Is the Bible a Trustworthy Resource for Christians?

Respond

Posts: 32

Is the Bible a trustworthy resource?

This Forum claims to be about Progressive Christianity, and relates to "Christians who base their faith primarily on the Bible but do not necessarily believe the Bible is inerrant."

How do you define progression and errancy in terms of Biblical authority and how it relates to the Christian life? I'm interested to hear what people here think.

Some people do not consider such terms as infallible or inerrant to be helpful unless they are interpreted in such a way that allows for the writers' own activity.

The term infallible might be accepted as meaning the quality of not decieving or misleading: meaning that the scriptures are essentially reliable and trustworthy. Or the term inerrant may be interpreted as meaning wholly true, referring to the conviction that the teaching of scripture is the utterance of God whose word must be trusted implicitly.

What do you think, and why?

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Posts: 32

Let me start out by saying that I do believe that I can rely on the scriptures of the NT and OT for instruction and guidance in matters of divine truth and the Christian life, because in scripture, I meet the inspired word of God himself, Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, I believe that the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the Bible, and that he illumines those that read the Bible, and LEADS THEM TO FAITH.

2 Corinthians 5:7 " Indeed, our lives are guided by faith, not by sight."

I would not try to define the Bible in terms of being infallible or inerrant. Yet, I consider it to be reliable and trustworthy for my use.

Iwantamotto

Posts: 6,123

I consider the bible a highly flawed religious text written by HUMANS who wanted to talk about their relationship to God and how to encourage others to have it as well. On the other hand, since life is also filled with "flaws" and "contradictions", I tend to see the bible as "valid", if only because life tends to mirror its schizophrenic outlook on things. I admire a religious text that has the balls to tell you that sometimes, the stuff hits the fan and that's all there is to it.

Knock and the door shall open. It's not my fault if you don't like the decor.

Merrill48

Posts: 108

In my understanding, the Bible is a record of a people's devloping understanding of God and their relationship to God, and is spiritually true. That is, it contains most of what a Jew (in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament) or a Christian (in the Christian Bible/Old and New Testaments) needs for their salvation. 80-90% of what one needs to achieve salvation is found in one's own religion/denomination, IMHO. The rest one has to dig for and find somewhere else - in my case I find Buddhist/HIndu meditation useful, and try to emulate the Jewish celebration of life.

The Bible is NOT historically true, IMHO. The various books of the Bible were written at different times, by different male humans, in different cultural and historical contexts, trying to make thier points to varying audiences. As such, there are contradictions and outright historical errors - for example, despite at least a century of effort, absolutely no archeological evidnece has been found of a large band of people wandering through the Sinai at any time, let alone in the time that would correspond to the Biblical Exodus story.

I read the Bible for its wisdom and as a guide to how to live my life. I do not regard the Bible as a history text or, especially, as a science text.

Hope this helps....

My $0.02 - please adjust for your local currency.

Shalom,

Merrill

dadmann

Posts: 186

Jun 27, 2011 -- 11:01PM, Respond wrote:

Let me start out by saying that I do believe that I can rely on the scriptures of the NT and OT for instruction and guidance in matters of divine truth and the Christian life, because in scripture, I meet the inspired word of God himself, Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, I believe that the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the Bible, and that he illumines those that read the Bible, and LEADS THEM TO FAITH.

2 Corinthians 5:7 " Indeed, our lives are guided by faith, not by sight."

I would not try to define the Bible in terms of being infallible or inerrant. Yet, I consider it to be reliable and trustworthy for my use.

Amen and amen

Reformationnow

Posts: 290

Modern scholarship, especially since 1947 and particularly during the last 20 years, has revealed that the Christian Bible as we know it is not free of errors and in fact is contradictory and inaccurate in many instances.

Even in the 18th Century, "Enlightenment" thinkers like Thomas Jefferson recognized that, which is why Jefferson edited out what he considered "corruptions" in the New Testament, and left in the actual, essential, core universal teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

Jefferson said: "Among the sayings and discourses imputed to Jesus by his biographers, I find many passages of fine imagination, correct morality, and of the most lovely benevolence; and others again of so much ignorance, so much absurdity, so much untruth, charlatanism, and imposture, as to pronounce it impossible that such contradictions should have proceeded from the same being."

Today we have a Jeffersonian scholar who shares his revelation About Christianity, which provides a reasonable explanation as to why Christianity has been a religion so rife with conflict and division ever since Jesus died.

Bob_Bennett

Posts: 916

I agree with the preceding post.

The bible is not completely reliable, but there isn't much else to go on, other than the Gosple of Thomas. Read "Misquoting Jesus" for an education on the reliablitiy issue.

In our times, there is a new set of scriptures called "A Course In Miracles" which comes directly from Jesus, in English, and seems to be 100% reliable.

Rgurley4

Posts: 3,798

I believe that the NT four gospels and Acts Chapters 1-12 (By Dr. Luke) are reliable enough to believe, and they meet the the criteria of historical documents: Authenticity and Authority. In matters of major doctrines and issues, the 4 gospels can be harmonized. Each had particular "audience" in mind. As a piece of literature, there is much more serious scholarly research and study than any other ancient document. The authors and their scribes were eye witnesses to the acts, works, and words of Jesus. I believe these authors were gifted with special recall.

RELIABILITY of the 4 Gospels and "Dr." Luke's investigations in at least Acts 1-12:
John 14:26 (Jesus to his followers: Upper Room Discourse)
"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."

Reformationnow

Posts: 290

Feb 20, 2012 -- 9:12PM, Rgurley4 wrote:

I believe that the NT four gospels and Acts Chapters 1-12 (By Dr. Luke) are reliable enough to believe, and they meet the the criteria of historical documents: Authenticity and Authority. In matters of major doctrines and issues, the 4 gospels can be harmonized. Each had particular "audience" in mind. As a piece of literature, there is much more serious scholarly research and study than any other ancient document. The authors and their scribes were eye witnesses to the acts, works, and words of Jesus. I believe these authors were gifted with special recall.

RELIABILITY of the 4 Gospels and "Dr." Luke's investigations in at least Acts 1-12:
John 14:26 (Jesus to his followers: Upper Room Discourse)
"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."

I would not agree that the NT meets the criteria of "historical documents," or "Authenticity and Authority."

The contradictions and errors have become increasingly clear, and I say that as someone who loves the actual, true, core universal teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, but rejects some of the doctrines and dogma established by his followers.

I would encourage seekers of truth to examine and consider a message that consists of many articles on the important issues of the day, especially regarding Christianity. And ironically, the author says he serves the "Spirit of truth" Jesus said would come, to issue judgment, guide us to the truth, show us things to come, and glorify Jesus for what he was.

The most relevant articles are:

About Christianity: What Will Resolve the Conflict?

Prophecies Re: He Who Fulfills Them

Isaiah Chapter 53

Within those there are links to article about the virgin birth story, the "resurrection," the martyrdom, etc.

Rgurley4

Posts: 3,798

...the actual, true, core universal teachings of Jesus of Nazareth...

...Are in the 4 gospels + Acts 1-2. What don't you beleieve in them?

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