Why do people believe in the bible? How is it the word of god?

Question

The oldest surviving complete text of the New Testament is the Codex Sinaiticus, dating back to the middle of the fourth century. The oldest fragments, the Bodmer and Beatty Papyri and Papyrus 52, date back to the second century but only contain bits of the Gospel of John. All of these texts are Greek. 

Jesus's native tongue was Aramaic, and even if he knew Greek, he certainly did not speak it to his apostles, many of whom were uneducated fishermen. Without any surviving Aramaic texts, the actual words of Christ are lost forever, mired in a sea of subjective translation by ancient scribes.

The gospels date the birth of Jesus at least 10 years apart. Matthew writes that Jesus was born when Herod was king and Joseph and Mary ran with baby jesus to Egypt to escape Herod. Luke claims that Jesus was born when Cyrenius was governor of Syria, which did not take place until at least ten years after Herod’s death. 

The four canonical gospels did not begin their lives as the gospels of "Matthew," "Mark," "Luke" and "John." Different groups of early Christians maintained their own oral traditions of Jesus's wisdom, as writing was a specialized skill and not every fellowship enjoyed the services of a scribe. When written accounts of Jesus's teachings began to circulate (i.e., the theoretical "sayings" gospel Q and the Semeia or Signs source), the independent groups would supplement them with their own traditions about the savior, each believing their own versions to be "the Gospel." Eventually, as these expanded writings spread through other communities, some versions were viewed as having more authority than others. It was not until the pronouncement of Bishop Irenus (185 C.E.) that Christians began to accept only the four familiar gospels as authoritative, and to refer to them by their modern titles. 

For the next two centuries, the four gospels would be coupled with a myriad of different letters, epistles, stories and apocalypses, according to what a particular congregation judged as relevant to their understanding of Jesus Christ and his message. Catholicism was only one of the dozens of "denominations" within the early church—Gnosticism was prevalent throughout Egypt, Montanism in Asia Minor, Marcionism in Syria. Eventually, the Catholic church was adopted as the state religion of the Roman Empire, and all other systems of belief were branded as heresies. Following the Epistle of Athanasius in 367 C.E., the Church finally reached agreement upon which writings were truly authentic and representative of apostolic tradition, thus forming what we know today as the canonical New Testament. 

Not to mention all the hatred, intolerance and bigotry in the bible:

You must kill those who worship another god. Exodus 22:20 
Kill any friends or family that worship a god that is different than your own. Deuteronomy 13:6-10 
Kill all the inhabitants of any city where you find people that worship differently than you. Deuteronomy 13:12-16
 Kill everyone who has religious views that are different than your own. Deuteronomy 17:2-7 
Kill anyone who refuses to listen to a priest. Deuteronomy 17:12-13 
Kill any false prophets. Deuteronomy 18:20 
Any city that doesn’t receive the followers of Jesus will be destroyed in a manner even more savage than that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Mark 6:11 
Jude reminds us that God destroys those who don’t believe in him. Jude 5 
Don’t associate with non-Christians. Don’t receive them into your house or even exchange greeting with them. 2 John 1:10 
Shun those who disagree with your religious views. Romans 16:17 
Paul, knowing that their faith would crumble if subjected to free and critical inquiry, tells his followers to avoid philosophy. Colossians 2:8 
Whoever denies “that Jesus is the Christ” is a liar and an anti-Christ. 1 John 2:22 
Christians are “of God;” everyone else is wicked. 1 John 5:19 
The non-Christian is “a deceiver and an anti-Christ” 2 John 1:7 
Anyone who doesn’t share Paul’s beliefs has “an evil heart.” Hebrews 3:12 
False Jews are members of “the synagogue of Satan.” Revelations 2:9, 3:9
 Everyone will have to worship Jesus -- whether they want to or not. Philippians 2:10 
A Christian can not be accused of any wrongdoing. Romans 8:33
"Show no mercy; have no pity!  Kill them all – old and young, girls and women and little children. "Defile the Temple!" the LORD commanded.  "Fill its courtyards with the bodies of those you kill!  Go!"  ."  (Ezekiel 9:5-7 NLT)
And at midnight the LORD killed all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn son of the captive in the dungeon. (Exodus 12:29-30 NLT)...and many more

How can the bible be the word of god when it has been edited, translated and revised so many times and contains so many absurdities, contradictions and so much

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Big ups to ya Artemis. Sounds like an atheists that has done his work.  In a much less articulate way i will say this...As a devout atheist myself, I've come to the personal conclusion that the bible, religion, and its inevitable predecessor mythology, were all used to A: explain things that they didn't understand B:to subsequently destroy those things and those people they don't understand C: to wash guilt from those that partook in the destruction by making them believe it was in the name of their god

Anonymous · Answer

That was not a question, that was a rant. You err in almost every sentence.  Briefly, there is more and better manuscript evidence for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ than for any other personal event in ancient history.  So, the more you criticize the Bible the more you are logically forced to deny any reality of ancient history.  Clearly, you will not tolerate the Bible. This is curious, because the Bible is the classic of Western literature.  One does not judge a classic. One is judged by the classic.  I add more to my knowledge more about you by your criticism than I add to my knowledge about the Bible.  Do a bit more research and critical thinking, these will really help. 
The Gospels are not dated by their authors, and only a few of the events in any Gospel can be dated with 100% accuracy.  In other words, to say that the birth of Jesus is dated 10 years apart by the authors is absurd and it represents bigotry not scholarship.  
There are many apparent contradictions in the Bible, but the vast majority have very easy and very logical explanations that remove the entire contradiction.  Other apparent contradictions take a little more study in order to understand the lack of true contradiction.  In the end, you are a bigot and not a student, much less a scholar.

Anonymous · Answer

The Bible is a very special book.  It is not just printed words on a page.  It cannot be read and understood by just anybody.  It was not written to just anybody.  It was written only to born again Christians.  So only true Christians who have the Holy Spirit dwelling INSIDE of them, can understand the Bible, for it is the LIVING WORD OF GOD which cannot be understood by the carnal mind of man and can only be spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14).

You are obviously not born again because you think the Bible contains absurdities and contradictions.  Born again Christians know this is not true.

Therefore, if you cannot understand the Bible, don't read it, unless you intend to get saved first, then you will have no trouble understanding the content and you too will know there are no absurdities or contradictions in there at all.

Phyllis · Answer

It's quit plain and simple A-Jehovah God is creator of heaven and earth and humankind. He has the right
to set the rules as Sovereign of the universe. We as free thinking people have the right to say yea or nae. If Jehovah God decides to destroy persons He has well analyzed the situation, people involved and knows the outcome. He will never destroy anyone who has just a pinch of good in them for he can work with that and make that minute goodness grow if he sees fit. Those people in ancient times that got destroyed had no redeeming qualities. Read the account of the talk Abraham had with God regarding Sodom Gen 18:20-33. Jehovah God is able to preserve the ancient writings thereby equipping
us to have just what we need to know. I don't have time to address all the scriptures that you cited however Phil 2:10 stands out to me along with Ro 8:33. Phil 2:10-as I said Jehovah gives us free will so you may do what you want-He "ask" you to put faith in His Son for your own benefit to gain the real life, but you don't have to many don't. They live day by day just going about doing their own thing-not even knowing that it is still out of God's love that he allows them to exist doing what they want until they die because this system of things is all that they will have they are having their reward in full-and that is their choice. Rom 8:33 is just showing that if God is for His people what earthly man or organization can be against us. What false accusation can hold up against God's people? No weapon formed against us will ever succeed-nothing can ever separate us from God's love-that's what that is talking about. Of course if a Christian falls into wrongdoing, they will be disciplined-the congregation must be kept clean. If you would like to talk more on the other scriptures you cited e-mail me.

Serena · Answer

I think it is because people are afraid of change. We can see that religion is dying out when it comes to younger generations why? because they were not amerced in it like older generations where religion played a big part in day to day life. Now not so much now a days. So I believe that the older generation is just holding onto what they feel comfortable with and seeing as children are brainwashed at a young age some stick to it but others leave as they get older and see the truth.

Simple but the bible is not the word of god but of men who wanted to control mass populations and explain things they couldn't.

Lynnie · Answer

A further argument that you could have added at the end:

If all of the versions have inherent that you must kill or destroy anyone who disagrees then you have to wonder whose version survived the slaughter.  If there ever was a 'correct' or 'true' story did it survive?  I say they were all just stories and people fight to the death over just another version of the same fable.

Anonymous · Answer

As an atheist I agree with your view of the bible, however in answer to your question I would give you what a christain friend of mine told me The translators were guided by god. there isn't anything you can say to that with the King James Bible clearly produced by a very political committee.

wefmeister · Answer

Some of us just believe it, act on it, and find that it works.

Others think they are so smart that their little pea brain is going to get them into heaven.

These are the ones that are dear to Satan's heart, because he knows he has them wrapped up neatly like a package and postmarked for hell.

shirleykins · Answer

Many people like it.

In order for the prophecies to be fulfilled some people have to feel like you.  
You can be one of them.

FROG E · Answer

Jesus is the Word of God.....John 1

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Why do people believe in the bible? How is it the word of god?

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