I know the theories, but i also know the debunkings (not by heart though, but i have tested most ideas).
Why would you think i became a Christian?
Because of the evidence.
The feeble attempts, however cunning they may be, to refute the Bible are in themselves evidence that points to God of the Bible, you see.
You'll have to believe me when i say that i wasn't particularly happy at the time, to find the Bible to be the Word of God.
That's why i spent even more time verifying than seeking.
I mean, it is afterall about THE biggest questions in life.
Anyway, what are my words worth?
My own investigations and experience has led me to see that the revelation of the "divine" is the whole of reality. In that sense, the Bible as part of reality can be known as the Word of God. God can be found through it.
But to insist that revelation is restricted only to the Bible, or even primarily to the Bible, is untenable in my opinion. It leads to the conclusion that a human being can only come to know the Ultimate Reality of this whole cosmos via reading this one book or having it read to them.
That what St Paul spoke of as the fruits of the spirit can be seen in those of many faiths is conclusive proof of what I seek to say here, for those with eyes willing to see.
Ultimately, using your own terminology, there is the Word. And there is the word as text.
Thank you
EDIT:- to add and clarify my own thoughts.
On another Forum I was given virtually an identical testimony. Of an intent search for truth amid various holy books. Of turning to the Bible and discovering its truth, much against the will of the seeker. (No fibs, gospel truth!) The thing is, he was a Jehovah's Witness, thus the truths he was "compelled" to acknowledge were not those of others with similar testimonies. What am I to make of this, what is anyone to make of this?
Surely, that a subjective certainty is no guarantee of truth? That any certainty born of a searching can be questioned? That is the negative conclusion. The positive, at least for me, is that faith and belief are two different things.
Which has led me to the Pure Land and the cry of the myokonin ( saint ) Saichi........
"Not knowing why - not knowing why - this is my support - not knowing why - this is the Namu amida butsu!"
Such is not "nihilism" or anything like it. For me it is the surrender to Grace, pure and simple. No reliance upon ourselves.
One Buddhist wag once said it in other language.......that we must learn to stand upon "the firm ground of emptiness".
Or St John of the Cross, the great Christian mystic......."If we wish to be sure of the road we tread on we must close our eyes and walk in the dark."
Such are the testimonies that touch my own experience and understanding. I am truly sorry if they are incoherent to others.