My internet ministry presence
I want to share with you a message I received today. I receive messages like this EVERY DAY, often times multiple. Many times I do not have the time to respond, but this ,morning over breakfast I was able to respond. Take a moment to read the message and my response, and share your comments thoughts.
The message:
Hi pastor mike. I can understand the concept that God is not religion, but is the Bible a part of religion? After all, the Bible is written by mere humans and not God. Plus there are many contradictions within the bible as well as different versions that convey different meanings. So can we really say the Bible is God's word? God's word to my understanding should be universal and therefore it cannot be tampered with, but the Bible is something that we humans manipulate. I know that as a pastor you are required to use this bible to carry out teachings but is the Bible a reliable source for carrying the messages of God? People tell me that faith is required to believe, but I don't think faith in something false would be correct. Any feedback would be helpful thank you pastor =)
I used to go to church and fellowships but then I started to see the flaws of religion. I still to this day believe in an ultimate God that created all of mankind, but I still see no way that we can truly reveal the initiatives of the almighty God. After reading on a philosopher CS Lewis, his philosophies made a lot of sense saying how there is a natural law that exists within us humans. His philosophy states that God put our conscience within us to make the right decisions. It makes a lot of sense to me but I would also want your opinion on it because you are probably well educated and I am willing to learn more. Thank you
My response:
That is a lot to respond to, but I will try. First off, I believe that the Bible was written by God through humans. He directly inspired them and "told" them what to write. Although he did not physically tell them what to write, He divinely inspired every word of the Bible, therefore the Bible is perfect, without any faults or error. Next come the issue of contradictions. If you were to look closely at each issue that has been accused of a contradiction, you would find that it is not a contradiction. Sometimes two people write about the same event but write from their own perspective, leaving out certain details. That's not contradictory, just different viewpoints. There are many examples. If you find a specific example, message me and I will explain it. Also, you have to remember that the Bible in its original form is perfect, but it has been hand copied thousands of times, translated into thousands of languages into hundreds of different "versions" or "translations". It can be confusing when you look at two different versions and they appear to say two different things.That is when we must go back and look at the Bible in the original language it was written in, which would include Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. C.S. Lewis was a very great man and I would recommend and support anything that he wrote. I agree with you that religion is full of flaws. Religion is a man made attempt to reach God, which is impossible. Also you have to remember that a church is full of people, and people are not perfect. As humans, we all have a sinful nature. No matter how hard we try to do right, we will fail on our own. True Christianity is submitting ourselves to God, admitting that we are powerless, and asking Him to reach us. At that point He will forgive our sins, and reach out to us. Once again I do not believe the Bible is false or inaccurate in any way.
I hope this helps and please stay in touch. I would love to discuss this or anything else more with you!
The message:
Hi pastor mike. I can understand the concept that God is not religion, but is the Bible a part of religion? After all, the Bible is written by mere humans and not God. Plus there are many contradictions within the bible as well as different versions that convey different meanings. So can we really say the Bible is God's word? God's word to my understanding should be universal and therefore it cannot be tampered with, but the Bible is something that we humans manipulate. I know that as a pastor you are required to use this bible to carry out teachings but is the Bible a reliable source for carrying the messages of God? People tell me that faith is required to believe, but I don't think faith in something false would be correct. Any feedback would be helpful thank you pastor =)
I used to go to church and fellowships but then I started to see the flaws of religion. I still to this day believe in an ultimate God that created all of mankind, but I still see no way that we can truly reveal the initiatives of the almighty God. After reading on a philosopher CS Lewis, his philosophies made a lot of sense saying how there is a natural law that exists within us humans. His philosophy states that God put our conscience within us to make the right decisions. It makes a lot of sense to me but I would also want your opinion on it because you are probably well educated and I am willing to learn more. Thank you
My response:
That is a lot to respond to, but I will try. First off, I believe that the Bible was written by God through humans. He directly inspired them and "told" them what to write. Although he did not physically tell them what to write, He divinely inspired every word of the Bible, therefore the Bible is perfect, without any faults or error. Next come the issue of contradictions. If you were to look closely at each issue that has been accused of a contradiction, you would find that it is not a contradiction. Sometimes two people write about the same event but write from their own perspective, leaving out certain details. That's not contradictory, just different viewpoints. There are many examples. If you find a specific example, message me and I will explain it. Also, you have to remember that the Bible in its original form is perfect, but it has been hand copied thousands of times, translated into thousands of languages into hundreds of different "versions" or "translations". It can be confusing when you look at two different versions and they appear to say two different things.That is when we must go back and look at the Bible in the original language it was written in, which would include Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. C.S. Lewis was a very great man and I would recommend and support anything that he wrote. I agree with you that religion is full of flaws. Religion is a man made attempt to reach God, which is impossible. Also you have to remember that a church is full of people, and people are not perfect. As humans, we all have a sinful nature. No matter how hard we try to do right, we will fail on our own. True Christianity is submitting ourselves to God, admitting that we are powerless, and asking Him to reach us. At that point He will forgive our sins, and reach out to us. Once again I do not believe the Bible is false or inaccurate in any way.
I hope this helps and please stay in touch. I would love to discuss this or anything else more with you!