This is getting interesting (more interesting than work!)
> >To believers, the Bible falls in the same category as
> >chocolates-from-a-friend or Aspirin with a Bayer cross: it can be
> >trusted because it is the word of God.
>
> If it comes from a friend that you TRUST, that says "this will heal
> your
> hurts" FOREVER would you not take it? Reading the Bible does more than
> reading any self-help psychology book ever could for anyone. Why? It's
> "supernatural" - there is something about these words that give inner
> strength, peace, and wisdom beyond anything available in the world. It
> is,
> of course, God working within us while we do something that is
> pleasing to
> him.
>
I'm being a bit of a devil's advocate here. Your above question implies
that the friend has not been deceived. To stick with your chocolate
analogy, where did Corrie ten Boom get the chocolate? How did she know
it was not contaminated?
I agree that it is the Holy Spirit working within us, but He/She
apparently does not give this peace to all who read the Bible. Why this
is is beyond our understanding.
> >But is it really that simple? It seems to me that it is easier to
> >believe in a resurrected Jesus than a six-day creation for the simple
> >reason that there is no physical evidence contrary to the
> resurrection
> >while there is ample evidence in nature that argues against a six-day
> >creation. That's one reason why we analyze the Bible: not to question
> >the resurrection, but to square the general with the special
> revelation.
>
> The problem comes in when the Word of God is given to us from people
> who
> are NOT friends, who we do not trust. I believe it is extremely rare
> to
> find a person who not only completely understand God/Christ's way but
> who
> also practices this in his or her daily life. All I can say is that
> anything and everything we do in the presence of another person (and
> soemtimes alone) that is NOT in accordance with God's strict teachings
> on
> loving and kindness draws people AWAY from God, and particularly
> Christianity. Like it or not, in these days Christians are watched
> like
> hawks and scrutinized like dogs, while other religions are receiving
> more
> and more leniency and acceptance. Anyone else notice that? I believe
> Christians are some of the most narrow-minded of all peoples sometimes
> and
> its very frustrating to see Christians drawing non-believers away from
> God
> by their behavior that they think they are doing to give glory to God.
>
>
Beg pardon? The Word of God was given to me by God-fearing people, who
could not answer my question about the apparent conflict between Genesis
1 and geology. God-fearing elders in the church who taught catechism
classes and could not explain to a 16-year old where the water came from
during the flood and where it went afterwards, and who could not tell me
why Cain was afraid of being killed if there were no other people around
except his parents. Those were the people I trusted. It's only through
the grace of God and prayers by my parents that I didn't throw in the
towel.
I agree that our lack of love may be a stumbling block to bringing
others to Christ, but we can be thankful that God chooses to use us,
imperfect tools, to spread the Gospel. He could put an add in the local
paper or send Lazarus back to earth to convince us but you know what He
thought of that idea!
> >Maybe a valid analogy between the apparent controversy between the
> >general and special revelation would be a warning on the box of
> >chocolates or on an Aspirin tablet along the lines of "warning: the
> >surgeon general has decided that the contents of this box or in this
> >pill are hazardous to your health." Not that the Bible is hazardous
> to
> >our health, of course, but that there are perceived mixed messages.
>
> Surely there are messages that we as humans PERCEIVE as mixed, but its
> only
> our faulty understanding.
>
No doubt about it! If it weren't for our faulty understanding, there
would be no problems. However, our understanding is faulty and hence,
there are mixed messages.
> Just my 0.02
>
At the sad state of the Canadian $, that's almost 0.03 $C! ;-)
Chuck