Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Is The Bible The Word of God? Part I

Every conservative Christian understands the Bible to be the word of God; (and yes, it is a matter of conservative and liberal). Yet, one is to clarify what is it that we mean by "the word of God." Do we mean that the Bible is literally spoken by God? That is to say that every single term and word found in the Bible was spoken by God. Anyone familiar with the Bible knows that not to be the case; for in every book of the Bible we have human mediation. We have a person who explains the story, or facts or circumstances. So, clearly not every word in the Bible was spoken by God. Since this is true; what do we mean by the phrase "the Bible is the word of God." Do we mean that God directed the process of writing the Bible? In this case, the Bible is "the word of God" as far as everything that the Bible contains reflects the mind of God. As you have already noticed, the issue is not as black and white as you may think.
So, the question is; did God in fact guided the process of writing the whole Bible, reflected His mind in it; and at the same time preserved the material written intact as to keep it save so that forever it would be His word? The answer to this question will depend on if you are one of those who believe in the Divine mediation through history of the preservation of the Bible; and this is highly based on faith. So the question remain not answered: is the Bible "the word of God"? Yes; to those who have faith in God's mediation of the Bible. No; to those who do not believe in such mediation. As for me, based on the content of the Bible; based on the archaeological evidence, and the Historical data to back it up, I believe that "the Bible is the word of God." I believe that God kept it pure through time and at the same time, I believe that God guided the process of writing; so that the content would reflect his mind and life. After all, 2. Tim. 3:16 says that the Scripture was God's breathing.

This was short and was not meant to be scholarly, but let me know if you want it more detailed. God bless

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