Myth - The Bible claims to be inspired by God

gubberningbody

The Bible has 66 books (more if you're Catholic, less if you're Jewish), and multiple authors. Some of these authors claimed that some of what they wrote down was inspired by God. That's hardly enough for someone to conclude that the Bible claims inspiration for all of the words written by the multiple authors who were involved with writing "it" over the centuries.

God_Delusion

The bible is from God? Ha! Don't make me laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcWR9sjBy3A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRGnPIlclps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGukKa1vEzA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk1owD9y1hc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ldI2FJQ_oE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_JRZX0zwPA

If there is a creator of the universe and he was responsible for the tripe that is the bible, then I think we're better off without him.

Regards
RAB

maputo95

I agree with you and some saintly scholar once said that it's a miracle that some of God's truth stands out in some of the Bible's more dubious writing. Happy Christmas.

zoiks

ALL scripture is inspired... so I guess that the whole Bible, plus the Book of Mormon, plus the Koran in all of its various spellings, plus the sacred texts of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, would all count.

Of course, some of these may have been inspired by some really great weed. But which?!

cantleave

ROFL - I really believed it was at one time.

Olin Moyles Ghost

Ok, so what does 2 Tim 3:16 mean when it says "all scripture is inspired of God"? At that time, "scripture" referred to the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings--what we today know as the "Old Testament." So, that takes care of the Old Testament.

I suggest reading the Old Testament. Start with Genesis. If you get to chapter 2 and still believe that it's "inspired of God" you need to have your head examined.

maputo95

The Bible myth is that the Bible is the complete and infallible "Word of God". It teaches that every word of the Bible carries equal authority, and that nothing done or said since its 66 books were completed can properly be termed "inspired".

When we challenge this myth, we are, in fact, showing more faith in the Bible than those who teach the myth.

The Bible itself says only that Jesus Christ is the Word (or perfect revelation) of God. (John 1:14 and Revelation 19:13-16) And the Bible itself proclaims its lack of inspiration in some passages. (e.g. 1 Corinthians 7:12, and 25) The Bible also instructs Christians: "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God," making it clear that followers of Christ can be just as inspired today as they ever were.

Certainly the Bible is the best record we have of the teachings of Christ, as well as the writings of many great men of God. But the real purpose behind the Bible myth is to convince people that knowing God's will is a very difficult task, requiring years of training in the Greek and Hebrew languages, an intimate knowledge of Jewish holy days and ceremonial laws, expertise in church history, and familiarity with Greek, Roman, and Jewish customs at the time of Christ.

In actual fact, a little bit of honesty will put you miles ahead of most theologians, who seem to be more interested in scoring points for their denominational viewpoints than in finding the truth.

The proof text for the Bible myth is Paul's statement that all Scriptures (holy writings) are inspired by God and are helpful to followers of God. (2 Timothy 3:16)

However, when Paul reminded Timothy a few moments later to bring the cloak and parchments he left at Troas (2 Timothy 4:13) it was clear that he did not see this as a "holy writing" inspired by God with eternal significance to men of God everywhere!

Many holy writings are, indeed, found in the Bible; and prophetic books such as The Revelation must be treated with special care (see Revelation 22:18-19), since true prophets do not write opinions, but relay messages just as they receive them from God. (See 2 Peter 1:20-21) Often these messages are not clear until they actually come to pass, and altering them to fit an imperfect interpretation can be quite dangerous.

But to be inspired and to be profitable are not the same as to be infallible. Nor do all passages rate equally with regard to their profitability. For example, we no longer stone adulterers, or practice polygamy; so why should we place the rest of the Jewish Old Testament on a par with the teachings of Christ? And why rate an apostle's writings equal to Christ's teachings?

undercover

I suggest reading the Old Testament. Start with Genesis. If you get to chapter 2 and still believe that it's "inspired of God" you need to have your head examined.

LOL, Olin... get a lump of coal in your stocking this year?

You need some of 'Undercover's Patented Bottled Xmas Spirit'. You can find it in the liquor store next to Colonel Harvey's Indian Elixir. A couple of shots of that and you'll be singing xmas carols from the roof of the nearest KH.

wobble

There is only one scripture that readily comes to mind on this, Paul's words to Timothy.

But when he wrote that in a letter to a friend, he surely did not include that very letter, or his other letters,in the inspired "class", and of course things like the Gospels, or at least three of them , still had to be written.

So what did Paul mean by "inspired" ? the Wt has made much of the root meaning of the word he used, "God-breathed" trying to make it sound as though God whispered the words into the ear of an amanuensis.

But it is my own belief that scripture, be it in the Bible ,the Holy Quran or the other Eastern scriptures, is inspired because of the writers belief in God.

Maybe Paul meant something similar, certainly his advice that these things are written for our instruction, sounds as though he believes that we can learn how to act by reading them, or indeed how not to act, but I do not feel that he felt they were the inerrant word of God in the way the WT makes out. he would have been too familiar with the idea of Midrash and progressive interpretation .

Of course the prophets felt that they spoke God's thoughts, but again that is different to God whispering the words in their ears.

Love

Wobble

gubberningbody

Olin, Paul's trivial letter which makes passing reference to "scripture" doesn't qualify as anything other than Paul's meandering opinion. Not only does Paul (aka Saul) go back and forth at times sometimes he thinks he has Gods spirit (1 Co. 7:39), and sometimes he can't remember where he read something (Heb. 2:6), but his endorsement doesn't even begin to address just what books he was talking about? If he was with the camp of the pharisees, then he believed in a whole lot more than just the books we have at present. You simply can't take one joker's opinion as an endorsement of the whole.

Myth - The Bible claims to be inspired by God

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