For Christians: Is the Bible important to you?

[Christy]

I have been just told in the "religious debate" section that most people over there are not Christian and really don't care what the Bible says about anything.

I need to know if that is true here as well. Do you who claim to be Christian still heed what has been called the Word of God - or are you more affected by modern day "journalism?" Do you seek to know the will of God, or are you more interested in finding interpretations of His Word that fit your lifestyle?

This is an extremely important question to me.

 

[Scott1]

133 The Church "forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful. . . to learn the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ, by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.112

134 All Sacred Scripture is but one book, and this one book is Christ, "because all divine Scripture speaks of Christ, and all divine Scripture is fulfilled in Christ" (Hugh of St. Victor, De arca Noe 2,8L 176,642: cf. ibid. 2,9L 176,642-643).

135 "The Sacred Scriptures contain the Word of God and, because they are inspired, they are truly the Word of God" (DV 24).


136 God is the author of Sacred Scripture because he inspired its human authors; he acts in them and by means of them. He thus gives assurance that their writings teach without error his saving truth (cf. DV 11).


137 Interpretation of the inspired Scripture must be attentive above all to what God wants to reveal through the sacred authors for our salvation. What comes from the Spirit is not fully "understood except by the Spirit's action' (cf. Origen, Hom. in Ex. 4, 5: PG 12, 320).


138 The Church accepts and venerates as inspired the 46 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New.


139 The four Gospels occupy a central place because Christ Jesus is their center.


140 The unity of the two Testaments proceeds from the unity of God's plan and his Revelation. The Old Testament prepares for the New and the New Testament fulfills the Old; the two shed light on each other; both are true Word of God.

141 "The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she venerated the Body of the Lord" (DV 21): both nourish and govern the whole Christian life. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Ps 119:105; cf. Is 50:4).


Peace,
Scott

 

[Mister Emu]

The bible is very imprtant to me.

While I cannot quote from it, I have read alot of it and what God says in it is how I try to live my life.

I have a question for you, if someone based an arguement off the Quran, or Hindu holy text, or Shinto holy writings, would you pay much heed to it?

 

[kyzar]

The bible is essential to a Christian life.
Without it it would be like trying to put together a car, never having seen one before, or not knowing how it works or what it does, without an instruction book, blind folded, with your hands tied behind your back...

As I said, essential... It tells us how to live, what to believe, basically everything a Christian should know... And it is GOD's WORD... How can you pass yourself off as a Christian without acknowledging or reading the Bible...

Honestly I'm dumbfounded that you discovered people that call themselves 'Christians' and ignore the bible...

 

[Green Gaia]

I have a question for you, if someone based an arguement off the Quran, or Hindu holy text, or Shinto holy writings, would you pay much heed to it?

*moderator post, not part of the debate*

I think this is a very good question.

 

[Adrianay]

I believe the Word of God to be compleate truth, I beleive every single bit ofd it and try to follow God with all I am.

 

[cvipertooth]

While the Bible is essential to Christian growth and developement, you cannot always speak with people from the bible. This, for example, would be like going up to a relativist and saying "here's the bible, this is truth" All they have to say "well it's not true to me" When talking to non-christians you have to be able to connect with them from outside the bible. Once a basis of christianity has been found, then you begin to teach and to live from the bible.

 

[johnnys4life]

I have heard once on Christian radio a parody of some of the churches today. In it, the voice of the pastor says, "Oh we don't use the Bible anymore, some people have found it to be terribly offensive to their lifestyles. We've narrowed it down to this little pamphlet here. It contains things like, love your neighbor as yourself, do good, that sort of thing, we had to take out all the stuff about sin, that makes people feel bad. And as you can see instead of the ten commandments we go by the seven 'suggestions'."
I thought that was hilarious because it is pretty close to true in some churches. However the Bible is what it is and to take it out of a church is like a death sentence for the whole congregation.

 

[Greyson]

I see alot of hypocrosy here in that we imply that without the bible, the congregation would die, that the bible is life itself as well as Salvation, etc...
However, I always listen to the Pastors in many churches, and what they say is not supported by the bible at all. What good is the bible if the teachers ie; Pastors do not teach what it says correctly? IMHO

 

[Scott1]

What good is the bible if the teachers ie; Pastors do not teach what it says correctly?

Who has the authority to determine what is correct, by your view?

 

[Melody]

I need to know if that is true here as well. Do you who claim to be Christian still heed what has been called the Word of God - or are you more affected by modern day "journalism?" Do you seek to know the will of God, or are you more interested in finding interpretations of His Word that fit your lifestyle?

I find hope and inspiration in the Bible, but I do not believe that we are to take it literally, nor do I believe it is the inerrant Word of God. It may have been divinely inspired, but humans have had way too much to do with the translations, choosing which books to include, etc.

I attended a Quaker college for a year and the Bible study courses there were quite amazing. The professors were fluent in Greek and Hebrew and gave many examples of how words were mistranslated...mistakenly or deliberately.

I do not look at the Bible as a means to condemn others. I look at it for answers on how to live *my* life.

 

[Scott1]

Hiya Melody,

I look at it for answers on how to live *my* life.

Why would you use it for answers?

You said it is not inerrant...... wouldn't you be afraid that you were getting erroneous answers?

You could easily read some Dr. Phil or a romance novel and get answers, why the Bible?

Peace,
Scott

 

[Melody]

Why would you use it for answers?
You said it is not inerrant...... wouldn't you be afraid that you were getting erroneous answers?
You could easily read some Dr. Phil or a romance novel and get answers, why the Bible?

I believe the Bible was divinely inspired. I do not believe it is the literal "word for word" dialogue of God because there is too much of the human element involving errors of translation both deliberate and mistaken.

I use the Bible along with prayer and I listen for God's direction. Between the two, my answers are found.

If you do not know the difference between looking to Dr. Phil and a romance novel and the Bible, then I'm afraid I am unable to enlighten you.

 

[Christy]

Friends, thank you for responding to this thread that I started on Sept. 18. You make me feel much better than I did several weeks ago.

Mr. Emu wrote:
I have a question for you, if someone based an arguement off the Quran, or Hindu holy text, or Shinto holy writings, would you pay much heed to it?

I personally would "pay heed" to it because it is obviously the belief of other human beings and a study of human beliefs is fascinating to me. Now, would I BELIEVE it or would it BE IMPORTANT to me personally is another question. Only the BIBLE is truth to me because it is the Word of God.

Cvipertooth wrote:
While the Bible is essential to Christian growth and developement, you cannot always speak with people from the bible. This, for example, would be like going up to a relativist and saying "here's the bible, this is truth" All they have to say "well it's not true to me" When talking to non-christians you have to be able to connect with them from outside the bible. Once a basis of christianity has been found, then you begin to teach and to live from the bible.

I agree wholeheartedly!

Some others of you commented upon the authority of Scripture and questioned how some who call themselves Christian can possibly not solely believe the Bible.

Please let me share with you some of the pain I have been experiencing with my own Synod, and I am hoping you will comment about this.

I belong to a church that is now affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (the ELCA). The ELCA, who has central offices in Chicago, is now studying whether or not the ELCA should condone the blessing of homosexual unions and condone the ordination of openly practicing homosexual persons to be pastors. This Lutheran synod is not the only Christian group studying this question, because you probably remember that the Episcopal Church in the USA has already approved having Eugene Robinson, a practicing homosexual man, become a Bishop in their church.

In 1513 the great cry of Martin Luther was "Word Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone!" He was arguing against the Roman Catholic Church of that time. Papal decrees promised salvation to those Christians who gave money to the church to rebuild St. Peter's cathedral. Luther said that only the Bible should be the source of our instruction and that the Salvation for which Jesus died is ours only through His Grace. We cannot do anything to save ourselves....we must only simply have true Faith in Him.

The ELCA, a LUTHERAN group, is now saying that the Bible is only one source to lead ourselves as Christians, and there is an equally valid other source. That other source is our own experiences as Christians and the experiences of other Christians. What this group of leaders within the ELCA is saying is, "Because so many Christians struggle with the issue of homosexuality, the condition must be OK and we should have our church bless them."

What happened to the great (AND CORRECT) cry of Luther: WORD ALONE! ???

Within this synod are also those who continue to believe in the Holy Scripture as the sole source of our inspiration from God. I belong to this group that is called (appropriately) WORD ALONE.

Here's the latest: I attended as an observer one of the meetings of the study group on this homosexual question. It is VERY clear that the ELCA will recommend the blessing of homosexual unions and also the ordaining of practicing homosexual pastors. The study group that will make the recommendation has been very politically "stacked" in that direction.

My little church believes as I do in the original cry of Luther. We will probably end up leaving the ELCA over this issue. And yet there are some in the ELCA that say, "How can you make this homosexual issue so big? It should not divide us."

This whole argument has grieved me much. What say all of you?

 

[true blood]

Aye, the bible contains the Word of God, the things that pertain to life and godliness, therefore it [the Word of God] is very important to me. There are elements of error due to scribes giving their own meanings as they translate, shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out, but the actual Word of God is unbroken. Even the punctuation in every bible is added by men.

 

[Nicky_uk]

I would say the Bible is as important to me as a ladder is to a window cleaner.

You can't get to the point to need to be if you have nothing to stand on.

 

[maggie2]

Christy,

I hear your pain in this difficult struggle you're going through. It is tough to experience this type of spiritual questioning. I know, I've been there. No one else can decide for you what you should do or believe. I personally do not believe that the Bible is inerrant but that's only my belief and you have a right to your belief. The problem arises when we are uncomfortable with the challenges our faith presents us and we must struggle and wrestle with ideas and concepts. It is always easier to fall back on the traditions we know and love, they are our comfortable pew. However, remember, not many years ago preachers taught that slavery was acceptable to God. That is in the Bible also. And do you really take that literally? And do you really want to fall back on that traditional teaching?

I'm not suggesting that you need to accept gays, I'm simply suggesting that you may need to continue to challenge yourself and your beliefs. You may end up in the same place you started but at least you will have arrived at that place by honest thought and not by taking what Luther, someone who lived many years ago, said as Gospel.

Good luck with your struggle and do let us know how you are resolving this issue. My heart aches for you but I also know that this is an opportunity for real spiritual growth for you if you choose to continue to search for answers.:canadian:

 

[bandgeek500]

I need to know if that is true here as well. Do you who claim to be Christian still heed what has been called the Word of God - or are you more affected by modern day "journalism?" Do you seek to know the will of God, or are you more interested in finding interpretations of His Word that fit your lifestyle?

the bible has some good life lessons in virtues, and, strangly enough, it can fit into my personal life. I also think modern day journalism is a good thing.

 

[DrM]

I believe the Word of God to be compleate truth, I beleive every single bit ofd it and try to follow God with all I am.

I believe the "word of god" is not as prominent in eternity as god himself. Too many times Christians become so wrapped up in heavenly things that they cannot relate to people on earth.

The bible is a source of inspiration. It cannot be translated literally unless you believe that only men can speak in church, women cannot cut their hair, men can only wear cloths with one kind of thread in them. The list is endless. Besides, the number of interpretations the scriptures have been through down through the ages gives rise to imperfection.

The richest command in the bible is to love others as you love yourself. All else are guides and inspiration on how to live life.

 

[Wes]

The bible is a collection of Myths nothing more special than that. There is truth in myth, that is the universal truth (or maybe better said the essence). But other than that there is not scientific fact, nor is there guidance for every aspect of life. The bible is inspired but it is inspired much the same as every other peace of liturature is inspired. If you choose to call it word for word the spoke word of God, thats up to you, but don't expect me to believe it.