It Is Full Of Violence Genocide Prejudice And Injustice Often Commanded By Godand Its Been Used By Christians To Justify More Violence And Oppression
Yes, the Bible is full of prejudice, violence, attempted genocide, and injustice. The Bible, after all, gives us the brutal truth about sinful human beings.
Of course, people who bring this charge against the Bible dont have these instances of human violence and injustice in mind, but rather they are thinking of those many stories where God brought violence on people either directly or through the agency of his followers. Think of the flood story , the killing of the Egyptian soldiers at the Red Sea , or the Conquest . But, while it is hard to get our 21st century Western minds around it, these are stories of justice, bad people receiving the judgment that they deserve. God brings the Flood against violent humanity he closes the Red Sea against Egyptian soldiers who were trying to kill the Israelites, and he commands Joshua to fight the Canaanites because their sin had reached its full measure .
Its only people who live in relatively peaceful circumstances who have the luxury of being turned off by such stories. The hard truth of the Bible is that people who reject God and harm other people will eventually receive punishment for them. Thats also the message of the New Testament, in the teaching behind heaven and hell.
Biblical Errors In The Old Testament
Genesis starts off with a bang! Physicist might call it the Big Bang.Nevertheless, we have an account of events which took place when there was no human being to record what actually happened or was said. Lets look at the first two chapters of Genesis which give two mutually exclusive if it is one way then it cannot be the other way accounts of the creation of Man.
Happier times? Or a time that never was?
In the first chapter, Man is created on the 6th day but afterall the animals are created. Turn the page to the second chapter and you have a slightly different retelling of the creation of Man. This one is much more poetic. However, if you read it carefully, in this chapter man is created beforeall the animals are created. Indeed, the reason given for the creation of the animals is so that man will not be alone. Since it cannot have been both ways, we have a conflict or a Biblical error. Since God was the only one around, he ought to have known exactly how He did things. It seems doubtful that God would get confused as to the order of events.
I dont blame God. No seatbelts? No air bags? Plenty of power? A 57 Chevy can be a dangerous thing.
The Bible Is Not The Word Of God
John says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and with-out Him nothing was made that was made. . This immediately disqualifies the bible as the word of God. Just think how incongruous it would be to substitute the word in Johns verses for the bible. It would read: In the beginning was the bible, and the bible was with God, and the bible was God. The bible was in the beginning with God. All things were made through the bible, and without the bible nothing was made that was made.
However, the bible was not with God in the beginning and the bible is not God. The bible did not create the world. It was not even in existence at the creat-ion of the world. The first Christian bible was not published until 1516.
Living word
John says: I saw heaven opened,and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. . John did not see the bible: he saw Jesus.
The Jews searched the scriptures in the mistaken assumption eternal life could be obtained by reading them. But alas, they could find no life in them because the life is in Jesus. God himself is eternal life and it is vain to seek the living among the dead. .
Living bible
New Testament
Continued next week
Don’t Miss: Rhema Correspondence Bible School
Encouragement From The Word Of God
How would your life change if someone was willing to give you just a little dose of encouragement every morning as you begin your day?
Id like to do that for you. But I know youre busy. So I dont want to take up a ton of your time. Youll be able to read our Daily Reflections email in about a minute each morning. Easy peasy.
In that minute youll get one uplifting and encouraging idea to think about along with a related verse from the Bible. Just the thing to start your day out right.
Complete this form and tomorrow morning you will start receiving our Daily Reflections. Thats one daily Bible verse and a little bit of encouragement that you can read in less than 1 minute delivered to your email every morning. You can unsubscribe anytime.
I pray its a blessing for you.
Chris
We Come To Know Gods Love More Through Being With Gods People
This happens both as we serve others and by them serving us. Its very common for Christian parents to feel like they know and understand Gods love more by having children and loving and serving them. It gives them a deeper understanding of the Fathers great love for them. Also, when others love us, especially when their love is underserved, we often begin to understand the gravity of Gods love for us as well. Paul might have been referring to our need to discern Gods love through others in Ephesians 3:18, when he prayed for them to comprehend Gods love with all the saints. The depths of Gods love is not something we can fully comprehend in isolation. We need others to understand its depthsboth by serving others and being served.
Often pride is a hindrance to learning more about Gods love through others. Because of pride and selfishness, we tend to focus on ourselves and not serve others. Also, because of pride, we often are not willing to accept help, prayer, counsel, or finances from others, among other good things. Again, apart from others , we cannot fully know Gods love and thus escape worldliness.
Application Question: Why is knowing Gods love so important for believers? When are the times that you most sense Gods love? How have you experienced more of Gods love in community?
Also Check: Chronological Order Of Bible
Identifying Triggers In Your Marriage Part 1
They were both convinced they had married the wrong person. From almost the very beginning of their marriage, Amber and Guy Lia experienced various tensions and personality clashes related to house cleaning, backseat driving, workaholism, and intimacy. In this two-day Focus on the Family broadcast, Amber and Guy discuss how they bravely faced the triggers head-on, and committed to working on their own relationships with Jesus. As you listen to the Lias story, youll feel hope that you, too, can see real marriage transformation!
Importance Of The Subject
In the United States, the Bible is often hailed as a divinely inspired book. Television and radio carry religious programs praising the Bible as the holy and infallible word of God. Religious groups also distribute vast amounts of books, magazines, tapes, pamphlets, and other items. The materials promote the idea that, as televangelist Pat Robertson has said, The Bible . . . is a workable guidebook for politics, business, families and all the affairs of mankind.
The Bible is also extolled by many politicians. For instance, President Ronald Reagan signed into law an Act of Congress proclaiming 1983 to be the Year of the Bible. The law described the Bible as the Word of God and said there is a national need to study and apply its teachings.
Thousands of other religious and political leaders throughout the U.S. promote the Bible. In most communities, an opposing view is rarely, if ever, heard.
The massive and incessant promotion of the Bible significantly influences the beliefs of millions. A Gallup poll showed that over 30% of Americans believe that the Bible is the word of God and its teachings should be taken literally. Gallup identified an additional 25% of Americans who consider the Bible as inspired by God, but think some verses should be interpreted symbolically rather than literally.
Don’t Miss: Apocalypse Bible
Reconciling Faith And Science In A Medical Crisis
Dr. Lee Warren is a neurosurgeon who has faced many heavy challenges in his life from serving in the Iraq War to removing deadly brain tumors to experiencing the loss of a teenage son. Hell share about his difficult quest to find answers to some of lifes toughest questions, while holding onto his faith in God and the sure hope of heaven
What Is The Bible
The Bible is a book written by men inspired by God.
2Tim 3:16: All scripture is given by inspiration of God
In Greek, Bible is called . Remember that the first full compilation of the Bible was in Greek.
The word itself has the literal meaning of paper or scroll and came to be used as the ordinary word for book.
Therefore, the Bible is a book, a scroll, or a paper containing words inspired by God. But is the Bible the Word?
In the Bible we have word and Word
Small lettered word in the Bible carries the meaning found in our worldly dictionaries as a single distinct meaningful element of speech or writing, used with others to form a sentence and typically shown with a space on either side when written or printed.
The capitalized Word or WORD as written in the Bible carries a different meaning not as found in the world
You May Like: How Many Psalms Are In The Bible
Literacy Rates Publishing Costs
One of the problems with looking back at history is we filter history through the lens of today. 2,000 years ago, less than 10% of the population was actually literate. By that I mean could read and write. Less than 20% could read just a little. They couldnt write but they could figure out simple messages if they saw them written down. This means 80% of the population not only could not read, but they could not even sign their names if you asked them to.
Books, scrolls and writing were the province of the extremely wealthy and even then, only the wealthy who actually took an interest in such things. In todays dollars with a denarii figured at roughly $21, a single sheet of papyrus cost $30. A book would cost anywhere between $10,000 to $100,000 or more to have in your library. There were no printing presses so each book had to be painstakingly copied letter by letter by a Scribe and they didnt come cheap. A Scribe was paid between $420 and $525 per 100 lines of text. This probably had a lot to do with why so few people invested the time in learning to read or write. Compared to growing your food, tending your livestock, repairing your domicile and making enough money to pay your taxes and care for yourself and your family, being literate was way down on the list of priorities.
Journalistic integrity in ancient times? About like Fox News today. Unfair and unbalanced.
Sharing Your Faith With Grace And Purpose
You can confidently and lovingly share your faithyou just need to learn some new tactics to do so! In this Focus on the Family Daily Broadcast, apologist Greg Koukl outlines the Columbo tactic of asking questions, the self-defeating argument tactic to find holes in your opponents arguments, and other specific methods for engaging in faith-building conversations with others. Greg pulls from his over 30 years of experience debating atheists and agnostics to help you share your faith with grace and truth.
You May Like: List Of Fear Not Verses In The Bible
It Is Worse Than You Know
It turns out, that there are actually more errors in the New Testament than there are words in the New Testament. Many people simply assume that Jesus spoke Elizabethan English. It is easy to forget that Jesus actually spoke Aramaic. The problem? The earliest surviving texts are all written in Greek. Thus, textually, we begin at least one generation removed. There is what Jesus, the Apostles may have actually said or did and then what people wrote down and reported them as having said or done.
Dr. Bart Ehrman. Head of the theology department of Chapel Hill University.
Those who would have actually been eyewitnesses, would have written about it those few who could actually read and write in Aramaic. Those texts are lost to time. What came next were the Greek translations of these unknown and unreviewable texts. We do not have the first generation Greek texts. What we have are copies of copies of copies, on and on and on of these texts. Each one transcribed a letter at a time by various unknown Scribes. Did they make any errors? Of course they did. Dr. Bart Ehrman gives an excellent explanation. Here is a 10 minute segment of a presentation on this subject.
You cannot make the argument that God performed the miracle of giving man his written word and then did not perform the second miracle of preserving that written word. The first miracle is meaningless without the second.
Understanding The Root Of Your Child’s Misbehavior
Often, children act out because they are used to getting attention through bad behavior. Dr. Kevin Leman offers advice to help parents transform their childs behavior. He discusses the benefits of allowing your kids to learn from real-life consequences and describes the importance of understanding your childs temperament based on his birth order.
Recommended Reading: Strong Women Scripture
The Problem Of Subjectivity
If the Bible contains the word of God but is not the word of God, then we must ask which parts of the Bible are the Word of God and which are not? The problem in answering this question is that the one who seeks to do so inadvertently places himself as the judge of what is and what is not inspired and without error. But by what standard would such a person make such judgment?
Battles Are Won When God Leads
The results of a conflict the Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh fought was victorious because they called out to God during the fight.
We do see other miraculous victories for Israel and Judah in Scripture, but this one is declared in the division of the tribes and stands out to remind us that God is the one who fights our battles.
They waged war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish and Nodab. They were helped in fighting them, and God delivered the Hagrites and all their allies into their hands, because they cried out to him in battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him.
You May Like: How Many Times Does Bible Say Fear Not
It May Refer To God Verbally Addressing Humans: Personal Address
When God verbally addressed certain humans in the past, His words were known as the Word of God. Scripture gives a number of illustrations of God addressing humans in human language. For example, God personally spoke to Adam in the Garden of Eden:
And the LORD God commanded the man, You may freely eat of every tree of the garden but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.
Thus, the phrase, the Word of God or the Word of the Lord can refer to the actual words God used in speaking to humans in their own language. This type of personal address from God is found throughout Scripture. When the Ten Commandments were given, God personally spoke them to Moses. The Bible says:
And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.
Therefore, the Word of God may refer to the actual words that God spoke to humans. In these instances, the people were hearing the very voice of the living God. His words were completely understandable spoken in ordinary human language. The people were expected to obey these words that God had spoken.
What To Do When You’re Not Okay
Life can be pretty stressful. Between work, relationships, and other obligations, the pressure builds, and we lose sight of who we are. Counselor Debra Fileta helps you better understand your emotions, assess your mental, physical, and spiritual health, and intentionally pursue a path to wellbeing. In dealing with anxiety, depression, and panic attacks, Debra understands the importance of self-examination as well as the benefits of seeking professional help. She offers biblically-based advice, tools, and encouragement to help you get on a path toward healing and wholeness.
Read Also: What Foods Does The Bible Say To Eat
God Does Not Approve Satans Activity
We should take a moment here to talk about the stuff Satan does here on earth. One variation of the sovereignty of God teaches that, OK. God doesnt do everything himself. But God does have approval authority over everything that happens.
This view tries to split the difference by claiming that God is still in control even though he doesnt do the bad things himself. People in this camp say God appoints Satan to do the bad stuff and Satan can only do the bad stuff that God allows him to do.
These folks point to Job as the primary source for this. But they missunderstand whats happening in this passage:
Satan replied to the Lord, Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!
And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power only do not lay a hand on his person.
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Job 1:9-12
Satan isnt getting approval from God to mess with Job there. Instead Satan basically pointed out that God was protecting Job illegally because he didnt have the authority to do so. Satan was the god of this world because of Adams sin.
Therefore, by protecting Job, God was encroaching on Satans authority on earth.