Why is the Christian God the only God?

Hello, friend. I must tell you I have often been put off by some of the answers I have heard for the question you pose, and I am a believer. The issue is that most people who attempt to defend the Bible have not had a background in critical thinking, and thus provide answers that seem soft to those who are looking for a critical answer.

If you are looking for a critical answer, then I do not have enough room here to provide the answer. And, with any answer I give, it, just like any belief whether scientific or philosophical, will include an aspect of faith. For instance, even those who have worked out the most difficult or ueful scientific discoveries have built a case for their discovery that took a long period of time and relied heavily on circumstantial evidence. Once a certain probability is reached, as al discovery is a probability, then they put their faith in their answer's correctness. Now, in our place divorced from the experience of the scientist, we put our faith not in the probability, but in the scientist or the organization that is putting forth the case. What I am getting at is that we are very far removed from the bare evidence, yet we take their statements on...faith.

For the ciritical thinker, as I said, there is not enough room here to put forth a viable case. But, there are works in the public sector that you can access that will help you make a decision on whether you believe or not. There are some works that I find less helpful for critical thinkers. Most of these are the novel-like cases for a Christian aspect. I will list here a few works that I think promote a good case for God that may help. What I ask is that you not drop the book at the first sign of disagreement. You seem to already have a firm idea in your head that the Christian claim of God is false. If you drop your search at the first sign of disagreement, you will not really do any searching because you already have a preconceived idea in your head for works to clash against. I ask that you give at least 1/4 of any work a try before you drop it. Using this technique will help you get a viable overview of the work's reliability before you cast it off.

There are different approaches to apologetics, with some relying primarily on the Bible. (ie, the Bible tells us in Matthew that Jesus did x, and therefore...) I understand that this form of apologetic is not effective for you. Therefore, I will focus primarily on works that rely on external logic or on external evidence. But know that any apologetic is going to eventually bring you to the Bible because of its centrality to Christian belief.

Christian Apologetics - by Norman Geisler
Prepared to Answer: A Guide to Christian Evidences - Rob Vander Weghe
Genetic Entropy & the Mystery of the Genome - John Sanford

The third work is specific to Creation/Evolution debate, and even more specialized on the genetic aspect of this debate, but this is one of the most cogent arguments for God for me, a scientist by trade.

I hope this helps in some small way.

Blessings,
Dave

The Fourth Horseman said:

This question has been bugging me for a long time and until I receive a good answer, that doesn't shove the bible in my face I will probably never be religious.


Why is the Christian God the only God? what makes him real and Jesus his son but makes such deities as Thor, Negral, Odin, Isis, Ra, Allah, Sheba, Great Spirit, even Xenu and The Flying Spaghetti Monster?

How can you possibly claim, without use of the Bible that these are all false deities and your God is the only God?

why I forbid use of the Bible, or any other religious text:

Q: Why is God real?

A: Because it says so in the bible?

Q:How do we know the Bible is true?

A: (I get a few different answers here)
1. Because God wrote it.
2. Because Various archeological evidence supports it.
3. Because I've had legitimate spiritual experiences whilst reading it.

ANSWER 1

I don't even think i need to point out the circular logic and the extreme fallacy of this argument.

ANSWER 2

probably the most reasonable yet, just because the Bible references a real place doesn't mean it's spiritual message is true now does it? How does Sodom being a real city somehow prove God is real and that he Destroyed it?

If I wrote a book that said a Great Sea Beast named Sherbas sent a great and powerful storm that destroyed the wicked people of New Orleans because they partied rather than give thanks to Sherbas would that mean Sherbas is real? I mean a Storm did in fact destroy new Orleans and I do mention Sherbas is my book, therefore he is real?

I think you would agree with me, Sherbas is not real.

ANSWER 3

Yeah? And I've had a legitimate religious experience telling me Odin is alive and well. This answer makes me laugh. How is your religious experience somehow tangible proof of your God being the only god?

I'm sure millions of Muslims have had "legitimate religious experience" about Allah. So what makes you right and them wrong?



If Anyone can clarify for me how the Bible somehow proves the Christian GOd the one and only God I would be much obliged.

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I don't believe the Bible proves the Christian God is the one and only God. I do believe that Jesus taught about the God that is alive as opposed to the ideas about God that are not valid. I believe man is created with the potential for understanding that loving others is good, and hurting them is bad. I think God writes that on our hearts, or another way of saying it perhaps, is he puts it into our dna. When Jesus taught that the will of God is summed up in loving man, and gave the parable of the Good Samaritan, I don't think this was new information. I think it was confirming what we already knew, if we thought about it and listened to our heart. Obviously none of us have a correct or accurate understanding of God. At best we struggle to understand a very small piece of the picture. It seems to me we are faced with the following assumptions: There is no God, God is both loving and evil, God is neither loving nor evil, God is evil and God is good all the time. To me the most reasonble assumption is God is good. This brings me back to the Christian God, who is love. Other religions have preached we should love others. To the extent they do that, I think they are preaching divine truth. I have made an effort to study other religions and I have found none who emphasize the importance of our loving relationships with each other as much as the teachings of Jesus and much, but not every part of the Bible.

Asking why the God of Israel is the only God is like asking why 1+0=1. It's a statement of mathematical fact and asking "why" this mathematical fact is the case is not a coherent question. The same is the case with the question "why is God real"? It's like asking why the laws of math are real, why my mother is real, or why my memories are about real past events. I don't think it's a very coherent question. It doesn't take a deductive argument to have knowledge of these sorts of things.

Also, the bible never tries to "prove" God is real or that he exists. The fact that the God of Israel is real would be what makes the theological aspects of the bible true, not vice versa.

The God of the Bible and all other gods, the evidence does not weigh and carries the same. I believe that is the difference. For example, suppose even if Thor and Odin exists.... so what? I don't see any good reasons to believe in it. Now with the Bible that's a different story. We are loved by God and have been forgiven of our sins, and He has brought us into a safe relationship with Him.

This question has been bugging me for a long time and until I receive a good answer, that doesn't shove the bible in my face I will probably never be religious.


Why is the Christian God the only God? what makes him real and Jesus his son but makes such deities as Thor, Negral, Odin, Isis, Ra, Allah, Sheba, Great Spirit, even Xenu and The Flying Spaghetti Monster?

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None of those gods directly affected history, or are reflected IN history. Rather, they are names of personifications embedded in non-historical narratives.

How can you possibly claim, without use of the Bible that these are all false deities and your God is the only God?

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That's so incoherent. This question of yours is like asking me to show you what YOU look like without a mirror. HA! The problem is, you discount the conceptual value and existence of 'revelation/prophecy' [and I'm not talking about the book by that name.]

why I forbid use of the Bible, or any other religious text:

Q: Why is God real?

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Because He interposes His will in the world.

A: Because it says so in the bible?

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Or, He has revealed in to humanity, and some of them wrote some of it down.

Q:How do we know the Bible is true?

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By using our brains.

A: (I get a few different answers here)
1. Because God wrote it.
2. Because Various archeological evidence supports it.
3. Because I've had legitimate spiritual experiences whilst reading it.

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ANSWER 1

I don't even think i need to point out the circular logic and the extreme fallacy of this argument.

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No, the Bible is not the Koran.

ANSWER 2

probably the most reasonable yet, just because the Bible references a real place doesn't mean it's spiritual message is true now does it? How does Sodom being a real city somehow prove God is real and that he Destroyed it?

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It also doesn't mean it's false, either. Archaelogy does just what you implied, it offers support, not proof. And, the facts of archaelogy do not interpret themselves, and they remain open to further interpretations.

If I wrote a book that said a Great Sea Beast named Sherbas sent a great and powerful storm that destroyed the wicked people of New Orleans because they partied rather than give thanks to Sherbas would that mean Sherbas is real? I mean a Storm did in fact destroy new Orleans and I do mention Sherbas is my book, therefore he is real?

I think you would agree with me, Sherbas is not real.

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Well, that would depend on whether you wrote the book BEFORE the hurricane hit, or AFTER, now wouldn't it?

ANSWER 3

Yeah? And I've had a legitimate religious experience telling me Odin is alive and well. This answer makes me laugh. How is your religious experience somehow tangible proof of your God being the only god?

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Well, when push came to shove, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit t won out over Odin, Thor, and Frigga.

I'm sure millions of Muslims have had "legitimate religious experience" about Allah. So what makes you right and them wrong?

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Their version of God does not accurately or cogently fulfill any Biblical prophecy.

If Anyone can clarify for me how the Bible somehow proves the Christian God the one and only God I would be much obliged.

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I don't see Odin or Zeus making a coup attempt.

The Fourth Horseman said:

You just stated something like its fact without even acknowledging my question. Why is the God of Israel real but no other God is? Why is the God of Israel the only deity in existence? I could have replaced "God of Israel" with any number of Deities and in your logic they would be perfectly valid arguments.

Please provide something better than that.

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You should re-read my post. I believe I called your question nonsense and gave a couple of reasons why. Saying that the God of Israel is the only God is just a mathematical statement. Asking why that's the case leads to the answer "because 1 added to 0 equals 1". Let's say I have 1 apple in a basket. If you were to say, "Why is there only 1 apple in the basket? There could be more than 1 apple for the same reason(s) that 1 apple is in the basket", I would say, "because there is only 1 there and 1+0=1". There is one apple in the basket because there isn't more than 1. It's just a mathematical statement.

I'm so glad to have read your post. We'll cut right to the chase and talk about proof.

I've tried out a lot of obvious BS routes to wholeness. God's was the only one with the fruits that ministered real life.

We know there are many spirits out there ministering deception. People follow the, some even hear or see them, yet the fruits are oppressive, or give you a false peace.

When you become a Christian, it is because God draws you, as scripture says (not a dirty phrase). You have to say yes, but He actually knocks on the door of your heart. When you say yes inwardly, He comes in and reveals Himself to you and brings you the divine nature of eternal life (newly born again) . He immediately draws you to the Word like a baby to the bottle. As you drink your milk, you are strengthened.

If you go on to be filled with the Holy Spirit, then the spirit world opens up somewhat and you become aware of your spiritual senses.

Unfortunately, the enemy, a spiritual force of invisible fallen creatures bring oppression, but God shows you in His Word that you have authority them in Jesus' name. You do the Word, the Holy Spirit confirms the Word with signs following, return peace, love and joy.

The whole Christian experience is about going from death (nature separated from God) to life (in unity with God). It's all about fruits. It's about love. It's about God leading you on the inside toward His truth, which He shows to be the Word of God (which we find in the Bible). It's a recurring pattern. He magnifies His Word above His name, so it's serious business to Him. The more we line up with His plan, the more fruit we bear that is not of ourselves. It is addictive! The more I want to love you and serve you, the more He lives inside us and we experience Him.

The more we stray into our own works, the more the sin nature of flesh has exhibits the fruit of death and oppression. We become afflicted, we seek God again and repent, He returns (manifests, He never leaves actually) and ministers life through us.

Without the fruits it would be a big deception. With them, we're witnesses that He lives because He reveals Himself inside us, so we know that He rose from the dead. It's real and I'd stake my life on it. Those who have given up their lives, to live after Him (not of the world, and the world persecutes and laughs at us, so it's not popular) know inner peace and contentment that is beyond any circumstance going on around us.

We can become distracted and bear bad fruit, but the covenant God has made with His people is that He will always forgive us when we turn to Him. He also shows that we can know Him more and more, and live a more abundant life, the more our ways line up with His. That behooves us to press in and be like Him (or rather let Him live through us), we we have a better life!

He Himself tells you (in your know-er) that His Word is true and when you read testimonies from anointed teachers, or other Christians, He turns the lamp (that's on the inside you) up and it's humming. The light is shining. Also, when you acknowledge Him, in prayer or song, He ministers His presence to you even stronger.

To suffer me further, we find as He shows us from His book, that we're in a war and we are the prize. Those who don't receive Him will go to a place of eternal suffering. Those who do, and walk according to His will, will know Him now, and will always know Him, living eternally.

To "blindly" accept what the book says for a Christian is wisdom because the fruits bear witness to the truth and they are the ultimate fulfillment.

The Fourth Horseman said:

Allah being the only god is a mathematical statement 2+2=4

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Yes, saying that Allah is the only God is the same sort of statement. Asking "why" Allah is the only God is a nonsense question, just as your previous one was. Evaluating the statement "Allah is God" or "Jehvoah is God" as true or false is what you really mean to ask, but it's not what you said. You really want to know if it's true that Jehovah is the only God.

Thats basically what you saying and like I said before you come in building your argument on a basis of which god is already proven. By saying God's existence is fact like a mathematical equation you assume you are already correct and need provide zero evidence. With your argument there is no way for me to prove you wrong because it is true that 1+0=1 yet it does not rationally answer my question on the basis of which I asked it.

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I wasn't offering an argument. Your question was nonsense, how can I offer an argument for that?

As far as using some sort of deductive proof and proving Jehovah is the only God, I'm not sure (1) what you accept as proof and (2) that this can be done anyway.

As far as I can tell
1}Allah, according to the Muslim faith, is the same God as the Christian God and the Jewish God.
2}The devotees of Odin and the Asgardian gods were not overrun by Christians but willingly converted to the Christian faith.
3}Proving the existence of God is no more possible than proving the existence of numbers of gods or proving the non existence of either. We do not have a system that deals with evidence that cannot be perceived by our human senses.

The Fourth Horseman said:

So in summation, Blind Faith? I really should have seen that one coming shouldn't I?

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We need to analytically delineate the term 'Blind Faith'. Technically, the term 'blind' is used in the context of faith to indicate the complete absence of evidence. Christianity does present evidence, it' just that you do not accept it. Therefore, it would be most accurate to say that Christian faith is a 'partial' phenomenon, rather than completely 'blind'.

The point being, overall, is that since we are human, we can not expect to have comprehensively tangible evidence. You, on the other hand, want a certainty, and a privilege, that perhaps one in every half billion people are offered from some kind of divine force. The problem is, since you are human, you can NEVER confirm and corroborate your most pressing inquiries (Stephen Hawking not withstanding.)

I can give it a shot.

Before I became a Christian I remember having a debate with one of my buddies. He wasn't a Christian either. He said "you can't really know anything" For example, you can predict that gravity will pull down on a rock if I drop it, but your only evidence that that will happen is by observing prior instances of the effects of gravity. You have made up in your mind that the law of consistency of nature is true, and the law of consistency of nature validates that gravity will keep working. But the law of consistency in nature is circular reasoning.
So we concluded that you behave as though you can know things are true or false, but you never really can know for sure if you are right.

I consider that my coming of age in my thinking, before that everything was either black or white, right or wrong. But now I wasn't so sure. After that time I didn't really object to other evidenced that pointed to the same thing. For example:
I read a study that determined that the part of the human brain first makes a decision, then another part kicks in and uses logic to rationalize that decision and come up with logical reasons to defend the conclusion that already has been made. I didn't have a problem with that conclusion but I could see that I would have earlier.

Or when I learned that the Scientific Method does not get us to truth, it only gets us closer to truth.

Eventually, I ran across some philosophers that pretty much agreed with each other and agreed with this view. (not exactly, but they all mentioned a defeater for any presumption that the use of logic has been factually established by logic. They all said 'we think so, but we can't prove it.') Cornellius VanTil, Alvin Plantinga and C.S. Lewis.
Lewis quoted a book that said 'You cannot say a waterfall is sublime because you are making a value judgment regarding the waterfall and you have no right to project your emotions onto others. Lewis pointed out that their statement itself was a value judgment so whether you agree with it or not, you have to admit that you are going not on logic, but on your own values.

Ok, so everybody is a bunch of tribal monkeys, sitting around saying "my values are better than your values" now what? Hold that thought, that's the right brained half of the equation. What about the left brained half?

First, there are 2 uses for the word god. First, there is a being worthy of worth-ship, and second, there is a being that is a plot device for storytelling. Sometimes they are both, but when they are both then the ideal that they represent in the story, is the thing that is being worshiped.

For example, in ancient stories, there was the god Nebo/Nabu. Nebo was represented in a little carved chunk of wood or stone, but in the stories Nebo was the god of knowledge. People that worshiped Nebo had wisdom as their functional god. Me for example. I worshiped Nebo. Knowledge was my functional god because knowledge was my highest ideal that I used to make value judgments about everything else I observed. My whole little paradigm was sort of turned upside down some years earlier when I realized my worship of Nebo was a circular one. I also propably worshiped Artemis, Ashera, Baal, (youth, sex, money) as well. I probably would have made a pretty good Greek, we had all the same gods. There were some that I didn't really care for though, Gad or Potnia Theron... I didn't really worship gambling or hunting afaik.

Then I guess we would have the other gods that are only a plot device (like the flying spaghetti monster) but I don't really know of anybody that validates their existence by worshiping what they represent. I could be wrong, but I have never met anyone. Nihilism maybe?

So you don't need a little carved idol in your house to worship the ideal that a god represents. It's just whatever you consider "worth" putting energy towards. It's the thing that fundamentally damages your optimism for life when you don't have it.

Next thing to consider, Second law of thermodynamics says everything falls apart in a closed system. If that's true, then the universe is not a closed system. That would mean that something exists that is not subject to the natural laws of physics. That thing, I guess would not exist in the form of matter, space or time since that is all our universe is.

So for me, logic can get a person (cave man, African bush warrior, or 19th century scholastic rationalist) as far as the idea that "If stuff exists then somebody must have put it here." But logic doesn't get to the God of the bible. That was a big problem for me while I worshiped Nebo, After I used logic to dismantle itself, not so much.

Although logic didn't get me to the God of the bible, it is logical to say that this God is different from all the other Gods insofar as all the other gods represent a facet of creation while that God claims to have invented it.

The Fourth Horseman said:

If Anyone can clarify for me how the Bible somehow proves the Christian GOd the one and only God I would be much obliged.

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We can't and it doesn't (some readers might like to think that it does), the Bible is a book or a collection of books, (as are all religious books) and nothing more.
If you are old enough to think for yourself you are free to believe it or not, the choice is (or should be) yours.

Dear Fourth Horseman. There is only One God, One Creator, One Heavenly Father. Man/We are made in His image. We alone in this universe can think and reason, we know what is Good, and what is NOT Good. The Old Testament is a History of the Israelites, and their Prophets. God was establishing His Kingdom on Earth. The Isrealites were surrounded by Heathen tribes and their cruel (self-made) gods. In time Jesus came, Jesus God-Son part of God-Father, and born as son of man. He showed us God as He really is: a lovingly Heavenly Father, who wants us back again. Sadly, we had moved too far away from God, and there was no-one to pay God`s Holy Law for all our sins and transgressions. Jesus became our Saviour, He was without sin and any wrongdoing, and he was man, as we are. Jesus lived on Earth for 33 years and told us what to do to be able to return to our original home with God. Repent, exchange our selfish and unloving character for 1) Loving God with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our minds. 2) Loving our neighbour as we love ourselves. Straightforward and easy to remember. Yet sadly, we find this hard to do, but it can be done, and it is what God wants from us. Why do Christians believe that God is the only God? Christ is part of God`s Holy Spirit, men and women who follow Christ are trying hard to become more and more like Christ: Loving, forgiving, helping each other, and following Jesus back to God and living with Him and each other for eternity. God wants our love, for Himself and for each other. Love is our weapon to fight all evil and temptations, love binds us together, and love will lead us on. Can you think of anything bett er? I hasten to add that the love God wants us to have and share is SELFLESS and NO strings attached. I say this humbly and with love, Fourth Horseman. Greetings from Emmy, sister in Christ.

Just don't be religious then. End of story. Move on.

Quote: This question has been bugging me for a long time and until I receive a good answer, that doesn't shove the bible in my face I will probably never be religious.

The Fourth Horseman said:

This question has been bugging me for a long time and until I receive a good answer, that doesn't shove the bible in my face I will probably never be religious.

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Good, the world already has enough religious people!

The Fourth Horseman said:

Why is the Christian God the only God? what makes him real and Jesus his son but makes such deities as Thor, Negral, Odin, Isis, Ra, Allah, Sheba, Great Spirit, even Xenu and The Flying Spaghetti Monster?

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From every philosophical concept of God their can be only one. the existance of two nullifies the very concept of God. This can be seen in antiquity in the form of the High God presiding over the pantheons.

The Fourth Horseman said:

How can you possibly claim, without use of the Bible that these are all false deities and your God is the only God?

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I can't! Without a supposed revelation transcendance is unknowable in any empirical sense.

I don't even think I need to point out the circular logic and the extreme fallacy of this argument

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No. But to honestly attempt to have a descriptive, over a prescriptive discussion, you need to distinguish that you can't account for the extisential, experiencial, and metaphysical evidence of people of faith. In that you wont allow it as evidence in and of itself of a God in the first place. With this type of evidence disallowed you see only a circular logic. What else could you see? Allowing this type of evidence into the discussion wont prove the existance of God anyway so I'm at a loss as to the strong stand against it. What it will show is that belief isn't irrational, allowing a a possible disscussion in the first place.

The Fourth Horseman said:

probably the most reasonable yet, just because the Bible references a real place doesn't mean it's spiritual message is true now does it? How does Sodom being a real city somehow prove God is real and that he Destroyed it?

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No it doesn't. For you and I anyway. I'm sure it was enough for Abraham though.

The Fourth Horseman said:

If I wrote a book that said a Great Sea Beast named Sherbas sent a great and powerful storm that destroyed the wicked people of New Orleans because they partied rather than give thanks to Sherbas would that mean Sherbas is real? I mean a Storm did in fact destroy new Orleans and I do mention Sherbas is my book, therefore he is real?

I think you would agree with me, Sherbas is not real.

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With a book describing Sherbas in this isolated instance no. Now if you wrote a book describing Sherbus as responsible for all of creation and in oversight over the events of history of all time. Holding his creation accountable for their actions I'd say you had a very good concept of God and could have known this through possible revelation. God by another name could be the same God. There's not enough room to say why the God described within Islam and Mormanism isn't this God beyond that they describe God in manners that are inconsistant. Not just dissimilar to the God of Christianity but philosophically, anthropologically, and archaeologically inconsistant.

The Fourth Horseman said:

Yeah? And I've had a legitimate religious experience telling me Odin is alive and well. This answer makes me laugh. How is your religious experience somehow tangible proof of your God being the only god?

I'm sure millions of Muslims have had "legitimate religious experience" about Allah. So what makes you right and them wrong?

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The God concept itself, if God is there, he can only be one. If any particular person in a pagen society makes a call to his God, and there can only be one God, and he recieves some kind of what you called a legitimate spiritual experience, where could that legitimate experience came from. Does this make his expression of this experience truthful, no it doesn't. Many Christians say they have meaningful experiences on a daily basis. Do we canonize their experiences and build theological stances around them? No! When a Christian step into this type behavior and falls into unorthodoxy we have the same situatuion that the pagan societies run into by building religions out of experiences. I'm willing to start with this as I've given you enough to refute my statements and haven't shoved the Bible in your face to any great degree.

The Fourth Horseman said:

If Anyone can clarify for me how the Bible somehow proves the Christian GOd the one and only God I would be much obliged.

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For those who experienced the narritives firsthand I would say that was enough proof. I would also say that such a thing isn't the intent of the Bible for us in the first place. What the Bible does give is the ability to possess faith without having blind faith.