Is the Bible Really the inspired word of God?

by Shirlgirl 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Shirlgirl

  I ask this question simply to see what others think......

  When my daugther was 16, she came to me late one night after we had come from a meeting and asked me...."Mom, what if the Witnesses have it all wrong? There are only 66 books that we use, what if we are worshipping the wrong idea?" She then walked out of the room and went to bed.....

  God, did that open a can of worms.....Because I actually started thinking on that.

  However, I took it a step further....What if religion on whole had it all wrong....so I began to do research, and what I found was amazing to me....

  2Timothy 3:16 began to 'ring' in my mind....."ALL scripture is inspired of God...." Funny, didn't say just 66 books were inspired, but ALL scripture....Then I began to break it down....what was scripture? Did only Christians have scripture? I think you can see where this led......

  So I was just curious if others have done the leg work too.....What did you find?

  Do you think the Bible is really the 'inspired word of God'?

  Shirlgirl
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  RAYZORBLADE

  Hi Shirlgirl. Interesting how your daughter could be so insightful.

  I remember that scripture, and I used to analyze it to pieces (2 Timothy 3:16).

  Then I began to think a bit differently re: ....."ALL scripture is inspired of God...."

  But WHO wrote that?? That's what started to race through my mind.

  I mean, I could write down anything here, and say it's is inspired of God or by God. But of course, it isn't.

  For me Shirlgirl, I realized, it was all written by MAN. I struggled for awhile, but then accepted my conclusion. By then I was able to come to a resolve quicker about my association with Christian-based religions and the Bible in general.

  I have lived without both, happily I might add, for many years now.

  Others will have different opinions, but it's a good question Shirlgirl. Hope all is well with you.
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  Abaddon

  The Bible is definately NOT the inspired word of god.

  WHy; it's wrong.... or god's an asshole.

  Example; Bible say gay is bad... Science tells us that the genetic links to homosexuality are so strong that if one identical twin is gay, then, rather than there being the normal 10% chance of their brother being gay that you have if they are just ordinary brothers, there is a 50% chance that the other twin will be gay too.

  Would god condemn people for acting in a way dictated by their genes? Not unless he was an asshole.

  Example; Bible say one woman one man... Science tells us that if a man is absent from his regular lover for a few days, even if he has sex or masturbates in the interim, he will ejaculate in far greater quantities than normal, seemingly to flush out any little invading wrigglers with his own. A woman out in a nightclub without her boyfriend will wear less clothes if she is near ovulation than normally. Both facts indicate that we have deep biological programing to screw around.

  Would god condemn people for acting in a way dictated by their genes? Not unless he was an asshole.

  Thus, the Bible, whilst having some nice ideas in it in places, is no more inspired than an obvious fabrication like the Book of Mormon.
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  rebel

  Hi Shirlgirl,

  This is a subject I am really interested in. I have always taken it for granted that the Bible is the word of our Creator. I was brought up as a Catholic and never questioned the Bible. As a JW, I was even more certain that this was God's Word. However, I have read so much on this board concerning the Bible that I am starting to really think about it. Some people on this board are very knowledgeable about such things and can help you more that I can. All I can say is, keep an open mind at all times. When we shut our minds off, and refuse to listen to those that disagree with us, we start to become tunnel-visioned, just like I was when I was a JW. Just look at all the options and make up your own mind.

  I am looking forward to reading more responses to this.

  xxR
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  Nowhere

  :"ALL scripture is inspired of God...."

  That verse only applies to the books that the jews at that time called the 'scriptures', it doesn't mean the whole OT, and definitly not the NT. If you ask a witness (with a decent knowledge in the bible, he will confirm it). The witnesses apply it to the whole bible, though they even admits that isn't what the scripture says! Belive it or not, but it's true!

  Edited by - Nowhere on 22 January 2003 16:7:19
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  ExpandedMind

  Hello!

  I have also struggled with this issue. I grew up "believing" the Bible (as a Lutheran). Then became a JW and had more "reasons" to believe. But upon questioning the authority of the WTS (over a period of time) I realized (as did most of us) that if I have the truth, then I shouldn't fear to do research and question things. Of course, this lead to my disassociating.

  Shortly thereafter I was in close touch with a friend who was going to seminary (an Evangelical Christian) and he told me something to the effect that if you didn't have doubts about the Bible going in, you'd have doubts "raised" when you took some of the courses he did. Apparently he was learning things in school that most of us do not have easy access to or are not aware of.

  This piqued my curiousity. I now wondered, how do I know that the Bible is the Word of God? What gave it that authority? I did read a few books on the origin of the Bible, one written by FF Bruce (a Bible scholar) and although that one was (obviously) not written as a critique of the Bible, it was filled with information that made me realize the "human origin" of the Bible (although most Christians would believe that the men used to determine the canon of the Bible were somehow "directed" by God). Actually because of other things going on in my life at the time, those questions were then put to the side... for many years.

  Finally in the late 1990's these resurfaced. One of the first books I read critiquing the Bible was a book by Dennis McKinsey called "Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy". I "sensed" that the scholarship of this book was not "top notch", but it did open my eyes to numerous issues that I hadn't realized before. I am certain there are Christians who will try and refute what he says and maybe some of his arguments are "lame", but I couldn't deny that something was "wrong" with the picture that I had earlier believed about the Bible.

  I also believe it is important to be open hearted and open minded with regards to "spiritual" things. But we must have been "given" our minds for a reason and if that means asking the hard questions and expecting answers, then I can't believe that that is "wrong" (even if that leads us in a direction we didn't think of). Seeking "truth" (not necessarily "the" Truth!) is not an easy road, but forums such as this can be helpful.

  I've wanted to be able to thoroughly discuss this issue with others and haven't had much of an opportunity. Anyone interested in an ongoing "discussion"?

  ExpandedMind

  "The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of larger ideas, never returns to its original size." --- Oliver Wendell Holmes
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  greven

  No.

  This can be very easily demonstrated by pointing to the scientific absurdities in the bible:

  for example:

  Genesis 1:30 : All animals were originally herbivores. But, of course, we now know that there were carnivorous animals like the T-Rex millions of years before humans existed.

  Leviticus 11;5-6 : The bible says that hares and coneys are unclean because they "chew the cud" but do not part the hoof. But hares and coneys are not ruminants and they do not "chew the cud."

  Leviticus 11:23 : this bugger made me LOL. You'd think that since God made the insects, and so many of them (at least several million species), that he would know how many legs they have!

  check out other absurdities at : http://skepticsannotatedbible.com

  Greven.
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  Shirlgirl

  I have formed the opinion that religion is man trying to define God, spirituality is God defining himself......two completely different things!

  IMHO the bible is simply a road map....Like the ancients that used to sit around the campfires, who would tell and embellish stories to teach the young, mystify the middleaged, and console the elderly. It seems to be a record, a textbook of history that man has taken the notion to worship.

  What really struck me were the inconsistencies.....example....1John 4:8 states that 'God is love'. Not that he shows it, or that he has it, but that he IS love....then in 1 Cor.13:4 through the first sentence of verse 8, states what love is and what it's not....So to me it seems that God would be the sum total of the description of love in 1Cor.....So then I started asking, how could God be jealous? How could he be a wrathful God? If those things are what love is not....?

  The 'Church' has taken this one book and beat, maimed, even killed for the 'righteous standards' that are supposedly set in it....Standards that were set by whom? Interesting that only the Pope can 'amend' the quote/unquote 'word of God'...Even Christ didn't try that one.....But then who really was Christ?

  Is the Bible the word of God? I think men have forced humanity to believe that...If it isn't, then what's it's purpose?

  the Shirlgirl
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  kes152

  Dearest Shirlgirl,

  May you have peace!

  The saying is true.. all SCRIPTURE is inspired of God. All religion as a whole have the misunderstanding of that saying found in 2 Timothy 3:16. Religion as a whole has *assumed* that the Bible is all scripture and therefore the whole Bible is inspired of God. They also took it a step further and blasphemly call the bible.. "the word of God."

  2 Timothy 3:16 is straightforward. It says that all SCRIPTURE is inspired of God. The Bible as a whole is a compilation of History (Joshua - Ruth), songs (Song of Solomon), Proverbial sayings (Proverbs chapter 10 - Ecclesiastes), letters (Romans - Jude), accounts according to certain people (Matthew - Luke and Acts) and scripture (writings of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms [Proverbs chpts. 1-9 are part of the Psalms], and the revelation of Jesus Christ which includes the book of John).

  The Christ when refering to 'scripture' always referred to the writings of Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets (John 5:46, 47; Luke 16:31; Luke 24:44; John 1:45; Luke 24:27). These are the only writings he used to prove he was the Christ. Everything in the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled in him.

  Now, just because scripture is inspired of God (because they are the sayings of God written down verbatum) does not mean it is the 'word of God.' The "Bible" and the scriptures in the Bible never claimed the Bible or "scripture" as the word of God. Only One was called the Word of God (Revelation 19:13; John 1:1, 14). In truth, everywhere in the Bible that it says "the word," it can be re-entered as "the Christ" or "the Son" because He is the Word of God in every sense of the word. For scripture or the Bible or anything else to be called 'the word' is a blasphemy according to Revelation 19:13. It is very clear in heaven that the Word of God is Christ alone.

  Peace to you,
  Aaron
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  acsot

  Hi Shirlgirl!

  I'm at about the same place as you are right now, and after reading many of the posts and looking at the research done by so many others, I've realized that the fundamentalist (JW) view of the Bible cannot possibly explain God, or spirituality, nor was it even meant to do so. 1 Tim. 3:16 says that all scripture is inspired of God. JWs believe (as I myself did as a JW until I finally woke up from my long sleep about five months ago) that Paul was including all of the Bible canon as we now know it. But it seems to me that when Paul (if it was Paul who wrote it) said those words, he couldn't have meant the very words he was writing down at that moment, since they didn't constitute part of "scripture" as known during his day. As you said, "scripture" can mean a lot of different things. I'm reading various books right now, related to Christianity, Buddhism, New Age, whatever, and am attempting to arrive at a place that I feel "at home". I've enjoyed Scott Peck's "The Road Less Traveled" and have several more of his books which I will be getting to in the near future.

  What I have found interesting is that in one Catholic translation, I believe it is the New American Translation (I'm at work right now and can't verify), the preface states that much of Scripture is a myth (i.e. much of Genesis, the creation account, a literal global flood, the account of Balaam's donkey speaking, etc.), but still useful because of the underlying "moral of the story", such as we find in Aesop's fables. So I guess you can "believe" in the Bible without "believing" it to be all literal and true. It's strange the path we find ourselves on - a little while ago I would have been horrified to see how the clergy dismisses the literalness of the Bible, and now I find it to be quite a refreshing and realistic view of things.

  Good question and good post.