Bibliolatry

[We Never Know]

All I can find are failed prophecies. Most of the so called "fulfilled" prophecies fail at the start by being overly vague or open ended. The specific prophecies fail so badly that they have to be reinterpreted.

Myths are fulfilled. They are spread and the gullible swallow them.

 

[Subduction Zone]

And one sure symptom of a Bible worshiper are those that only accept a specific translation as if that one had some sort of magic power. A favorite for this is the King James Version. Bible worshipers love it because its archaic language and poetic language allows them to reinterpret it to fit their own personal beliefs. That is no so easy with a modern translation in clear modern English.

 

[Deeje]

You have nothing but a book of myths written by men. Don't fear living or live thinning when death comes you will be rewarded. When death comes, you like me and everyone else will cease to exist. We will go back to the earth we came from. There is no ever after or reward of heaven.
If you believe different, give me evidence besides a book written by men that had a crappy life.

It is often hard to pinpoint your position as it seems to vary from post to post.....you perhaps believe there is a God then you don't...scripture is OK and then it isn't....? Some is true and then its all myth....? I find your indecision to be a little confusing TBH.

Like yourself I see that there is no afterlife as is believed by Christendom's adherents. There is no immortal soul flitting off to heaven or hell. When we die we cease to exist....we go back to where we were before we were conceived....non-existence. The Bible supports that view. What it doesn't support is that we cannot entertain the thought of living again....of having our lives and our loved ones returned to us here on earth.

We are not programmed for death because the Genesis account says it was never supposed to happen. Most of us have an inbuilt desire to go on living despite the fact that we are getting old now and it feels completely wrong. I do not even recognize my fact in the mirror anymore. If the Bible gives me a reason why humans almost always want to keep living in spite of old age, then I am going to investigate it. I needed answers and I found them.

How long have they been searching for the 'Fountain of Youth'? How much money do the cosmetic companies make trying to make us gals (and even guys) look younger that we really are? Youth is not something we surrender easily, because we have an inbuilt desire to remain young. The Bible says that this was God's plan for us....to live in paradise surroundings with an abundance of fresh food and water, with nothing to interfere with our peace and security, which included a means to sustain our youth, provided by the Creator from the beginning. There was no natural cause of death mentioned in Genesis. Aging, sickness and death would only come as a direct consequence of disobedience....a withdrawing from our source of power.

We know what went wrong, but we retain those desires for youth and vitality that cannot be achieved right now. It is frustrating that death robs us of all our loved ones sooner or later. We fight death but it cannot be defeated by anyone but our Creator. He has told us how he will achieve this and we can believe him or not.

I believe him.

 

[We Never Know]

It is often hard to pinpoint your position as it seems to vary from post to post.....you perhaps believe there is a God then you don't...scripture is OK and then it isn't....? Some is true and then its all myth....? I find your indecision to be a little confusing TBH.

Like yourself I see that there is no afterlife as is believed by Christendom's adherents. There is no immortal soul flitting off to heaven or hell. When we die we cease to exist....we go back to where we were before we were conceived....non-existence. The Bible supports that view. What it doesn't support is that we cannot entertain the thought of living again....of having our lives and our loved ones returned to us here on earth.

We are not programmed for death because the Genesis account says it was never supposed to happen. Most of us have an inbuilt desire to go on living despite the fact that we are getting old now and it feels completely wrong. I do not even recognize my fact in the mirror anymore. If the Bible gives me a reason why humans almost always want to keep living in spite of old age, then I am going to investigate it. I needed answers and I found them.

How long have they been searching for the 'Fountain of Youth'? How much money do the cosmetic companies make trying to make us gals (and even guys) look younger that we really are? Youth is not something we surrender easily, because we have an inbuilt desire to remain young. The Bible says that this was God's plan for us....to live in paradise surroundings with an abundance of fresh food and water, with nothing to interfere with our peace and security, which included a means to sustain our youth, provided by the Creator from the beginning. There was no natural cause of death mentioned in Genesis. Aging, sickness and death would only come as a direct consequence of disobedience....a withdrawing from our source of power.

We know what went wrong, but we retain those desires for youth and vitality that cannot be achieved right now. It is frustrating that death robs us of all our loved ones sooner or later. We fight death but it cannot be defeated by anyone but our Creator. He has told us how he will achieve this and we can believe him or not.

I believe him.

Let me clear you up. A god, any god is nothing but myth and story. Made up by man from what he couldn't explain or feared.
We live and our lives are programmed to live, reproduce and die, the end.

The fountain if youth like gods is nothing but myth. There is not now, nor ever been evidence for either but man made myths and stories.

 

[whirlingmerc]

Did God exist before the Bible? Is the Bible the only source for the existence of God?

Christians and Jewish views would say God exist ever from eternity past or possibly before time began, so yes in a sense. Jesus in a sense is 'the word of God' and also existed form eternity past

In an Islamic view the Koran existed from eternity as well.

( Some would say that Jesus is more analogous to the Koran between those two views than the Bible and the Koran would be )

 

[whirlingmerc]

Let me clear you up. A god, any god is nothing but myth and story. Made up by man from what he couldn't explain or feared.
We live and our lives are programmed to live, reproduce and die, the end.

The fountain if youth like gods is nothing but myth. There is not now, nor ever been evidence for either but man made myths and stories.

I see it quite differently and see the Bible as God breathed

You are quite skeptical. But yes if an eternal God who made the world has spoken I should hear His words and live.

 

[Zita]

There are other documents besides the Bible, but for Christianity, the Bible is the main source. The only source for anything on Christ. Of course, I am not a biblical scholar, so I could be wrong on that, but all the extra-biblical writing on Christ that I know of is later and derived from the biblical accounts.

People have claimed to have been inspired by God or visited by God outside of the Bible. I cannot speak on the validity of their inspiration or contact, but there is that.

Sorry if you misunderstood my post. I'm not saying you do or don't believe the bible. The god the bible speaks of is only known from the bible to my knowledge. To believe and have faith in the god it speaks of means one has to believe and have faith in the bible.
They go hand in hand. Would any one believe in the creator god without the bible? Would any one believe in the bible without believing in the creator god? It's doubtful. I wasn't saying you're right or wrong for believing in the god the bible speaks of but yet believing the bible is stories. You have to swallow one and accept the other, and in reverse.

Please correct me if I am misunderstanding what you're saying when you stated to believe in God you must believe in the bible, they go hand in hand. I very much believe in a Creator or Higher Power for the fact "we" exist, however I don't believe in "The Bible"and I don't believe in the bible version of "God".I just don't believe my Creator will kill his creations by natural disasters or judge me after my body dies and if I haven't lived in a certain way, he will cast me in a fiery pit for all eternity, or consider homosexuals unworthy of going to heaven or the idea you should fear "The Creator",and that he is jealous and who punishes you for wrong doings,put you through tests and trials to only make you strong and the list goes on and on.The bible doesn't describe a very loving Spirit to me at all. So I don't feel it all goes hand in hand.

 

[whirlingmerc]

Please correct me if I am misunderstanding what you're saying when you stated to believe in God you must believe in the bible, they go hand in hand. I very much believe in a Creator or Higher Power for the fact "we" exist, however I don't believe in "The Bible"and I don't believe in the bible version of "God".I just don't believe my Creator will kill his creations by natural disasters or judge me after my body dies and if I haven't lived in a certain way, he will cast me in a fiery pit for all eternity, or consider homosexuals unworthy of going to heaven or the idea you should fear "The Creator",and that he is jealous and who punishes you for wrong doings,put you through tests and trials to only make you strong and the list goes on and on.The bible doesn't describe a very loving Spirit to me at all. So I don't feel it all goes hand in hand.

I think the discussion here says holding a high view of the scriptures is somehow idolatry. I hardly think this is tru but people are indeed idol worshippers and that can show up various ways.

In the end the Bible says 'God cannot lie' and so it would be reasonable to expect something 'God breathed' like the scriptures to be fully trustworthy.

 

[We Never Know]

I see it quite differently and see the Bible as God breathed

You are quite skeptical. But yes if an eternal God who made the world has spoken I should hear His words and live.

Best wishes to you in that being fulfilled.

 

[We Never Know]

Please correct me if I am misunderstanding what you're saying when you stated to believe in God you must believe in the bible, they go hand in hand. I very much believe in a Creator or Higher Power for the fact "we" exist, however I don't believe in "The Bible"and I don't believe in the bible version of "God".I just don't believe my Creator will kill his creations by natural disasters or judge me after my body dies and if I haven't lived in a certain way, he will cast me in a fiery pit for all eternity, or consider homosexuals unworthy of going to heaven or the idea you should fear "The Creator",and that he is jealous and who punishes you for wrong doings,put you through tests and trials to only make you strong and the list goes on and on.The bible doesn't describe a very loving Spirit to me at all. So I don't feel it all goes hand in hand.

In short, you only know of god the creator because of the bible. Without the bible, you wouldn't know of god the creator.
They go hand in hand.

 

[Deeje]

Let me clear you up. A god, any god is nothing but myth and story. Made up by man from what he couldn't explain or feared.
We live and our lives are programmed to live, reproduce and die, the end.

The fountain if youth like gods is nothing but myth. There is not now, nor ever been evidence for either but man made myths and stories.

That is what you believe but that is not what others believe....we all choose to believe whatever suits us.
You hope there is no God......I know there is.

 

[We Never Know]

That is what you believe but that is not what others believe....we all choose to believe whatever suits us.
You hope there is no God......I know there is.

You're right your is about belief. Nothing more. Hope has nothing to do with me, only you. You hope there is a god, I don't care about myths. No one alive can show evidence of god and dead men don't talk. As far as reality goes, we both die and that's that.

 

[Zita]

In short, you only know of god the creator because of the bible. Without the bible, you wouldn't know of god the creator.
They go hand in hand.

So you are telling me that if there was no bible I wouldn't know there was a creator?I don't agree with you at all! I am intelligent enough to now that The creator of something is the person who made it or invented it. Do you notice I say "The Creator"? when I talk about my higher power not "God" as the bible names him,which is the name man appointed for him.Without the bible I still would know that I am a creation that is created by a creator. You can't say what I wouldn't know you can only say what you wouldn't know.

 

[blü 2]

We are not programmed for death because the Genesis account says it was never supposed to happen.

I'd say that's contradicted directly by the Garden story ─

Genesis 3:22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever" ─ 23 therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.​

If death hadn't already entered the world, there'd be no need for a Tree of Life (antidote) in the garden in the first place, and equally, if Adam and Eve were otherwise going to live forever anyway, God would have no motive for chucking 'em out ─ this is the only reason God chucked 'em out.

Or are you referring to something else in Genesis?

 

[Kenny]

I see anyone that claims the Bible is infallible as taking the first step to doing that. The Bible is a book written by men. Men are not infallible. There are many on here that routinely trash the work of men in the form of science, claiming that it is not infallible.

There are numerous inconsistencies and errors in the Bible that are well established, though many have sought various means to deny that, they remain. Anyone that has the courage to point this out is often persecuted and labeled as not a true Christian, though I would say they are honoring their belief by recognizing those flaws. And they are clearly not making a false idol of the Bible.

Yet a secretary that takes dictation is considered the word from him/her that dictated it.

Inconsistencies and errors have all been explained. If one wants it to be in error, then any reason is a good reason. If, over time, a number is now in error because a single dot that is erased and then transcribed to the next copy (In Hebrew), then yes, there are errors. But that doesn't make it any less true to its message.

 

[Kenny]

I think that people that demand the Bible be seen as inerrant have a weak faith. Faith and acceptance of Christ is all that is asked of us. Everything else is added by Bible worshipers.

Purely your hypothesis but quite unsupported. Dr. John G Lake believed it was inerrant and I hardly think you would say that he had a weak faith but rather a strong faith.

Your statement can be contradicted by the lives of many but you have every right to have your own opinion.

 

[Kenny]

All I can find are failed prophecies. Most of the so called "fulfilled" prophecies fail at the start by being overly vague or open ended. The specific prophecies fail so badly that they have to be reinterpreted.

You are welcome to your viewpoint. I simply disagree. Many are VERY specific, not open ended and not vague.

 

[Kenny]

Let me clear you up. A god, any god is nothing but myth and story. Made up by man from what he couldn't explain or feared.
We live and our lives are programmed to live, reproduce and die, the end.

The fountain if youth like gods is nothing but myth. There is not now, nor ever been evidence for either but man made myths and stories.

Your proof?

 

[tosca1]

I know it is a Christian belief. There is no way to prove the premise so it is an article of faith. Don't try to paint it otherwise.

The premise of your topic is Christian-based....at least, that's how I understand it.
I gave an article that explains bibliolatry from a Christian site (as compared to your source, Wikipedia).

Your OP asks how many Christians practice bibliolatry - how can we really have an answer to that if we don't know exactly what bibliolatry is?

And, how can we tell exactly what bibliolatry is if we don't delve into the Christian perspective?

To have a rational answer to your question - we have to know exactly what is bibliolatry.

It's a very logical response, isn't it?
As Christians - If we believe the Bible is God-breathed.....and if we believe God does not tell lies.......then, we have to believe the Bible is the Authoritative Book that God has given to mankind!

Surely - when you buy some electronics, it comes with its own manual that tells us information about it - including how to care for it, and what not to do with it, right?
Aren't we supposed to follow that manual? What happens to our refund policy if we don't?

If we follow the manual diligently - does that mean we place more importance to the manual than to the company that built the product? That's the simplest analogy I can think of - which everyone can relate to.



By the looks of it, bibliolatry is just another word being thrown around by those who don't believe the Bible is the AUTHORITATIVE "MANUAL."
In other words, some think we can add or "re-package" certain parts of the Scriptures that we don't agree with! Maybe, they want to conform with the changing times!
Some even came up with their own Bible - like, The QUEEN JAMES Bible!



Well - God's stipulations don't change! They are as consistent as they were given eons ago, even as today! And, Christians are required to be steadfast!

Changing anything from the Scriptures is similar to pharisees who kept adding their man-made rules or ideas to the Scriptures! Changing anything from the Scriptures is a big no-no! Several verses stipulate that!

Rev 22:18-19
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.


Deut 4:2
"You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.



Proverbs 30:5-6
Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.


Mark 7
6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’

8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!

 

[tosca1]

About 25 years ago I was flipping through channels, and landed on a religious channel. The televangelist was standing on the far side of a large, empty stage, holding up a copy of his Bible. He said, in tones that would have been appropriate from Moses on the mount, 'If Jesus Himself came down and told me that there was something wrong with this Book, I would turn my back upon Him and HOLD TO THE BOOK." (Caps reflect his tone....)

I have since met many evangelical, biblical (usually KJV only, but not always) inerrantists since then who shared this televangelist's opinion.

I don't know the full context by which the tele-evangelist had said what he did, 'If Jesus Himself came down and told me that there was something wrong with this Book, I would turn my back upon Him and HOLD TO THE BOOK." So, I'd take a stab at it.

From that clip, to me the key phrase is, 'If Jesus Himself came down and told me that there was something wrong with this Book,


That's it! It couldn't be Jesus Himself!
If there's something wrong with the Book...... then the Book had lost its credibility.

Would the real Jesus discredit the Book that God Himself (who is Jesus as man), had given for us to follow? NO.

Jesus couldn't have been who He claimed He is , if He makes the Book (that prophecied about Him in the first place), to be unreliable. If Jesus had said that, then he couldn't have been a prophet for God. He would've been just another false teacher. That man who claimed to be Jesus would be the example of the very man that the real Jesus had warned us about....that many would come who'll use His name to lead others astray!

In that scenario - the tele-evangelist is only doing what should be done: hold on to the BOOK!