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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
The question of which (if any) religious text is the true word of God is of utmost importance. To avoid circular reasoning, the first question we must ask is: how would we know if God communicated ...
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Vincent Mercado
Supporter
Simply put, the Church, with its authority from Christ himself, took on the task of declaring which books are inspired by God. She used three basic guidelines to determine which books should belong in the Bible: apostolicity, orthodoxy, catholicity. Apostolicity, that it came from one of the apostles or scribe of an apostle. Orthodoxy, that it is of right doctrine. Catholicity, that it is used universally among the churches. On 28 August 397, the Catholic Church issued a canon of the Bible quoted as, "Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua son of Nun, Judges, Ruth, 4 books of Kingdoms, 2 books of Chronicles, Job, the Davidic Psalter, 5 books of Solomon, 12 books of Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Tobias, Judith, Esther, 2 books of Ezra, 2 books of Maccabees, and in the New Testament: 4 books of Gospels, 1 book of Acts of the Apostles, 13 letters of the Apostle Paul, 1 letter of his to the Hebrews, 2 of Peter, 3 of John, 1 of James, 1 of Jude, and one book of the Apocalypse of John." She had that list ever since.
Kilian Kean
Supporter
The Bible is a message system that was written outside of our linear time frame. Through prophecy, the Bible tells the future from a historical perspective. Read prophecy, it is most always told from an "already occurred" viewpoint; looking backwards in time. "I saw" is a common phrase showing that it already happened. No other book in all history has such a claim. Prophecy is the confirmation that the Bible is true and from God. The Bible is God's message of love for His creation and a guide on how they can have an eternal relationship with Him. All other means of trying to prove the Bible is God's Word are a waste of time. Everyone (Hindus, Mormons, Buddhists, Muslims) have changed lives because of their beliefs, but it is based upon lies from the enemy. Only a life change based upon a relationship with God is truly meaningful, one that is eternal and filled with hope.
Salem Markus Purba
Supporter
As the prophet Isaiah had said: "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." (Isaiah 40: 6-8). Is the Bible stands forever, as a matter of fact, yes it is. Although it has been written more than a thousand of years, its content is always new just as today's newspaper Since the word of God is Spirit (John 6: 63), we need to have the Holy Spirit/the Spirit of truth with us (John 14 : 16-17) so we may understand the meaning of the Word; otherwise we will not be able to understand it, get boored and sleepy when we read the Bible. No other book has been translated into thousands of languages throughout the world; it has been revised in many verses; it has been facing kinds of false teacher and false prophet; worldly teaching and philosphies, but the Bible is keep on surviving in the life of the believers. The more we read the Bible, the closer personal relation we have and the more knowledge of who really our God is.
Jenni Taylor
Supporter
In order to know that scripture is the Word of God we can check to see if the principles taught in it match up with or confirm the truths taught in the Bible. If it teaches things contrary to what the Bible teaches we can know it is not from God. We particularly check if the book teaches that Jesus is the Christ, the Holy Messiah, the Son of God as the Bible teaches.
Jeffrey Johnson
Supporter
A question that many people have asked over the years, and no wonder, with books like the Quran, the Book of Mormon, and other religious texts that also claim to be authorised by God. So why do Christians believe in the Bible? As Christians, we believe the words of Paul, recorded in 2 Timothy 3:16, that 'All Scripture is inspired by God.' And Jesus himself consistently treated the Old Testament Scriptures as the highest authority, and his teachings are foundational to Christian understanding. Neither Jesus nor his disciples quoted from or referenced the books of the Apocrypha. WHAT exactly did the apostle Paul mean when he said that the Bible is "inspired of God"? (2 Timothy 3:16) Paul, writing in the Greek language, used a word that literally means "God-breathed." By that, Paul meant that God, through His Holy Spirit, guided the Bible writers to write only what He wanted them to write. These Bible writers "spoke from God as the holy spirit bore them along," said the apostle Peter. (2 Peter 1:21) Hence, the apostle Paul could also describe the books of the Bible as "holy writings, which can make you wise for salvation through the faith in connection with Christ Jesus."—2 Timothy 3:15. You would expect God's Word to be unique, and the Bible is. Billions of copies of it have been printed in hundreds of languages and have survived numerous attempts to destroy the Bible. And this is just one reason why we know that the Bible is from God, because it has endured and accurately foretells the future. No man can do that on his own. Consider, for example, the book of Isaiah. A copy of it, made over a century ago, long before Jesus' birth, was found in a cave near the Dead Sea and spoke about various aspects of the Messiah and what would happen to him. Although the Bible is not a science textbook, it is also accurate when it discusses the natural world. Consider examples from the fields of meteorology and genetics. After examining the evidence, millions of people around the world have concluded that the Bible is more than an ancient piece of literature. They were convinced that the Bible is God's inspired Word, his communication with humanity. Is the Bible a record of God's thoughts? The Bible's answer: Many Biblical writers claim that God guided what they wrote. Note these examples: King David: "The spirit of Jehovah it was that spoke by me, and his word was upon my tongue." —2 Samuel 23:1, 2. The prophet Isaiah: "This is what the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, has said."—Isaiah 22:15. The apostle John: "A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God gave him."—Revelation 1:1. Conclusion: From a Christian perspective, the belief that the Bible is the Word of God, unlike other religious texts, is based on a collection of historical, theological, and spiritual criteria that have been recorded over centuries. Also, Christians accept the Bible as God's Word due to its internal consistency, historical and archaeological support, and fulfilled prophecies, which all testify to Jesus and the apostles' ministry.
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