The Bible as a whole makes no claim for divine authorship. Although many passages are quoted in God's name, the five books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy) never assert that their entire content is divine." Nonetheless, due to various interpretations and doctrines, the belief has grown up in Judaism that the whole Torah (and to a certain extent, the subsequent biblical books and even the rabbinic tradition) is divine. One engine of this belief is the existence of a fascinating intellectual problem. In modern times, the problem is called "the slippery slope." Essentially, it points up the difficulty with drawing lines. Opponents of abortion use the slippery-slope argument very effectively: If a fetus is considered a human being at, say, eight months, what about eight months minus 30 seconds? Minus one minute? Five minutes? One day? At each step, it is hard to defend the absolute distinction between the point one defends and a point just marginally prior to it. Similarly, the slippery slope wreaks havoc with arguments about biblical authorship. If one word, just one word, of the Bible is in fact of human origin, then how can one defend the divinity of any of it? If one word, why not two, or 10, or the whole book? So it is intellectually neater to hew to a hard line. If it is all from God, then that's the end of it. For centuries, Jewish exegetes (those who interpret texts) argued that this was the simple truth. Unfortunately, the evidence does not always cooperate with our intellectual convenience. Once various other academic disciplines began to be developed--literary criticism, comparative religion, archaeology, and so forth--the divinity of the Bible seemed less secure. Over the past several hundred years, the convergence of a mountain of evidence points to the human component of the Bible. There are parallel texts from other traditions (the 22nd chapter of Proverbs for example, parallels almost exactly an Egyptian text written centuries before); there are mistakes, duplications, emendations--even in the Talmud itself, the same passages in the Bible are often quoted with minute differences, demonstrating that more than one manuscript tradition was in circulation. Once all this evidence began to be accumulated, those who read the Bible were left with several choices. One could simply ignore the evidence, refuse to read the studies of biblical critics, and continue to believe that the traditional interpretations survived intact." Alternatively, one could marshal one's intellectual forces, as many have done, and attack the conclusions of the scholars with counter-arguments by believers. After all, many of the inconsistencies noted by biblical critics were noted and discussed centuries before. Yet as time has passed, these arguments have seemed increasingly strained, because the accumulation of evidence is by now not merely formidable, but mountainous. Yet there is nothing so flexible and resourceful as human reason deployed in a cause, so many still seek to rebut the conclusions of biblical critics, and some do so with considerable skill and elan. Finally, one could seek, as many have, to straddle the ideological divide. Perhaps the Bible was written by human beings, wholly or in part. Does this necessarily mean that it has no divinity in it? Must the realization that human hands were involved in the gathering of traditions mean that it is the spiritual equivalent of Shakespeare--remarkably insightful and beautiful, but having no special standing in the cosmos? Liberal theologians (here meaning those who believe in the human authorship of the Torah) struggle to maintain the Torah's special status without violating what they believe to be the canons of intellectual integrity. Several beliefs have arisen that try to simultaneously keep the Bible's special status without negating the findings of biblical criticism. Some have argued that the Bible was in some sense a collaborative effort between God and human beings. There is warrant for that in the Bible itself, which often seems to be the words of the prophets, and not directly of God. Moreover, there are times when an omniscient narrator reports on God's doings, suggesting that someone other than God wrote it. Others have sought to argue that the Bible is a human record of response to God's self-revelation. God somehow--in ways not exactly describable in human language--was made manifest in the Sinai desert, and perhaps at other times, and human beings wrote of their struggle to comprehend that appearance. This seems close to what the theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel meant when he said that the Bible was a "midrash," that is, an interpretive story. He argued that the Bible was a record of God's search for human beings and the human search for God; the cardinal sin in reading the Bible, said Heschel, was "literal-mindedness." Finally, some argue that the Bible is sacred, as the scriptures of other people are sacred, as the human chronicle of a search for the divine. All these ideas, it must be emphasized, are influenced by tradition as well as biblical criticism. Our increased knowledge of the ancient world, of the making of literary traditions and texts, and of the workings of all religions, have had a profound impact on how educated people view the Bible. Those who are interested in the conclusions of biblical criticism and its evidence can investigate it in a fluent and readable book, Richard Eliot Friedman's best-selling "Who Wrote the Bible?" We live in a different world from our ancestors. Conclusions that seemed self-evident now seem impossible. We grapple in ways they did not with the demands of God and the conclusions of reason. Central to the struggle is the Bible, the book that after thousands of years still ignites passions, shapes societies, and stirs souls. Who penned its words often seems less important than who reads them, and its origin less compelling than its role in changing the world." --Senior rabbi David Wolpe of the Sinai Temple of Los Angeles http://www.beliefnet.com/story/39/story_3975_1.html
who says man needs a savior? you are basing your whole idea on books written by ignorant suspisious men who thought thunder and lightening were god speaking. those books were chosen from hundreds of books http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/ to tell a story that powerful men wanted to tell and then organized into a bible by the vote of other men. THE BIBLE'S UNHOLY ORIGINS by Robert L. Johnson Many rank and file Christians sincerely believe the Bible is a direct communication from God to man. I know I used to believe it was when I was a Christian. And from recent conversations with many sincere Christians I know this is currently true for many believers. Once it is proven to our God-given reason that the Bible is strictly a man-made collection of mythology the mind loses yet another shackle of "revelation" and is soon on its way to full freedom and progress. The Bible was not handed to mankind by God, nor was it dictated to human stenographers by God. It has nothing to do with God. In actuality, the Bible was VOTED to be the word of God by a group of men during the 4th century. According to Professor John Crossan of Biblical Studies at DePaul University the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (274-337 CE), (a bust of Constantine is pictured below) who was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity, needed a single canon to be agreed upon by the Christian leaders to help him unify the remains of the Roman Empire. Until this time the various Christian leaders could not decide which books would be considered "holy" and thus "the word of God" and which ones would be excluded and not considered the word of God. Emperor Constantine, who was Roman Emperor from 306 CE until his death in 337 CE, used what motivates many to action - MONEY! He offered the various Church leaders money to agree upon a single canon that would be used by all Christians as the word of God. The Church leaders gathered together at the Council of Nicaea and voted the "word of God" into existence. (I wish to thank Brian Show for pointing out in his rebuttal to this article that the final version of the Christian Bible was not voted on at the Council of Nicaea, per se. The Church leaders didn't finish editing the "holy" scriptures until the Council of Trent when the Catholic church pronounced the Canon closed. However, it seems the real approving editor of the Bible was not God but Constantine! This fact is revealed in the second counter-rebuttal to Brian Show's first rebuttal to this article. This counter-rebuttal makes the following important statement and backs it up with FACTS - "Therefore, one can easily argue that the first Christian Bible was commissioned, paid for, inspected and approved by a pagan emperor for church use." Of course, I'd like to express my deep appreciation to fellow Deist Peter Murphy for the great research work he did in order to write such a great counter-rebuttal! http://www.deism.com/biblevotes.htm
I can see that your having a problem with Scripture? I can not explain the Bible to you without allowing the Bible to speak for itself. If you truly want to understand Scripture you have to read Scripture. A simple reading of the text of Scripture will reveal to you the message of God to his people. The Bible is God's plan of redemption of his people who are eternally lost and dead in their tresspasses and sin. If you are serious and really want to know more about Scripture and what Christians believe I'd be delighted to share it with you. But I warn you that it will be a whole lot of Scriptures to read and it will require a great deal of reflection on your part. God does not delight in the destruction of the wicked. However not all will be saved. Only God's elect will be saved. I don't know if you are called or not. But if you are truly interested in learning about the Bible and what YOU must do to be saved just do this: Believe in Christ that he died on the cross for your sins and rose again the third day and ascended into heaven and will one day come again to rule the earth and that WE his saints will reign with him, repent of your sin, asked God to come and live within you and empower you to live a holy life. Find a healthy well balanced Church and grow in yoiur faith and understanding of God's word. If you have no interest in what I have just said then you have not been called unto righteousness and you are lost in your sin and without hope. Psalm 7:11 - He [GOD] is angry with the wicked every day.
thanks been there done that. was a christian for 50 years untill i became enlightened. "You may have an opinion that a man is inspired, but you cannot prove it, nor can you have any proof of it yourself, because you cannot see into his mind in order to know how he comes by his thoughts; and the same is the case with the word revelation. There can be no evidence of such a thing, for you can no more prove revelation than you can prove what another man dreams of, neither can he prove it himself. "It is often said in the Bible that God spake unto Moses, but how do you know that God spake unto Moses? Because, you will say, the Bible says so. The Koran says, that God spake unto Mahomet, do you believe that too? No. "Why not? Because, you will say, you do not believe it; and so because you do, and because you don't is all the reason you can give for believing or disbelieving except that you will say that Mahomet was an impostor. And how do you know Moses was not an impostor?
All this reads like a 'religion' Aapex. "Religion is based on a set of man made rules and piety." Humm, yet your #3 reads very interesing. A church is two people and Christ right? I'll need to ax ya for the sripture on this "healthy well balanced Church" one.
CHAPTER 1; OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES Paragraph 1. The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience,1 although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary unto salvation.2 Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in diversified manners to reveal Himself, and to declare (that) His will unto His church;3 and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which makes the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now completed.4 1 2 Tim. 3:15-17; Isa. 8:20; Luke 16:29,31; Eph. 2:20 2 Rom. 1:19-21, 2:14,15; Psalm 19:1-3 3 Heb. 1:1 4 Prov. 22:19-21; Rom. 15:4; 2 Pet. 1:19,20 Paragraph 2. Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments, which are these: OF THE OLD TESTAMENT: Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Ester Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes The Song of Solomon Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi OF THE NEW TESTAMENT: Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation All of which are given by the inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life.5 5 2 Tim. 3:16 Paragraph 3. The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon or rule of the Scripture, and, therefore, are of no authority to the church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved or made use of than other human writings.6 6 Luke 24:27,44; Rom. 3:2 Paragraph 4. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, depends not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author thereof; therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God.7 7 2 Pet. 1:19-21; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 John 5:9 Paragraph 5. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church of God to a high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scriptures; and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, and the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, and many other incomparable excellencies, and entire perfections thereof, are arguments whereby it does abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God; yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth, and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.8 8 John 16:13,14; 1 Cor. 2:10-12; 1 John 2:20,27 Paragraph 6. The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelation of the Spirit, or traditions of men.9 Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word,10 and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.11 9 2 Tim. 3:15-17; Gal. 1:8,9 10 John 6:45; 1 Cor. 2:9-12 11 1 Cor. 11:13,14; 1 Cor. 14:26,40 Paragraph 7. All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all;12 yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed and observed for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of ordinary means, may attain to a sufficient understanding of them.13 12 2 Pet. 3:16 13 Ps. 19:7; Psalm 119:130 Paragraph 8. The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old),14 and the New Testament in Greek (which at the time of the writing of it was most generally known to the nations), being immediately inspired by God, and by His singular care and providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentic; so as in all controversies of religion, the church is finally to appeal to them.15 But because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God, who have a right unto, and interest in the Scriptures, and are commanded in the fear of God to read,16 and search them,17 therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come,18 that the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship Him in an acceptable manner, and through patience and comfort of the Scriptures may have hope.19 14 Rom. 3:2 15 Isa. 8:20 16 Acts 15:15 17 John 5:39 18 1 Cor. 14:6,9,11,12,24,28 19 Col. 3:16 Paragraph 9. The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself; and therefore when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which are not many, but one), it must be searched by other places that speak more clearly.20 20 2 Pet. 1:20, 21; Acts 15:15, 16 Paragraph 10. The supreme judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Scripture delivered by the Spirit, into which Scripture so delivered, our faith is finally resolved.21 21 Matt. 22:29, 31, 32; Eph. 2:20; Acts 28:23
You are mixing a great deal of historical leanings into one argument. CONGRATULATIONS! If you were hoping to confuse the reader with quotes from pagan authors you did not succeed. If you study history carefully you will see that what you alluded to above gives light into the origens of the Roman Catholic Church rather than the Christian Church. So all you have done is expose the origins of Roman Cahtholosism. You have not dealt with the claims of the Bible nor the many proofs of Biblical Authorship. I'd like to take some time and explain exactly what you have just done for all those that are less study on the subject.
modern scholorship is changing many old ideas in the bible. a small word correction does make a big difference. http://watch.pair.com/scriptures.html TABLES OF COMPARISON OF SELECTED SCRIPTURES AFFECTING FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH KING JAMES VERSION ENGLISH REVISED VERSION NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION NEW KING JAMES VERSION The categories of tables were selected to represent the most significant areas of change in modern translations which affect fundamental Christian doctrine. This listing is only a portion of the overwhelming number of alterations to essential doctrines. 1. THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." (Philippians 2:5-7) Modifications to key verses such as this one and others containing titles of the Lord Jesus Christ denigrate the doctrine of His deity. (table) 8. JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST ALONE "And Philip said, âIf thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." (Acts 8:37) New versions omit this verse and alter others to change justification by faith to salvation through works. Many versions delete "by himself" in Hebrews 1:3 to permit faith in another mediator, such as Mary. The omission of "on me" in John 6:47 allows any belief. (table)