Another Question For Christians

[CollinEstes]

I agree with what you said about being able to prove anything, in theory. I just found it intersting and wanted to share for people who might be interested.

[Aytumious]

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I agree with what you said about being able to prove anything, in theory. I just found it intersting and wanted to share for people who might be interested.

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No problem. After I responded I realized you may have simply been posting it as a general response and not as a direct response to me.

[Girchuck]

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If this is true, why are so many people speaking for God as though they understand the ultimate Overlord's intentions?


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People say all sorts of things.

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What is the criteria by which you distinguish divine
revelation from hubris?


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The Word of God.



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What is The Word of God? Are you the only one with access to The Word of God? If you wanted to show me that The Word of God is a divine revelation, how would you do it?

[NotReady]

It doesn't spell it out, but I guess part of the reason is there's no way to know for sure. Even Christians sometimes have doubts about their own faith, even more so that of others.

"Judge not that you be not judged"

Whether someone else has genuine faith or not, or how God deals with those who have not heard, is just not the concern of others.

[NotReady]

Fear can be wise.

[NotReady]

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Are you the only one with access to The Word of God?


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I believe the Bible is the all time best seller. I think there are few if any languages into which it hasn't been translated.
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If you wanted to show me that The Word of God is a divine revelation, how would you do it?


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If you're asking me to prove it to you, I can't. Proof is in the eye of the beholder. The Bible claims it is the Word of God, so either it is or isn't. If it is, it would be wise to listen to it. If it isn't, it's meaningless, even evil (because it claims to be and requires certain things that would be evil if false).

As far as evidence, there is an overwhelming mountain which can be easily found on the net. Different people respond to different aspects - books if not whole libraries have been written about it and against it.

"Seek and you shall find"
"You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free"

[Mark1808]

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Just keep in mind that these vague general arguments only have merit in regards to some sort of creator of the universe. They do nothing to argue for a god who is, omnipotent, who answers prayers, who places humans (or planet earth) in a special position compared to aliens, animals or intelligent computers, or who gives life after death. Just "looking around you" should not lead any person who can think straight to believe in such a god or to the even more specific beliefs of specific religions.

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Agreed. Religion seems to be man's futile attempt to explain God or whatever you want to call the power behind the universe. I just can't believe the universe came from nothing. But I can't prove a damn thing!

[Girchuck]

What do you think is the purpose of the Bible?
Do you believe that people who wrote the Bible knew more than you do now?

[NotReady]

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What do you think is the purpose of the Bible?


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These are some of the verses that speak about the Bible.
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2 Peter: 1
20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation,
21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

2 Timothy 3:

14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them,
15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

2 Peter 3:

15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,
16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

Jesus said in

Matthew 5:

17 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished."

And He said in

John 5:

39"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;"


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In the Gospels, the Scriptures always referred to what we call the Old Testament.


I believe the purpose of the Bible is to tell us what we need to know that we cannot find out ourselves. The Bible says that all people know God through what has been made because God makes it evident to them, including somthing about His nature (Romans 1:20), but we would know nothing of the purpose and work of Jesus apart from Scripture. In one sense, the entire Bible is about Christ, including the Old Testament, and the purpose is to inform us about Him and ourselves.

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Do you believe that people who wrote the Bible knew more than you do now?


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The authors of the Bible are many and varied, from different walks of life, social backgrounds, education, economic conditions and life experiences. I have no doubt that the IQ of some of the authors would not be impressive, and of some would be very impressive (Solomon and Paul for instance). I certainly know much more about poker and electricity than any of the authors. But what they knew of importance has nothing to do with IQ or knowledge of technical matters. They were inspired (inspiration here can be transliterated from the Greek as "breathed" or "God-breathed") by God to write what they did. This is why orthodox Christians accept the Bible as God's word (not that He dictated it verbatim), and why it is essentially inerrant or infallible, and it's also why the primary attack on Christianity is against the Bible. Obviously, prove error in the Bible and it's reliability collapses and along with it, logically, Christianity. Think about it. What other religion or philosophy takes a stand like this? And for thousands of years it has survived every attack from every side. That alone is impressive.

[Girchuck]

Do you believe there is a need right now for further divinely inspired communication since we know more now about physics, mathematics, biology and a lot of other interesting things about the Universe we inhabit? If not now, will there be a point in our development when we know enough to require further divine communication?

Let me give you a hypothetical: Lets say that a few hundred years in the future a cheap technology of immortality is discovered. Everyone can live as long as they desire, indefinitely. Obviously, procreation is somehow controlled. Do you believe at this point the humanity will need another message from the divine? Will people who don't have to die have emotional connection with the message in a Bible?

If such further communication were possible, how would you be able to recognize it?