Sunday, March 24, 2013

FAQ #3: Why should I believe the Bible when it is full of silly and impossible stories?

Question: Why should I believe the Bible when it is full of silly and impossible stories?

Answer: 


  1. As I said in a previous post, Christianity has three core beliefs 1) Jesus is the Messiah 2) Jesus died to forgive you 3) Jesus rose from the dead. Even if none of the Old Testament stories were true, it wouldn't make any of those 3 beliefs untrue. Furthermore, the Bible is not really one book. It is an anthology of 66 books written over a 2500 year time span. The truth of each book has to be independently examined. 
  2. This objection depends which stories one considers to be impossible and silly. The ones that sound impossible and silly aren't as bad as they sound. Some examples below:
  3. Adam and Eve: It makes complete sense that if God existed, he would give humans a choice to trust, love and obey him, or disobey and go their own way. To test our loyalty, God could have made one arbitrary rule in an otherwise pleasant environment. This could have just as easily been a tree in a garden with fruit that God didn't want people to eat.
  4. Noah's Ark: It is not crazy to think that someone made a boat and took his family aboard when a big flood came. It is not even crazy to think that the flood killed everyone in the time period. Back then, everyone lived in the Middle East and hadn't migrated to other parts of the world yet. Therefore, the flood wouldn't have to be worldwide in order to kill everyone. If it didn't flood everywhere, we might not even notice its geological effects. This doesn't prove its a true story, but it does show that its not completely crazy idea. 
  5. The miracles of Jesus: this will be covered in a future post in more detail. For now, I will say that one miracle (the resurrection) has more and earlier historical sources than some commonly accepted facts of ancient history. 



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