Bible Worship? (Torah, hell, prophet, theist, God)

[Tau]

Originally Posted by sojourner

I like your option.

I have other options sojourner but I doubt you want to hear them...

[Tau]

How strange.
People who can't answer my thread nonetheless still make pointless comments intended to attack instead, why don't they realise that this is a 2 way thing and if we all degenerated into name calling and labelling 'pedantic posturing Tau' for example there would be no debate at all.

These people are the antithesis of open debate and free speech...

[Dunemeister]

On a Christian view, God Himself has ultimate authority, which he has invested entirely in His Son, Jesus Christ. The bible MEDIATES that authority. Thus the bible is the Christian's penultimate authority. It's not been made entirely clear how a book that is mostly narrative is supposed to have authority, however. For instance, the biblical book of Kings is supposed to authoritative for Christians, but what does it mean for those stories to mediate God's authority over me? It's really strange.

The best account I've heard to date is that the bible is like a five-act play in which the first four acts are presented to us, along with the beginning of the fifth act and some author's notes about how the play is going to end up. Our job as Christians is to creatively act out the play in such a way that it makes sense in light of what has gone before and coheres with the sketchy ending indicated by the author.

Luckily, the author's best friend, who knows the author and his intentions for the play perfectly, is always available to the actors. He sometimes shouts instructions during rehearsals. Sometimes he stays silent for a while as the actors work things out independently. Sometimes he helps the actors understand the script. Sometimes the actors approach him for help and inspiration.

So that's the general picture of how the bible -- the play -- and the Holy Spirit -- the playwright's best friend -- together mediate the authority of God for Christians. Remember this is only something of a parable or an analogy, not a literal account of what I think is going on.

[Tau]

Originally Posted by Dunemeister

On a Christian view, God Himself has ultimate authority, which he has invested entirely in His Son, Jesus Christ. The bible MEDIATES that authority. Thus the bible is the Christian's penultimate authority. It's not been made entirely clear how a book that is mostly narrative is supposed to have authority, however. For instance, the biblical book of Kings is supposed to authoritative for Christians, but what does it mean for those stories to mediate God's authority over me? It's really strange.

The best account I've heard to date is that the bible is like a five-act play in which the first four acts are presented to us, along with the beginning of the fifth act and some author's notes about how the play is going to end up. Our job as Christians is to creatively act out the play in such a way that it makes sense in light of what has gone before and coheres with the sketchy ending indicated by the author.

Luckily, the author's best friend, who knows the author and his intentions for the play perfectly, is always available to the actors. He sometimes shouts instructions during rehearsals. Sometimes he stays silent for a while as the actors work things out independently. Sometimes he helps the actors understand the script. Sometimes the actors approach him for help and inspiration.

So that's the general picture of how the bible -- the play -- and the Holy Spirit -- the playwright's best friend -- together mediate the authority of God for Christians. Remember this is only something of a parable or an analogy, not a literal account of what I think is going on.

A like that answer, the monster is appeased...

[sojourner]

Originally Posted by Tau

I have other options sojourner but I doubt you want to hear them...

Does one of them include actually taking the time to delve into the religious mind set? That's the only one I'm interested in. Until that option is set in motion, my analysis stands...

[tomspug]

Originally Posted by Tau

It seems the words of dead men mean more to monotheists than those of the living.

We can argue about the validity of the Bible or the Torah or the Quran all day long...but to me it seems like your Gods have grown shells, imprisoned between the pages...

Is it not idolatry to declare a mere book God inspired and holy in it's own right?

Worship itself can be defined many ways, but to a degree I agree with you. However, I think that people that "worship" the Bible only do so not because the Bible itself is not complete or good enough to adhere to but because they simply do not understand God. In other words, people that "worship" the Bible haven't done a good job of actually reading it and following it.

I think that it is a tough argument to make that God is, in any way, imprisoned by the Bible, especially if one has either not read it or read it and not understood it.

The reason people adhere to the Bible so much is because they view it as a "living" book, "living" because many struggle to find an aspect of their lives that the Bible DOES NOT satisfyingly address. There is much more division within churches over what the Bible DOES NOT say rather than what it does.

The Bible is not authoritative because the church tells people so. Christians consider it authoritative because they READ it and afterwards come to the conclusion that it is authoritative. This is at least the case for me.

[sojourner]

Originally Posted by tomspug

Worship itself can be defined many ways, but to a degree I agree with you. However, I think that people that "worship" the Bible only do so not because the Bible itself is not complete or good enough to adhere to but because they simply do not understand God. In other words, people that "worship" the Bible haven't done a good job of actually reading it and following it.

I think that it is a tough argument to make that God is, in any way, imprisoned by the Bible, especially if one has either not read it or read it and not understood it.

The reason people adhere to the Bible so much is because they view it as a "living" book, "living" because many struggle to find an aspect of their lives that the Bible DOES NOT satisfyingly address. There is much more division within churches over what the Bible DOES NOT say rather than what it does.

The Bible is not authoritative because the church tells people so. Christians consider it authoritative because they READ it and afterwards come to the conclusion that it is authoritative. This is at least the case for me.

Some people do replace God with what is written about God. But that is neither the stance of most Christians, nor the position of any legitimate community of Christians. The proper dynamic is that God binds God's Self to us in covenant. In response, we bind ourselves to God. the Bible is the tool we use to build that covenant relationship, to define it, and to recognize it.

[angellous_evangellous]

I would say that bible worship is:

1) Viewing the Bible as inerrant or infalliable

2) Understanding that God does not speak, move, or act today as in the Bible.

Interestingly enough, one can worship the Bible and yet be criticized for viewing it as the record of a once powerful God.

[Nessa Nenharma]