What's so impressive about the Bible?

[Caladan]

Okay, umm... uhhhhhhhhh........ orcs! Lots and lots of orcs. There, done deal, sealed it, case closed, I win.

Philistines! lots and lots of Philistines!!

 

[jtartar]

Can somebody give me the best reasoning for why the Bible is divinely inspired? What sections or verses are the most compelling evidence for this, in your opinion, and why? What is there that best indicates communication from a being with any of god's attributes such as omni-potent, -benevolent, etc?

I suppose this is mainly aimed, to start, at Christians, although everyone can pipe into the discussion provided they don't respond (and this is mostly to atheists) with verses indicating perceived ridiculousness or evil in the Bible. Anyone can go to evilbible.com or whatnot and find those lists. This thread is to explore and discuss what believers present as the most beautiful and powerful verses that they take away from the book. Whether or not they make up for what in your/my opinion are atrocities does not need to be addressed.

That being said, I'm sure some of the better things you can find the Bible saying, are mostly the ones I've been hearing the most throughout my life from Christians. But I have not read the book cover to cover, as I honestly find it boring and too cryptic. I'm sure more meaning could be deciphered by learning more context, but I do not get the impression that any amount of context is going to fundamentally illuminate what at my best educated guesses, at the far from obvious sections, is just not personally perceived as an impressive text at all. But perhaps I've just missed something, or not been presented any of it in the correct way, and I suppose the reason many of us start conversations like these is to learn more about what other people believe, even if everyone in the discussion just walks away with a greater affirmation of their own beliefs.

Jmvizanko,
In the first place, the Bible is the only place that you can get information that is accurrate, and tells you things that mean life to you and the rest of the human family.
An amazing thing about the Bible is; it was writen over a period of 1610 years, by forty writers and is harmonious throughout. There is ONE theme, what is called the Golden Thread; The Kingdom of God, with Jesus as the installed King of God's Kingdom. One thing particularly amazing is: Jesus is now installed as the King of that Kingdom. Jesus is ruling in the midst of his enemies, right now. Jesus reign began in 1914. This is truely GOOD NEWS
The fact about Jesus reign was fortold over 2,500 years ago, by Daniel at Daniel, the 4th chapter. The seven times amounted to 2,520 years, and ended exactly on time, in 1914.
At Dan 9:24-27, there is a prophecy telling the exact time that the Messiah would arrive in the first century. This is the 70weeks prophecy. The Jews understood the prophecy so well that they were looking for the Messiah when John the Baptist came preaching, Luke 3:15.
In the seventh century before Jesus, Babylon was the major world power. About 200 years before the fall of Babylon, Isaiah wrote a prophecy so accurrate that some over the centures have tried to prove that Isaiah was written centuries after the fall of Babylon. God even had the name of the king that would conquer Babylon, Cyrus the Persion, writen almost 200 years before Babylon fell. The deacription of Babylon made it seem impossible that any nation could conquer Babylon.
At Daniel, chapters 7,8 we are told about the march of the nations. We are told that there would be 6 world powers and then Jesus would be installed as King, on the throne of David. Those World Powers were Egypt, Assyeria, Babylon, Medes and Persions, Greece, Rome and the Anglo-American World Power, made up of The United States and Briton.. Notice that theis Kingdom now in power is the LAST, before God's Kingdom takes over the earth. This is what is meant by the Holy Ones or Saints of the Most High are given the rulership of earth, Dan 7:17,22,27. These saints are to rule with Jesus in heaven for a thousand years, The Judgement Day, Rev 20:4-6, Rom 8:17.
NOW, is there anything more interesting and exciting that reading history in advance, even knowing that we are at the very end of Bible History, just before The Great Day of God, Harmageddon, Rev 16:16, 19:11-21.
Another very interesting developement that is going to take place according to Bible History is: The Untied Nations will gain world power for a short time, and they will try to put a stop to religion, because it is causing so much trouble on earth. False religion is called Babylon The Great in the Bible. This sounds impossible. That is the kind of things that God delights in bringing about, Rev 17:12-18. Notice that earlier in this chapter the 7 kingdoms are mentioned, Rev 17:9-11.
There is no other person in Existence that could tell about the end of this system of thing thousands of years in advance, and be exactly on time.
We are a favored generation, because we will be living when Jesus comes to earth and brings about the end, Luke 21:31,32.
The thing that is really amazing about our time is: This is the only generation that ever lived that has a chance NEVER TO DIE, because when Jesus takes over earth the full power of his ransom sacrifice will take place, and no one will die again from the death that we have inherited from Adam. And you do not realize the almost unbelievable things written in this book. After Armageddon: A PARADISE EARTH, and you wonder if the Bible is unusual or interesting, Rev 21:3-5.
People who study God's word realize how spectacular the HGoly Scriptures are, they are talking about our heritage and our chance to life forever in a paradise earth, where God says He is opening His hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing, Ps 145:16

 

[Meow Mix]

Philistines! lots and lots of Philistines!!

Nuh uh! :ignore:

 

[weirdpuckett]

Jmvizanko,
In the first place, the Bible is the only place that you can get information that is accurrate, and tells you things that mean life to you and the rest of the human family.
An amazing thing about the Bible is; it was writen over a period of 1610 years, by forty writers and is harmonious throughout. There is ONE theme, what is called the Golden Thread; The Kingdom of God, with Jesus as the installed King of God's Kingdom. One thing particularly amazing is: Jesus is now installed as the King of that Kingdom. Jesus is ruling in the midst of his enemies, right now. Jesus reign began in 1914. This is truely GOOD NEWS
The fact about Jesus reign was fortold over 2,500 years ago, by Daniel at Daniel, the 4th chapter. The seven times amounted to 2,520 years, and ended exactly on time, in 1914.
At Dan 9:24-27, there is a prophecy telling the exact time that the Messiah would arrive in the first century. This is the 70weeks prophecy. The Jews understood the prophecy so well that they were looking for the Messiah when John the Baptist came preaching, Luke 3:15.
In the seventh century before Jesus, Babylon was the major world power. About 200 years before the fall of Babylon, Isaiah wrote a prophecy so accurrate that some over the centures have tried to prove that Isaiah was written centuries after the fall of Babylon. God even had the name of the king that would conquer Babylon, Cyrus the Persion, writen almost 200 years before Babylon fell. The deacription of Babylon made it seem impossible that any nation could conquer Babylon.
At Daniel, chapters 7,8 we are told about the march of the nations. We are told that there would be 6 world powers and then Jesus would be installed as King, on the throne of David. Those World Powers were Egypt, Assyeria, Babylon, Medes and Persions, Greece, Rome and the Anglo-American World Power, made up of The United States and Briton.. Notice that theis Kingdom now in power is the LAST, before God's Kingdom takes over the earth. This is what is meant by the Holy Ones or Saints of the Most High are given the rulership of earth, Dan 7:17,22,27. These saints are to rule with Jesus in heaven for a thousand years, The Judgement Day, Rev 20:4-6, Rom 8:17.
NOW, is there anything more interesting and exciting that reading history in advance, even knowing that we are at the very end of Bible History, just before The Great Day of God, Harmageddon, Rev 16:16, 19:11-21.
Another very interesting developement that is going to take place according to Bible History is: The Untied Nations will gain world power for a short time, and they will try to put a stop to religion, because it is causing so much trouble on earth. False religion is called Babylon The Great in the Bible. This sounds impossible. That is the kind of things that God delights in bringing about, Rev 17:12-18. Notice that earlier in this chapter the 7 kingdoms are mentioned, Rev 17:9-11.
There is no other person in Existence that could tell about the end of this system of thing thousands of years in advance, and be exactly on time.
We are a favored generation, because we will be living when Jesus comes to earth and brings about the end, Luke 21:31,32.
The thing that is really amazing about our time is: This is the only generation that ever lived that has a chance NEVER TO DIE, because when Jesus takes over earth the full power of his ransom sacrifice will take place, and no one will die again from the death that we have inherited from Adam. And you do not realize the almost unbelievable things written in this book. After Armageddon: A PARADISE EARTH, and you wonder if the Bible is unusual or interesting, Rev 21:3-5.
People who study God's word realize how spectacular the HGoly Scriptures are, they are talking about our heritage and our chance to life forever in a paradise earth, where God says He is opening His hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing, Ps 145:16

Well said! The United Nations reference-is that the last "week" of the 70 weeks prophecy? the last 7 years? The prophecy in Daniel "broke up " the 70 like this: 7 weeks(till the rebuild of temple Zarubbabel):62 weeks(Messiah Jesus 434 years later) (which is equal to only 69 weeks) then, 1 week (7) left for a later time . . .the time of AntiChrist right?

 

[PolyHedral]

Um, Tolkien has balrogs. 'Nuff said.

Which do so have wings...

 

[ellenjanuary]

jtartar, you false prophet, you! What's with all this blasphemy?!?! Thou shalt not know the hour nor the day! Lucky for you, I don't have a rock handy.

Nah. The Bible is a good book. I don't worship it, but it is invaluable for studying that most peculiar creature, the Christian, in its natural habitat.
​

 

[Meow Mix]

Which do so have wings...

Lies, slander, nonsense!

They do NOT have wings, every reference to possible wings says "like wings" and the only other reference is in the Silmarillion when they move with "winged speed," just a few pages away from a group of ELVES moving with winged speed... so clearly a metaphor.

Also if Balrogs can fly, how did Gandalf smite one on a mountaintop, and why didn't they just fly over Gondolin when they were searching for it?

 

[PolyHedral]

Lies, slander, nonsense!

They do NOT have wings, every reference to possible wings says "like wings" and the only other reference is in the Silmarillion when they move with "winged speed," just a few pages away from a group of ELVES moving with winged speed... so clearly a metaphor.

Also if Balrogs can fly, how did Gandalf smite one on a mountaintop, and why didn't they just fly over Gondolin when they were searching for it?

Because flying takes an immense amount of energy, in a very rare instance of physics not being out to lunch?

Yeah, I didn't believe it much either, but I've got a (marginally) more serious question for you: How many Maia can dance on the head of a pin?

 

[Meow Mix]

Because flying takes an immense amount of energy, in a very rare instance of physics not being out to lunch?

Yeah, I didn't believe it much either, but I've got a (marginally) more serious question for you: How many Maia can dance on the head of a pin?

Pfft, infinite, since they can do it without wearing forms and thus all stand in the same place at once!

 

[smokydot]

Do you have some specific examples that you think most show these?

Chapters 38-41 in the book of Job.

And the last reason you give seems rather invalid. Anybody can write in any book that its god breathed. The only way to know if the statement is true is to see if it actually appears to be god breathed.

Appearances are not proof.
It cannot be proven. It is a matter of faith.
You either believe it, or you don't.

I'll go the next step, and say it will probably only be that way as long as I am an atheist, which I'd put money confidently on being for the rest of my life. And I think it will only be your way for you as long as you are a Christian. Everybody seems to be affected by their biases, no matter how much they try to distance themselves from them.

I'm not trying to distance myself from Scripture. I'm trying to put as little distrance between it and me as I can.

But that doesn't mean these conversations are pointless. Open minds can be persuaded by argument.

Oh, we're in a jam now. . .because argument didn't have the power to get me here, and argument doesn't have the power to move me from here.

Which is why I'll emphasize that I ask for examples to understand, not undermine them. Although I am not trying to tease any evangelicals that hope to convert anyone.

 

[dedicated]

The simplest way I can put it is the bible is divinely inspired because my church says so, with our apostolic succession dating back to peter and jesus themselves.

 

[jmvizanko]

The simplest way I can put it is the bible is divinely inspired because my church says so, with our apostolic succession dating back to peter and jesus themselves.

I don't know how anyone couldn't see "[whoever/whatever] says so" as the worst reason to believe or do anything. Are you trying to tell me that there is no content in the book that you can reference that actually makes you think its divinity is true?

 

[jmvizanko]

Chapters 38-41 in the book of Job.

Could you be a bit more specific and give reasons?

Appearances are not proof.
It cannot be proven. It is a matter of faith.
You either believe it, or you don't.

The point is that anybody can write a book that says it was written by god. If I wrote a book that said it was written by god, would you believe that? Probably not you, because you already have a book that says that that you believe. But lord knows somebody probably would. So why put your faith into the divinity claim, without considering whether or not it is a logical claim? And that is applicable to the thread. I'm not interested in the bible saying that it is god-breathed. I'm interested in why anyone thinks it is god-breathed, based on its content.

I'm not trying to distance myself from Scripture. I'm trying to put as little distrance between it and me as I can.

How does that have anything to do with the point I was making? I am trying to say that the Bible ONLY appears to you as obviously god-breathed because you look at it already with that assumption. I look at it with the opposite assumption, and see, in all honesty, a lot of gibberish. Which is why I am asking the question I am. I want to know if there is something more to it that I am just not seeing, or if seeing it as god-breathed is really just a consequence of already believing it is god-breathed without reference to its content.

Oh, we're in a jam now. . .because argument didn't have the power to get me here, and argument doesn't have the power to move me from here.

Well then there is no point in continuing any conversation with you. Once you leave reason behind, everything else is arbitrarily acquired or maintained. If you don't have reasons for being where you are, then you are arbitrarily there.

 

[smokydot]

Could you be a bit more specific and give reasons?

Read it, man! If you can't see it, I can't help you.

The point is that anybody can write a book that says it was written by god. If I wrote a book that said it was written by god, would you believe that? Probably not you, because you already have a book that says that that you believe. But lord knows somebody probably would. So why put your faith into the divinity claim, without considering whether or not it is a logical claim?

You don't understand the nature of Biblical faith.
The truth of Scripture cannot be proven. Faith that it is true does not rest on logic or reason.
Faith is based on the power of the Holy Spirit who gave it and preserves it.

And that is applicable to the thread. I'm not interested in the bible saying that it is god-breathed. I'm interested in why anyone thinks it is god-breathed, based on its content.

Faith doesn't rest on its content. It is based on the power of the Holy Spirit.

How does that have anything to do with the point I was making? I am trying to say that the Bible ONLY appears to you as obviously god-breathed because you look at it already with that assumption.

I look at it from faith.
You either believe it or you don't. It can't be proven to be true.

I look at it with the opposite assumption, and see, in all honesty, a lot of gibberish. Which is why I am asking the question I am. I want to know if there is something more to it that I am just not seeing,

Therein is the problem. The Bible is a closed book to those who do not believe it. To them it is just gibberish.

or if seeing it as god-breathed is really just a consequence of already believing it is god-breathed without reference to its content.

Seeing it is God-breathed is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit manifesting to one that it is so.

Well then there is no point in continuing any conversation with you. Once you leave reason behind, everything else is arbitrarily acquired or maintained. If you don't have reasons for being where you are, then you are arbitrarily there.

That is true. You can't get here from there without faith.
And I am "arbitrarily" here by faith, which is given by the Holy Spirit, and not based on human effort.

Given the dynamic of how it works, I don't think anyone will be able to help you see what you are trying to see without faith.

 

[gnomon]

Well, one person says the importance lies in this:

The King James Bible occupies nearly 42 pages of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, only narrowly beaten by Shakespeare with 45. Not just literature in the high sense but everyday speech is laced, suffused – riddled, even – with biblical phrases whose status ranges from telling quotation (“They have sown the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind&#8221 to banal cliché (“No peace for the wicked&#8221 and all points between. A word in season and perhaps we can see eye to eye. Although I wouldn’t call the Bible my ewe lamb or the apple of my eye, and I would have to go the extra mile before I killed the fatted calf for it, you don’t need the wisdom of Solomon to see how biblical imagery dominates our English. If my words fall on stony ground – if you pass me by as a voice crying in the wilderness – be sure your sin will find you out. Between us there is a great gulf fixed and you are a thorn in my flesh. We have come to the parting of the ways and I wash my hands of you. I fear it is a sign of the times.
It has to be the King James version of course. Modern translations break the spell as surely as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Listen to this, if you can bear to, from the Good News Bible, whose clunking title matches its style:

Naturally I have to come down on the side of accuracy, even at the expense of poetry. From the religious point of view, however, I can’t help wondering whether accuracy of translation is desirable. If you are trying to persuade people to follow your religion, do you really want them to understand it? When the Roman church gave up Latin, the congregations suddenly saw, with merciless clarity, exactly what it was they had been reciting all those years. Let me not try to charm a deaf adder (Psalm 58), but did the hierarchy really think through the implications of switching to the vernacular? And doesn’t something similar apply to the Bible? Ecclesiastes is hardly religious at all, but in those books where the message is a religious one we might ask, in the nicest possible way, what there is to be accurate about?
In any case, my interest is in the translated poetry, and I am suggesting that while some meaning may be lost, poetic value may paradoxically be gained in translation. Even more paradoxically, mistranslation may enhance the effect. After Ecclesiastes, my second favourite book of the Bible is the Song of Solomon (not by Solomon, needless to say):

Espousing the importance of the Bible in literature. Not only the Bible's importance in Western literature but the poetry of the Bible itself.

Now who said it?

edit: Here's a hint:

Warts and all, let’s encourage our schools to bring this precious English heritage to all our children, whatever their background, not as history, not as science and not (oh please not) as morality. But as literature.

 

[Pegg]

Can somebody give me the best reasoning for why the Bible is divinely inspired? What sections or verses are the most compelling evidence for this, in your opinion, and why? What is there that best indicates communication from a being with any of god's attributes such as omni-potent, -benevolent, etc?

that 40 different writers over a time period of 1600 years could all write about God and not contradict each other is strong evidence that God directed what was written

no work of men could achieve such harmony for the reason that if you put 40 different people in a room, even from the same time period, and asked them to explain God and his purpose, you'd end up with 40 different conflicting views.

 

[Meow Mix]

The truth of Scripture cannot be proven. Faith that it is true does not rest on logic or reason.

Oh, why didn't everyone just come out and say this from the beginning? It would have saved a lot of time and effort.

So belief in the Bible is irrational.

Gotcha. Noted :flirt:

 

[crocusj]

that 40 different writers over a time period of 1600 years could all write about God and not contradict each other is strong evidence that God directed what was written

no work of men could achieve such harmony for the reason that if you put 40 different people in a room, even from the same time period, and asked them to explain God and his purpose, you'd end up with 40 different conflicting views.

Seriously?...Are you suggesting that the god described in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible and Hebrew Bible are not the same god? That Allah is not also that same god? Presumably, when passages in the writings of all these religions are identical it must therefore be merely coincidence since any lack of contradiction would mean divine direction and that all writings must be correct, which in itself must be contradictory.......

 

[Caladan]

that 40 different writers over a time period of 1600 years could all write about God and not contradict each other is strong evidence that God directed what was written

no work of men could achieve such harmony for the reason that if you put 40 different people in a room, even from the same time period, and asked them to explain God and his purpose, you'd end up with 40 different conflicting views.

That is a very general and highly inaccurate statement, the Hebrew Bible contains the different ideologies of its writers, sometimes in the same book itself. some books have a radically different style of writing from the other books. they were directed by political, ideological and social motives of the classes of Judah and Israel and of the regional politics.
The Bible can be a very fine text which IS the work of men, the motives behind the different styles, books and authors make Biblical research interesting since the 17th century.

 

[smokydot]

That is a very general and highly inaccurate statement, the Hebrew Bible contains the different ideologies of its writers, sometimes in the same book itself. some books have a radically different style of writing from the other books. they were directed by political, ideological and social motives of the classes of Judah and Israel and of the regional politics.
The Bible can be a very fine text which IS the work of men, the motives behind the different styles, books and authors make Biblical research interesting since the 17th century.

The point is: they are all consistent. Can you find any material contradictions among them?