Adam and Eve

If you require something more than faith to set the Bible apart from the others, then yes, it does.

"God" appears to have been ambiguous at best (and silent at worst) on the inspiration of the Bible. Doesn't seem to matter much to Him, so it doesn't to me, either.

Without an inerrant Bible, it's a lot harder to be "jerks for Jesus". You'd be surprised at how un-Pharisaical Christianity becomes when you let the Spirit lead and not the words of a supposedly inerrant set of commands from God.

If you remove the idea that we have an inerrant Bible, suddenly there is no right and wrong?

I don't think straw men are capable of thinking...

 

BWSmith,

Your interpration of this is from your personal theology. So is mine. So I'm not going to debate over the meaning of "Ha'adam". Your view of this depends upon what you believe about God.

Then let me ask you this, Do you believe the Bible to be the Revelation of God? If not, what do you believe God's purpose is in this "collection of books"?

 

Not really, it's more a matter of what one believes about the Bible based on what the text itself says rather than traditions about the text.

No, Jesus is the revelation of God. The Bible is the record of revelation. (Are you familiar with the 1963 BF&M?)

To set a standard for faith and practice.

 

BWSmith,

Yes, but what you believe about the Bible (inspiration, revelation) depends upon what you believe about God.

What do you think of Lk 24:44 or I Cor. 15:3, the things "that were written"?

I'm not familiar with the 1963 BF&M. Not interested.

God's doing or man's?

 

BW, I absolutely require more than faith to set the Bible apart from the other religious books of the world. I require evidence, and the Bible gives it – scientifically, historically, and prophetically. No other book does this. It proves itself true.

And what would I have faith in without that evidence, a god of my imagination? That would make my imagination god. If He has not revealed Himself to humans in a better way than through our imaginations and ideas in general, then we are truly lost. If, however, He has revealed Himself through the Bible, then we had better pay attention to it and worship and serve ONLY that God!

Has God been “ambiguous at best” or silent about the inspiration of the Bible? No, not at all. It was Scripture that Jesus used to answer Satan. It was Scripture that Matthew used to tell the Jews that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ. It was Scripture the writer to the Hebrews used to help them understand the identity of Christ. It was Scripture both Peter and Stephen used in Acts to explain about Christ. It is Scripture that Paul tells Timothy equips him completely for his work. Scripture quotes other Scripture in Psalms, in the New Testament, in the prophetic books, to show its cohesiveness and truth.

There is nothing ambiguous about it. Read just Isaiah and note how many times God Himself is quoted. That is either the truth or not the truth. If it is the truth, please note that Israelite history as given in the earlier Scriptures is taken to be literal truth, and the prophecies are based on that.

Is God silent? Only if you have your fingers in your ears. Is He ambiguous? Only if you are looking for Scripture to fit pre-conceived ideas. If, however, you allow Scripture to speak clearly for itself, there is no ambiguity at all regarding the clear message and inspiration of it.

“Jerks for Jesus”? Better to be a ‘jerk’ for Him than an intellectual against Him! He can work with a jerk like me, but if you set your mind up against His, be careful lest He finally say to you, “Your will be done…” That will be your spiritual death knell.

Nor is it Pharisaical to take the Bible for what it says, assuming you know what it says. It is Pharisaical to change it and add to it for the sake of personal aggrandizement and convenience. And as far as the Spirit leading, which spirit are you talking about? You see, the Bible tells us to test the spirits. By what plumb line do you test to find out which spirit you are following? The Holy Spirit will never testify against the Bible.

And yes, if you remove the concept of inerrancy from the Bible, you lose your moral foundation. The minute you consider the Bible errant in anything but a few translation problems which happen in going from one language to another – the minute you consider the material given in each book to be somehow basically errant, you have lost the basis for any morality you claim apart from your own feelings about things. The Bible says the heart of man is deceptive above all things. If that is right, then your morality has its basis in deception. You may think something is right or wrong, but you have no basis for those thoughts outside of yourself and the agreement of people who feel as you do. That is not a position to be envied, for you are not going to be in judgment of yourself in the end. You are accountable to a real God who has really revealed Himself in His real Word, the Bible.

There ARE absolutes – or so He has told us….

And I would not call you a straw man incapable of thinking… you used that term the wrong way I think. And I do encourage you to think logically about what you have actually been saying.

 

BWSmith,

I hope we're not done. Any further comments?