The Bible is unique because it is God's revelation recorded in human language. This implies that God is the source or origin of what is recorded in Scripture. God, through the Holy Spirit, used human authors to write what He revealed in the Bible.
They were not mere copyists or transcribers. The Holy Spirit guided and controlled the writers of Scripture, who used their own vocabularies and styles but wrote only what the Holy Spirit intended. Although the original manuscripts have been lost to us, God has preserved the biblical text to a remarkable degree. The Bible is verbally inspired. This means that the words of the Bible, not just the ideas, were inspired. What is more, this is true of not just some, but all the words of the Bible.
As a result, the Bible is free from error in what it says. To take the Bible seriously, we also need to consider whom the author was writing to: the Bible was written for us , but not to us.
For example, the long lifespans of the patriarchs in the Old Testament likely had greater symbolic significance to the ancient Hebrews than we currently understand. The ages are all multiples of five with seven or fourteen added occasionally, suggesting a rhetorical meaning. An example of cultural significance in the New Testament is found in the story of the prodigal son as described in Luke However, when the story is considered in its cultural framework, the reading is much more profound.
According to New Testament scholar Kenneth Bailey, the Jewish son not only acted disgracefully by asking for his inheritance, but he further debased himself by squandering it.
Furthermore the son would have had to beg for permission to train for a job in the next village. Instead of this harsh and inhospitable reception, a loving and merciful homecoming awaited the son.
As soon as the father saw his son returning, he raced to see him. By running, the father took on the shame and humiliation due his prodigal son. He then kissed his son, gave him his best robe, and called to have the fatted calf slaughtered for a feast. As this example shows, filtering a Scripture passage through an awareness of the original audience and its culture can greatly expand our understanding of the passage. Christians today are strongly divided on how to read the early chapters of Genesis.
For that reason, perhaps here more than almost anywhere else in the Bible, we need to become aware of our tendencies to interpret with twenty-first century ideas and questions in mind. Scholars in the BioLogos community interpret the early chapters in Genesis in a variety of ways , and there are many articles on our website revealing this diversity of thought. Yet all share a commitment to the authority and inspiration of Genesis and a method of interpreting Genesis that tries to recover what the original audience would have understood.
BioLogos understands the early chapters of Genesis as describing real events through largely figurative language, consistent with the way other ancient Near Eastern literature described events.
By faith we believe Genesis is true , though its purpose is to reveal God and his plan for humanity, not to communicate bare facts about science or history as we think of them today.
Christians believe the Old and New Testament Scriptures are divinely inspired and authoritative. The Bible is not simply a work of literature, but for readers of faith it is living and active. It is the most important way in which God speaks to his people. Advanced training is not necessary to profit from Bible reading—God speaks to all of us through Scripture—but the body of Christ includes experts who can help us understand it better.
While disagreements abound about how best to interpret various Scripture passages, we can rest in the fact that our salvation does not depend on attaining perfect knowledge. As Christians our faith is grounded in Jesus Christ—not in the perfect interpretation of Scripture. What should we do with these people?
Should they be ignored? The Bible never argues for the existence of God? But the New Testament does argue about the truth of the claims of Jesus through three lines of evidence. The evidence consists of miracles, fulfilled prophecy and the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. When the evidence is considered, the verdict becomes clear that Jesus is whom He claimed to be. There is another important point to make. They presented compelling proof to the people that Jesus was the Christ.
For example, on the Day of Pentecost, Peter stated the following evidence to the large crowd that had gathered:. In this one passage, we find Peter appealing to these three different lines of evidence. First, he spoke of the miracles of Jesus Christ; it was something that all the crowd was aware of. He also testified to the fact that Jesus came back from the dead; something to which Peter and the other disciples were witnesses.
We also find that the Apostle Paul reasoned with unbelievers from the Scriptures. In the Book of Acts, we read the following:. Since this is the way that the New Testament believers reasoned with unbelievers about the claims of Christ, we should do the same when it comes to the authority of the Bible. Therefore, we should not limit ourselves to merely citing the Bible to prove the Bible. The psalmist gave the following challenge:.
This occurs by coming to God in faith and then believing in His promises. While the Bible claims to be the authoritative Word of God, there have been two basic approaches as to how anyone can know these claims are true. One approach believes that the Bible should be taken at its Word and not defended.
The Holy Spirit will show the truth of its claim to anyone who is interested in knowing. Nothing else is necessary. This way the Bible is not made subject to any other type of authority. On the other hand, there are those who point to evidences that God has provided to argue for the truth of Scripture. Christians employ both methods in defending and proclaiming Scripture. The Bible says that we need to personally experience the God of the Bible by believing in His promises and submitting to His commands.
Since the text and audio content provided by BLB represent a range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry. Blue Letter Bible study tools make reading, searching and studying the Bible easy and rewarding. Individual instructors or editors may still require the use of URLs. Keep me logged in! Error: Usernames should only contain letters, numbers, dots, dashes, or underscores.
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Clear Advanced Options. Finally, let it start to sink in that there was NO bible when the scriptures were being written. No compilation of books and none of the writers knew the others were writing. You were right James, Christianity is elevating the bible to a place of godhood equal to God, the Word and the Holy Spirit. Scripture is certainly inspired by God and can reveal the words of God.
Furthermore, the Holy Spirit who testifies about Christ and reveals the thoughts of the Father towards us, can certainly use scriptures to reveal Logos to us. All that to say, I am glad God is not limited to revealing himself only through his written words, but that he can reveal Himself including Christ through nature, dreams, visions, etc.
I would imagine those who came into an awareness of and relationship with God through non-literary means are as well. Congratulations on making things confusing. I have a head ache after reading all this apologetic dung. Only a fool would equate scripture to Jesus Christ, The living God. The bible is dead scripture. Scripture is scripture. Scripture is not the word of God. Seek the gift of The Holy Spirit. Jesus saved me from my sins literally over night in Feb I was saved from a 25 year pornography addiction, a 20 year daily pot smoking addiction and my life long tv addiction literally over night.
Praise Jesus. Quit all this foolish non sense of apologetics, humble yourselves, and get your focus on Jesus and preaching Jesus. Jesus alone is The way, The truth and The life. You use a phrase from the fourth gospel to fire some broadside at Scripture and denigrate its witness. Absolutely brilliant. At last, a true reformer! Ian, I assume your comment is geared toward me. Can you repeat it, but this time with smaller words so a simpleton like myself can understand.
Jesus spoke in parables but He has the courtesy to explain them to simpletons such as myself. The simple confound the wise. That was a joke. Because your position seems incoherent to me. They may be a true Restatement of what we are and believe, but are not us It is only a book unless the Holy Spirit Who caused it to be written gives life to His words.
Most read it with natural mind and thereby we have multitudes of denominations and false teachings. Those are not the product of Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit, but are the product of words on a page. They point to The Word of God. The scriptures testify that many would be for ever learning and never coming to The Truth. There is no theology exam when we stand before Jesus. Many know about Him but few take the time to sit at His feet to get to know Him.
The bible is not the feet of Jesus. All these testimonies are in the bible. Same spirit running religion now that crucified Christ. God can and does exist outside the confines of religion and the bible. If the bible dissapeared off the face of the earth, does God still exist? Jesus in the two gospel accounts where he said he was sending prophets, wise men and scribes into the world in one account and simply sending prophets and APOSTLES defined by the other account as wise men and scribes in another count establishes the fact that his teaching found through testimony of eyewitness testimony and prophecy and corroborating witnesses of tongues, special healings, and special miracles would be documented in writing.
Joh And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, [and] one shepherd. I do not go to the bible for inspiration, I go to the Holy Spirit for inspiration and wisdom, and He usually directs me to scripture. Scripture is there so we can judge the inspiration and wisdom that comes.
Do you Truly believe He IS the same yesterday, today and forever? He does speak, He never stopped speaking, people choose a book instead taking the time to listen. Heck, you can even re write it and make money off it if you want.
God does not submit to a book nor does He submit to the interpretations of a book by man. Jesus Is come IN the flesh. Is He IN you? Thank you for allowing me to testify Derek. Hallelujah most Hight. Thy Kingdome come, Thy will be done. Stephen, your comment sounds like that of my sister, who is dead recently from breast cancer. She was ignorant of the Bible in any other language and she seemed to have a feminist opinion against Paul who seemed not to allow a WOMAN to speak in the assembly…so she manufactured all sorts of supposed problems with him and therefore dismissed the Bible for an internal light.
She also believed that He told her that with positive thought and holistic medicine she would be free from her disease that she refused treatment for and thus died, albeit, supposedly long after the time the doctors suggested she would die. Such a belief murdered my sister, and is why I reject this concept. Nevertheless, the Bible DID reveal that the last testimony would come, and it seemed that it was in the writings of John the Apostle in about AD or thereabouts, but after that for the church age there would be no more prophetic testimony, and no more prophets.
After the rapture when there will be no longer any church, God will deal with His ethnic people, the Jews for the last seven years specified for such dealings, and there will again be prophets and Holy Spirit manifestations, and then Jesus will come down with the church saints in glory and deal with the gentiles and save a third of the unsaved Jews in Jerusalem and Judah portion of Israel.
As for Jesus speaking, He speaks through his word, in that this is the mind of God of what He wants us to know, and there are things we are NOT to know and this is HIS will, the only absolute free will on either side of creation.
THIS understanding indeed comes from the Bible and it is in direct knowledgeable contradiction to the folk claiming they know things internally that would be the equivalent of NEW knowledge or whatever that this extra-Biblical.
By the way, it is difficult in understanding from this posting format who is answering whom. Give me a clue if anyone is actually replying to my comments until I figure out the secret to tell. An illegitimate way to exegete or test or believe scripture.
Your sister did not have a true grasp of scripture, but more like a true grasp of word of faith teachings. Which are demonically inspired. Just because someone misuses and overstates what scripture says, does not make the scripture invalid. Much or what WOF says is based on truth — satan always uses truth to bait the hook — but they twist the meanings and the applications. They teach you to trust in God but after the flesh. The Lord speaks today, yes; he addresses his people through the words he first delivered to the prophets and apostles.
The Spirit illuminates these once-spoken words and breathes out a fresh word for us from these testimonies. I am a former Christian. I loved being a Christian. I loved Jesus and I loved the Bible.
Then one day someone challenged me to take a good, hard look at the foundation of my beliefs: the Bible. I was stunned by what I discovered.
The Bible is not inerrant. It contains many, many errors, contradictions, and deliberate alterations and additions by the scribes who copied it. One can harmonize anything if you allow for the supernatural.
How do we know that the New Testament is the Word of God? Did Jesus leave a list of inspired books? Did the Apostles? The answer is, no. The books of the New Testament were added to the canon over several hundred years. Answer: the ancient catholic Church voted these books into your Bible. Who wrote the Gospels? We have NO idea! The belief that they were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is based on hearsay and assumptions—catholic tradition.
Protestants denounce most of the traditions of the Catholic Church but have retained two of the most blatant, evidence-lacking traditions, which have no basis in historical fact or in the Bible: the canon of the NT and the authorship of the Gospels. The only shred of evidence that Christians use to support the traditional authorship of the Gospels is one brief statement by a guy named Papias in AD that someone told him that John Mark had written a gospel. It is well known to historians that it was a common practice at that time for anonymously written books to be ascribed to famous people to give them more authority.
For all we know, this is what Irenaeus did in the case of the Gospels. The foundation of the Christian Faith is the bodily resurrection of Jesus. If the story of the Resurrection comes from four anonymous books, three of which borrow heavily from the first, often word for word, how do we know that the unheard of, fantastically supernatural story of the re-animation of a first century dead man, actually happened??
We just do not know for what purpose these books were written! I slowly came to realize that there is zero verifiable evidence for the Resurrection, and, the Bible is not a reliable document. After four months of desperate attempts to save my faith, I came to the sad conclusion that my faith was based on an ancient superstition; a superstition not based on lies, but based on the sincere but false beliefs of uneducated, superstitious, first century peasants.
God exists outside the confines of books and religion. It happened to me. I always believed IN God, not in a book or religion kinds way. Was never sure of who Jesus was in the grand scheme of things.
Overnight, i was freed of my 25yr porn addiction, 20yr daily pot smoking addiction and my lifelong tv addiction. The Shroud of Turin contains no pigments or dyes and after further analysis has been found to be created by light photons only.
Meaning the image was created by an intense radiance of light IE the resurrection! If the Bible is the inspired Word of God, why would God have the author of one inspired book copy almost word for word an entire chapter from another inspired book of the Bible? II Kings 19 and Isaiah 37 are identical. Read them for yourself. No theology of Scripture worth its weight bypasses the historical particularities within which each text arose.
We have to deal with specificities, not preconceptions of what inspiration must look like to be true because our criteria will almost certainly be arbitrary and suffused with a theology of glory. Your test case is far from a knock down- it easily fits within an orthodox view of Scripture. I say this with no malice but with exasperation: If I could put before you the DNA-verified skeletal remains of Jesus of Nazareth, would you then accept that the Christian story is false?
Of course I would- I affirm with Paul that my faith would be in vain! It was a hypothetical. But, one hundred years ago if you had told people men would walk on the moon, they would have committed you to an institution for the insane. We should never underestimate the human will to discover. Thus, I can see scripture as containing words of God, which came by means of the Word of God coming to people as they encountered Him. I hope my nuance is coming across.
Rachel You nailed it. Why do men so resist and refuse to call them the wordS of God and insist on calling them the bible the Word of God. Why is it OK to usurp that name and use it for something else? It is rightly called a bible because a bible is a collection of writings. It is not one word, it is many words. Calling it the Word of God is indefensible.
While Derek Rishmawy makes some valid points on the distinction of words, he misses the point of his opening paragraph. If pastors and preachers made a distinction as he does, I may not have such a problem with calling the bible the word of God. I have never heard a preacher make that distinction and they seem to thrive on the confusion.
It is not. The bible is not sharper than a two edged sword.
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