All right, this is something that I’ve been wondering about for a long time, and I figured there would be nowhere I’d be more likely to find a good answer than here.
I introduce this question not as a challenge, but out of a genuine interest in learning.
Got you all curious yet? OK, here goes:
So your average evangelical or fundamentalist Christian uses the Bible as the foundation for their moral and thelogical reasoning, operating under the theorem that the Bible is the official Word of God. I would be interested in hearing how they arrive at this conclusion.
The usual answer I get is “Well, in Chapter X Verse Y, it says this…” But you can’t quote the Bible in order to prove that the Bible is the Word of God. That’s about as clearcut an example of circular reasoning as I can come up with. So are there other answers out there?
As a caveat, folks abound with reasons why the Bible is *not* the Word of God, most of which I’ve heard already. Again, I’m more interested in seeing what reasons are out there for the affirmative.
(takes his clipboard, enters the protective observatory bunker)
Because
Because I said so.
If that doesn’t work for you, then just: because.
And if that still doesn’t work for you, then I turn to the words of Joseph Heller who wrote: why not?
Frankly, I’m just trying to get to the MLB all-star break with the Nationals in first place.
Prediction — no less than 25 responses.
Matt
I think you’re arrived at the critical point between science and religion. A basic tenet of *science* is that you can’t use circular reasoning to prove anything. Nothing in religion says circular reasoning is bad, because all begins and ends with God, Yahweh, Muhammed, the Elephants holding up the monkey, etc, etc.
If you could prove the Bible is the Word of God in a logical, valid way, it would cease to be a religion based on faith and be a scientific fact.
I think 99% of the people out there believe in religion becuase their parents or elders did, and they grew up to believe as well, or because they want to believe there’s something after death besides dust and worms.
Before I’m flamed, AFTER you were exposed, your God may have spoken to you and filled you with the Holy Whatever, but I bet most of you were exposed before you were blessed with the spirit.
The answer to your question: Everyone arrived at the conclusion the Bible is the Word of God by taking a leap of faith.
My $.02 Weed
Match lit….big explosion!
I’m not sure how I managed to be the first to comment on this one, but here it goes.
I am an LDS Christian, and this question is common in relation to the Book of Mormon as well as the Bible.
First comes the desire to know. If you really want to know, then you can find out for yourself. Part of that is reading it, pondering what you’re reading, then praying about it. At some point, if you’re being sincere in the process, it will become a spiritual experience and not a historical reading of dead guys journals.
For me, being touched spiritually, and being taught spiritually is the Lord’s way of telling me it is true. When a thought comes to your mind that was certainly not yours, or your heart feels so big it could pop right out of your chest, or just a peaceful feeling. These are ways that the Spirit of God speaks very quietly. At first understanding these feelings are very difficult. Once you recognize them, it’s easier to be in tune to them.
From there, being given a spiritual knowledge that it’s true creates the faith that little at a time, you’ll understand some/all of the things that aren’t spelled out for us. As we’re ready for them, the Lord teaches us on an individual basis.
Basically what I’m saying is that you’re not going to find a way to prove that the bible is true. As a book alone, it is basically a history book. Finding that it’s teachings of Jesus Christ are true is much more a personal matter.–
Christy
Isolating the question
Well, you actually have a couple of different questions and assumptions I need to address to feel as if I’d fielded your question adequately 🙂
Well, the word “Evangelical” has two different meanings, depending on who you’re talking to. In Europe today, and in the US until the late 20th century, to be “Evangelical” meant to be Protestant. In the US today, it refers to a more conservative subset of Protestantism focused on witnessing and conversion, personal faith testimony, and a generally more conservative view of the Bible.
Fundamentalist Christianity, from where I sit, seems to be a small fringe subset of Evangelicalism, so I’ll treat it as the same thing.
Anyway, back to the original question:
I think the assumption of Biblical inerrancy is due directly to Martin Luther’s founding tradition of “Sola Scriptura”, or “By Scripture Alone”. It is that foundational belief taken to its logical conclusion. Since tradition, and authority, tend to change over time, if one wishes to adhere to an unchanging tradition, one must lean on a something which no longer changes. Ultimately, however, belief in the inerrancy of the Bible is a question of faith, summarized neatly by the “Institute for Creation Research”:
As you’ve asked for no debunkings, I’m simply leaving that statement alone. It is interesting, though, that if you look for non-faith-based justifications for believing the Bible to be inerrant, you end up relying on scientific findings, which most Christians would consider a shaky foundation for faith.
— Matthew P. Barnson – – – – Thought for the moment: <knghtbrd> *sigh* My todo list is like the <expletive> energizer bunny <knghtbrd> It keeps growing and growing and growing and …
I have a religious background
I have a religious background…baptist, LDS plus I went to a 7th day Adventist College. So religion has always surrounded me. Yes, I was raised in a very religious household by my grandmother so that helped a little bit. But when I turned 18, I had to figure it out on my own. I quit going to churchc b/c I didn’t want to. Now I go because I like it. Genna loves going to church and hates to miss a single Sunday.
Weed, for me, you hit it on the head…it was a leap of faith. Very nicely put.