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Bible Questions and Spiritual Discussion
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| Can I trust the Bible? | | I'm not a new Christian and I've been through the Bible the last couple of years with the Daily Audio Bible. But lately I have had enormous doubts about the Bible. It's a very old document and supposedly written by many men and women. They seem to tell mostly the same story, but sometimes with different variations. It reminds me of several eyewitnesses to a crime or traffic accident. Mostly the same, and some parts different. But that doesn't bother me as much as the thought that the Bible has lost meaning through the spans of time. That by scribes and orators and even different languages something important has been left out or mistranslated. How do I know if Jesus even said that or meant that? I guess I'm looking for guidance.
| | Dustin 07/14/2010 23:18 | |
I had the same doubts too. A book that challenged my own reasoned doubts is "The Case For Christ" by Lee Strobel. There are some other books by Strobel that have the same theme but I can't critique them since I haven't read them.
I have always wondered by my own reasoning (without investigation or research) that the Bible was exactly as you described, "something important has been left out or mistranslated". The book addresses this with scholarship through a dialog the author has with experts in many different fields of study, i.e. archeology, theology and others.
I am thankful that you have the courage to share your doubts and concerns. Not asking and not searching for answers, while letting the seeds of doubt to grow, will yield a mighty harvest of cynicism!
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Oh, one more thing.... After being satisfied that my own logic and reasoning was based on nothing but my own doubts and cynicism, I had to make a decision. Is the Bible true or is it not? I decided that the Bible is true and that I need to read it. It was then that I found the DAB - August of 2009. I think that making that decision was my first experience in the spiritual step of "dying to self".
I believe that you will be blessed greatly in your search for answers. Go Explore!
| I, like Craig, have experienced those kinds of doubts as well. The thought that comforted me when I first started seeking the Word, is that regardless of my personal opinion, people have successfully found and known God for thousands of years through this book. I just trust Him that since that is all I knew to turn to, He would meet me there. And He did, so profoundly, that the journey itself has removed all doubt. I don't feel a need to argue if everything in the Bible is true (although I have come to believe it is either true or there for a reason)... Or if anything is left out (the Holy Spirit is given to guide me into all truth)... I KNOW that with a seeking heart, the Bible will introduce me to the God I am so hungry to know, and take me as deep into Him as I am willing to go, and I will never exhaust it's reach. It is enough to keep me busy all of my life. So that is enough. I pray that He will reach and hold your heart, mind, strength, and will as you explore the realms within its pages.
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Nice response Kelley. I like your seeking posture with trust that the Holy Spirit will lead.
C
| Thank you both Craig and Kelly for your responses. The next question that pops in my head from this is if I believe the Bible is true and is complete, my only actions can be to obey it or not. But when it comes to "salvation" issues my heart wonders "do I have to do or not do that? I mean if Jesus commanded it, sure that's easier to take. But if man wrote it, what about that??? That's what I mean about trusting the Bible.
| I'm going to try to explain this very prayerfully, and all I can give you really is my own experience and understanding. When we first come to God we are all gung ho. We want to change our entire lives and everything about ourselves NOW. We get all militant and "works" based in an effort to get there fast! But God is relationship based. He is inviting you to walk with Him. He takes time with you. As you walk you will come acrost something in your life where your heart does not match His, and He will pause there, and you will feel His attention on that thing. And you will find yourself spending time on it with Him, and the power to change it will come from Him, He will change even your desires about it. And then in walking something else will come up.... Don't race ahead trying to DO DO DO it all on your own. But that does not absolve you from doing what He has given you to do. You will find that something will leap off the page in the Bible as you are ready to confront that issue. And there are things that God will take deeper as you come round to it again and again through different seasons of your life. So all I can say is stay in relationship, keep a willing heart, match your steps to His, the goal is to KNOW Him, not just in your head but in your heart, in your desires, in your behaviors, in your relationships, in your hungers and wants.... that takes time. You have a journey ahead that is both difficult and incredible! You will need so much more then yourself and your own will power to make it.
| Hey Dustin,
It's wonderful to see that you are pressing on in these hard questions. Keep going, dude... ;-)
One thing I would hope to also point out: the the Spirit of Christ himself can help you in what you are asking about the considerations you have been having. "Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." (John 16:23, 24; ESV).
The above is just a snippit of that passage; so for your own searching-out I hope to encourage you to have a read-through of the entire chapter of John 16, Dustin. See what comes up in heart and mind, as you read this aspect of things within the larger framework...
As well, have a look here, http://www.themeetinghouse.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=121&Itemid=3 and then scroll down to 2006. There you will find a short three-part series called "Scripture Scandals" by Bruxy Cavey. There's food for thought there; along with some interesting Q & Eh? that the speaker always engages in...
...and Bruxy's always fun to listen to, too. :-)
Praying with you, Dustin...
Tom
| - should read "the the Spirit of Christ himself can help you WITH what you are asking about, IN the considerations you have been having."
...no edit button... :-/
| Dustin, maybe this is fitting, maybe not. I heard a sermon of Werner Gitt and one thing he said was, there are natural laws which God has initiated and which only He controls. Those natural laws you cannot prove and you can only experience them. The bible is a book you cannot prove scientifically, but you can only by doing what it says, experience its power or use. Everything is built upon the natural laws which God initiated.
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