Is the bible authoritive and truly inspired?

Hi, Taq.I first heard this on Prairie Home Companion:

quote:

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I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump. I ran over and said: "Stop. Don't do it."

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"Why shouldn't I?" he asked.

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"Well, there's so much to live for!"

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"Like what?"

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"Are you religious?"

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He said, "Yes."

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I said, "Me too. Are you Christian or Buddhist?"

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"Christian."

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"Me too. Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

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"Protestant."

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"Me too. Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"

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"Baptist."

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"Wow. Me too. Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"

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"Baptist Church of God."

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"Me too. Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"

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"Reformed Baptist Church of God."

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"Me too. Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?"

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He said: "Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915."

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I said: "Die, heretic scum," and pushed him off.

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Have you ever been to an American wedding? Where's the vodka? Where's the marinated herring?!
-Gogol Bordello

Since the Bible changed so many times, that seems an odd argument.But I'll give it a go:Upanishads (Hindu), since at least a thousand years before Christ was born, remain profoundly important to modern Hindi.The Suttas (Buddhist), since about 500 years before Christ, report the direct words of Buddha and are central to Buddhism today.Edited by Omnivorous, : No reason given.

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Have you ever been to an American wedding? Where's the vodka? Where's the marinated herring?!
-Gogol Bordello

Exactly. The "Bible" has changed so many times, either changing at different points for all subsequent Christians or radiating into different Bibles for different folks.To believe a Bible is divinely inspired, one has to believe not only that the many authors at many different times were divinely inspired, but that a divinely-inspired thread of editors shaped and pruned that one God-approved edition.In this area, beliefs, of course, are as legion as the number of Bibles; explicable, defensible reasons to believe, not so much.

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Have you ever been to an American wedding? Where's the vodka? Where's the marinated herring?!
-Gogol Bordello

Thanks, PD--that's something I didn't know, and an aspect I hadn't considered.Kinda like King Tut's curse Or Shakespeare's headstone: "Cursed be he who moves these bones."

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Have you ever been to an American wedding? Where's the vodka? Where's the marinated herring?!
-Gogol Bordello

John, I first read the Bible (KJV) all the way through at the age of 10.I read the blood-drenched OT with horror; I read the NT with some excitement, but when I compared what I read with what I saw in the lives and acts of the Christians around me, I walked out of the church. I've read it through several times again since, but I've never had the slightest urge to return.I opened my present, but it was full of worms.

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Have you ever been to an American wedding? Where's the vodka? Where's the marinated herring?!
-Gogol Bordello

Epic fail, John.You are trying to take the piecemeal quality of the Bibles, the history that casts the most doubt on their divine inspiration, and create a claim that this amounts to proof that they are divinely inspired.I admire your chutzpah, but not your critical textual reasoning.I am much more impressed by the Buddhist scholars' ability to present texts from throughout history that demonstrate they still represent the Buddha's words.If you could even demonstrate that the four Gospels were four eyewitness acounts, accurately reporting Christ's words, I'd be impressed; but since they often disagree...not so much.Edited by Omnivorous, : subject/verb agreement...I'm mortified.

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Have you ever been to an American wedding? Where's the vodka? Where's the marinated herring?!
-Gogol Bordello