The bible stories and God. Do you accept both as truth or only parts

[Twilight Hue]

For me personally, it was not the Bible that did Christianity in.
It was the Christians.

True but the Bible as well, does a pretty good job of doing in Christianity in its own right.

 

[InChrist]

If you believe in the god of the bible, do you also accept the bible as non-fiction?

If you believe the(or some) bible stories are fiction, why do you believe in the god from the bible?

When believers pick and chose from the bible on what they believe or deny, isn't that them in a sense making their own belief?

For example...if you deny the bible story's of Noah, deny Adam and Eve made from the dust, etc....
Then why do you believe the story of a god at all?

I believe the entire Bible and consider the scriptures to be God’s Word, including all the stories, which I believe are accurate accounts.


The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.
Psalm 119:160

 

[Brian2]

If you believe in the god of the bible, do you also accept the bible as non-fiction?

If you believe the(or some) bible stories are fiction, why do you believe in the god from the bible?

When believers pick and chose from the bible on what they believe or deny, isn't that them in a sense making their own belief?

For example...if you deny the bible story's of Noah, deny Adam and Eve made from the dust, etc....
Then why do you believe the story of a god at all?

Yes I find it hard to see the reasoning with the liberal Christians, but also I understand all the opposition to the truth of the Bible and am amazed and give credit to those who can pick and choose what they believe in the Bible and still keep their faith in Jesus seemingly intact. (and I should be praising God for doing that) And of course I realise that in the eyes of a complete literalist I must seem pretty iffy and compromising and off track also.

 

[firedragon]

If you believe in the god of the bible, do you also accept the bible as non-fiction?

If you believe the(or some) bible stories are fiction, why do you believe in the god from the bible?

When believers pick and chose from the bible on what they believe or deny, isn't that them in a sense making their own belief?

For example...if you deny the bible story's of Noah, deny Adam and Eve made from the dust, etc....
Then why do you believe the story of a god at all?

By saying "God of the Bible" I presume you mean the God concept as depicted in the Bible. Or do you have another definition to your phrase?

Presuming that, lets say a Jewish person who believes in the Tanakh believes every single word is Gods word and takes everything literally or/and actual occurrences in the past etc, he does of course believe in this God of the Bible.

A Christian who still believes in the Tanakh and of course the NT may since recent times believe that everything is not literal, some are allegorical, they are not direct word of God but still is the word of God because God inspired people to write them down, they still believe in this God of the Bible.

If another theology comes and says that they believe parts of the Bible, and reject other parts of it, but as a whole they believe in the God of the Bible, they still do believe in this "God of the Bible".

There could be others who dont believe Noahs story actually never happened. Hypothetically, even if they did, they can reject that part because their methodology is absolute rationality but they may have another rational reasoning to believe in the God of the Bible.

I get it that people should not be hypocritical and arbitrarily cherry pick, but their reasoning and methodology should be asked for and assessed. So just because one group may reject Noahs story, or even lets say the whole of Genesis, they can still be believes of the God of the Bible.

 

[Brian2]

Of course, smart people can resolve some contradictions. But that requires, as you say, mental gymnastics, i.e. applying some interpretation to the text. So they do not believe the bible to be literally true.

If they can be resolved then it could be argued that they were not really contradictions to begin with, just places that looked like they were contradictions.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

If you believe in the god of the bible, do you also accept the bible as non-fiction?

If you believe the(or some) bible stories are fiction, why do you believe in the god from the bible?

When believers pick and chose from the bible on what they believe or deny, isn't that them in a sense making their own belief?

For example...if you deny the bible story's of Noah, deny Adam and Eve made from the dust, etc....
Then why do you believe the story of a god at all?

Well, to play devil's advocate for a second here (pun intended )...

Each claim falls and stands on its own merits.
The entire book doesn't have to be true for some parts to be true.

 

[Brian2]

Well, to play devil's advocate for a second here (pun intended )...

Each claim falls and stands on its own merits.
The entire book doesn't have to be true for some parts to be true.

And the merits seem to be a matter of opinion rather than objectively determined.

 

[Heyo]

If they can be resolved then it could be argued that they were not really contradictions to begin with, just places that looked like they were contradictions.

Note that I mentioned that the resolve needs interpretation. We were talking about literal truth, so either resolve or literal. And some of the resolves need to be interpreted to mean the exact opposite of the literal text.

 

[Brian2]

Note that I mentioned that the resolve needs interpretation. We were talking about literal truth, so either resolve or literal. And some of the resolves need to be interpreted to mean the exact opposite of the literal text.

Do you have examples of that?

 

[Deeje]

For me personally, it was not the Bible that did Christianity in.
It was the Christians.

Shame to throw the baby out with the bath water though....why blame God for what weak wishy-washy humans do?

I spoke to a woman once who said that someone had so offended her at her church that she never went again.....so I asked her what she would think of someone who had another person step on their foot so hard it broke a bone and then because it hurt so much, they went out and committed suicide over it.....same thing IMO...

 

[Heyo]

Do you have examples of that?

Biblical Contradictions | American Atheists

 

[Colt]

If you believe in the god of the bible, do you also accept the bible as non-fiction?

If you believe the(or some) bible stories are fiction, why do you believe in the god from the bible?

When believers pick and chose from the bible on what they believe or deny, isn't that them in a sense making their own belief?

For example...if you deny the bible story's of Noah, deny Adam and Eve made from the dust, etc....
Then why do you believe the story of a god at all?

The problem with the Bible is that some of it is true.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

The problem with the Bible is that some of it is true.

And the problem with the Urantia Book is that it's cult claptrap.

Now that we've gotten all that out of the way, how about them Cubs no-hitting the Dodgers!

 

[pearl]

If you believe in the god of the bible, do you also accept the bible as non-fiction?

If you believe the(or some) bible stories are fiction, why do you believe in the god from the bible?

There is another option, that of appreciating the Bible as a literary masterpiece, as any other work of literature. There is no other way to uncover the intent of its human authors within their time and culture. It requires serious study of the many literary forms used.

 

[metis]

When believers pick and chose from the bible on what they believe or deny, isn't that them in a sense making their own belief?

I do not believe the Bible is perfect, thus I try to go in the direction of what seems logical and aligned with Truth and Love, and I do believe that God's Spirit in some way was behind this based on some experiences I've had.

 

[Colt]

And the problem with the Urantia Book is that it's cult claptrap.

Now that we've gotten all that out of the way, how about them Cubs no-hitting the Dodgers!

I can understand why you are defensive. I've never believed the vastly exaggerated history of the Israelites in their Torah. While Abraham was a chosen individual, the nationalist ego that developed among his descendants lead to the disastrous delusion of the "chosen people" doctrine. It lead to the deaths of prophets of truth and eventually the nation of Israel.

 

[McBell]

So do you still believe the bible but doubt christians?

What is it you mean by "Believe the Bible"?

Do I believe the Bible is the "Word of God"?
No

Do I believe the Bible is infallible?
No

Do I believe the Bible is anything more than a prejudicially assembled collection of the beliefs of ancient man?
No

 

[McBell]

True but the Bible as well, does a pretty good job of doing in Christianity in its own right.

I honestly have no idea how much longer it would have taken me to leave Christianity if it was on the Bible alone.

 

[McBell]

Shame to throw the baby out with the bath water though....why blame God for what weak wishy-washy humans do?

I spoke to a woman once who said that someone had so offended her at her church that she never went again.....so I asked her what she would think of someone who had another person step on their foot so hard it broke a bone and then because it hurt so much, they went out and committed suicide over it.....same thing IMO...

Who says I blame god?
I mean other than you?

I clearly stated it was the Christians, not god, as the reason I left.
How you mixed up the two is beyond me.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I can understand why you are defensive.

No, you don't at all understand why I'm defensive.