Is this a valid response? WHY?
The Bible is an amazingly influential book. About 2.1 billion people (33%) in the world identify themselves as Christians and rely on the Bible as the main authority for their beliefs. Many base their entire philosophy of raising children, sexual practices, money matters, political affiliation, and moral dilemmas like abortion on this grand book called the Bible. In short, every major and important question about life and death, and even the afterlife, are guided by this, the most important book to ever have been written: The Holy Bible. Here are some questions to fearlessly ask, if you are one of these 2.1 billion people:
1. Have you ever read the entire Bible, from cover to cover, even once? When did you last do this?
2. Do you know how we got the Bible? How was it put together? Where did it come from?
3. What languages was the Bible originally written in, and how did we get our many English translations?
4. There are books that were NOT included in the Bible. Why? Who decided what goes in and what stays out? How did they make those decisions?
Please remember, this is YOUR book, the Holy Bible, the most sacred, important Book of all time for Christians. Not only does it form the basis of your own beliefs, but in some cases, this is what you turn to as the Authority in affirming or denying privileges and/or rights to others, moving forward or impeding medical research, and concluding that you are right and everyone else is wrong.
If you have read the entire Bible, and know these answers, and can confidently discuss them with intelligence and faith as your guide, then I think you have a much more valid reason for using the phrase “Because the Bible says so.” But if you’ve never even read the entire book, um… we have a problem. These are the basics! This is Christianity 101. And if you don’t know the very basic details about where it came from, um… we have another problem. You are basing your life, death, and moral opinions about yourself AND everyone around you on something you’ve never completely read and know very little about. That’s fair to say right? And it should be mentioned, that if you are going to base everything significant in both life and death on this book, you might want to consider reading it more than just once.
Not to fret though, you are encouraged to dive right in, and educate yourself now. Consider the opportunity a privilege, for back in the day, to even have an English translation of the Bible could get you, and did in fact get some, burned at the stake! But today, the resources exist! They are available for free in almost any library or via the internet. There are also several guides to complete a read of the Bible in one year, which allows for a manageable pace. Here is one: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/ I have done this several times, and it’s a great start to building a foundation for your beliefs, or for the non-Christian, to see what all the hype is about regarding this mega-important Book. And don’t forget, Solomon, in his wonderful Old Testament Proverbs proclaimed: “Do not Have Zeal without Knowledge, nor be hasty and miss the way.” (Prov. 19:2) You may have an incredible excitement and zeal for your Christian Faith, but I assure you, like Solomon does here, that if you have been moving forward without even a full read once of the Bible, and the basic knowledge of where it came from, you indeed may be missing the way. And, really, should the major issues of life, death and beyond be left to just “basic knowledge?” Some food for thought.
There is of course an easy solution: Read it all the way thru at least once. Educate yourself about where it comes from. If you are not willing to do these very basics, then I think it’s fair to say you are not a good candidate to use the phrase “Because the Bible says so,” and you will need to come up with a different guide when it comes to important questions about raising children, sexual practices, money matters, political affiliation, and moral dilemmas like abortion, and yes, every major and important question about life and death, and even the afterlife. If you have not read the Bible all the way thru, and sadly, do not even know how it was put together, then you are hardly doing more than memorizing the ideas of your parents, pastors and peers. Do the work, “Study to show yourself approved unto God” (2 Timothy 2:15), know what you are talking about, KNOW what you are basing your life and mine on.
And so, we’ve asked an important WHY? I hope it leads to challenges and answers for you and those you in your life.
If you have a great question of faith, I'd love to hear it! Please email me: JeremyKocal@gmail.com
To those wishing to comment, please consider this a space of genuine respect for all opinions and beliefs. Please let that sentiment guide you as you choose which words to comment with. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Jeremy,
ReplyDeleteSo glad you've started this blog. The more open and honest we are with each other as we seek deeper truth and noble wisdom the better. And do not fear, my friend, the search for truth. And speech cannot harm us if we are courageous and bold and do not allow tradition or authority to censor our thoughts and words. If a deeper love is our goal, how can our words be dangerous? Only hatred and arrogant superiority can do us harm. We must be bold in calling out hatred disguised as love and, even more so, Godly love. Christianity and patriotism are suspect, as all dogmas are, when they claim moral certainty and philosophical superiority. Such are the makings of fascism and theocracy and these we must fight together or we certainly will divide and kill one another with the certainty of Nazis.
I'll be checking in from time to time on this blog and hope it makes a big splash in the blogosphere.
Thanks for getting us started Jeremy. Glad to take part.
I have read the Bible all the way through. I read scriptures every day of my life. I enjoy reading the Bible. I have a problem with some people saying "because the Bible says so" because people use the Bible to prove a point during discussions. A person can make a statement and look up some verse in the Bible which has nothing to do with their statement to prove their point. When I read the Bible I feel close to God. May God Bless You.
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
ReplyDelete1. No I haven't read it all the way through yet.
2. We got the bible from many authors who wrote sections of it. A group of people sat together and ordered the sections that each of the authors wrote. I think I answered where it came form. A group of people like Paul, Samuel, Joshua... all their stories where rhetorically told and eventually written.
3. If I remember correctly the bible was originally written in three languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. We got all of our English translations from people who want others to better understand the bible.
4. The apocrypha. The section of the bible that's not included in most bibles. You can buy some bibles with this in it. There's actually a lot of debate about who and why they took it out. Some say "those" people didn't believe what some of it said others say that it was to lower the price of printing the bible.
I go to a christian college and have taken a Biblical literature class so some of this is from that class which mind you I vaguely remember. So you should verify everything that I say.
Romance Me: I think the last line of your comment is extremely pertinent: "So you should verify everything that I say." I would even take it one step further, that I should verify everything I say, and YOU should verify everything YOU say. That is the basic challenge of this Blog, and has a direct basis from Scripture:
ReplyDeleteActs 17:11
"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."
What a different life of faith Christians and other religious people would have if they did the "examining" to see if what is being told to them is true. A faith that does not question and does not examine often blindly believes anything the preacher says. Luke, the author of Acts, commends people who don't just hear, memorize and regurgitate, but who actually take the time to examine, to ask questions, and make sure what they are believing is legit. Keep at it! :)
Thanks and thank you. I can't wait to read more your posts. Keep, keeping me intrigued.
ReplyDelete