Continued from Bad Questions, Part II: How Much of Y Can I Do Before It Becomes a Sin?, which examines bad questions that Christians ask.
How can the Bible say Z?This is one I've run into a lot lately, but hadn't at all until recently. The straight answer: The Bible says everything it does with ink and a pre-constructed language system. That's how it does it. The fact that the Bible says incredibly paradoxical things, like "Take joy in grief," or, "Be perfect like God," does not mean the Bible is false.
What does it mean? What can we learn from these confusing passages? These are better questions. But asking "How can you believe any of the Bible when it contradicts itself by saying 'we are judged by works' and 'there is no need for the law'" is the start to a frustrating conversation with no end, no resolution, no closure, and no productivity. Asking why God would put that in there is like asking why recessive genes evolved or why the evolutionary processes didn't remove our appendices. It's searching for an answer that is completely and utterly unknowable and has no practical significance. So instead of asking, "how can God say that?" ask "What does that mean? What's the historical context? How does this apply to my life?"My intent is not, as I hope I made clear in my intro, to say that questions are bad. Nor is my intent to bash anyone who's ever asked these questions, because I'd wager a bet that everyone (myself included) has asked all three types in various forms numerous times. My intent is to save some people some trouble and some hassle by encouraging them to ask good, productive questions that will help them along on their search for truth, rather than getting sidetracked by bad questions.
Comments (29)
@cornerstonechwk - Not really, to be quite honest. (I'm saying the following respectfully, so don't get me wrong :D)
The only proof we have of 'god' is from a book. How am I to know if 'god' really is real? There are hundreds of other religions out there promising death and wrath if you do not choose that religion as your given one. In my opinion, the bible is full of many contridictions. Please, tell me, what makes you believe?
Actually that's not true at all! When you look at a building, how do you know there was a builder? The building is absolute proof. If I told you that most buildings have builders but I know of a 7 storey apartment building in the middle of the Mojave desert that simply happened all by it'self you would be justified in saying I need help. Creation itself is absolute proof that there is a creator. The human eye with it's 137000,000 light sensitive cells, the fact the focusing muscles adjust about 100,000 times per day , the fact that it's way way more complexed in design than any optical device man has ever devised, the fact that design demands the existence of a designer. Psalm 19:1 says the heavens DECLARE the glory of God... The bible however is no mere book! If you approach it with a n open mind and an honest heart you will find it to be what it claims to be, The word of God. If I wanted to prove that the President of the USA lived in the white house would it be unreasonable to look into the white house to see if it's true? In the same way it is reasonable to say that if you want to find God you can simply look in His word. The bible is accurate historically, archeaologically and is without question supernatural in origin. The hundreds of perfectly fulfilled prophecies, and the power to change lives are a couple of examples. Also EVERY other religion hopes to gain favour with thier deity by trying to be good enough. That is impossible because we can't be good enough, we are already criminals in Gods eyes and time and good deeds will not wash away our crimes. We need a savior. God the Father raised Jesus from the dead, this is proof that His sacrifice was accepted by Him and we can have eternal life by turning from sin and trusting in Him. He took my filthy heart and transformed it by His power. That is why I believe.
@d34thbreath@xanga - By the way, why don't you run one of those contradictions by me and I wil see if I can help you with it?
[Asking why God would put that in
there is like asking why recessive genes evolved or why the
evolutionary processes didn't remove our appendices.]
There are actually good, documented, researched, publicized reasons for these things in evolutionary biology, but since that isn't the point of the post I won't go into them. I just wanted to point out that these are questions WITH answers.