Why Dont You Guys Believe The Bible?

_Truthseeker
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Why don't you guys believe the bible?

Post by _Truthseeker » Mon Oct 15, 2007 10:15 am

:idea: Picked up on this today in spite of the fact the thread is over a year old. It is certainly interesting. I can only weigh in with personal experience. When I first became a believer in my early twenties I was among a group of believers who you could only describe as real eclectic. It was comprised of a few who could barely read and the "Living Bible" was highly recommended by more than a couple. As a novice I had no idea about the differences in translation and like a lot of people with whom I associated I just assumed the Bible ended up in the form God intended it to be in. I think the version I had was the NIV but it might have been the NAS. Later it was explained to me that the Living Bible was not even a translation. Then I found out the Catholic Bible allegedly contained books that really were not books which could be included in the Bible. Over the years I gravitated to whichever translation was considered to be the "best" at the time. Up until a few short years ago I had settled on the good old KJV. There is much written on how it is the only reliable Bible in existence. When I discovered how many corrections had been made to it and read how most Bibles were translated back out of the Latin Vulgate I was more than a little bothered. From what I have read-there were real agendas in Bible translatings. Currently I use a Rotherham's Emphasized. I have no formal education beyond high school and do not in any way consider myself a scholar. I read voraciously but sometimes have difficulty separating the good from the bad and ugly. The books included in the Bible (I refer to the majority of the protestant versions) were decided upon by a group of men a long time ago. I cannot document but have read that Martin Luther really did not want the book of James to be included. I have also read that the book of Revelation narrowly made the cut. The points to my longwindedness:
A-There are differences in Bible translations. These differences are sometimes used to promote specific doctrines. Or stifle other ones.
B-Paidion's post had mainly to do with the different views of the Godhead held by sincere believers. Each one holding the respective theological position would likely tell you he/she believed the Bible.
C-Background has much to do with what person believes. Remember-teachers teach out of Bibles. United Pentecostals will teach a Oneness position. Baptists usually a cessationist position. Presbyterians a Calvinist etc. and most of them believe the bible.
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_Rae
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Post by _Rae » Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:59 pm

The problem is not that any of these groups do not believe the Bible.
I think maybe it would be more accurate to say, "The problem is not that any of the groups do not SAY they believe the Bible."

Although Mormons say they believe the Bible, they do not, nor do they try to.
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_Paidion
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Post by _Paidion » Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:39 pm

Rae wrote:I think maybe it would be more accurate to say, "The problem is not that any of the groups do not SAY they believe the Bible."
Rae, I think it would be much less accurate to say that. Your statement seems to indicate that the people from these groups are lying. They are not. They are completely sincere.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say, "The problem is that people from all of these groups THINK they believe the Bible, but what they actually believe is their group's interpretation of the Bible.

And that goes for ALL of us!
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Post by _Rae » Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:41 pm

I see what you are saying.

I think, though, that you might have misunderstood me. I was saying that instead of saying essentially, "all of the groups believe the Bible" saying instead "all of these groups say they believe the Bible." I was not implying that they were purposefully lying (except maybe those higher up in cults), just that they don't really believe the Bible, even though they may say (and think, like you said) they do.

Maybe it's just semantics.
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_Paidion
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Post by _Paidion » Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:40 pm

Rachel, there's still something niggling around in my head about the idea of "believing the Bible". I guess I have to ask, "Which Bible?" So many parts of the Bible are badly mistranslated, that I fear many people "believe their translation" and fall into error.

For example, the King James statement that Jesus "thought it not robbery to be equal with God" {Philippians 2:6} suggests that Jesus thought that being equal with God was appropriate ---- that, because of who He was, his equality with God would not rob God of any of His glory.
but the correct translation means exactly the opposite:
"did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but humbled Himself..." Jesus did not seek equality with God at any time, even though He was in the form of God. He said, "The Father is greater than I."
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_Rick_C
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Post by _Rick_C » Tue Oct 16, 2007 4:20 am

I once read something that went about like this:

Some observers have come to view "Christianity" as a number of separate and distinct religions which share:
1. The name "Christianity"
2. The text of the Bible, and,
3. Not a great deal else.

Just some food for thought, :wink:
Rick
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