is the Bible true?

We are taught to have faith in the same way that we have faith in love and the air we breath. none of these can be seen but we feel them and know they exist in the same way as we have to have faith that the Bible is the word of God. The question we should be asking is why do the churches not unite as we all prayer to the same God. One united church would be so much stronger.

2 Peter 1:20 (NIV)

20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things.

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I was talking to friend today about this subject and we talked about all the true history there is if you visit Jeruselum and were a lot of the people in the bible lived 200 years ago there is evidence every were of the truth of Gods word .The Proverbs are filled with truths we can daily experiance and see that its genuine truth.

oops 2000 years ago

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." (attr Daniel Patrick Moynihan, James R Schlesinger)

Unfortunately, this is an area where people have not just their own opinions but their own facts. There are whole scholarly communities dedicated to the proposition that the Bible is true in all details, and others that the OT was created in the Exile, and the NT in the 3rd Cent and completely made up. Their have their own archaeology, their own literary criticism, etc. I think it's fair to say that "mainstream" scholarship (e.g. what you'd find in a pubic university) has roughly the following features:

* Archaeology relevant to the OT is ambiguous. The "minimalists" think the evidence is for the OT being created pretty much from whole cloth fairly late. There is, in my opinion, reasonable evidence for the existence of David and some other things from roughly that period later. There is evidence for the general culture, some of the kings mentioned in both Israel and other kingdoms, but very little for specific events.

* Archaeology relevant to the NT establishes the general culture, but none of the specific events. There are a couple of mentions of Jesus by non-Christians, but no real evidence about him. I think that, and a pretty much continuous Christian record starting in the late 1st Cent, makes it impossible that Jesus is fictional, but there are a few scholars who maintain that position.

Most of the evaluation of the Bible is based on analysis of the book itself, and there the presuppositions of the person doing the analysis are controlling. My own assumption is that the OT is reasonably accurate from the period when it starts citing historical records, which is roughly the time of the kings. Before that, I would assume that historical accuracy declines as you go back in history, with Gen 1-11 being primarily legendary (and with the editors of the document realizing that fact). I think God actually brought Israel out of Egypt, and that there were events behind Israel's view that it had a covenant with God. The NT is near enough to its events that I don't think there's much trouble with factual accuracy. I see no reason to doubt Luke's claim to have talked with witnesses. However even witnesses don't give perfect testimony. People in that period were more likely to attribute events to miraculous causes than we are today. That makes it hard to be sure of the detailed accuracy of some of the accounts, but I'd assume that we know pretty much what Jesus taught, and I think N T Wright's detailed argument for the accuracy of the resurrection accounts is convincing. The best research into how the Near Eastern culture transmits accounts of religiously significant events suggests that oral transmission for a few decades is likely to have been fairly accurate.

In life, EVERYBODY desires to be loved and have security...God IS Love, and JESUS is the password to gain access to God, Who is Love.

This is a very private thing between you and God...so, do not tell anybody...but, in the Jesus' Name ask God to reveal Himself to you by His Spirit (Love Himself)....and given Him a few days, if not much sooner, and He will reveal Himself to you in a way that works for you...right where you are at in life.

Just look for it...expect it...and He will make Himself known unto you because He is in love with you and died to get you. He's NOT going to miss an opportunity to bless you, so get ready if you are truly seeking...cause you are about to FIND!

If you tell anybody you are asking / waiting on God for this...there is an enemy that will send numerous people, maybe even close friends and/or family members to let you know that anything to do with Jesus is a scam (remember, the "password" to get the ear of God is JESUS...He cannot and does not respond to any other Name).

It's good to note too that...why is it in this world that ALL religions seem to be OK with most people, but it's JESUS that everyone is always attacking!

This is just the devil showing his hand...he's out to stop you from calling upon JESUS as your Lord and Savior...but it's odd that he doesn't seem to mind other religions...because there's no power in other religions.

You're on a quest that will bring much joy and peace to your life...not to mention spending all of eternity with God instead of being in darkness! What's not to like?




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You know what is the truth..look at your life, your loved ones, the love that is there.
These are examples of God's existence and love for you. Doubt is God's way of testing us...we only need one thing and that is Faith.

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God is like Water...he can come in different forms..
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I'm going to get terribly picky about this: you're not comparing like with like. It is generally agreed by NT critics that the Gospels were written at that time, but the first reliable full texts are actually about 4th century AD for the NT, and the OT that we have now is based on even later documents (though it might change if the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1st Century AD get used)

That's nonsense - a small minority amongst scholars believe that.

John
NZ

Sorry? You were comparing the documentary evidence for the Iliad (which I'll have to take your word for, as I don't know) with the generally held theory about the composition of the Gospels.

Whether or not Homer wrote the Iliad, he didn't compose it in the 12th Century AD. It's probably 6th Century BC. But if the only documentary evidence for the poem is 12th Century then there's a gap between composition and documentary evidence.

Ditto with the NT: I have no problem with the idea that it was composed in the 1st Century, it's the generally held view and without studying the evidence myself, I have no reason to question it.

But the documentary evidence - actual physical copies, that is - are the codexes Sinaiticus, Vaticanus and Alexandrius - dated to the 4th/5th century AD. There are fragments of papyrus and parchment before that - but the earliest of them is a tiny piece of John's Gospel dated at aproximately 150AD. It contains one variation from the general text.

That's why I said you were not comparing like to like. You were comparing documentary evidence with non-documentary theories of authorship.