I had a friend ask me a while back "How do I know that the Bible is true?" He wasn't talking about the miracles or anything that specific, but rather what makes it true and other holy books wrong. I'm probably getting this nutshellisation (look Mom, I made up a word!) wrong, but since that's how I remember it, I'll go with it rather than put this off longer. Well, since picking apart every other religion out there would take waaay too much time (and I'm lazy) let me tell you why the Bible is true.
1. Because I said so. 'nuff said.
Ok, not really. I actually had pondered this myself some before Juan asked me so let me start over...
1. All archeological evidence regarding anything in the Bible is to the affirmative or at the worst, indeterminate. There have been arkies (i'm tired of typing that other word. too long) that have disputed everything from the flood to cities locations to peoples existance. Yeah, they've been proven wrong.
2. Historical evidence. The Bible, if nothing else, is a great book for history because it has been shown to be incredibly accurate. In fact, it predicted the last layoffs at work and mentioned some tall godlike fellow being let go. Naturally, I thought that I was doomed. Apparently, I'm not the one they were thinking of as they let my boss go instead. Ok, not really, but if you are interested I can get you some examples. They're freakin' amazing how they line up with history. Actually, the layoffs joke was about prophecy and that comes later. I'd change it but i'm too lazy.
3. Prophetical evidence. Ok, insert prophecy joke here. Ok, now that you're done laughing or confused (since I really am quite godlike in some ways), I must continue. Some theologist/historians think that Daniel was a historian and lying about the book because he predicts the rise and fall of four(?) empires. Maybe so... but there's no evidence to that end. How about Christ's sacrifice for our sins? Oh, it's mentioned about a trillion times in the old testment in Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel and other spots. In fact, the only major bit of prophecy that was entirely left out was the Church age. But God had his reasons for that which I won't bore you with.
4. Simple sanity/continuity. The Bible says that it was written by "... holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." II Peter 1:21 (methinks). Ok, there are 60 books of the Bible. Written over the span over at least 1600 years by 40 different Authors. Do you think they all put their heads together to write some farce? If so, that was a freakin' miracle all its own.
Ok, that's some reasons. I hope it's enough to get you thinkin' Juan old boy. I got more, but I need to send my kids to bed.
1. Because I said so. 'nuff said.
Ok, not really. I actually had pondered this myself some before Juan asked me so let me start over...
1. All archeological evidence regarding anything in the Bible is to the affirmative or at the worst, indeterminate. There have been arkies (i'm tired of typing that other word. too long) that have disputed everything from the flood to cities locations to peoples existance. Yeah, they've been proven wrong.
2. Historical evidence. The Bible, if nothing else, is a great book for history because it has been shown to be incredibly accurate. In fact, it predicted the last layoffs at work and mentioned some tall godlike fellow being let go. Naturally, I thought that I was doomed. Apparently, I'm not the one they were thinking of as they let my boss go instead. Ok, not really, but if you are interested I can get you some examples. They're freakin' amazing how they line up with history. Actually, the layoffs joke was about prophecy and that comes later. I'd change it but i'm too lazy.
3. Prophetical evidence. Ok, insert prophecy joke here. Ok, now that you're done laughing or confused (since I really am quite godlike in some ways), I must continue. Some theologist/historians think that Daniel was a historian and lying about the book because he predicts the rise and fall of four(?) empires. Maybe so... but there's no evidence to that end. How about Christ's sacrifice for our sins? Oh, it's mentioned about a trillion times in the old testment in Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel and other spots. In fact, the only major bit of prophecy that was entirely left out was the Church age. But God had his reasons for that which I won't bore you with.
4. Simple sanity/continuity. The Bible says that it was written by "... holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." II Peter 1:21 (methinks). Ok, there are 60 books of the Bible. Written over the span over at least 1600 years by 40 different Authors. Do you think they all put their heads together to write some farce? If so, that was a freakin' miracle all its own.
Ok, that's some reasons. I hope it's enough to get you thinkin' Juan old boy. I got more, but I need to send my kids to bed.
1 comment:
The historical accuracy is a pretty hotly debated topic. At the least, there are many events depicted which can't be verified - the plagues on Egypt for instance.
The prophetical evidence is also a sketchy basis, as you'd expect with that sort of thing. Humans love to match patterns and so anything that could remotely be assigned as the fulfillment of that prophecy will be.
I do love that you're willing to talk about this in a friendly, logical way though.
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