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PoppyCorn99 — Reliable Bible 1
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Published: 2014-05-18 06:05:30 +0000 UTC; Views: 4326; Favourites: 117; Downloads: 32
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EDIT 11/17/15 - Updated the sources and made small modifications_____________________________
This needs to be said. Too many people (including many Christians) have no idea about the contents of the Bible. Some have gone to church all their lives and have never even read the book themselves, so how on earth do they know that what they believe is true other than "my aunt told me"? Some atheists are quick to attack but slow to research, never even stopping to try and understand why so many people believe in the Bible. This study guide was made to hopefully change that for some people.
This is part 1 of "Is The Bible Reliable?" I will cover all the basics of why Christians believe in the Bible, and once the whole thing is completed I may post the whole study in one giant post here.
Press "download" for a better quality picture!"
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If you are viewing this on a mobile device, the image quality is much better if you press "download" to view it instead.
You are free to post this in other sites to share, but please leave me a link to it so I can check it out as well.
If you disagree with something/have a question, you are more than welcome to discuss it with me, but please do so via note so we won't flood the comment section.
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Part 2 >>> Link
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*Bonus*
Ancient Words
Related content
Comments: 75
Seeing that the majority of individuals that read my posts are Christian anyways, I already expected that it would be the minority that this sentence would actually apply to. It was meant to be slightly humorous, since most Christians can relate to having had the experience of speaking to haters themselves. But I suppose my sense of humor does come across as a bit deadpan to some people. 
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Since your post appeared to be addressed to non-Christians as well as Christians, I suppose I thought (hoped?) that your goal might be to open a dialogue of some kind with people of other faiths and creeds... (otherwise, isn't it sort of "preaching to the choir"?)
In that regard, I am sure you will agree that there are few things more counterproductive than assuming people on the "other side" of the issue to be prejudiced, intolerant, and combative by default (even when there is a vocal minority among them with a distinct reputation for exactly that). I imagine you can understand where I am coming from here...
If, on the other hand, your main goal was to be facetious and to bring a smile to fellow Christians (and perhaps to help provide them with ammunition for future debates with "haters"), then I apologize for sticking my nose in! As you can hopefully tell, I appreciate wry humor every bit as much as the next person (and am quite often guilty of it myself).
(Incidentally, I think the Proverb you have chosen for your signature is wonderfully apropos! Truly, words that everyone - myself included - would do well to bear in mind more often... especially on the internet! 
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It was meant for everyone to benefit from it, but is introduced in such a way that even those who do hate Christianity might become curious enough to check it out. It's just that since atheist websites are obviously not going to want this on their sites, I pretty much have to get it out on the internet through other Christians. If you look, there are very hateful websites out there whose only goals are to ridicule Christians.
The goal of these posts was to eventually reach out to those who don't understand us and really are angry at Christians, whether it be because they simply don't understand it or if they were hurt by "Christians" in the past, so they assume we're all that way. But the best method that I have found to get these around is to have other Christians help me spread it. 
Besides, there are also many Christians out there that are really only Christians by name, but not by heart, that don't really know what the Bible says regarding certain topics. I also hope to help these people discover what the Bible really says, and hopefully even change their perceptions of God for the better! ^^
Don't worry about it, I realize that I am sometimes misunderstood online; I'm just so used to joking and speaking sarcastically in person that I forget that people who read what I say don't hear the tone of my voice, so it leaves room for misinterpretation.
Aha, thanks! Christians on the internet tend to have a bad reputation of "Bible-thumping" everyone else, so I try my best to appear welcoming to others who may be uncomfortable talking to Christians.
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Why is the Old Testament/New Testament apocrypha not taken into account? "All scripture" could potentially encompass the books not included in the Protestant canon.
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The apocryphal books were written along with the other books of the Bible, but because of the fact of how meticulous the Jewish people were to keep their sacred writings organized, and didn't include the apocrypha with them, we can see that it is clear that not even the Jews of the time believed these books belonged. These apocryphal books contain doctrines that clearly contradict the Bible, such as offering prayers to the dead (2 Macc 12:41-45; Baruch 3:4). There is also folklore and magic mixed in, such as in the book of Tobit, things not encouraged in the Hebrew canon. Also, the book "Wisdom of Solomon" teaches some theories of Plato, such as the pre-existence of souls, also going against the teachings of the Bible.
If one believes the Bible to be the word of God, then it is clear that writings with clear contradictions don't belong there.
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And how do we determine EXACTLY which books are inspired or not??
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I can't answer that in an effective manner at the moment, so let me give you a quotation from a more qualified individual regarding a question I asked last year.
My question: Why does the Catholic Bible have more books than Protestants? How do we know whether or not they were inspired by God?
His answer:
"The Latin Vulgate was a Latin translation produced by Jerome for the Catholic church in 400 AD. It included many apocryphal books and also seems to reflect a bias by Jerome who was strongly influenced by Eusebious and Origen, two famous philosophers. The KJV was made in 1611, much later. However, by that time older and more reliable manuscripts were available and the translation was done, checked and rechecked by a whole panel of fundamental Christian scholars. In this way they guarded against one person's philosophy influencing how the texts were translated and tried to stay as faithful as possible to the oldest, original, reliable texts. (A book called "The Faithful Witness" on the Amazing Facts website goes into this in more detail.).
Between the time of the prophet Malachi and Jesus' day, priestly families of Jews including the Maccabbees and others who collected and worked on manuscripts, recorded the history during a period of about 500 years. They recorded both secular history and Jewish legends, as well as pagan religious traditions. Some of these manuscripts became known as the Apocrypha. These writings were rejected by the early Christians and not accepted as divinely inspired. However, in 1546 at the Council of Trent the Vatican declared the Apocrypha was "Holy Writ" and officially part of the Old Testament Canon. The Protestant Reformers did not agree with this, however, and maintained their loyalty to the "Textus Receptus" which was considered to be the most pure manuscript of Holy Scripture. Martin Luther used this to translate the scriptures into the German language, and the King James English version was also based on the Textus Receptus. There was a strong move by papal representatives to included the Apocrypha in the KJV, but they were not successful.
Although the Apocrypha has value from a historical and literary perspective, it does not have the power of the Holy Spirit to change and transform the life and should never be given the same weight as the divinely inspired Word of God. As it says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." The purpose of our ministry is to uplift God and His word, and provide literature that aids iin understanding the scriptures, so we do not carry any of the Apocryphal writings."
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Just curious, have you ever looked at any Gnostic texts, lost gospels, or the Jewish Pseudepigrapha?
And "contradict", or "add to" or "present a new perspective"? And contradictions (or at least superficial ones) still occasionally appear in the current canon, many of which are often explainable in some way or another, but nonetheless.
skepticsannotatedbible.com/con…
skepticsannotatedbible.com/con…
And, fun fact, the concept of the Logos (Word) in John's Gospel was, before then, also a Stoic concept of a divine animating principle pervading the universe.
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I apologize for not having the energy to go dig through my research right now to give a proper response to this, but in short, this is what I can say regarding these links you showed me:
When translating between languages, especially when they're completely unrelated to each other (unlike Spanish, French and Italian, which all have the same Latin roots) there are often cases in which the message's true meaning can get lost in translation.
For example, if I were to tell you "Estou de saco cheio!", how would you translate it? If you were to translate it literally it would say, "I am of bag full". Doesn't make much sense, but if you take a look into the context of the situation and take the time to learn some basic Portuguese slang, you would then know that this phrase is loosely translated as, "I'm pissed off!". Makes much more sense now that you get the basic idea of what the original phrase meant, but then you look at these Bible texts and take into account the fact that the men who translated these texts did not write the basic idea of things, writing it all as literally as they could, not taking into account the Hebrew context or common dialogue of the day, it's clear that lots of places in the Bible could potentially be misleading simply because of the fact that it was translated from a foreign language.
There are often cases where one adjective in English can split into four or five different Hebrew words, each with different meanings. So verses of the Bible that speak of wrath, eternity, etc. often do not literally mean what the English definition of these words imply.
I'm actually really glad you showed me this link; I've been looking for things like this so I can clarify them in the future. ^^ But I'm currently battling an illness that frankly, is draining the energy out of me, so unfortunately it could take a while before I look at these verses in depth.
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Yes, I agree. For that reason, it's not always a good idea to take what we see in a translation at face value.
Get well soon, good Christian apologist. ^^
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I don't see why non believers don't believe that Jesus actually did exist.. I mean come on, he even mentioned about Caesar and that the people should give to Caesar if it is Cesar's. There are historians that say Caesar must have been real but if that was the case then Jesus has to have been a real historical figure as well! It really makes you think the strange and absurd excuses people make to not believe in Christ, which doesn't even make sense as to why they would make up excuses not to believe something that is so simple to understand and believe.
And if you think about it to go even on a more basic level, why do people deny Christ? Why is it that they can deny Christ on the spot but then they can believe and fairy tales that are actually fairy tales and the fakeness of society today?
The answer is simple, it is because of sin. Every person that does not believe in Christ, whether they consciously know it or not, deny Christ because of their sinful nature and people that do believe in Christ want to share with these non-believers because they can feel the presence of Christ inside of them, whether they think about it or not.
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You think it's a coincidence that people are especially sensitive towards Christianity? We can debate science all day, but as soon as someone brings up God, the world ends.
The Devil wants to do everything in his power to keep people away from God, and what better way to do it than to make it seem "unattractive" to others?
It genuinely makes me sad to see some atheists insult us for being "ignorant and illogical" for being creationists, while they don't even know their own beliefs well enough to back them up. Ignorance and bigotry exists on both sides of the argument, but Christians are mostly the only ones that get noticed for it.
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I don't think that its a coincidence, all I'm saying is that people deny Christ because their sinful nature. I agree with your point of the devil making good seem evil and vice versa.
People are sensitive towards Christianty, which makes it all the more important for us as Christians to tell the world about Christ. The end times are coming very soon, and when I am on that narrow road to heaven I want to take as many people as I can with me.
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Maybe people aren't sensitive to Christianity. Maybe it's just because Christianity is everywhere trying to change people. The basics of martial arts is that when you pull someone toward you they push away from you. Christianity tries to pull a lot of people in and says horrible things about homosexuality and abortion. It's only natural that people resist
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Regarding Fun Fact #3: Josephus' writings are well known by scholars to have been edited by later Christians - so his reliability is very much uncertain. Tacitus' writings do not have the same problem, but was written nearly a century after Jesus was supposed to have lived, thus we cannot use his writings as proof of Jesus' existence.
"Non-Christian historians cannot deny the fact that Jesus was a real person in history!"
See Robert M. Price for an example of a scholar arguing that Jesus was NOT a historical person.
As for biblical reliability; how about morality:
Violence cleanses evil. Proverbs 20:30
Enslave your neighbors who worship other gods. Leviticus 25:44-46
Temporal crimes deserve eternal torture and punishment in hell. Matthew 13:41-42
You should kill people who work on the Sabbath. Numbers 15:32-36
If you do no beat your children, you hate them. Proverbs 13:24
I could go on, but the point is; you can justify pretty much anything with the bible.
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Because we don't know what parts specifically were altered, I suppose it's not safe to completely trust all of Josephus' writings, nor throw them away. However, Book 20, which has been regarded as authentic, names "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James), which we know to have been Jesus' step brother. Jesus is also mentioned in the Talmud, a compilation of rabbinical teachings from over a period of about 300 years.
I didn't say every scholar believes Jesus was real, I said the majority does. But even Robert M. Price knew he was going against the majority with his belief. I remember reading a while back of a classicist called Michael Grant. He said,
"In recent years, 'no serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non historicity of Jesus' or at any rate very few, and they have not succeeded in disposing of the much stronger, indeed very abundant, evidence to the contrary."
No, you can't justify anything with the Bible. The verses you mentioned have certain contexts that they were intended for, and taking them out of their proper context is what caused the Crusades, and all the other crimes against humanity that has been done by Christianity. I can go through all those in a note if you want, but like any book containing historical events, it is crucial to understand the context of the situations.
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Thats a very stupid question - of course not.
It is not reliable and most people don't listen to it anyway. Not even you do because it tells you to do idiotic things like Leviticus 19:19 tells you not to wear mixed fabrics.
Did you know also that there are actually about 20 gospels? If you didn't then now you know.
So tell me how can an incomplete document which parts were deliberately removed be reliable?
Here is a riddle for you - since you claim to be such an expert tell me where is it written in the bible that Jesus was born 25th December?
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I don't consider myself an expert. I'm getting a sense that you think Christians are ignorant. So hopefully thus helps.
believe it or not the Old Testament contains over 600 hundred laws that people are to follow. And some are ridiculous to us like 'dont eat shellfish.' It is actually impossible in our human state to abide by all these laws. According to the New Testament Jesus was perfect and represented Humanity and was able to complete all these laws in his lifetime - even the ridiculous one of not mixing fabrics - for us so we can live under a new Law. The Law of Grace.
Im going have to do more research on your second question. But I'm not oblivious of these gospels. I know there's the gospel of Thomas and Mary Magdelene.
The bible never mentions the date Jesus was born. Christians just needed a day to celebrate Jesus's birth and that was the consensus.
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No christmas was not to be celebrated at all it was stolen from paganism after christians slaughtered them.
Originally it was known as Brumalia which means "winter festives." People didn't want to stop celebrating that time even when threatened with death so a much more simple solution was to adapt to it.
Oh and don't talk to me about how Jesus was perfect because to me he is a nobody. There were many other like him like Buddha, Krishna, Mahomet, Osiris so don't give me that bullshit.
To me he has no higher standing than you do - everything stands equal before my eyes.
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The mixed fabrics thing is logical. It's not saying we can't wear a silk tie and cotton underwear. Anyone who's worked with fabrics knows that if you sew certain kinds of fabrics together it will ruin the clothes, because some fabrics shrink and/or wear out faster than others. People in those times commonly wore wool, but with trading they came across different textiles, and I'm sure many made the horrendous mistake of sewing a woolen patch on their ripped silk robe. *shudders*
Please, tell me what parts are incomplete.
I'd love to know those 20 gospels, please.
Jesus was not born on the 25th of December. Anyone who does any research knows that Christmas had a pagan origin.
I don't claim to be an expert, I just don't shut out information just because I don't agree with it.
Want to discuss it? Let's continue via note.
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Good so you know about the pagan origins, ok I admit you are not like most christians.
But stop making excuses about the mixed fabrics thing because we both know that there are clothes made of mixed fabrics like winter coats as they have layers of different materials.
More over even if you are right then is that something that must be mentioned in the bible? If some person gets his clothes ripped because he mixed fabrics then what? God gets offended by it?
If I was god I would laugh at it rather than tell people not to mix fabrics. So don't tell me it's not idiotic because it is and apologetics won't change my mind.
As to the other gospels there were 12 apostols and each wrote their own gospel, so that gives you 8 missing already.
But there were a few more as an example Mary Magdalene written one too.
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Back then, it was probably a bit too complicated to mix fabrics without eventually ruining them quicker.
Likewise, God would not damn these people for mixing fabrics - and they wouldn't have to repent for it - so it's the same as being told by your mom not to wash your whites with your colors but you do it anyway. The context of the message is for teaching, not for judgement.
As far as the other books go (such as the Book of Enoch and Jasher - which are both mentioned in the Bible), these books were not needed to understand, and achieve, salvation. God was smart enough to know that, especially as the generations passed, people were not going to be willing to read a book that was three times as thick as it is now. He taught us what we needed to know to prosper, and to live eternally in His grace and presence, but He also made those books available to us so that we may become more educated if we so desired - not because it was required for teaching us the mystery which is Christ in us, the hope of glory - that we as Christians live with the very Holy Spirit within us that rose Christ from the dead. That's why it's always telling us how powerful our tongue is, and that we should use it to speak life - not death - to people. When you speak life, things happen in the spiritual realm.
I know I can't really justify anything by my own testimony; however, if it weren't for the supernatural experiences I've had, I probably would have never given religion (or a relationship with God) a chance.
Anyway, sorry - just felt like jumping in there; don't mind me!
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This truly is amazing! It speaks words in great depth. I just learned things I never knew thanks to you! Can't wait for part 2!
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Please, stick around! I'll try my best to have the next part done by tomorrow afternoon, but there might be a delay because of a summer class!
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Don't worry I can wait.
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It might be delayed because of a summer class, but I'll try to have the next one up by tomorrow afternoon/evening!
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Many claim the Bible is a work of fiction filled with myths and legends. What they fail to realize is that archeology is the Bible’s best friend and has proven the Bible accurate time and again. Everything in the Bible and the events that transpired are 100% true. There is evidence many of the characters and places of the Bible existed because of archeology. And if those places and people exist, then the Bible is true. There really is no way around it unless these people want to ignore archeology.
Good job putting this together.
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I am getting to the archaeology part very soon! ^^ It's sad, because too many people out there claim Christians just "throw logic out the window" when they themselves are so blinded by pride that they don't realize that they don't even know much about their own beliefs, and are stuck in this limbo where "they're all wrong, but I'm not gonna bother to do any studying myself." These kinds of people are in so deep that if you were to have authentic, physical, 100% proof that God existed and throw it in their face, they wouldn't give it a second glance. Only the Holy Spirit can reach them.
Sorry for sounding like a downer; thank you!
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Not a problem.
I think when Jesus returns again, that will undeniable proof. Then they will know why he never showed Himself to them.
And your welcome.
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I found lots of great videos of science supporting God's existence
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Awesome! There is always evidence to those who choose to believe.
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Great,Spirit led work here. Keep it up and God bless!
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Thank you, God bless~
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Well this is an instant favorite. This is the kind of caliber that AF often produces in their simple guides and pamphlets for Bible study. It's obvious this is Spirit led. Praise the Lord and bless you my dear. 
www.facebook.com/The1Enchantre…
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Aww, you're too kind~ 
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lol 
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as one fellow sda to another, im very glad youve stepped up to do this
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Thank you, sister!
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