b***@allvantage.com
2006-09-05 01:23:10 UTC
Re: I think I am a Christian.
I have a college education and some life experience. I have been taught
that almost anything can be questioned, almost no matter how
self-evident it seems. I am a Christian, I think. However I cannot say
I know for sure the tenants of Christianity actualy happened. I know
that when I belived much more in the value of faith in general than I
do now I was more gullable about taking on faith things that had little
to do with reilgous faith as well. And I was much more self righteous.
I wish there was someone learned who still values faith as much as I
used to that I could engage in practically unending dialogue with on
the subject with the emphasis on practically unending.
I am willing to accept Jesus if He is real. I am willing to accept his
will no matter what if I am truly beyond doubt what it is. I do not
think the Bible is inerrant though. I am not sure even St. Augustine
thought it was, < http://www.pibburns.com/augustin.htm> so I
cannot accept something just because the Bible says its so.
Do you believe a person with my doubts can be saved if they still
remain when I die, assuming Christianity is true?
I hope on the one hand the moderators will allow this post but on the
other hand they will eliminate replies that are not on point. I figure
a good moderated group, if it exists, maybe an answer to my prayers.
Hello,I have a college education and some life experience. I have been taught
that almost anything can be questioned, almost no matter how
self-evident it seems. I am a Christian, I think. However I cannot say
I know for sure the tenants of Christianity actualy happened. I know
that when I belived much more in the value of faith in general than I
do now I was more gullable about taking on faith things that had little
to do with reilgous faith as well. And I was much more self righteous.
I wish there was someone learned who still values faith as much as I
used to that I could engage in practically unending dialogue with on
the subject with the emphasis on practically unending.
I am willing to accept Jesus if He is real. I am willing to accept his
will no matter what if I am truly beyond doubt what it is. I do not
think the Bible is inerrant though. I am not sure even St. Augustine
thought it was, < http://www.pibburns.com/augustin.htm> so I
cannot accept something just because the Bible says its so.
Do you believe a person with my doubts can be saved if they still
remain when I die, assuming Christianity is true?
I hope on the one hand the moderators will allow this post but on the
other hand they will eliminate replies that are not on point. I figure
a good moderated group, if it exists, maybe an answer to my prayers.
I would like to focus on your statement "so I
cannot accept something just because the Bible says its so."
Yes you are correct. The Bible is not perfect. Of course when we say
"Bible" we are usually thinking of a particular translation. But there
are multitudes of them out there. And some of them contradict each
other.
Let's take a look at what Jesus thought of the 'Bible' of his day. Joh
17:17,
"Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth." (NIV)
Now if the Bible of Jesus' day (one of which was the Greek Septuagint)
was flawed beyond putting one's faith in, one would think Jesus would
have pointed that out. But he didn't. And Jesus quoted many OT verses
to make his points. Thus the Bible of Jesus' day
was good enough for Jesus to have confidence in.
But what about our day? Yes they contain errors, but what kind of
errors? The differences usually are spelling, and grammar, and lessor
things like that. The doctrinal content has remained intact. Notice
what some Bible scholars who have studied the source material of the
Bible have said:
Concerning the text of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), scholar
W=2E H. Green observed: "It may be safely said that no other work of
antiquity has been so accurately transmitted." (Archaeology and Bible
History, by J. P. Free, 1964, p. 5)
Concerning the Christian Greek Scriptures (New Testament) , Professor
Kurt Aland wrote: "It can be determined, on the basis of 40 years of
experience and with the results which have come to light in examining .
. . manuscripts at 1,200 test places: The text of the New Testament has
been excellently transmitted, better than any other writing from
ancient times; the possibility that manuscripts might yet be found that
would change its text decisively is zero." [-Das Neue
Testament-zuverl=E4ssig =FCberliefert (The New Testament-Reliably
Transmitted), Stuttgart, 1986, pp. 27, 28.]
Thus you can be confidant that the Bible we have today (most modern
translations) contains the doctrinal words that God intended for us to
know. If God is going to judge us for obeying Him or not, He would have
to make sure His written word is unaltered enough for us to follow it.
Thus true Christians go by what the Bible says, since they agree with
Jesus that God's word is "truth".
Of course some Bibles are more accurate than others.
More on this subject if you wish. (just send me an email. I usually
don't follow threads)
Sincerely, James
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