The common view most people have regarding the Bible is that it was written by human beings and therefore must be flawed. The problem with this statement is that it cancels itself out by its own assertion. This assertion itself is a human conclusion and therefore must also be flawed. This presents a problem that forces one to examine the evidence behind both claims, and come to a reasoned out verdict, rather than a blanket statement that provides no objective thought.
So often I talk to and hear from people who disregard the Bible because of their subjective belief that it must be flawed because it was written by man. In almost every case when I begin to question them on what they find in the Bible that is flawed, they cannot give me a specific answer. In the rare occasion when one does provide an example of a supposed flaw in the Bible, the problem is easily explained away through a deeper understanding of the context of the scripture in question.
Skepticism of the Bible is always either based on dishonesty or ignorance. In the case of dishonesty, the skeptic has an agenda that does not play nice with a Biblical world view, therefore they must discredit it at all costs. In the case of the ignorant, which accounts for most people in America, these people simply believe what they are taught by the dishonest skeptics without investigating the Bible for themselves. For the ignorant it is more convenient to trust in the dishonest skeptic, because this world view does not hold one accountable for sin.
I admit, I was an ignorant skeptic. However, once I looked into my doubts regarding the Bible, I found sound, logical and amazing answers to my questions. I know every person that reads this has doubts, but I promise you, if you honestly seek the truth and give the Bible a chance, God will answer your questions and eliminate those doubts.
Please become a follower of this blog, and I will provide as much evidence as I can that will prove to you that we can indeed trust the Bible to be the word of God. I will also do my best to answer any questions you may have.
In almost every case when I begin to question them on what they find in the Bible that is flawed, they cannot give me a specific answer. In the rare occasion when one does provide an example of a supposed flaw in the Bible, the problem is easily explained away through a deeper understanding of the context of the scripture in question.
ReplyDeleteI've got hundreds, how much time do you have? Do you ever stop to consider that for a perfect god, in order to convey what would literally be the most important information in the universe, would not use a method dependent on deeper understanding or knowledge of context?
Revelation is necessarily a first-person experience, for anyone else, it is hearsay. We don't even have that, we have copies of copies of translations of copies of secondhand oral accounts written anonymously, with no originals, of anecdotal events. This is the best this god can supposedly do, or at least is expected to be good enough?
Skepticism of the Bible is always either based on dishonesty or ignorance.
So nice of you to call anyone who disagrees with you a liar or a fool right out of the gate, let me know how that works out for you. Let me give you a third option: someone can be raised religious, grow up, meet people who have different views and who claim that person should believe what they believe. Challenged, a person might begin to read, to research, to review the material both for and against, and come to the opposite conclusion that you describe in your first sentence, that because the bible is clearly flawed, that it cannot be the work of a perfect god, and that Christianity is at best corrupted, and at worst utterly false.
So tell me--am I lying? Have I been lied to? The next biblical apologetic I see--your so-called context and deeper understanding--that holds water for even an instant to anyone who doesn't already believe in it will be the first.
So--let's begin. John 3:3, Jesus supposedly said, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again." The people around him are confused, they ask if he literally means to crawl back into the womb.
In Greek, the word translated as "again" has a double meaning, "from above," which Jesus goes on to clarify, clearly indicating that he meant it in the spiritual sense. The confusion between "born again" and "born from above" only exists in Greek. In Aramaic, the language Jesus supposedly spoke, the pun does not make any sense, the two concepts have separate vocabulary and no such confusion would have occurred. We can conclude therefore, first that the anecdote was first written down in Greek, which the disciples did not speak, and second, that these were not the words spoken at the time, if indeed any such conversation ever took place.
I'm sure you can find some special pleading or other logical fallacy to explain your way out of it, I'm just wondering how entertaining it will be to watch.