Bible Question: How is accepting anything one reads not akin to worshiping man instead of God? |
Bible Answer: Hi jgingrich, Your short and long versions of your question could be two different questions. I will start out by trying to answer the short one. There are many proofs at many different levels that lead us to understand (believe) that the Bible was written by the inspiration of God. These proofs are both internal and external. The first internal proof is, is the Bible tells us so. And God cannot tell a lie. But more important are the facts: The Bible is approx 1/3 made up of prophecies, and approx 80 percent of those prophesies have come true, to the letter. That means 100 percent accuracy to date, since other remaining prophecies are still to be fulfilled. The Bible contains 66 Books, written by 40 or more authors from various walks of life, many who never even heard of each other, and also was written over a span of some 1600 years or more. -And all this without a SINGLE CONTRADICTION. (if you think there may be contradictions, it is most likely due to misunderstanding. Bring the verses to this forum and someone will be able to help you correct the problem.) Now, do you think that we could find any two authors to write, even a lengthy newspaper article in seperate rooms, about any subject, without any contradictions? How you answer this question will say much about how you make decisions in life and will also have an eternal impact. For if anyone decides to dismiss the Bible as the Word of God, then they may as well dismiss God. Because of its claim to be the very Word of God, the Bible has suffered countless attacks and attempts to destroy it than any other book in history. -From early Roman Emperors through communist dictators and on to modern-day atheists, the Bible has withstood the test of time while outlasting all of its attackers and is still today the most widely published book in the world. So, as you probably know, God is an eternal being. This means he is not confined within the constraints of time, as we are. Just ask yourself, if there was a supreme being, that created a world filled with creatures, and wanted to let these creature know how much He loves them, and give them proof of all of this, and do it across the barrier of time, then how could this be accomplished? I would say that prophecy is a pretty strong bet, wouldn't you? One example of this is when God gave the prophecy of the 70 weeks to Daniel, He gave it through an angel. This has proven to be so accurate that some have accused it of being written at a later date and then disguised as an older manuscript. But the truth is, that this prophecy was translated into Greek about 200 years prior to its fulfillment, proving that it was not written after the fact. Take Jesus' empty tomb for instance. Some have said that this was all an elaborate hoax by His disciples, who stole His body from the tomb while the guards were asleep. But do you think it is feasible that someone would actually give their life in a painful death to protect the hoax's discovery? This is what happened to all the Apostles, all except John, who died a natural death. |