Is the Bible the Literal Word of God?

Just wondering how many of you believe that the Christian Bible is the actual and literal written word of God himself?

 

Yes - human beings wrote it, but a higher being inspired them

 

A classicist friend tells me he would expect better Greek from a god.

 

The Bible is fallible man's account of the infallible God operating alone and through humankind throughout history.

My opinion only.

 

My religious belief is expressed in The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. I agree that this is very largely a matter of personal conviction.

IMO the Autographa of the Bible should be considered by Christians authoritative in matters of faith and practice.

 

As a Diest, I don't believe in organized religion. I am fascinated by world religions and have read the annotated bible (foot notes and all). Interesting reading - great history book - but that is all it is to me. IMHO, no more the word of god than an Al Franken or Sean Hannity book.

I see god as a metaphysical being - something that cannot be imagined or put into words by mere mortals. I also beleive that we are left to our own destinies - whether or not we muck it up is not up to god, but our own actions.

Wouldn't it be a kicker if we all found out after death that this is in fact hell - wouldn't surprise me a bit.

 

I agree!

 

Thank you Mr. Engineer. I've learned something new today.

Prior to today, my beliefs would have been characterized as humanist. After briefly researching what a Diest is, I would have to admit that my belief system falls closer to what a Diest would believe. I found a comparison between a Diest and a theist in another discussion forum and included it below.

I'm not saying that I accept the Diest belief system in a born-again fashion... it's just that I'm intrigued and will eagerly explore this topic further. Sounds like it's time to take this branch off to a thread of it's own.

Getting back on topic...

The bible was written by fallable human beings. If it was word of God to man, the filter between the word and the paper is faulty at best. I've heard it's a bestseller though!

Rick

 

I have a question for those who fall into the "Literal Word of God" category:

How many of you have ever made an effort to learn the biblical languages?

The reason I ask is, if I thought that the Creator of the Universe had Himself penned a book, I'd be quite passionate in trying to read and understand it for myself. I wouldn't WANT some other person to stand between me and the text as translator!

 

An observation

Re my previous post.

Whenever one of my Rabbis started up a beginning biblical Hebrew course, we ALWAYS had a few Christians in the group.

They never got beyond the aleph-bet. Not because they weren't sincere or sufficiently bright, but because they really don't USE the language in religious practice as Jews do.

They weren't really motivated, you see.

 

Is the Bible the actual written word of God?

I think that there are fundamental problems with the meaning and reference of the word 'God', to say nothing of the existence or non-existence of whatever it is that's ostensibly being referred to. These are basically problems of the philosophy of religion.

But passing over those kind of issues for the sake of argument, there's another set of problems concerning this entity's relation to a particular historical religious tradition, and in this case more specifically, to that tradition's scriptures. That's more of a theological problem, I think.

Yes - God wrote it

God wrote it literally? He penned it? I don't think that the Bible claims that about itself. Its various sections are ascribed to people like Moses or Paul.

But some theological conservatives do seem to me at least to behave as if God had written the thing, explicitly referring to the Bible as the "word of God" and treating it almost as if it were a sacrament. I find that interesting. The body and blood of the Catholic eucharist are deemphasized by Protesants and the Bible sometimes seems to take its place. Preaching the gospel to non-believers is almost a magical act, intended not to convince them intellectually but rather to create an occasion for the Holy Spirit to descend.

No - humans wrote it

I think that virtually everyone agrees that human beings wielded the pens. The questions are more subtle, concerning what input God had in that process.

Personally, I'm not sure what my conclusion would be on this. I think that the Bible is a religious text alongside the religious texts of other religions. I think that it grew out of its historical context. I don't privilege it in any way.

But I do think that it embodies many of the religious intuitions of the early Hebrews and their insights have to be treated with respect. I treat the Upanishads or the Majjhima Nikaya the exactly same way. I don't really know if the Bible authors enjoyed a real revelation from God. But I don't dismiss the divine dimension of life and I think that a lot can be learned from past people's experiences in that area whatever the ultimate source turns out to be.

Yes - humans wrote it, but God inspired them

This depends on what the word 'inspired' means. That word could connote pretty much anything, according to taste. It could mean word-for-word dictation. Or it could mean something as amorphous as an artist being inspired by a sunset.

Personally, I'd be inclined to accept the looser interpretations and skeptical of the stronger ones.

Unsure

Ultimately, that's probably the most defensible position to take on matters of religious revelation. That's why I label myself a religious agnostic.

 

As of this point in the poll, the vast majority of respondents agree that humans wrote the Bible, although that is split roughly 50/50 between those who just say "humans wrote it" and those who say "humans wrote it with divine inspiration".

I find it interesting that nearly 8% of the respondents think that God actually wrote the book - Himself.

Here's some followup questions for those who think that God wrote the book. For those respondents, where is the evidence that the book was written by Divine hands? What prompts you to take on this belief with nothing to back it up other than blind faith? What is the difference between your belief, without evidence, that God wrote the book himself and the ancient Greeks who believed that Zeus changed himself into a swan and had sex with a woman? What if we changed the words "God wrote it" to "Amon-Re wrote it"? Would one seem more ridiculous to you than the other? If so, why?

 

I know I'm nit-picking but I can't resist. If the world that we are currently experiencing (assuming that we are, collectively, all experiencing the same world) is Hell (as it is classically defined) then there is no "after death." This IS the after death if this is Hell. There is no finding out "after." Please see Jean Paul Sartre's one act play entitled, "No Exit."
BTW, I think you're wrong.
Jack

 

This is a prevailing school of thought in some Christian circles.

The bottom line and reality of the matter is that, when it comes to the Bible and all its teachings, none of us really knows for sure what is and isn't fact or fiction, truth or fantasy.

For most of us who are Christians, however, we just accept the Bible as the Word of God, on faith. Without faith, we have nothing, nothing at all.

 

Yes, we are to have faith, no question about that, for faith comes from hearing, hearing the word of God. Romans 10:17

However, if the Holy Scriptures are not spiritually and historically true as God's own recorded words, than our faith is in vain!!

Rich Hartel

A.A. in Theological Studies, Trinity College of the Bible (present)

 

Yes, we are to have faith, no question about that,

===


I'm not much interested in apologetics. I suppose that if anyone here wants to see the strength or weakness of the evidences for the Bible he/she can do that by the net or by books or classes. For me , it was faith that was decisive-not evidence. I don't see God trying to prove His own existence. I do see Him opening hearts.

In 1959 , at 19, I was a high school drop out , straight F's, with no direction. It was booze, babes, and beaches in San Diego. No job, and no desire for one. Just a nogoodnik bum going nowhere.

Still, in that state I was fairly content and I was certainly oblivious to any need for religion! I was definitely NOT a church goer. I was certainly not seeking God, but I think He was looking for me.

My Mom one evening that year talked me into visiting church. I did not want to go, but I did. BAM-it happened in an instant. IMO God opened my heart by the preaching.

Within a few months I was in an unaccredited "Bible college." [Then there was no accredited one in San Diego.] Studies were very hard for me!

I preached at prison honor camps, rescue missions, on street corners on Broadway in downtown San Diego , and in churches. When preaching I trusted God to convince, not my words of wisdom.

After Bible College I went on with my education as below. This last June I finished 35 years of teaching disabled learners in public school at the secondary level. My marriage has been successful, even despite very, very severe emotional, familial difficulties with our boys. IMO without God I'd have nothing. I know others without God do just fine it seems , but I doubt that I would have or could now.

In my experience people with God survive great challenges. Our youth pastor in about 1975 overturned his church bus in Mexico and of the 20 + teens on the bus only one died--Jerusha Ann, his own sweet daughter. Yet Jerry and wife still had faith in and served God.

A friend who has posted here, and who wished to finish his doc, a few months back was diagnosed with serious heart condition. Now he writes me that his little baby , Emily, is discovered to have a like condition--a hole in her heart. I know these people will not lose faith just as I know I will never either. I still trust Him and am now 64.

When I die I will die in faith.

Likewise, my faith is what tells me that the Bible is God's Word to me and to His Church. It is not "proofs" that convince me. From that admittedly unproven premise I reason that IF the Bible is God's Word to me ,and to the Church, and if that Bible says that it is authoritative in matters of faith and practice, then that it must be verbally inspired in the autographa. Were it not verbally inspired, I don't see how conceptually it could be authoritative. Of course the Bible claims for itself divine inspiration.

But can I prove all of this? God's existence? The virtue of Christianity ( I don't mean organized religion)? The Bible's inspiration? Not a chance!

What I find interesting, though, is that the apostolic sermonizing as recorded in the Book of Acts and the apostolic Epistolary do not seem very much to be apologetic defenses for the Faith.

I just wonder how often any heart is convinced by "evidences" alone. So, I'm happy in my faith. If you are happy in yours, or content without any, then that's great!

 

Wow Bill!

What a powerful post to have written. I am non-religous but I think I understand and agree with your message. For me, the essence of religon and God is just what you have described. It is faith, experience, and compassion.

I know you'll likely disagree, but I think man makes his biggest mistake in rationalizing, objectifying and codifing religion. When people suggest God or faith can be proven, they lose all that is powerful and true about it.

The book "The Case for Christ" was the biggest disappointment for me. I found the author's points and arguments weak and often illogical. This from a book that hopes to "prove" Christ. That is not to suggest I reject God because of that. Only the failed attempt that forgets the essence of what is Holy.

In any event, thanks for sharing your life and being in touch with the experience.

 

The Bible uses the phrase "God breathed" to refer to its own authority. Human transcribers, but writing with their own knowledge of their own tongues that which God was clearly communicating to them. The word of God? Absolutely--but of a God who loves His creation enough to use them in communicating His message to the world.

I do not believe that the Bible is "fallible" in the sense that Jimmy describes--if it is, then one should not hold it authoritative in any way, because they can never be certain of that which is truth and that which is in error. The person holding this view will almost invariably jettison those portions of the scriptures that they--in their fallible human reason--find difficult or distasteful; this is an invitation to shipwreck one's faith. The translations may be fallible, but of course, we can reference original language texts in Hebrew, Koine Greek, etc. to compare to our translations, and the majority of trqanslations are pretty good, accoring to most experts.

We don't have a 100% perfect understanding, because there were certain cultural understandings and idioms that don't always translate perfectly into other languages. An example would be when Jesus referred to those who possessed a "bad eye" in the Gospel of Matthew. This was a phrase imbued with meaning in that culture that we are only now beginning to understand.

Of course, it's easy to see how there can be difficulties--can you imagine if Jesus had had come to the U.S. in the 21st century? He might use many of our popular idioms that would give 40th century scholars fits. If teenspeak gives parents living within the same household fits, imagine such idioms covered by almost 20 centuries.

Fortunately, however, there is very little or no essential doctrine shielded from our understanding in such a manner. Jesus spoke in the language of His day using expressions that had meaning to His audience, but the truth of His message, that He is the only way to reach the Father, is crystal clear, the gospels and 23 other books of the New Testament, as well as numerous prophecies of the Old, slap us in the face with this.

 

Thanks Dave. I hope here our main cohesiveness is based on our common interest in education. With me, of course, religion and education sort of are connected because without my faith I had no motivation to learn whether I studied English, Special Ed, or Theology.

 

I believe it is..

Sure, humans cannot sit and concoct stories so elaborate that they come true. Nah. Has to be Divine.