Amen brother! Now answer my questions.
Your one to be asking this! :)
Bigmack
You're kidding, right. You want me, someone who thinks Sola Scriptura is a red herring and has never supported it to argue in defense of it? You've got to be kidding. The entire authority needed for belief of the Bible is two fold - Faith and the fullfillment of that faith. In testing my faith through obedience, God has proven His word in my life. That is the test of final authority. It has nothing to do with feelings. And it has nothing to do with what I or anyone else wants. God proved it in my life. That is my testimony to the Word of God. And I'd submit that anyone who calls themselves a Christian and can't say the same is decieving themselves. Just as I will say that anyone who doesn't have Jesus in their life and anyone who isn't obeying the Lord and following him is decieving themselves.
There are 66 books that the entire Christian world is pretty much in agreement on. They agree on those because they are consistent with one another and bear out the same message in many different ways. Those books teach a unified message. I took the Bible on faith, not because the word Jesus appears x number of times. My faith has been proven. That pretty well settles the matter to me. If you're faith in it hasn't been proven of God, perhaps you're doing something wrong.
And one final point. If the Bible can't be trusted as the final authority, why then do you base any claim in the world upon it? If it isn't the final authority for the Christian faith combined with God himself, then nothing you claim has any bearing or weight to begin with - whether you twist scripture to get there or not. Your whole religion is a lie including that which we have in common. Sorry, I won't defend a Bible without shared teacher/congregation responsibility or a Bible without God argument.. even if it were to prove you wrong. I'll not defend a lie to prove a lie. But I will go back and look at your questions LOL.