Is it possible that Christianity is true, yet the Bible contains errors?

[IndigoChild5559]

John 16:13, "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."

Should I believe the clear Biblical evidence or your misinformation?

You should believe evidence when the evidence contradicts the Bible. Absolutely. Follow the evidence. I used to believe as you did, but the evidence changed my mind.

 

[DavidSMoore]

It is obvious to me that some Christians enjoy bragging that they have "spiritual discernment" to properly understand the Bible, whereas non-Christians do not. However, what these Christians seem to forget or ignore is the fact that we (and many other non-Christians) were once devout Christians and are well-versed in the Bible. These non-Christians read it, studied it, and prayed for spiritual guidance when they were Christians, just as I did. We didn't forget what we had learned when we renounced our Christian faith. We maintained this knowledge and are now able to use it to challenge the credibility of the Bible.

I'm not an atheist, but as a former Christian, I refer to what you are saying as "removing the rose-colored glasses." I believe this is what helped me better understand the Bible while I was deconverting from Christianity. It was a genuine reexamination of my beliefs, which eventually led me to renounce my belief and faith in God and abandon my Christian faith. My deconversion gradually began as I was training to be an evangelism team leader and a street preacher. However, my questions and doubts about God, Jesus, and the Bible became more substantial while I was assisting my nephew in obtaining his Master of Theological Studies (MTS) degree in order to become an ordained minister. In fact, our extensive reading and study of the Bible and Christian theology led us both to deconvert from Christianity. During the thirty years I was a devout Christian, I thought that reading and studying the Bible on a daily basis would deepen my Christian faith, but all I did was eventually study my way out of believing in God, Jesus, and the Bible. I genuinely believe that I'm far better off in my life without what I consider to be the entrapment of Christianity. I also believe that it was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Thank you for your frank statements. I was raised as a Presbyterian. Both my parents were Presbyterians. We lived about half a block from the church. We went to church every Sunday. We attended church family events. I sang in the church's junior choir. We did Christmas caroling to housebound people.
I was raised in an affluent suburb of ultra-liberal Portland OR. It was only much later that I realized that the version of Presbyterianism that we were presented with was a much different version than official Presbyterianism. For example, there was never any mention of predestination-- though Presbyterianism is well-known as an offshoot of Calvinism. In fact the Presbyterian web site still upholds predestination as a basic tenet of the faith:
Presbyterian Predestination statement
I spent a great deal of time reading the Bible, as well as many other ancient texts. There is so much of the Bible that is wonderful and beautifully written. It's a real treasure, in that it gives us the only way we have to understand how people of the ancient world thought. But there is a great deal of the Bible that just doesn't make any sense in the modern world. An example would be the inclusion of laws about slavery in the laws that were given to Moses by God: Exodus 21:1 - 11. Such laws may have made some kind of sense in a world in which slavery was commonplace, not just in Roman society but throughout the world. But they make no sense at all in a modern context.

 

[shunyadragon]

Show me any Christian denomination that disagrees that Jesus Christ is the Savior, and that He died for the forgiveness of sins.

Not the issue of your claim of understanding of the scriptures as a whole. You have failed to respond to my posts. The different churches and conflicting divisions disagree strongly haw salvation takes place concerning Jesus Christ.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Who? Can you quote something I’ve said about him/her?

Oh come on now. Try again.

 

[Subduction Zone]

I don’t think I said all atheists… can you quote me please? I would love to correct my error.

You are making the error that you accused him of making.

 

[shunyadragon]

John 16:13, "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."

Should I believe the clear Biblical evidence or your misinformation?

This better describes the problem of the disagreements between the conflicting differences between the churches. The different churs=ches claim their church "Knows and understand what the "Spirt of truth" told them what is "all truth" and claim the others are wrong and do not understand.

 

[shunyadragon]

Show me any Christian denomination that disagrees that Jesus Christ is the Savior, and that He died for the forgiveness of sins.

Again this does not explain the many contradiction of what the "Spirt of Truth" told them what is "all truth" and reject what others belief=ve and understand.concerning what the "Spirt of Truth told them about "all truth."

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

This too superficial a statement considering what the different churches believe, It remains a fact that many of the different churches widely disagree on the interpretation of scripture and believe salvation is only through the beliefs of their church.

For example: The Roman Church (RCC) believes salvation is only through the beliefs and doctrines of the Roman Church, and JW believes the same concerning their church, of course JW asserts they are not a church or religion.

I know that there are many Protestants who don't believe Jehovah's Witnesses are real Christians and are a misguided cult who hold false beliefs, distort and misinterpret the Bible, and teach unbiblical doctrines (e.g., "Who are the Jehovah’s Witnesses and what are their beliefs?"). I believed the same thing when I was still a Christian. In fact, because of my evangelism training, I believed that both Jehovah's Witnesses and Roman Catholics were religious cults and not genuine Christians. And because of my concise training, I believed that they were among the least knowledgeable of the Bible and considered their knowledge of the Bible restricted to the approved interpretation of the Bible and sanctioned teachings of their church. I would intentionally target them and attempt to convert them to my preferred version of Christianity, which was evangelical-centered. The belief that Roman Catholics and Jehovah's Witnesses (as well as Mormons) weren't true Christians was part of the evangelical training process. As part of my training, I received specific gospel tracts to give them, as well as other materials, and was instructed on how to lead them to Christ. I'm sorry to admit that I believed what I was taught about these people and treated those I met as if they weren't genuine Christians. I can see now how misguided I was in attempting to evangelize and convert the ones I met. It must have been terribly insulting to them. If I ever met them again, I would apologize for the way I treated them. I no longer believe I was right.

 

[shunyadragon]

I don’t think I said all atheists… can you quote me please? I would love to correct my error.

I see no reason to accuse any atheists of "hating" something they do not believe in.

I believe I have seen this statement before form you concerning atheists.

 

[Spice]

Show me any Christian denomination that disagrees that Jesus Christ is the Savior, and that He died for the forgiveness of sins.

From Wikipedia:
"Liberal Christian Universalism views the Bible as an imperfect human document containing divine revelations, is not necessarily Trinitarian, and often downplays or rejects blood atonement theology in its view of the crucifixion of Jesus."

"As a formal Christian denomination, Christian universalism originated in the late 18th century with the Universalist Church of America. There is no single denomination uniting Christian universalists, but a few denominations teach some of the principles of Christian universalism or are open to them. Instead, their membership has been consolidated with the American Unitarian Association into the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1961."

 

[shunyadragon]

Who? Can you quote something I’ve said about him/her?

I do not believe you can quote an atheist on this forum that they hate God,

 

[Kenny]

You are making the error that you accused him of making.

You have a great imagination.

 

[Kenny]

I see no reason to accuse any atheists of "hating" something they do not believe in.

I believe I have seen this statement before form you concerning atheists.

I see you have an opinion.

 

[Kenny]

I do not believe you can quote an atheist on this forum that they hate God,

Actions speak louder than words IMV - you know the saying, “I can’t hear what you are saying because what you are doing shouts so loud”. (Or something along those words)

 

[Subduction Zone]

You have a great imagination.

No, you misunderstood his post. Your response demonstrated that.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Actions speak louder than words IMV - you know the saying, “I can’t hear what you are saying because what you are doing shouts so loud”. (Or something along those words)

You appear to be conflating your version of God with all versions of God or even rational versions of God.

 

[Kenny]

No, you misunderstood his post. Your response demonstrated that.

His?

 

[Kenny]

You appear to be conflating your version of God with all versions of God or even rational versions of God.

There we go again…. Why do you even care what version of God? Are you upset at God? Do you hate any version of God (as people present it?

 

[IndigoChild5559]

I know that there are many Protestants who don't believe Jehovah's Witnesses are real Christians and are a misguided cult who hold false beliefs, distort and misinterpret the Bible, and teach unbiblical doctrines (e.g., "Who are the Jehovah’s Witnesses and what are their beliefs?"). I believed the same thing when I was still a Christian. In fact, because of my evangelism training, I believed that both Jehovah's Witnesses and Roman Catholics were religious cults and not genuine Christians. And because of my concise training, I believed that they were among the least knowledgeable of the Bible and considered their knowledge of the Bible restricted to the approved interpretation of the Bible and sanctioned teachings of their church. I would intentionally target them and attempt to convert them to my preferred version of Christianity, which was evangelical-centered. The belief that Roman Catholics and Jehovah's Witnesses (as well as Mormons) weren't true Christians was part of the evangelical training process. As part of my training, I received specific gospel tracts to give them, as well as other materials, and was instructed on how to lead them to Christ. I'm sorry to admit that I believed what I was taught about these people and treated those I met as if they weren't genuine Christians. I can see now how misguided I was in attempting to evangelize and convert the ones I met. It must have been terribly insulting to them. If I ever met them again, I would apologize for the way I treated them. I no longer believe I was right.

I truly appreciate your honesty, humility, and willingness to change.

Can you tell me, what was it that altered your opinion?

 

[Subduction Zone]

His?

Are you forgetting who you were responding to?