Why Believe The Bible?

[jasphair]

Greetings all,

I’ve almost completely lost my faith, and I know that in order to get it back, I must be able to believe The Bible. I’d like to believe, but I find it difficult to do so.

How do we know The Bible is genuine? I’ve heard it said, The Bible is was written by men (obviously) who were ‘God inspired’. Well, how do we know they were? If the only thing we need to know, is that the pages were written by men who were supposedly inspired by God to do so, how does this make The Bible any more valid? Joseph Smith was supposedly inspired by God to write the Book of Mormon, but it would seem they’re about as far out of left field as you can get.

My theory is this. I could devote many (or maybe all) the years of my life, writing a spiritual book with a series of chapters, and claim to have been inspired by God to do so. In time, it would be picked up by many people, and perhaps 2000 years from now, there’d be a billion people in the world who believe what I wrote, and believe that I’m some sort of great prophet. Right?

When I was attending RCIA, I stumped several people by asking a question along these lines, and also asking how it was possible that Jesus is quoted in so many places, despite having been alone at times. How do we know what Jesus said in the garden of Gethsemane? He went off to pray on his own, while his disciples slept. The Bible quotes him several times, however, when the only person who would have heard Jesus, was himself. Did Jesus, somehow prior to being arrested, say “Quickly, write this down! While you were snoozing, I prayed to The Father, and was sweating tears of blood.”? What about when Jesus was tempted by Satan, whilst wandering alone? Nobody else was with him.

Oh, and another thing that greatly turns me off with The Bible, is how different God was in the Old Testament. In the OT, God is very involved with many people, showing himself, speaking to them audibly, etc. He also gives commands for people to be slaughtered, and comes up with all kinds of crazy little Judaic rules. So then all of a sudden, in the NT, he’s a new God, a God of love and compassion and understanding, who doesn’t want anyone to die (never mind the millions of people He had killed in the OT) but have eternal life? So He sends down His “son” to die for us? Huh?!

Please help. I really want to believe again, but I’m finding it so hard to do so.

Respectfully,

jasphair

 

[Prophesy]

Greetings all,

I’ve almost completely lost my faith, and I know that in order to get it back, I must be able to believe The Bible. I’d like to believe, but I find it difficult to do so.

How do we know The Bible is genuine? I’ve heard it said, The Bible is was written by men (obviously) who were ‘God inspired’. Well, how do we know they were? If the only thing we need to know, is that the pages were written by men who were supposedly inspired by God to do so, how does this make The Bible any more valid? Joseph Smith was supposedly inspired by God to write the Book of Mormon, but it would seem they’re about as far out of left field as you can get.

My theory is this. I could devote many (or maybe all) the years of my life, writing a spiritual book with a series of chapters, and claim to have been inspired by God to do so. In time, it would be picked up by many people, and perhaps 2000 years from now, there’d be a billion people in the world who believe what I wrote, and believe that I’m some sort of great prophet. Right?

When I was attending RCIA, I stumped several people by asking a question along these lines, and also asking how it was possible that Jesus is quoted in so many places, despite having been alone at times. How do we know what Jesus said in the garden of Gethsemane? He went off to pray on his own, while his disciples slept. The Bible quotes him several times, however, when the only person who would have heard Jesus, was himself. Did Jesus, somehow prior to being arrested, say “Quickly, write this down! While you were snoozing, I prayed to The Father, and was sweating tears of blood.”? What about when Jesus was tempted by Satan, whilst wandering alone? Nobody else was with him.

Oh, and another thing that greatly turns me off with The Bible, is how different God was in the Old Testament. In the OT, God is very involved with many people, showing himself, speaking to them audibly, etc. He also gives commands for people to be slaughtered, and comes up with all kinds of crazy little Judaic rules. So then all of a sudden, in the NT, he’s a new God, a God of love and compassion and understanding, who doesn’t want anyone to die (never mind the millions of people He had killed in the OT) but have eternal life? So He sends down His “son” to die for us? Huh?!

Please help. I really want to believe again, but I’m finding it so hard to do so.

Respectfully,

jasphair

One thing you can try to do is approach it as a historical book at first. Take a look at the more historical books such as Exodus, Kings, the Gospels, Acts and the Epistles, etc. After reading it as a historical book, you’ll come upon the character of Jesus. He is quite unlike any religious figure ever presented (especially unlike Joseph Smith’s accounts).

The things with ‘God-inspired’ books which are more recent, are not as historical. Most of the locations mentioned in the Book of Mormon, do not, in fact, exist. Especially those supposedly in the Americas.

The summit of Scripture is Christ, you should try investigating Him, both through the Gospel accounts, maybe C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity and Pope Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth.

Sure it is possible to say that C.S. Lewis and Pope Benedict will be pushing this God-inspired idea, but go a head and try reading them anyways. They are not the only ones to take this scripture seriously, keep in mind that many of Christ’s apostles died violently for what they taught about Jesus.

-Prophecy

 

[HickmanJosh]

How do we know The Bible is genuine? I’ve heard it said, The Bible is was written by men (obviously) who were ‘God inspired’. Well, how do we know they were? If the only thing we need to know, is that the pages were written by men who were supposedly inspired by God to do so, how does this make The Bible any more valid? Joseph Smith was supposedly inspired by God to write the Book of Mormon, but it would seem they’re about as far out of left field as you can get.

The gospels were written by people who had firsthand experience with Christ, the other letters were written latter and then collected to be reproduced in the bible, for century’s Christianity had been spread without the bible but by memory and teaching of what Christ had done and what was written in the few writings that could be gotten from the early church founders

My theory is this. I could devote many (or maybe all) the years of my life, writing a spiritual book with a series of chapters, and claim to have been inspired by God to do so. In time, it would be picked up by many people, and perhaps 2000 years from now, there’d be a billion people in the world who believe what I wrote, and believe that I’m some sort of great prophet. Right?

could your book and the words inside empower people to completely change there lives, to stand up and face persecution, to defeat a world empire? could the teachings last and endure for two thousand years?

When I was attending RCIA, I stumped several people by asking a question along these lines, and also asking how it was possible that Jesus is quoted in so many places, despite having been alone at times. How do we know what Jesus said in the garden of Gethsemane? He went off to pray on his own, while his disciples slept. The Bible quotes him several times, however, when the only person who would have heard Jesus, was himself. Did Jesus, somehow prior to being arrested, say “Quickly, write this down! While you were snoozing, I prayed to The Father, and was sweating tears of blood.”? What about when Jesus was tempted by Satan, whilst wandering alone? Nobody else was with him.

When Jesus had Risen from the dead He walked on the Earth with His disciples, is it not possible that the the disciples asked about what happened during x day in the garden or z event in the desert, and weather or not they should write these things down?

Oh, and another thing that greatly turns me off with The Bible, is how different God was in the Old Testament. In the OT, God is very involved with many people, showing himself, speaking to them audibly, etc. He also gives commands for people to be slaughtered, and comes up with all kinds of crazy little Judaic rules. So then all of a sudden, in the NT, he’s a new God, a God of love and compassion and understanding, who doesn’t want anyone to die (never mind the millions of people He had killed in the OT) but have eternal life? So He sends down His “son” to die for us? Huh?!

perhaps it is our perception of Him that has changed

 

[NHInsider]

I’ve almost completely lost my faith, and I know that in order to get it back, I must be able to believe The Bible. I’d like to believe, but I find it difficult to do so.

Actually, I think you have it backwards.

I think it was St. Augustine who said “I should not have believed the Bible had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.”

Jesus promised His authority and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to His Apostles. It was under than authority and guidance that the Scriptures were composed and assembled and proclaimed.

We believe the Bible because we believe Jesus. There are lots of other supporting arguments, both spiritual and historical, but the most critical one is the authority and protection of the Church that proclaims the Bible as the Word of God - but of course, only as a witness to the Logos - the Incarnate Word of God.

My favorite biblical prayer of all time is “Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief.” I urge you to set aside your intellectual struggle and ask the Lord to strengthen and comfort and restore you - not because your intellectual struggle is wrong in itself - He gave us minds and expects us to use them - but because it’s the wrong question in this circumstance.

 

[Scoobyshme]

Jesus didn’t leave a Bible to us. He left a Church, the Catholic Church. It is this Church, which you must believe, because it alone has the entire deposit of faith left by Jesus for us.

The Bible is a subset of this deposit of faith, not the whole banana. See John 21:25, that says that not everything Jesus did or taught is IN the Bible. Then, see Matt. 28:20, that says that Jesus commanded the Apostles (and their successors, implied) to go forth and teach EVERYTHING that He had taught them. So, there’s a gap between all that Jesus taught and what got written in the Bible. The difference is Holy Tradition, a.k.a., oral tradition, as described in 2 Thes 2:15.

See the following video on Origin of the Bible, if you’re interested:

alabamacatholicresources.com/Bible.html

 

[Barbkw]

Jaspahair,

Hold on to hope concerning Scripture.

Each author presents a glimpse into one age of salvation history.

Living as we do in the U.S., with the laws we share and freedoms we enjoy, it is a mental challenge to understand ancient social systems that differ from ours.

Even in the U.S., it is a challenge to look back at our own Civil War. How far we have come, right! Even I, look back at that time in history and wonder “What were those people thinking, why couldn’t they just get along?”

Or, take the U.S. War of Independence against the Brittish. “Get out of our land, we will fight to the death for it.”

Even in our own time, look at inner city gangs and the turf wars & murders that are committed to defend a city block. It does make me reconsider how my personal decision making can impact a society!

When reading the Old Testament (and even the New Testament), there are underlying personal tensions concerning individuals, families, groups, tribes, states, nations, kingdoms and empires.

Unfortuneately, all of those formations included a deadly human price in the building.

I agree with you, the OT reads in part, like a brutal battle field. As a society, that was the life those people lived. It is an example to us of how brutal life can become.

 

[Mark77]

**Do not believe the Bible because of the words of any mere man!

Listen to your heart! That is where God speaks to you if you allow Him to.**

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!

mark

 

[jasphair]

**Do not believe the Bible because of the words of any mere man!

Listen to your heart! That is where God speaks to you if you allow Him to.**

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!

mark

So, when you say listen to your heart, do you mean trust your instinct, or listen to your conscience? The latter is probably not always good to go by. What you think to be your heart telling you something, could actually be a form of schizophrenia which, in some cases, has led people to do terrible things…

 

[mskejj]

See if you can find a church that offers the Bible class “8 week Quick Adventure Bible Study” by Jeff Cavins. You will have a much better understanding of the Bible and the story of salvation history and your view of the OT God and NT will change…we have such a hard time not using our 2000AD culture and knowledge when looking back 4000+ years where there was a tribal mentality.

 

[Barbkw]

On Dish and Cable, on EWTN (Channel 261 in my area) they have at times had Jeff Cavin’s Adventure Bible program.

Steven Ray’s “Following in the Footprints of God” is also excellent and that is currently being shown on EWTN.