Hi MINIMUS ! Recently I asked commentary press to help me with the question,Is the Bible Inspired of God?In view of your question I thought I would share with you the response that I was given from Ray Franz.Its a little long,but worth reading.
Dear Sir:
The writer of Hebrews said with regard to faith: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,the conviction of things not seen." ( Hebrews 11:1 )
People frequently do not seem to stop and think that their lives every day involve the element of risk and that they sometimes place their lives at risk by the trust they show.As the author of the book The Myth of Certainty ( scholar Daniel Taylor )points out:"No significant area of life is free from risk.It is a key ingredient in every accomplishment and every relationship...everyone exercises some kind of faith daily that goes beyond irrefutable evidence.....Human life is not compatible with total disbelief.On the mundane level,we show incredible faith each time we drive down the road that everyone will stay on his side of the little white line.Few things are as ridiculous as the persons who claim not to believe in anything."
Faith is something only the individual can arrive at by personal conviction.It cannot be transplanted.If faith were the product of purely visible evidence than a person would find it as elusive as many seem to view it.Belief in God,in his intervention in human history,in sending his Son on our behalf,the hope of life,of resurrection from death-----ultimately is and must be a matter of faith.
We cannot prove these things by personal observation and experience as we do other things in our physical realm.Yet this does not by any means indicate that we are left without any visible evidence.We believe Paul spoke truth in saying that we do have abundant evidence to support a solid faith in our Creator and His qualities. ( Romans 1:19,20 )
In my own case,after 80 years of living I have found nothing that would cause me to feel otherwise.Each day I see that which contributes toward my faith in a loving Creator--the heavens declare his glory,the earth his goodness.But of itself that would never be sufficient to comprehend what and who He is,as well as to explain why things are as they are,why humans engage in such unloving acts and use earth's products and capabilities in such criminally stupid ways.For that there needs to be something that transcends the visible.If God's being and nature were determinable by us through purely human means,physical evidence and tests from our finite world,He would certainly be a puny God.It seems to me that a revelation is an indispensable necessity.
Surely we have reason to feel a sense of awe and sense of minuteness in the presence of the immensity and mystery of the known universe,and that humble viewpoint of oneself is at least a starting point for gaining true understanding.
As to the Creator of all this grandness having any abiding interest in our 'little lives',I see a built-in interest inall creation.It is there in the remarkable qualities of love,compassion,devotion,loyalty,and generosity that humans are capable of and which,thankfully,many still express.Surely no purely physical evolutionary process could have produced those qualities.Man still bears,even if in weakened form,the image of his Maker and that likeness is further evidence for me that there is divine interest in us,that he does not view as so insignificant as not to merit interest.
Like confidence in God's existence and qualities,confidence in the Scriptures ultimately rests in faith.You want someone to prove to you that it is the inspired Word of God.But only faith can give us that assurance.We cannot ,for example,transport ourselves back to the first century and prove that the things related about Jesus and others took place as recorded.
There is a power,however ,in the Scriptural writings that is unique,and the revelation presented there has an appeal that ,for me at least,is not to found in other writings.Then, too,as Elihu put it,"For the ear tests words as the palate tastes food.Let us choose what is right;let us determine among ourselves what is good."As for the writers of the Scriptures,Ifind a notable spirit of honesty and of concern for truth throughout and so feel no uncertainty as to the faith I place in the message they convey.
The absolutist nature of the Watch Tower organization and its teachings contributes to the crises many experience,since having believed that one had the truth,the whole truth,and nothing but the truth,and then to realize that it is not so can cause one to begin to doubt everything.It is probably inevitable that,for many,the diillusionment brought about creates a scepticism,perhaps even an aversion,toward the Scriptures.I think it depends largely upon how the personal discovery came about.
My own experience with the Witnesses,despite its ultimate unpleasantness,only served to confirm my confidence in the Scriptures.It was the Scriptures themselves that showed me what was wrong and how something far better was being set aside.Many only see the negative aspect and not the positive,the ugly and not the beautiful,and that can be devasting.Since my departure,my life experience has only added to my confidence in the Scriptural promises and I have never regretted the trust placed in their message.God certaintly does not seem distance to me.
Admittedly,I must recognize that my personal circumstances,past and present,play there part in my viewpoint.It cannot be otherwise,with me,you,or anyone.If I had no life experience with human dishonesty,falsification,hypocrisy,devious argumentation,or had no life experience with human integrity,honesty,humility,unselfish concern for others,my ability to judge and assess and arrive at conclusions concerning sources of information or of teaching would be feeble indeed.
Seeing the end result of various philosophies,concepts and courses of life are all lessons of value and using that knowledge to arrive at conclusions simply makes good sense.The same critical thinking that enables us to see through the imaginative,clever,plausible,confident and often condescending presentations of the Watch Tower organization can help us do the same with the imaginative,clever,plausible,confident and condescending writings of other souces,theological or scientific.
We hope these thoughts may be of some help.Reading the Scriptures and letting them speak their message to you free from adulteration by sectarian views is the one way to gaining conviction as to their divine source.No one can do that for you.Only if they speak to your heart and your heart responds with conviction can you accept their message as something you can trust in and " stake your life " on it
We wish you God's kind help and aid.
Minimus,while I have appreciated Ray's letter to my question: Is the Bible Inspired of God?"I would truely appreciate some of your thoughts on this letter in response to your own question.And anyone else who would care to respond I thank you in advance.
Blueblades