to born-again christians: do you honestly believe that God is limited only with the Bible?
960461
Protestants who limit God to the bible have some screws loose  in they're brains...just read John 21:25.
393361
How long do you think it will be before a person or group successfully reassembles the bible to include recently discovered religious texts that they feel better suit modern times?\n\nNever.  For all practical purposes, the Bible as now been “set in stone.”\n\nWhat do you think about this?\n\nI believe that those who tend to be the loudest on this topic have either done the least amount of study or have very extensive time invested in their current belief.  Most claim as articles of fact pieces of information which are not true.  Less than one in one billion (if any) could give me that actual names of the men who met to determine which books and works were included in either Testament.  Yet they propose that these men were inspired by G-d to make these choices for all time.  They are seem to ignore that most works which were not included were systematically searched for and burned as heretical.  The mere fact that any remain after 2000 years is a miracle.\n\nWhat will the cultural/spiritual ramifications of this be?\n\nA continuation of our current position.  As beautiful as the KJV is to read, it is flawed.  This fact has been shown over and over again by scholars who do know the languages involved.  Yet look at the number of supporters that it has.  The sad part of this is that many who claim to understand the meaning of the KJV of the Bible (which is a very serious and metaphysical work) do not understand and cannot follow a simple Shakespearean play (which is light entertainment) that was written at about the same time.  What does this yell you about the ignorance of humans?  And ignorance is bliss.\n\nIf God is really solely responsible for the bible's contents why does he have hundreds of millions of Christians using different versions?  And how would a new version be any worse?\n\nThose humans who claim to be privileged to the plans or purposes of Divinity are deluded.  No human has that capability.  Only Divinity is perfect.  Humanity is arrogant, not understanding that the message is important, not the delivery of the message.  Those that must quote scripture for every answer (especially those claiming that it is the Word of G-d) are probably idolaters.  They have worshipped the written word instead of Divinity.  Each believing that they are right and all others wrong.  They are the cause of the fragmentation of the Church and people like them are usually too stubborn to see their own sins.\n\nA new version of the Bible is not needed.  These recently discovered and translated works should be made available to the widest reading audience for study and debate.  At least by those who are capable of understanding that Humanity did not have the message right then and still is lacking in understanding.  This is human nature.  Divinity is the only proper judge; and Divine Judgment, unlike human opinion and understanding, IS perfect.
808966
I believed in god very much.  Bible camp counsellor.  On the bible quiz team.  Memorized books of the bible.  I went to a Baptist Bible College to study the bible in depth.  Imagine my surprise when the "small little holes" in the bible became huge GAPING holes when studied in the original languages.  It was the last thing I expected to happen at bible college.\n\nAfter a few years of trying to hold onto my faith, it vanished all together.  I tried shutting myself in a closet and praying every night.  To stop "thinking" and just will myself to believe.  Nothing worked.\n\nBasically, the first thing to go was "the bible isn't correct."  After that it was the morality of god (eternal punishment for a finite sin?  All of humanity being punished for a chick munching on fruit?)\n\nEventually, getting a degree from a "secular" university in history helped me think my way out of religion.  \n\nHope that is what you were lookin for.
594324
I think it's small-minded of us to assume that God made this huge universe and only put life on one planet. Just because the Bible doesn't mention it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. The Bible is supposed to be God's story one Earth...maybe other planets have their own Bibles. The only certian thing is that there is one God, one Jesus the savior of all people, and one Holy Spirit, who continues to work in us to this day. God is God, He can do whatever he wants, including making life on other planets.
1066914
I don't know how others rationalize their errors, but as a Christian I can speak for myself. I have read and studied the Bible, but I also believe (right or wrong) that the Bible was written by humans\nand that the Bible has been translated so many times that it would be difficult to even know what was originally written, and it is also open to interpretation.\nSo MY life as a Christian is based on my belief in God, Jesus Christ as his son, live by the 10 commandments and try to do the best I can.
407946
In one way, Bible is God's letter of introduction. He described His character through the Bible so that people may know Him. I don't think that He would allow His character to be misrepresented by wrong translations, cause it is His character we, people, can rely on (among other things). If God is omnipotent, I am sure He could and can find a way to prevent some catastrophic errors to appear in the Bible which would lead its readers into wrong assumptions and beliefs.
614913
Yes I believe in God, but not the way traditional Christians do.  I'm a Gnostic Christian.
28409
I am a non-denominational, right-wing conservative, born-again, fundemetalist(in a nice way) Christian.\n\nI knew there had to be a God. But was this God personal, or some force? In 1971, I had a personal encounter after asking Christ to forgive my sins and fill me with His Spirit. This was at the peak of the Jesus People movement. (yes, I am an old Jesus Freak) From that moment on, I knew that He was a personal God. From that point on I have been trying to teach the Bible to whoever was curious or searching.
459634
I'm sure this is tongue in cheek, but obviously one can be christian and not think that the bible is meant to be read as literal truth in every word.  you'd go crazy reconciling the contradictions.
185918
Along with other portions of Genesis, this is why the ultra conservative literal believers are so mistaken. The Bible is the Word of God, written by man and divinely inspired. Is it 100% word for word true? yeah right! The insistance on literal, the world was created in 6 days, belief of every word is just silly. Do you really think God would be so self-limited. A much bigger concept.\n\nI don't believe people have the least clue as to the answer to your question. My analogy for heaven is a movie house. When I get there God is going to roll the film and I'll understand it all then.\n\nAs a Christian, I believe the Bible to be a tool for contemplation and spiritual support. I believe it's historical information presented to glorify God and teach people about a broad, diverse and complex being/force/spirit/whatever. \n\nI believe that when Jesus said no one knows God except through me the meaning was clearly not about his physical person. I believe Jesus goes by Mohammed and Buddha and Krishna and Gaea in other religions.
398956
I read the Bible from a literal point of veiw. By this I mean that the Bible contains a large number of Literary styles, and each portion needs to be read in accordance with the literary (literal) style in which it is written. I do believe that the Bible is the inspired communication from the living God to mankind.\n\nI agree with the previous poster who stated that the "Us" in Gen. 1:26 is a reference to the Triune nature of God. This is further supported by the references to the Father (as the directive member), the Spirit (which 'moved on the waters') and the Son (as the Spoken Word of the Father). \n\nFurther along, in chapter two (a detailed account of the creative activy of God on day six, not a separate creation account as some would claim), man is refered to as a single creation, both male and female, in the image of God. The theme there being that neither man nor woman (without each other) express the image of God, but that together (as the two are 'one flesh' in marriage) they demonstrate the nature of the Triune Godhead.
647370
I was raised a Baptist and studied religion for the better part of my young adult life.\n\nIt is all a matter of what you choose to believe, so it doesn't matter. What other people claim the bible means is totally irrelevant since it only means whatever you think it means.\n\nI'm an atheist, but I'm well versed in the bible and religion, so believe whatever you will because ultimately, it does not matter to anyone but you.
342509
You are assuming that God is limited to what we think of Him.  That is wrong.  God could not do anything that will limit his abilities, including what you ask.\n\nRead this for further clarification:\n\nGod and Omnipotence\nThe paradox of the stone, as presented by Wade Savage:\n1. Either God can create a stone that God cannot lift, or God cannot create a stone that God cannot lift – there are no other possibilities. \n2. If God can create a stone that God cannot lift, then there is at least one thing that God cannot do (i.e., lift that stone). \n3. If God cannot create a stone that God cannot lift, then there is at least one thing that God cannot do (i.e., create that stone). \n4. From the combination of 1, 2 and 3, it follows that there is at least one thing that God cannot do. \n5. If God is omnipotent, then God can do anything. \n6. Therefore, God is not omnipotent. \n\nWhat this argument apparently shows is that omnipotence is impossible (or, that the notion of omnipotence is incoherent). Thus, God cannot be omnipotent (as nothing can be).\n\nSuggested solutions to the paradox St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274):\nAquinas defines as “absolutely impossible” any thing where the “predicate is altogether incompatible with the subject” (his example: “man is an ***” (in the non-metaphorical sense)). With this in mind:\nWhatever implies contradiction does not come within the scope of divine omnipotence, because it cannot have the aspect of possibility. Hence it is more appropriate to say that such things cannot be done, than that God cannot do them.\n\nThat is, to be omnipotent involves being able to do all things that are possible. For example, it is not considered a limit to my powers that I cannot draw a square circle. That’s impossible, so it’s no failing that I can’t do it – it cannot be done.\n\nBUT: surely I can make a thing that is too heavy for me to lift, so that task is not impossible, so if God can’t do it, that really is a limit to his power.\n\nGeorge Mavrodes (1926-):\nMavrodes responds that although “a stone too heavy for Simon Cushing to lift” is not a contradictory notion, “a stone too heavy for an omnipotent being to lift” is a contradictory notion.\nMavrodes’s argument in full:\n1. Either God is omnipotent or he is not. \n2. If God is not omnipotent, then the fact that he cannot do something (either make or lift the stone) is unsurprising. \n3. If God is omnipotent, then, by definition, there necessarily cannot be a stone that is too heavy for him to lift (otherwise he would not be omnipotent). \n4. If there necessarily cannot be such a stone, then it is an impossibility. \n5. By Aquinas’s reasoning, even an omnipotent being cannot perform impossibilities. \n6. Therefore, by definition, inability to create a stone too heavy for one to lift is no barrier to being omnipotent. (In fact, only non-omnipotent beings can create objects too heavy for themselves to lift.) \n\nBUT: both Aquinas and Mavrodes assume that God cannot do impossible things. Is this right? Descartes, for one, thought not. Descartes believed God could make 2+2=5. Why? Because otherwise you are suggesting that God is bound by the laws of logic. But if God created the laws of logic, why should he be bound by them? Couldn’t he have made them differently?\n\nHarry Frankfurt:\nHowever, if we assume that God can do impossible things, then God can create a stone too heavy for him to lift (which is supposedly impossible). Furthermore, if he can do that, then he can go one stage further and lift that stone (also impossible – but what’s the difference between doing one impossible thing and doing two?) \nBUT: doesn’t that mean that the stone he created was not a stone too heavy for him to lift, and that we’re back to the situation of him being unable to create such a stone? Not according to Frankfurt:\nIf an omnipotent being can do what is logically impossible, then he can not only create situations which he canno
1108073
I am also a skeptical person. I have problems with basing any faith on the Bible because growing up in a Christian home I was exposed to it and actually read it. I had lots of problems with some of the stuff in it and many of the explanations or "apologetics" really added up for me. In the end religion is a matter of faith. No one can prove they have the definitive "truth". I personally believe if I live a decent life and do my best to be a good person a just God would not burn me in hell. I really can't imagine a being who would be that powerful they could create a universe but so petty they would be secretive and obtuse about their existence and then punish you for not choosing the right church. Too wierd. There are many people though who will tell me I am going to burn in hell. That is fine by me so long as I am not forced to live by their rules, we live in a free society where people should be allowed to make up their own minds and follow their own hearts. \n\nSome books that I have read that really made absolute belief in the Bible impossible for me that you might want to check out. \n\n  \n Who Wrote the Bible? by Richard E. Friedman  \n\n The Jesus Puzzle: Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ? Challenging the Existence of an Historical Jesus by Earl Doherty\n\nMisquoting Jesus : The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (Hardcover) by Bart Ehrman\n\nThis is not to say that I don't find some useful and good things to take out of the Bible. Just I don't base my whole personal belief system on it. Like when the new testament (which is supposed to be so much nicer as the new convenent between people and God) says that women should not be allowed to speak in church and if they go to church without their head covered they should have their hair shaved off, etc... \n\nGood luck with your spiritual seeking. Peace.
717817
To be brief to your overall point I am finding it hard to believe the entire God-incarnate thing. I'm all for the Jesus but not the details of fundamentalist Christianity.\n\nI believe I am wrong, and seek more facts.\n\nI don't think about Jesus coming back, on any serious intellectual level.\n\nI try and not think about a second coming of Jesus, yes.\n\nI was born again and had a baptism. A few months later I was told to choose between beliving in Jesus or that man evolved from an ape.  I left and am not sure I went back.  I don't want this to be a debate on evolution.
50597
I'm Christian but I do not believe the Bible to be the ONLY word of God.  I agree 100% with your assessment of the Bible.  Christians will never come to a complete understanding of the truth if they do not open their eyes/minds to the possibilities that other writings could be inspired by our Heavenly Father.\n\nThis is the importance of communication with God through prayer.  I once asked a fanatic Evangelical "Is the Bible God?" and he quoted the scripture John 1:1 "IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." He then said "clearly God is the Bible and the Bible is God."  It became clear to me at that point that many Christians had a real problem with the Bible.\n\nThis is also why there are thousands of Evangelical Churches.  Ever since the break away from the Catholic Church by Martin Luther, Protestants have had a fiasco of Biblical interpretations and hence Churches.  This break away was important for freeing up human thinking, but it has gotten out of control.\n\nSince so many Christians don't allow the option of anything else being true, their faith becomes circular, beginning and ending with the Bible. And they loose focus of God, and Jesus Christ.\n\nBelieve it or not it happens and I've seen it first hand.
127555
No but some christians do have the bible so far up there ass that they can see anything else. I am a christian but I do not believe in pushing my beliefs on someone else or got all irate about how someone else believes or acts. I am only responsible for myself and can only make decisions for myself.