the bible
is it really infallible, just a book of stories, or something in between?
When doing this study about the validity of the Bible, I admit that I wanted to find error. I kept thinking if God really wanted us to have a book of rules and guidelines then he’d give us a book like he did the Ten Commandments. He wouldn’t allow a group of flawed men to put their fingers on His precious teachings - or would He? Would He ask His followers to write down what He told them to and therefore be more relatable? Below is our compilation of our findings on the validity of the Bible.
FALLIBLE:
Is the Bible just a history book?
Few scholars discredit the historical context of the Bible. The Bible outlines leaders, kings, and periods in time in the correct order. The issue is that the Bible isn’t just a historical reference book. There are writings about morality and the end times.
Why wouldn’t God deliver a book of rules and laws instead of the Bible?
Since God is all-knowing and all-powerful, why wouldn’t He deliver a book of rules that are black and white. He did this with the Ten Commandments. The answer is possibly that people still rebelled against the Ten Commandments. They still lied, still stole, and still murdered. Maybe He realize that we need the stories and history to fully appreciate the laws.
IS THE BIBLE LITERAL OR FIGURATIVE?
I believe that it is a little of both. People love stories so there are some stories in the Bible to help us relate to the characters. There are also literal revelations about morality and the future. I think that we need to have the holy spirit’s discernment while reading the text to see how God is speaking to us specifically.
CONTRADICTIONS
This is my biggest issue with the Bible. There are dozens of contradictions: numbers are different, names are misspelled, timing is off, etc. If you dive into the context or history of each contradiction, all can be explained. This article does a great job of explaining the contradictions. Theologians have debated these contradictions for years and still study the Bible today. Therefore, I can be confident that there is reason for each one.
INFALLIBLE
DIRECT QUOTES FROM GOD
What percentage is quoted?
The discovery of the dead sea scrolls - proves that it was a highly coveted book that was the same as older manuscripts
Many other documents have been found that prove the history of the Bible - as a history book
John 1:1 - the word was God
Jesus was teaching scripture before he would have had the experiences to read all of the other books - He had the spirit of God
2 Timothy 3:16 - God inspired word of God
2 Peter 1:20-21 - No scripture is interpretation.
The Bible has some small differences but that makes it more accurate because it wasn’t supposed to be the same.
Writing historical fiction - Details were written because it was factual
Historians of the world
Can’t fully understand everything - so God spoon feeds us
prophesies - how many were accomplished?
Robert Frost - I give to doubt to have faith*
Hunger exists -is proof
Catholic Bible - written in Latin to have it deciphered by priests
Jesus never wanted to disprove the Bible
Is God still speaking?
Mormoms & Muslims - on top of what we already have in the Bible
Ken in the City - RB
History - I have no qualm with the history side of the Bible. I think that the texts that were written about history: people, places, cities, etc. were all accurate. I believe this because the history
Preservation - The manuscripts that are compiled to make the Bible went through so much scrutiny confirming they were accurate that I believe they are.
The Gospels - The Gospels all agree with each other.
Bible Variations - They are very different in some sentences. Words are omitted.
The Catholic Bible.
When other books were written hundreds of years later, it wasn't difficult for the church to spot them as forgeries. For example, the Gospel of Judas was written by the Gnostic sect, around 130-170 A.D., long after Judas' death. The Gospel of Thomas, written around 140 A.D., is another example of a counterfeit writing erroneously bearing an apostles' name. These and other Gnostic gospels conflicted with the known teachings of Jesus and the Old Testament, and often contained numerous historical and geographical errors.
Inspiration - Paul says that all scripture is God-breathed (theopneustos) 2 Timothy 3:16. The Bible wasn’t put together during that time though, so he couldn’t have meant the entire thing. He only wrote 13-14 books out of the 27 (which is a lot).
Galatians (AD 47)
1 and 2 Thessalonians (AD 59—51)
1 and 2 Corinthians and Romans (AD 52—56)
Ephesians, Philemon, Colossians, and Philippians (AD 60—62, Paul wrote these during his first Roman imprisonment)
1 Timothy and Titus (AD 62)
2 Timothy (AD 63—64, during Paul's second Roman imprisonment)
God specifically told Abraham to write something down (Exodus 17:14, Isaiah 8:2,) If He really wanted something written down for us, wouldn’t He have asked?
Did God ever tell anyone in the Bible to compile a book for Him? In the Old Testament, there are many verses that God told people to “write this down.”
Is God still speaking? If so, should the Bible be amended like the Constitiution?
"the Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35, NIV)
Do we need the BIble? - what if we just heard about Jesus?
IS the rest of the Bible that important? Is
The Kings James Version would make its debut in the year of 1611 (before the letter J existed, so the name “Jesus” did not appear once).
If God is all of the O’s, then does the Bible disprove any of that?
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexander-j-barron/why-the-bible-is-not-the-_b_7717552.html
If you write about God just like writing about the ocean, you’ll understand some about God but you’ll never fully understand the ocean.
We can trust that men who were doing miracles were likely also writing the words of God.
James 2:24-25 - works - how are sinners saved?
Raomans 3:20 - 28
Catholic Bible - misinterpretation
Throw out the books that don’t have God
Apocryphal New Testament books, such as the Gospels of Thomas and Judas, have not been added to the canon in part because they promote a gnostic (“inward knowing) form of theology, which is clearly incompatible with the perspective of the Gospel writers and Paul and Peter.
Why didn’t Jesus write anything in the Bible?
Matthew 5:17 is using negative text. Are we sure He meant that we should “not think”?