I finished a job interview today and went to Walmart to kill a little time before picking up my son from school. I went to the book section and found a book by Stephen Baldwin (Alec's younger brother) titled "The Unusual Suspect--My Calling to the New Hardcore Movement of Faith."
Now I'm not a Baldwin fan but I was curious about the title and began reading a few pages of the book. I found it was an honest book about Stephen becoming a practicing christian and found many parts intriguing. One of the most intriguing parts so far is the concept of if the bible is accurate, or not.
Stephen says that many people tell him theyu believe in God and believe in the bible but think men got in the way of the translation so it's watered down and not accurate. Stephen's response is to ask them about believing in God, if they think God created the universe, was before time, etc. Then he asks them that if they believe God must have done all of that other stuff and has that much power, how do they think God doesn't have the power to control men's minds to write down the bible exactly as he says it?
I know I've wondered sometimes about the bible being completely accurate but I have to admit Stephen is right about this. It now makes me want to learn even more about the bible so I can truly understand exactly what God is saying, especially in the parts I've always not been able to easily comprehend.
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Cal, No I do not think the bible is accurate. Take for instance the king james version that most protestants use. There are numerious verses, and chapters left out only because king james of england didn't want them in it.
And besides that. God isn't controlling everything, rather he is sitting back watching to see who is naughty and who is nice. If God wanted to write his own book he could have had it just appear. So, no God didn't write the bible, man wrote the bible as a tribute.
Just to follow up , I want to add
Just as in todays society there are men and women who are trying to put their own spin on God...you know like the ones that are saying God is a woman, or God is neither male nor female...or whatever...you may even think I'm trying to put my own spin on this subject.
Anyhoo...the bible was written by men (and we all know how every man wants to sound like an expert)although it was inspired by God, just like any love story, man was the final author/editor.
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RE: Is The Bible Accurate??
Quote:
ORIGINAL: thundermug
Cal, No I do not think the bible is accurate. Take for instance the king james version that most protestants use. There are numerious verses, and chapters left out only because king james of england didn't want them in it.
And besides that. God isn't controlling everything, rather he is sitting back watching to see who is naughty and who is nice. If God wanted to write his own book he could have had it just appear. So, no God didn't write the bible, man wrote the bible as a tribute.
Thunder, where do you get your info from??? You make these statements and do not back them up. I like how you know what God is doing, and why the Bible was written.
We Christians hold dear the infallibility of the Bible ... it is Jesus in print. Perfect and Holy. King James IS NOT greater than God. God is able to guide man to perform His will, and does. He is NOT Satan Clause!!!! He works and calls men to repentance, they have a choice, but the Sweet Holy Spirit of God woos us, and some give over to Faith.
FAITH in God, Thunder, not man. Your statements show a faith in man. God did not just put us on this earth to wander around like idiots with no direction. History proves this ... when The Holy Bible is king in a country, that country thrives!!!! America was founded on the King James Bible you so easily discredit, and what a great nation she was!!!! As we chuck God out of every institution, we see morality declining .... the roof is right there! This happened in Europe as well ......
The Word of God is PERFECT, because it was written by God, using human penmen.
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Cal, No I do not think the bible is accurate. Take for instance the king james version that most protestants use. There are numerious verses, and chapters left out only because king james of england didn't want them in it.
And besides that. God isn't controlling everything, rather he is sitting back watching to see who is naughty and who is nice. If God wanted to write his own book he could have had it just appear. So, no God didn't write the bible, man wrote the bible as a tribute.
Thunder, what in the world are you talking about? Where did King James throw out numerious verses? I have taken a class on such a topic, and you are sorely mistaken.
Archaeology evidence demonstrates the historical and cultural accuracy of the Bible.
There is much information out there that clearly shows the Bible to be the most historically correct book EVER!! Even more historically correct than Homer Illiad.
Now if your talking translations, thats a different matter. For what the translators had in 1611, they did a good job. But they had to go back to the Latin Vulgate for certain sections they could not complete. They were trying to get a translation away from the catholic religion.
Today, it is claimed we have the most accurately translated English version ever. NASB. Its a word for word translation
I'm inclined to think of the Bible as inspired rather than dictated. I'm also inclined to think that God didn't confine his inspiration solely to the Bible with which we are familiar.
It also doesn't seem reasonable to me that He would have stopped inspiring a couple thousand years ago. I try to remain open to the inspiration of the Spirit in my life as much as I can.
My daughter had an assignment in US History and she had to read the lesson out of her school history textbook and answer some questions. The topic was on September 11, 2001. She had some questions about why people called terrorist would be mean to the United States. I told her that they wasn't mean to the United States, that her hostory book was written by men and that it wasn't true. I asked her if she was there when it happened and she calmly said no. I told her not to worry about it then because men make mistakes when writting books and they were not perfect, so everything that she read in her history book was only half true.
Is this the way you see the Bible? NO, come on now. The bible is as true as your birth date on your birth certificate.
i partially agree with what stephen baldwin said. yes we are to believe in the God that wrote the scriptures and is capable of preserving them etc. but we shouldn't just accept that with blind faith.
i believe God inspired the orignal documents of the Bible. As far as scribes copying them...no. we have thousands of manuscripts and not one of them is exactly the same. however, the differences between them are very minute. all this says to me is that we should not take for granted what the KJV or any other translation says. it is important look at the scriptures in the orignal languages, even if u dont read greek or hebrew there are different books and software u can use to study it.
i just think christians need to do a little more research into why we believe what we do, rather than just saying "i have faith in God." to most unbelievers that statement proves nothing.
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RE: Is The Bible Accurate??
Quote:
ORIGINAL: NiceAndBlue
i partially agree with what stephen baldwin said. yes we are to believe in the God that wrote the scriptures and is capable of preserving them etc. but we shouldn't just accept that with blind faith.
i believe God inspired the orignal documents of the Bible. As far as scribes copying them...no. we have thousands of manuscripts and not one of them is exactly the same. however, the differences between them are very minute. all this says to me is that we should not take for granted what the KJV or any other translation says. it is important look at the scriptures in the orignal languages, even if u dont read greek or hebrew there are different books and software u can use to study it.
i just think christians need to do a little more research into why we believe what we do, rather than just saying "i have faith in God." to most unbelievers that statement proves nothing.
The natural man understandeth NOT the things of God, for they are foolishness unto them. Unbelievers will ONLY be able to understand when they humble themselves before God and ask Him ... period. God uses His Word, Creation, and people to speak of Himself.
Bottom line, that is what is needed .... a personal faith in God. The belief that we need to know the original greek is ridiculous, as the originals do not exist anymore. That doesn't mean that the Word of God doesn't exist, it does. The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.
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A Trophy is highly personal and is often determined by the circumstances, events, and the individual feelings of accomplishment and not by a score card. - Greg "Doc" Caldwell
for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks!
Is The Bible Accurate??
