dibby Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 I was wondering if evangelical Christians ever know how the bible came to be? When I was a fundy it was just assumed that it was God's word, that god "dictated" through various people these scriptures. My questions to christians are: Why just these particular books? I mean there were many books and gospels written in the first century. How did they get selected? Why because you had a spiritual experience, or conversion, did that mean that the entire set of books in the bible was true? What about other scriptures? Why not the Upanishads , for instance? Talking with you can be very frustrating because you assume that the Bible books are god's absolute opinions. You constantly refer to them in arguments as a rationale for them being true. The " it says its true , therefore it must be true" sort of thing. Do you not see that they were written by , well, human beings? There are many wonderful books that are inspirational (Shakespeare's plays for instance) and we can learn from them, and experience insight into the human condition, but we wouldn,t insist they were the only way to live, or try to influence government policies with them. Why do you do it because of what some ancient texts say? It seems to me that the whole crux of our debtes with you rest on this matter: You believe god writes books We believe people write books and they are just that: books! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluesman Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 The last church that I attended (and the one my wife still does) doesn't care!! They are a small country Baptist church who believes that the King James Version is the only true bible ever written. While I still believed, I tried to get a class together on the history of the Bible and how we got what we have today. But there was no intrest. They were so brainwashed that they didn't care where the KJV came from, only that it was all you read! It was really sad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxyroze Posted March 29, 2006 Share Posted March 29, 2006 When I was going to church I secretly questioned the bible and made the mistake of asking one of my church elders if some of the bible could be wrong…after that I was accused of being a “Doubting Thomas”. So I learned that if you question anything about God and Bible that instantly makes you a nonbeliever or a backslider. So given that, I think many Christians just don’t question or wonder about the Bible because it would be a sign that their hearts aren’t "true" to their god or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibby Posted March 29, 2006 Author Share Posted March 29, 2006 When I was going to church I secretly questioned the bible and made the mistake of asking one of my church elders if some of the bible could be wrong…after that I was accused of being a “Doubting Thomas”. So I learned that if you question anything about God and Bible that instantly makes you a nonbeliever or a backslider. So given that, I think many Christians just don’t question or wonder about the Bible because it would be a sign that their hearts aren’t "true" to their god or something. Yes . It seems that it isn't just a collection of books, in the minds of believers. It becomes something more. It is totally irrational. There seems to be great fear in even questioning. I offered a woman at work (who was a Jehovah's witness) a book that explored early christianity and the origin of the Jesus myth. The fear on her face was palpable....she looked scared. She said that she wouldn't read it as she felt she had discovered the truth. While I was only too willing to read what she brought for me. She couldn't see that she was closed minded at all. She thought that she had studied the bible conclusively......but the only thing she read on it was her Watchtower stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexandrian Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 When I was a Catholic, that was one of the better arguments we had to throw at the fundagelicals. They say the Bible is God's literal word, but on what basis do they claim that some works are God's literal word, and some are not(such as the Epistle of Barnabus or the Gospel of Thomas). How do you differentiate between the inspired works and the non-inspired works? At some point you have to invoke the authority of men, which according to the fundies should never be done. It never seem to got through to them, but with Fundies reason isn't what is driving their beliefs in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibby Posted March 30, 2006 Author Share Posted March 30, 2006 When I was a Catholic, that was one of the better arguments we had to throw at the fundagelicals. They say the Bible is God's literal word, but on what basis do they claim that some works are God's literal word, and some are not(such as the Epistle of Barnabus or the Gospel of Thomas). How do you differentiate between the inspired works and the non-inspired works? At some point you have to invoke the authority of men, which according to the fundies should never be done. It never seem to got through to them, but with Fundies reason isn't what is driving their beliefs in the first place. Excellent point Alexandrian. Any christians care to comment on how you decide what is inspired? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxy Methoxy Posted March 30, 2006 Share Posted March 30, 2006 My Aunt and Uncle belong to a sect of Baptists that believe not only is the Bible God's literal word, but that the Old King James is the only authorized version. There is no rhyme or reason to their logic and they won't go along with any debate regarding the subject. The only thing you'll get from them is some "It is as God's word says it is" nonsense when you question their devotion to the Bible. IMHO, they don't worship God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit. They worship the Old King James Bible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Holy Ghost Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 They worship the Old King James Bible. As long as it's something that has to do with a king, it makes no difference. The Kingdom shall be theirs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkepticOfBible Posted March 31, 2006 Share Posted March 31, 2006 When I was a Catholic, that was one of the better arguments we had to throw at the fundagelicals. They say the Bible is God's literal word, but on what basis do they claim that some works are God's literal word, and some are not(such as the Epistle of Barnabus or the Gospel of Thomas). How do you differentiate between the inspired works and the non-inspired works? At some point you have to invoke the authority of men, which according to the fundies should never be done. You know I tried that with Sub_zero, and he kept on saying "they had the authority of JC". Although he could never prove it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greasemonkey Posted April 1, 2006 Share Posted April 1, 2006 The KJV being the only "valid" bible is part of the baptist doctrine; the S Baptist convention decided that in the late 80's I believe. I love telling them that King James was openly gay. (do a google search on King James I and the "Duke of Buckingham.") Funny thier "only valid" bible is named after a gay king... most people I've told that little factoid to have accused me of being a liar... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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