[Burkeman1]

Faith.

[patriciaruth]

I believe this was already posted last night.

[Jim Noble]

I lived it. I believed everything society taught me.

When I was in the gutter, He reached down and picked me up. If only I had listened to the truth in the Bible...

[StolarStorm]

Very good. Fits nicely with what I've always thought. Deep down most of us KNOW what is right and what is wrong, and the Bible, even with its obvious weaknesses, helps to clarify and to guide us.

I feel pity for those that lack the inner voice that tells them the truth ... sociopaths.

[buffyt]

I have heard that pastors don't believe the miracles in the Bible. I wouldn't say I don't believe them, I just don't comprehend them. My sister was reading a book that debunks all of the miracles of the Bible. It was just plain silly, the things it came up with as its reasons for its stance. I belive everything in the Bible, I just don't know how the dinosaurs fit into the scheme of things. I don't think anyone ever lived past 120 or so, ever. Other than that, I take the Bible word for word as the truth. And the only valid theological question is WHY? My pastor told me that. It doesn't matter who, what, when, where, how... only matters WHY God did everything He did. When you look at it from that angle it doesn't matter about the small stuff. Only matters WHY God made us and WHY He still loves us.

[copycat]

The Bible is inspired metaphor.

[slimer]

How do you know the Bible is true?

Conclusions drawn prior to sincere investigation are drawn in ignorance.

[KeyBored]

"How do you know the Bible is true?"

I've had similar discussions with family members, and it boils down to this: IF you are of a mind to believe in a Creator-God - then it is entirely within His realm of possibility to have created, inspired, and preserved His Book - the Bible. After all, doing this would appear to be a "piece of cake" compared to, say, creating the Universe. Of course, if you are NOT of a mind to believe in God, then likely you don't believe in His book, either.

It's interesting the writer of the article uses the US Constitution as an analogy. I'd like to use it also - to make an additional point. The constitution is just over 200 years old. We've seen ill-intentioned (and, yes, evil) people deliberately cloud its plain meaning to serve their own ends. I venture to say - barring Divine intervention - the Constitution will not last another 200 years. Some might argue it's irrelevent even now.

Most of the Bible, on the other hand, is over 2000 years old. We've seen ill-intentioned (yes, evil) people all the way from early Romans to modern day intellectuals try to destroy it. Yet it stands.

Could this be a testament to its Truth, and to a God who want to preserve His Truth?

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

This article mentions God and the Bible. Why hasn't it been shipped off to the religion ghetto like the God Bless America and recent abortion threads have? How about some consistency between shifts.

[Publius6961]

Look up the definition of "faith".
Works for me.

And I don't give a hamster's elbow whether you agree or not.

End of discussion.

[WhiteGuy]

A thought from clasic literature...............



BRIAN: Are you the Judean People's Front?

REG: F- off!

BRIAN: What?

REG: Judean People's Front. We're the People's Front of Judea! Judean People's Front. Cawk.

FRANCIS: Wankers.

BRIAN: Can I... join your group?

REG: No. Piss off.

BRIAN: I didn't want to sell this stuff. It's only a job. I hate the Romans as much as anybody.

PEOPLE'S FRONT OF JUDEA: Shhhh. Shhhh. Shhh. Shh. Shhhh.

REG: Stumm.

JUDITH: Are you sure?

BRIAN: Oh, dead sure. I hate the Romans already.

REG: Listen. If you really wanted to join the P.F.J., you'd have to really hate the Romans.

BRIAN: I do!

REG: Oh, yeah? How much?

BRIAN: A lot!

REG: Right. You're in. Listen. The only people we hate more than the Romans are the f-ing Judean People's Front.

P.F.J.: Yeah...

JUDITH: Splitters.

P.F.J.: Splitters...

FRANCIS: And the Judean Popular People's Front.

P.F.J.: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Splitters. Splitters...

LORETTA: And the People's Front of Judea.

P.F.J.: Yeah. Splitters. Splitters...

REG: What?

LORETTA: The People's Front of Judea. Splitters.

REG: We're the People's Front of Judea!

LORETTA: Oh. I thought we were the Popular Front.

REG: People's Front! C-huh.

FRANCIS: Whatever happened to the Popular Front, Reg?

REG: He's over there.

P.F.J.: Splitter!

[muir_redwoods]

If one "Knew" it was true, that person's "Faith" would have no value. Faith is only a virtue if one has to work against doubt to maintain it.

In other word, belief in gravity is not a virtue since it is self-evident. IMHO

[MadisonA]

I think if there is a God, the only possiblity is that it is totally indifferent and irrelvant to us and our existence. He doesn't care about human beings and as far as I can tell anything for that matter.

A perfect compassionate being who creates beings which he knows are doomed to suffer = impossible IMO.

If God supposedly created the universe, he saw the intense sufferings which humans would endure in the future.

He had the ability to stop it beforehand since God is capable of anything.
In the bible it even says that a perfect being would not let those humans be born at all.
A God that makes imperfect decisions isn't an almighty being.

Why is a God who can't or does not want to give you evidence worthy of anyones worship? He is a deliquent God. Or what's the line in The Devil's advocate, "he's an absentee landlord"

Why not be reasonable and give everyone a fair shot to choose or reject him in a fair, unbiased and just manner. He didn't even give us clear rules. The creator is suppose to be capable of anything and he couldn't even give us that much? Instead he gives the entire human population a ridiculous riddle-like guessing game. Its unfair, unjust and an almighty God would never allow it. God is supposedly about justice and this explanation is nothing but a farce.

[Aquinasfan]

How? Because the "pillar and foundation of truth" tells me it's true.

[Cvengr]

"How do you know the Bible is True?"

A better question is, "How do you know God's Word is subject to man's evaluation for it's Veracity?"

Perhaps if the author would place faith in God above faith in man's reasoning ability, then the Truth of Scripture would become much more intuitive.

[hosepipe]

"How do you know the Bible is true? "

You don't....
Otherwise it would'nt take any faith to believe it is the word of God. it seems that God places great store in faith.

Actually I'd be an Atheist if I had enough faith, because you can't prove that God, is'nt either. Given the alternatives of believing God or disbelieving, I go with a positive approach. Is it myth(God) or is it truth? Well judging from my dealings with humans I have to believe some is and some is'nt(the truth is). Which is truth and which not?. WHo knows. These questions should be taken to God, prayer a conversation, whatever. Who could know anyway except him/she God...? Really, would you trust somebodys opinion on this matter? because thats all it would be is an opinion. Course you could take that opinion with faith. But then whom are you trusting.

After all what does God need with a religion? If he did he would pretty impotent. I believe religions are made by man in lieu of having faith. How did I get so smart? I'm not. I'm just a simple moron just like you others. My faith is that God is not a moron. But my observations are that religion(s) are invented by the devil... World History would bear me out on this too, I believe.

I can't prove it but I know God is real by looking back across my life at the two heel marks I've left, I'm very hard headed and God has to drag me to the good stuff.

[Sabertooth]

Prophecy and Archeaology.

They confirm God's hand in History.

[SamAdams76]

Personally I do not know whether the events described in the Bible happened or not. Maybe they did. Or maybe they are just based loosely on actual events. I suppose it is possible that it is total fiction but I think that is the least likely possibility. I lean towards the events being somewhat true but significantly altered by ancient and medieval clergymen in order to magnify their religious significance.

Consider this. Up until modern times, the vast majority of the people were illiterate. Until the Gutenberg printing press in the 15th century, only clerics and the elite even had access to the Bible and it was still to be another couple hundred years before the Bible began reaching the public in significant numbers.

During ancient and medieval times, the powers-that-be needed a mechanism to keep the ignorant masses "under their thumbs" so to speak. So it would certainly be in their interests to instill the concept of an all-seeing, all-powerful God and to reinforce that concept with colorful (and powerful) moral stories that can easily be conveyed verbally. Thus the common people could better be kept in line. The phrase "to put the fear of God in him" certainly originated from those dark times.