What gives the bible credibility?

HitchensGuy · Jul 20, 2015

I ask this question legitimately hoping for an answer. I don't mean to insult anyone in any way I'm just curious to see if they're is a solid reason. I think most will agree the bible was indeed written by human beings, of course they're said to have been used by God to reveal his word, but that's because these guys wrote that in. What leads us to think this book is true any more than something I or anyone else could write? What makes us think the koran, for example, isn't the real revelation, or book of Mormon, or scientology, or any book that claims to be the revealed word of god?
Please respond to my query rather than criticizing me; ad homunum attacks only distract from my question- not discredit it. A sufficient answer could just make a believer out of me

Skinski7 · Jul 20, 2015

HitchensGuy said:

Self evident truth in regards to righteousness.

If human beings truly did love one another there would be no ill will between human beings in the world. No murder, theft, fraud, deceit, unfaithfulness, broken families, and everything else that piggy backs onto that.

Jesus was a preacher of righteousness who called all people to a repentance from evil. Jesus also taught that very few people will heed his message because the majority of people prefer evil.

The Koran does not address the issue of the heart at all. The central theme of the Bible relates to the dichotomy of heart purity versus inward iniquity. Islam approaches the issue between mankind and God as a "master slave relationship" and the focus is upon obedience to the masters commands, not on the condition of the heart which is the focus in the Bible.

Skinski7 · Jul 20, 2015

Love is the glue of the universe and when love is forsaken the universe is forced into chaos.

A good analogy is a car engine which requires the correct oil, coolant and seals. If the order required to operate an engine is violated the engine will eventually break down. So it is when the order of righteousness (pure love) is forsaken in the reality in which we exist..

atwhatcost · Jul 20, 2015

People do not change much. There is little purpose in doing so. Whatever faults and flaws we have tend to work for us. (Like a child who has a temper tantrum gets her way, then she learns temper tantrums work for her, and keeps doing that in different ways throughout her life. It may turn into her becoming a bully or a drama queen but what she does with what she learned as a baby keeps getting perfected the older she gets.)

People do not change, and yet, when someone reads that book and believes it, something amazing happens. That person does change and changes to the good. Good for others, good for society, good for family, and good for himself or herself. (Mostly to God's good, but you kind of have to know what that is for that to make sense to you... I think.) There is no reason that happens, except for the one obvious reason. It's real. It really is about God and God changes people who trust in him.

Can't really say that about any other book.

BTW, not for nothing and don't take this the wrong way, but I have to disagree with your last sentence. Maybe one of our answers will click for you, but it's not the answer that would change you. That would be God doing something in you. Just saying, so, if it does happen, you don't think another person changed you.

Jason0047 · Jul 20, 2015

HitchensGuy said:

If you are seeking and truly looking for answers, then hopefully these evidences will help you.

http://christianchat.com/bible-disc...cal-evidences-supporting-truth-gods-word.html

May God bless you.
And please be well.

realchild4life · Jul 20, 2015

HitchensGuy said:

Somehow someone along time ago knew that want was caused by an anomaly of non desire and wrote the genesis story to warn people not to learn good and evil knowledge. Most of our knowledge is based on want (Demand) of the knowledge of good and evil, and is the cause of most of our human pain and suffering. But we don't listen, no we all eat off the tree of knowledge of good and evil and we even force our our children to eat off the same tree.

This is the strongest claim I can make for the bible, but at this time only the genesis story.

kaylagrl · Jul 21, 2015

If you have a moment please watch the video.Ravi Zacharias is an apologist and there are other videos that will speak to the issue you are talking about.This video gives some good answers though...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWY-6xBA0Pk

crossnote · Jul 21, 2015

Fulfilled prophecy.
There are over 300 fulfilled prophecies concerning Jesus Christ in the OT which would have been impossible to self fulfill, and the religions you mentioned lack this.

psalm6819 · Jul 21, 2015

That's easy. God, and if that is not an acceptable answer all the logic and facts in the world ain't gonna convince ya.

dcontroversal · Jul 21, 2015

It's origin...the changed lives, the predicted history that came to pass, the universal truths found therein etc.

Tintin · Jul 21, 2015

realchild4life said:

Oh, boy. A non-Christian trying to help a seeking non-Christian to better understand God's Word? This is rich.

HitchensGuy, try this article for size. It should help.
https://answersingenesis.org/is-the...rovethebibleistrue-6365&utm_campaign=20150720

Yahshua · Jul 21, 2015

HitchensGuy said:

When discovering truths about our world and life itself, the proof of a truth relies on the testimony of two or more witnesses' experiences to confirm it as such. And until there's confirmation of the truth, all we have are theories and educated guesses. Now the reliability of a truth is directly related to the number of witnesses who can confirm it and distance between those witnesses (whether that distance is measured in "space" or in "time"). So the more witnesses the more reliable the truth...and the further apart those witnesses are from each other the more reliable the truth.

- It's why we rely on the witnesses and/or testimony of two or more in the courtroom

- It's why we rely on the witnesses and/or testimony of two or more for contracts and money itself (there are two signatures on every dollar bill)

- It's why we rely on the witnesses and/or testimony of two or more for math and science

Then when enough witnesses confirm a truth, that truth is recorded so it can be later referred to and studied so we can build on that truth and get us to the next level of it. A portion of humanity has followed this process for understanding many different things in our world, creating books to share for the benefit of all of humanity. So likewise many people followed this process for understanding God, creating books for the benefit of all of humanity. Humanity is then free to test the validity of the truths in these books in their own lives, confirming them as true or false.

Now the illusion (or deception?) that has occurred with the codification of the bible is the idea that it's 1 book. But the truth is it's dozens of different records written by many different witnesses thousands of years apart (just like our multitude of math and science books are records written by witnesses hundreds of years apart). And even with being records written by so many different people who lived so far apart in time, there is a continuity of the truth of God that stands unchanged from one record to the next. All that's left for us to do is to test the validity of the truth of God in our own lives for confirmation.

Now members who've comment above have shared areas of truth that have been confirmed, whether prophecy of Christ or the prophecy of world history, to the real change one undergoes who *truly apply* the teachings found within (not just those who simply say they're member of the religion formed around these records). So I encourage you to test these truths in your life, or at minimum thoroughly research these truths for yourself.

seed_time_harvest · Jul 21, 2015

HitchensGuy said:

The bible says that Faith comes by hearing by the WORD of GOD.

Somebody might ask how do I get Faith?
+++++++++
Romans 10:14-17
king James version(KJV)

14.)How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

15.)And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

16.)But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

17.)So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Angela53510 · Jul 21, 2015

The Old Testament was carefully copied by scribes for many years. In fact, when the almost complete scroll of Isaiah was found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls, it was virtually unchanged from the Bibles of our day. That means that so few mistakes have been made, that God has preserved his Word for more than 2000 years, since the scroll dates back to before the time of Christ.

Therefore, God has preserved his Word through the ages. The New Testament is the same way. The earliest manuscripts, including the Rylands papyrus of John, dating to 100-110 AD is identical to the modern text. The fact that there are slight variations in the New Testament early manuscripts which do not affect doctrine, show that diverse copies of the New Testament existed back to the earliest days of the church, and that they were copied and passed down with the help of the Holy Spirit. The differences show that people are falliable, but God still preserves his Word.

That is the argument from literary criticism. But the argument from experience is even more important.

When I was saved, God told me to read the Bible, and that the Bible was his perfect Word. I started reading, and 35 years later I have not just read the book many times in several languages, but that Bible has totally transformed me into a different person.

The Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ. It testifies to the Holy One, our Saviour and our Rock. You simply cannot go wrong, if you pick up the Bible and start reading it. The Holy Spirit will change you into the image of Christ, as God saves you!

Please read the Bible, starting with the New Testament, the Psalms and the Old Testament. I know God will meet you there, and you will come to know Jesus Christ and follow him!

Hepzibah · Jul 21, 2015

What gave the Bible credibility for me was though having an encounter with God. I had been reading about different religions, and knew that they all could not be right as Christianity was different and said that man cannot do anything to be acceptable to God. The others gave ways for man to improve himself.

So one night I prayed and said 'God if you are there, please prove it'. Suddenly I knew that He had answered and was in the room with me. He then showed me all that I needed to know, though communication with my spirit and after 43 years it is still the same. To know the truth, we must have His Spirit within us.

atwhatcost · Jul 21, 2015

realchild4life said:

Until this post, I simply thought you didn't know any better. Now that I see you're goal is to promote anything-but-God, as if you could possibly change the minds of believers, I see you do know. You're objective isn't to learn, but to teach, and to teach on subjects you are completely clueless about.

The proper answer to this question from you was no answer. You don't have a clue to answer.

Someone has already told you about that rule on here for nonbelievers. There is no problem for nonbelievers on here, until they break that rule. Breaking that rule has been your goal. You were warned twice now. I'm merely giving you a heads-up, so you understand what went wrong when you're banned. It was you thinking you could disprove God, instead you sound like a child teaching university students Logic.

Elin · Jul 21, 2015

HitchensGuy said:

God set it up so that only one thing gives the Bible credibility--the powerful witness of his Holy Spirit to the spirits of those who believe, convincing them of the absolute truth of the Scriptures as the very words of God.
Apart from that, there is no knowing.

The truth of the Bible can be neither proven nor disproven.
Both are a matter of faith.

Only God convinces one of its truth.
It's a closed book to everyone else.

Elin · Jul 21, 2015

realchild4life said:

Somehow someone along time ago knew that want was caused by an anomaly of non desire and wrote the genesis story to warn people not to learn good and evil knowledge. Most of our knowledge is based on want (Demand) of the knowledge of good and evil, and is the cause of most of our human pain and suffering. But we don't listen, no we all eat off the tree of knowledge of good and evil and we even force our our children to eat off the same tree.

This is the strongest claim I can make for the bible, but at this time only the genesis story.

That explanation makes no sense in reality. . .

ladylynn · Jul 21, 2015

kaylagrl said:

This was a good link. I wish more people would listen to Ravi Z. since he gives really good logical answers and is so good with the gift of words. Certainly a man of God.

LadyBetty · Jul 21, 2015

You might find it useful to check out Barry Cooper's book "Can I really trust the Bible?" http://www.amazon.com/Can-I-really-trust-Bible/dp/190955913X

What gives the bible credibility?

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