that is not what anyone who has a personal relationship with God or even has had a touch from Him would agree with.

BTW...love the rollers... LOL

thanks...

It's a burning question to whom? And why?

I think it's a burning question to believers, because in truth they don't really have a clue whether it might be true or not. They only believe in the stories on faith. So it's understandable why theologians and preachers are seriously troubled by this question. They might be dedicating their entire lives to preaching nothing more than a false myth. Clearly that would be troublesome, problematic, and quite embarrassing to have to admit after they have spent so much time proclaiming that the stories are true.

What about non-believers? Is it a burning question for them? No, not really. It only appears that way to believers. Non-believer keep asking believers why anyone should believe that the bible is the ultimate authority and the word of "god". Believers think that non-believers must have some doubts that maybe it really might be the word the "god", but that's not the case at all. They are asking the question rhetorically in the hope of trying to get believers to look at the question rationally.

After all, it quite often does come down to politics. The believers are tying to claim that we should use the biblical authority as a basis for our social conduct (i.e. have the laws support the biblical picture of god). So non-believers ask, "Why should we believe that book is the word of god?". Then the believers wrongly say, "SEE! You're questioning whether or not it might be the word of god too!!!"

But that's not at all what they are doing.



Why should we want to?

Think about that question seriously for a while. Why should you want to trust the Bible? What does it have to offer that is so great?

Well, first off it offers forgiveness for being a sinner.

But WAIT? Where does the idea that we're sinners come from in the first place?

Oops! It comes from the Bible!

The Bible is the book that suggests that we need to be saved from something in the first place.

It isn't offering anything that it didn't already created a need for.

The same god that is threading to be mean to you, it the same god that is offering to save you from his vengeance.

If you stop and think about this for a moment, even if it were true, it would be a two-faced god!!!

It's a story about a god that creates a hellish situation for you and then offers to save you from it.

Believers say, "Oh no!!! We're responsible for that hellish situation!!!"

Well again, where did that get that absurd idea? Need I ask? It came from the Bible!!!

The only thing that people need to be saved from is the Bible itself, yet that the very mythology they turn to, to be saved from it.

Everything the Bible offers to save you from, the bible is responsible for claiming that you need to be saved from it!!!

In other words, if you didn't already believe in the rumors of bad things that would happen to you that the bible is responsible for starting then you wouldn't have any need to be saved from anything.

People might say, "Well, hey! We're clearly going to die! The bible offers us eternal life!!!"

Unfortunately that's the big attraction that really has most people caught hook, line, and sinker.

People believe in the bible because they can't handle the idea of dying and the bible offers them a way to avoid death. What could be more attractive than that?

Well, clearly atheists have no problem with accepting death. So at least some humans aren't real concerned about it.

Others, like myself, know we are eternal, and always have been. We don't need some human myth to offer us eternal life. We understand that we are what we are, and no book can change that.

We trust that our creator truly is benevolent beyond human comprehension. We trust that our creator truly is capable of genuine unconditional love. We truly give our creator credit for being omnipotent. When we say that "With God all things are possible" we actually mean it. We truly believe that our creator is omniscient. When we say that "God is everywhere and in everyone" we actually mean it.

The notion that you could be separated from God is an utterly silly notion. How could you possible achieve such a feat? To exist separate from God would mean that you'd have to be a god in your own right. You'd need to be a 'separate being' from god in order to exist separate from him. The idea of God sending anyone to eternal damnation is truly hilarious. Only vengeful people who would like to see other people punished and pay for their failings would embrace such an idea. In God's creation there are no losers. God does not create losers. It only appears that way to judgmental people who don't understand how it all works.

So when you say, "We can trust the Bible". I seriously need ask, "Why would you even want to?"

All it does is suggest that God is less than perfect. He has extremely conditional love to offer to (not unconditional love at all). And has created a reality where the vast majority of his 'souls' are losers and will be lost. This is what the Bible says, this is what Jesus says. If you want to believe in the Bible you must believe that the vast majority of souls that God created will indeed be lost. This is what the book says,...

Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

This is a picture of a God whose love is extremely conditional. This is a picture of a God who created many losers. This God loses the vast majority of souls that it creates. Is this a perfect God? Is there anything even close to being perfect about a creator that creates a creation where he loses the vast majority of souls he creates?

Why, on God's green Earth, would we even want to trust that this picture of God is true?

It's a terrible picture of an extremely inept God.

Do we want to trust that God is inept?

No me.

I'd rather believe that God truly is perfect and truly has genuinely unconditional love for everyone.

This is the foundation of my faith. And the bible flies in the face of my faith. It flies in the face of God being perfect. It flies in the face of God having unconditional love. It flies in the very face of god even being a competent creator. It has God losing souls like crazy! It's a picture of a very inept creator.

What would anyone want to trust a story about an inept creator who creates more losers than winners?

If you're going to believe the story you must believe what the story says. And Jesus himself clearly states that few people will make it to heaven whilst the vast majority will lose their way.

You must believe that the biblical God is a loser because that's what the bible says. He loses the vast majority of souls that he creates. The God portrayed in the Bible is FAR from perfect. It's a picture of a very inept creator. A creator who seriously has virtually no control over his creation at all. Talk about a God who throws dice!!! The biblical God plays craps with HUMAN SOULS!!!

That's the GOSPEL TRUTH!!!

You want to trust a book that says that God is a gambler of human souls?

Why would you want to place your trust in that picture?

Seriously. I honestly don't understand why you would even want to believe in such an inept picture of a god.

There are better pictures of God available you know. There are pictures of God where no one loses. There are pictures of a perfect God who has genuine unconditional love to offer.

If you're going to choose to believe in a God, why not choose to believe in a perfect God?

Thomas Paine said it best, 200 years ago.

He contended that it is a contradiction in terms to call anything a revelation that comes to us second-hand, either verbally or in writing.

He asserted that revelation is necessarily limited to the first communication, and that after that it is only an account of something which another person says was a revelation to him. We have only his word for it, as it was never made to us.

This argument never has been, and probably never will be, answered.

Revelation means that something was communicated to someone who did not know it before. Therefore, anything that humans have done or seen themselves does not fall within the scope of the word revelation. This amounts to most of the bible. Think about it.

All those accounts of bloody battles, building of temples, rapes and murders, wanderings through the desert, conversations and parables, are all things that people could have done themselves or seen done. It is not proper to call the bible a revelation.

The bible is not a revelation. It is, at best, second-hand hearsay.

I am under no obligation to believe fantastical and miraculous accounts that come to me by way of hearsay. If god wants to give me a revelation, he can do so anytime...

Religionists use the bible, a self-proclaimed "perfect" source of absolute truth, and revelation, and imagined "personal relationships" as support for their beliefs (that they'll live forever and are watched over by some protective father figure).

It's all wishful thinking. Atheism is formed from the observation that there is neither evidence of a god, nor the need for a god as an explanation of anything.