Why do you believe the Bible?

Firstly, I believe because I was taught as a young child that it is true and can lead me closer to God, if I live by it's teachings and have them in my heart.

Secondarily, I believe in it because the faith that I had as a child led me to apply the teachings, and those teachings have given me greater inner peace and joy (enlightenment).

It gives insight and helps me to feel hopeful, and more loving towards other people, and closer to God (not alone). So that confirms me in the beliefs I was taught as a child.

The same test can be applied to any book or doctrines... Does reading, pondering and living it bring peace? Yes.... then the understanding gained from that book has come from God, through revelation. God is Love. ♥

EDIT: Kelly.... I don't see the Bible as an infallible literal record of God's dealings with humanity, and even if it was, people would still be able to misinterpret it (that's the nature of communicating with words). Thing is... the Holy Spirit can give people an understanding of the truth in their hearts and minds, even if the person is only reading made up stories. Intention is what matters in regards to spiritual things.

I believe the bible has been handed down that the teachings are ancient.

I have no other reference to what happened before or after Christ other than the bible.

Through my own journey in life, through all the pitfalls and good times, the one thing that brought me comfort, peace and understanding has been the bible.

My belief and faith are proof enough for me that the Bible is true and that God does exist.

Just because a person can not see something does not mean that it does not exist.

I could turn the question back on you and as what real tangible proof do you have the the Bible is wrong and that God isn't real, but that would only start an new debate on what one person believes as opposed to what another believes.

For now...what harm am I to you for believing that the Bible is true or that God Exists? How do I pose a threat to your beliefs if you are opposed to mine?

I'd like to know the answer to this one too. So far the answers are pretty ridiculous.

It was written over centuries, translated and rewritten. How can people think that everything in the bible is possibly God's word? Is it not reasonable to suspect there were mistakes?

Some of it may have been misunderstood, left out, added in by someone who had a different opinion. What if a person of another faith, or even an atheist, partook in the writing and altered it? What if a fanatical Christian had a hand in the writings?

I am not trying to 'enlighten' you or change your views, I merely just want to understand why you take this book to be God's words? These are questions that go through my mind when I think of the bible.

I am a believer in God but I don't worship the Bible. I do revere it as an accurate as possible account of God working amongst man and how to relate to Him. I believe in a Holy Spirit that interprets the Bible ( also known to some as the word but this is inaccurate) and how it relates Gods wishes for wisdom to that person. It can be a road map to eternal life and a successful life thru following Gods plan for your life. So many people blame God when things go wrong but forget that they are on there own plan and not His.

I'm a Codicologist. That means I examine ancient Greek and Coptic manuscripts and collate them into Greek and Coptic master texts; which are used by translators world-wide. I have been translating Greek for over 35 years and Coptic for over 20 years.

What proof do we have for anything or anyone from ancient history?

Virtually all we know about ancient history, has come down to us as documentary history. This history has come via ancient and medieval manuscripts that predate the printing press. These are copies, of copies, of copies, of copies, etc. Whether we’re looking into the Romans Caesar or Tacitus, or the Greeks Alexander the Great, or Herodotus, or Plato, or Xenophon, or Thucydides; our key resource is the manuscript.

We know about these historical people because we have manuscripts. Even though those manuscripts are often many centuries later than the original writings.

I don’t know about you, but I believe all those people existed, and I believe that the writings we have from them give a reasonably accurate history.

I grabbed a few books out of my collection to give you some idea of the manuscript dates and numbers.

[mss = manuscripts]

Caesar Gallic Wars: 10 mss, oldest 10th Century AD.

Tacitus Histories: 2 mss, oldest 9th Century AD.

Thucydides History: 8 mss, oldest, 9th Century AD.

Aristotle’s Poetics: 2 Greek mss, Oldest 10th Century AD.

Herodotus Histories: 9 mss. Oldest 10th Century AD.

Manetho (Egyptian): 0 mss. Quotes from Jewish & Christian sources.

So what about the documentary evidence for the Bible? Is it ar good as that for other ancient writers?

My personal resources include precise facsimiles of over 65 New Testament manuscripts that date from before 300 AD (though many of these are fragmentary); plus about 380 additional mss that date from before the 10th Century AD.

For the Old Testament. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain about 200 Biblical mss, all of which date from the first century AD, back to the 3rd Century BC.

Documentary evidence is our proof of the past. When it comes to documentary evidence of ancient writings, the Bible is by far the best attested and most firmly established document in history.

Tacitus, mentioned above, is one of several 1st Century AD writers who actually mention Christ and the Christians.

Here is a chronological list:

(4BC-65 AD/CE) Seneca

(37-100 AD/CE) Flavius Josephus

(40-115 AD/CE) Dio Chrysostom

(53-117 AD/CE) Emperor Trajan

(56-117 AD/CE) Tacitus

(60-140 AD/CE) Juvenal

(61-113 AD/CE) Pliny the Younger

(69-130 AD/CE) Suetonius

There are also a number of early Christian writers we have documentary evidence from. As well as anti-Christian writings, like the Gnostics.

By profession, I am a research scientist in advanced applied linguistics for to computer security systems (heuristics, pattern recognition, extrinsic and intrinsic probability, neural analysis, etc). I have over 80 technical articles and scientific papers published.

PS. What I wrote here is my own and is based on my own research. It is not cut and pasted from some website somewhere.

bible = lies

the fundemental story of jesus has been lifted from other religions before it check out gods from other religions = (greek) attis , (indian) krishna, (greek) dionysus, (persian) mithra, (egyptian) horus

CHRISTIANS do the research realise the truth, you can live a life with good principles just dont throw your life away believing in these stories

Some of the stories are historically accurate.

there are many truths in the bible, owe no man, fear no man,

many.............too many to mention here.

i like short answers and questions

also,why deconstruct it, you just take the magic away

Because it is God's word.

Historically, archaeologically, etc. it has been found to be VERY accurate.

More can be said.

GOD bless