The Bible
I have been working on the question, why do I believe in the Bible for about a month now. I have asked several people for their thoughts and I promised I would share mine.
My faith journey, like many peoples has been a roller coaster ride all my life. There have been times when I thought that I really "got it" as they say. There were other times that I simply thought faith and religion were a mockery and God must have been a joke. I mean think about it, everybody explained away everything by making excuses for God. Either prayers were answered and you were blessed, or God didn't answer your prayers because it was not his time. Some people are miraculously healed which is a blessing from God while others die a miserable death because God supposedly had other plans for them. It is as if God is the only one that can't lose here, everything is explained in nonsensical ways to otherwise intelligent people. I was somewhere in between. I wanted to be a strong believer but life is so lopsided that it is difficult. There are people that live great lives with plenty of food, clothing, and shelter (they must be blessed), while others live horrid lives in extreme poverty conditions (I suppose they must be cursed). It is explained as mysteries of our faith.
I share this to give you some insight into my thinking about the Bible. Here is a book that has been changed, altered, translated, and updated so many times that it would make your head spin if you tried to understand all the variations. The original writers did not write what you have in your hands today. They may have written something similar but not the same thing. Which begs the original question, why do we believe what we believe about the Bible.
I wish I had space here to share all the wonderful emails I got from people. The heart felt thoughts truly moved me to hurry up and write this. Well after all the waiting, here is what I think:
After years of reading in an effort to disprove, I finally decided to consider that maybe just maybe the Bible is a God inspired message to those that read it. Once I gave myself permission to accept the divine word as an inspiration to me and for me I began to see it in a whole new light. The actions of Christ as written in the Bible are much different than the man made preaching we hear in church trying to explain the Bible as it has inspired them. Jesus was a true model of love and humility, His words instilled hope where there was no hope. It moved our hearts from stone cold to a comfortable warmth. It provides us life wisdom where mere man cannot. The Bible is a living breathing ideology that has transcended time, wars, rulers, heresy, and all other forces that tried to keep it down. The Bible always rose to the top with the same message regardless what translation you are reading. That message is that there is hope for all of us. Jesus came that we may live, he died that we may have hope, he rose from the dead so that we may have eternity. The Bible, in my opinion, is the hope we all need to give life the meaning we search for.
The next time you feel angry at God, read the Bible. The next time you feel unworthy of God's love, read the Bible. Next time you have a difference with your church, read the Bible. The next time you lose a loved one or are diagnosed with a serious illness, read the Bible. The next time life surprises you with amazing blessings, read the Bible. There is no reason not to read the Bible. I searched for your years to disprove it's authenticity and historical accuracy, but the one thing I never could disprove was it's ability to transform people and provide hope where there was none. I am a believer in God, in my faith, in my spirituality. I still struggle with religion but not my core belief in the Bible.
peace to you
Dale
My faith journey, like many peoples has been a roller coaster ride all my life. There have been times when I thought that I really "got it" as they say. There were other times that I simply thought faith and religion were a mockery and God must have been a joke. I mean think about it, everybody explained away everything by making excuses for God. Either prayers were answered and you were blessed, or God didn't answer your prayers because it was not his time. Some people are miraculously healed which is a blessing from God while others die a miserable death because God supposedly had other plans for them. It is as if God is the only one that can't lose here, everything is explained in nonsensical ways to otherwise intelligent people. I was somewhere in between. I wanted to be a strong believer but life is so lopsided that it is difficult. There are people that live great lives with plenty of food, clothing, and shelter (they must be blessed), while others live horrid lives in extreme poverty conditions (I suppose they must be cursed). It is explained as mysteries of our faith.
I share this to give you some insight into my thinking about the Bible. Here is a book that has been changed, altered, translated, and updated so many times that it would make your head spin if you tried to understand all the variations. The original writers did not write what you have in your hands today. They may have written something similar but not the same thing. Which begs the original question, why do we believe what we believe about the Bible.
I wish I had space here to share all the wonderful emails I got from people. The heart felt thoughts truly moved me to hurry up and write this. Well after all the waiting, here is what I think:
After years of reading in an effort to disprove, I finally decided to consider that maybe just maybe the Bible is a God inspired message to those that read it. Once I gave myself permission to accept the divine word as an inspiration to me and for me I began to see it in a whole new light. The actions of Christ as written in the Bible are much different than the man made preaching we hear in church trying to explain the Bible as it has inspired them. Jesus was a true model of love and humility, His words instilled hope where there was no hope. It moved our hearts from stone cold to a comfortable warmth. It provides us life wisdom where mere man cannot. The Bible is a living breathing ideology that has transcended time, wars, rulers, heresy, and all other forces that tried to keep it down. The Bible always rose to the top with the same message regardless what translation you are reading. That message is that there is hope for all of us. Jesus came that we may live, he died that we may have hope, he rose from the dead so that we may have eternity. The Bible, in my opinion, is the hope we all need to give life the meaning we search for.
The next time you feel angry at God, read the Bible. The next time you feel unworthy of God's love, read the Bible. Next time you have a difference with your church, read the Bible. The next time you lose a loved one or are diagnosed with a serious illness, read the Bible. The next time life surprises you with amazing blessings, read the Bible. There is no reason not to read the Bible. I searched for your years to disprove it's authenticity and historical accuracy, but the one thing I never could disprove was it's ability to transform people and provide hope where there was none. I am a believer in God, in my faith, in my spirituality. I still struggle with religion but not my core belief in the Bible.
peace to you
Dale
Comments