In BIBLE we trust? - Misplaced allegiance?

[marks]

I question the credibility of the Bible because it lacks credibility on the level you claim it is credible.
We don't even have the original documents. Just one of three methods at a best guess as to what was written.
The gospel accounts were written decades after the events.
And the synoptic gospels are basically three copies of the same document.

But mostly I attack the credibility of the interpretation of the Bible.
And YES, many make an idol of the book and worship it ABOVE the author.
Too many work to know the book more than the author.
Mostly because they believe that the book is their only connection to the author.
Without the book, they have no God.

But apparently you don't have a problem with any of this.
Your problem is with me.

Here is our oldest copy of a copy of a copy... of the Gospel of John.
Only a fragment left. Front and back.

View attachment 39151

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And there you have it. You don't believe the accuracy of the Bible, but somehow you know what's true, and everyone who disagrees idolizes the Bible, yet one more ad hominem.

I don't think I've ever met someone who seemed to me to "idolize" the Bible. I think that's just your way of impugning someone who holds the Bible in a high regard as God's Own Word.

Isaiah 55:10-11 KJV
10) For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11) So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Much love!

 

[marks]

If you look at it that way, it becomes easy to dismiss the Bible entirely. I won't do that. I will believe the Bible accurately quotes God and Jesus. There might be versions that don't do that, but I bet the major versions are accurate.

It lets you make up your own religion thinking you can select which parts are true and which are not. And I won't do that!

Much love!

 

[St. SteVen]

If you look at it that way, it becomes easy to dismiss the Bible entirely.

Right.
I don't do that. Even though I am accused of such.

I won't do that. I will believe the Bible accurately quotes God and Jesus. There might be versions that don't do that, but I bet the major versions are accurate.

I think God can speak to us through many, and any, means he deems appropriate.
And the same passage may speak differently to different individuals at different times.

I know I can easily see something different when I return to a passage I studied earlier.
Does that happen to you too?

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[BarneyFife]

Seems too many make an idol of their personal interpretation of the Bible.
Claiming theirs is the only truth and that others are "of the devil" because their view differs.
What's wrong with this picture? Misplaced allegiance. Religious fiefdoms.
Building walls, instead of bridges.

- What is the purpose of the Bible?
- Should the Bible be used to cause division?
- Where is your allegiance ultimately?

View attachment 39130

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Steal beatin' the bushes?

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[BarneyFife]

Seems too many make an idol of their personal interpretation of the Bible.
Claiming theirs is the only truth and that others are "of the devil" because their view differs.
What's wrong with this picture? Misplaced allegiance. Religious fiefdoms.
Building walls, instead of bridges.

- What is the purpose of the Bible?
- Should the Bible be used to cause division?
- Where is your allegiance ultimately?

View attachment 39130

/

Did you ever notice that for all of our professions of fidelity to _____________ , what we do mainly around here is to compare ourselves one with another?

I mean it's a legitimate social media phenomenon against which neo-Christianity has not successfully immunized itself.

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[Cassandra]

Who still uses quarters?

Ever been to ALDI?

 

[BarneyFife]

Ever been to ALDI?

Who can afford not to, right?

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[Bob Estey]

Right.
I don't do that. Even though I am accused of such.


I think God can speak to us through many, and any, means he deems appropriate.
And the same passage may speak differently to different individuals at different times.

I know I can easily see something different when I return to a passage I studied earlier.
Does that happen to you too?

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First, I think the Bible is meant to introduce us to the Lord. The object is to get to know him and walk with him through constant prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Our attachment shouldn't be to the Bible - it should be to the Lord. But we can't ignore what God and Jesus are quoted as saying in the Bible.

A passage might speak differently to us at a later date, but I can only think of one way to interpret such passages as "Do not steal." I can't think of any passages, at the moment, that I understand differently than I did as a younger man, though perhaps there are a couple.

 

[Cassandra]

Homeless today doesn't mean that you are without family...but the word "Apiru" does....which is what the term "Hebrew" is derived from. Hebrew literally means Homeless/no family wandering bum.

I thought Hebrew came from Eber, a descendant of Shem.

 

[St. SteVen]

Steal beatin' the bushes?

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Successfully this time, me thinks. - LOL
Look at all the critters that came out!

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[St. SteVen]

Did you ever notice that for all of our professions of fidelity to _____________ , what we do mainly around here is to compare ourselves one with another?

I mean it's a legitimate social media phenomenon against which neo-Christianity has not successfully immunized itself.

.

So true.
And the Apostle agrees.

2 Corinthians 10:12 NIV
We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves.
When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.

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[St. SteVen]

A passage might speak differently to us at a later date, but I can only think of one way to interpret such passages as "Do not steal."

A blue collar worker steals a train ticket and gets in trouble.
A white collar worker steals a whole train and gets away with it.

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[BarneyFife]

A blue collar worker steals a train ticket and gets in trouble.
A white collar worker steals a whole train and gets away with it.

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Rank postmodernism

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[BarneyFife]

@St. SteVen Don't be gettin' lazy just cuz u got a busy thread.

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[Bob Estey]

A blue collar worker steals a train ticket and gets in trouble.
A white collar worker steals a whole train and gets away with it.

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So it's okay to steal?

 

[St. SteVen]

@St. SteVen Don't be gettin' lazy just cuz u got a busy thread.

.

Thought I should chill while the others worked it fo' a bit. - LOL

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[St. SteVen]

So it's okay to steal?

No.
"Do not steal" means different things at different times to different people.

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[St. SteVen]

I don't think I've ever met someone who seemed to me to "idolize" the Bible.

That's easy to fix.
Go look in the Mirror and say, "Hello."

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[Bob Estey]

No.
"Do not steal" means different things at different times to different people.

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So sometimes it's okay to steal, and other times it's not?

 

[L.A.M.B.]

I'm addressing you. You attack the credibility of the Bible. I believe you do that because you don't like what it teaches. So you endeavor to discredit others as making an idol of the Bible, and to discredit the Bible itself as our source of information about God and life and everything.

Much love!

spot on.