Bible on the brain
During the latter part of last week as I was busy with my nose buried in multimedia development, I had a moment of pondering about the Holy Bible (Orthodox Christian) to break away from what was becoming a monotonous setting. The thought(s) that crossed my often scatter-brained mind were of:
- believers that believe the Bible to have contradictions
- how some see the Bible as a non-sense work of fiction.
Focusing on believers that don’t believe the Bible to be the non-errant word of God, I find myself wondering how could this be? I have some co-workers/friends that believe in God, but have issue with some things in the Bible that they view as contradictory. Some of the topics of differing beliefs regarding the infallibility of the Bile circulate around; Paul’s word’s on marriage, how God can be both loving and "vengeful" and the the topic of election/predestination by God just to name a few.
It’s an odd proposition for me, to even consider that the Bible is not God’s infallible word. I liken life and our pursuit of living Christ-like lives to being in school. In school the objective is to receive a graduated education regarding basic life skills, and in school you have a teacher. The teacher presumably teaches with the aid of books; the books containing words which translate to knowledge when applied. The knowledge and its application being tools that assist in navigating life.
Now, having the Y Chromosome, I’m susceptible to not always reading or heeding instructions verbatim. This holds true especially when speaking of driving directions,"Just point in the general direction ‘mam, I’ve got Non-Star on board." or when challenged with assembly of anything made of Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF). Electronics?!? Pfff! Please, I don’t need no stinking instructions!
With regard to the Holy Bible though, I can only believe that God gave us His Word as part of the travel package, along with His Holy Spirit to guide us with respect to His standards for living holy.
Psalm 143:10
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.
Grace and peace be with you.
[...] I’ve been reading Matthew for the past few days and a thought popped into the ”ole noggin as I was into chapter 11, more like a follow-up thought to Bible on the brain. [...]
I would hardly question God’s “contradictions” unless I considered myself to be a God … and most of the time I don’t.
However I do have questions about things that were added to later versions of the Bible that are questioned by many scholars. (at the moment my mind draws a blank … there is one very famous story I read about in Christianity Today, and then there’s a chunk of verses at the end of a chapter one of the gospels??) Which of the many many English versions of the Bible is the un-errant one?
Yes, I’m using my Bible for a road map, but without the Holy Spirit’s guidance, I don’t know how to read it.
Christopher says:
Cathy great to hear from you again, hope your weekend was enjoyable. If you do happen to recall the story, please do share. BTW I agree concerning guidance by the Holy Spirit if you haven’t already, check out 1st Corinthians 2:11-14.
Grace and peace be with you.
Hi
Read this with some interest and thought I would make a few quick
comments prior to heading out for work.
The Gospel you are referring to is Mark. Chances are if you look in
your Bible at Mark 16, you will see a line after verse 8 or some
commentary or both. vv16:9-20 are the “added” verses.
There could follow a long discussion on how this came to be. But here
is the Good News: Nothing is said in those verses that is not said
elsewhere in the Bible (either directly or indirectly).
One more key comment: The doctrinal statement regarding the Bible
should be words to the effect that: The original autographs are inerrant.
“Autographs” are the scholar’s term for the original manuscripts
directly written by the author (which we have no copies of today).
For instance in one of my Bibles I have a footnote referance to a verse
that isn’t in the Bible. That is just a printing error.
But all that being said, this I believe with all of my heart: The God
of the Universe and the God that loved us enough to send His own Son to
die for us - has protected the copies and (good scholarily)
translations of His Word to make sure they are still His Word and still The
Truth. To send His Son to die for us and then allow His Word to be
corrupted to the point you can’t trust it would be counter to everything we
know about God.
Look at the Quram. Most of Isaiah is there and those copies date back
something like 1,500 years earlier than anything else. Yet they match
the Isaiah in your Bible almost to the smallest jot and tittle. There
are no significant differences.
No surprise - that is our God at work
Christopher says:
Bill, thanks for the visit and for leaving a comment. I agree with what you said earlier,reference: To send His Son to die for us and then allow His Word to be corrupted to the point you can’t trust it would be counter to everything we know about God.
Another spin on this comes from a co-worker who once said :
Again thanks for the visit and I look forward to receiving more comments and input.
Grace and peace be with you.
I would check out the thing about Isaiah before I pass that info along.
Mohammad wasn’t born until 570. The dead sea scrolls predate that.
Also the Quran is the words (dictated) by Mohammad so it’s unlikely another book would be quoted to the jot. Wikipedia’s article about the Quran doesn’t mention Isaiah at all.
Christopher says:
Cathy, I’m assuming that this was directed at Bill? Still, thank you.
Grace and peace be with you.
Well wait a minute… isn’t every Christian a “Preacher” to some extent? Whether we like it or not I think we are, or maybe a better word instead of Preacher would be Ambassador… that’s the one I like
anyway.
But just came across this post and thread. Interesting. I for one come from the mindset; “if God said it then it must be true!” Or, “think like a child!” In other words, Jesus said that if we are to enter the
kingdom of heaven then we must become like little children. Tell a small child just about anything and he will believe you… without question.
To me, I think I am in the same camp as Bill and find that I too am dumbfounded and don’t know what to do with Christians who question God’s Word. Not that they or anyone doesn’t have the right to question, it’s just that for me it’s a no-brainer. If God created the universe and everything in it then why wouldn’t it be possible for Him too put together His own Word (in Bible format) and then not go, “oops! I didn’t mean to put that in there.” Or, “oops! I left something out,” after He gets the first copy back from the publisher? Please!
Great and thoughtful post though. I especially liked the school/teacher analogy and the “basic instructions before leaving earth.” LOL! Too funny but I think you’re on to something.
Anyway, just wanted to add my two cents because I always find this an interesting topic. Talk to you later Christopher!
God’s blessings!
P.S. And wouldn’t that make a funny book, “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth?” Hilarious!!! Really, if you want to co-author it, let me know
~Jen
Christopher says: (laughingly)
Unlike my posts, I do try to keep my comments under 10,000 words, so whenever I engage a comment that is causing the wheels to spin, I’m a bit more cognizant of becoming “preachy” ie; long-winded as well as beating someone to death with bible quotes. Also, check out the quote on
rel="nofollow">eloquence for another explanation.
I guess you’re just trying to keep me in line.
An additional thought concerning Christians that don’t hold the Bible as being without error is this: They may not have reached a point in their relationship with Christ whereby they trust in Him to the point
of believing/accepting God’s Word as 100% true. Conceding to the truths of the Bible and to the Holy Spirit ultimately means crucifying our flesh, which for some their flesh may not submit as easy as others.
As for the anagram on the B-I-B-L-E, as much as I’d like to say that I came up with it, I can’t, someone more clever beat me to it. Though, I still think that fahrfugnugen was my idea way before VolksWagen marketing got a hold of it.
Grace and peace be with you Jen.
I think that’s probably very true in regards to what you said about
those who don’t trust in His Word 100%. To concede (nice choice of
words
btw) to it’s truth’s is, yes, to crucify the flesh. Not an easy task.
And darn about the B-I-B-L-E, I was all prepared for a bestseller
ttyl!
~Jen