NOT a Debate: Can you believe in God, but not the Bible?

[Serena]

What about The Book of Mormon? They believe that is another part of the bible. But lots don't.

 

[N.Bailey]

I see everyone saying this, that, or the other religion does not believe in OUR Bible. Agreed, but they also do not believe in OUR God either. They follow their own book. Bottom line though, they have written word to go by. Is there a religion out there somewhere that has no written word?

Without that, I think you couldn't possibly believe in anything more than a higher being. You would have no basis for any other belief system.

 

[Serena]

Maybe I'm just accustomed to that higher being being named God.

 

[Melora]

Definately believe in a higher power.. but not sure I see a bearded white man looking down on me and judging me....

But I can see how one might believe in God and not the bible since the bible is written by men who claim God talked to them dierctly. We are taking their word for it. Christians claim you must have faith and thats all the proof they need.... but other religions claim that theirs is the one and only and their leaders talked to God as well. I guess he gets around and changes his story from time to time.

The Christian bible also tells you that Jesus is the son of God. And if you dont accept him as such than you will burn in Hell forever. (Even if you are a nice person). That might certainly be a sticking point for some people.

I often wonder why it was OK to have had God talk to you hundreds of years ago but nowadays if you say God talked to you (perhaps through a burning bush), the nice men in the white coats might be paying you a visit.

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

Yes, I think you can beleive in God and not beleive in the Bible. I think sometimes things get lost in translation, which is what I think happened to the Bible. There are also many books that were left out. Also, you have to remember the political and historical times the Bible was written and when it was translated. They all play a very big part in what goes in and what is left out IMO.

I beleive in a lot of what the Bible says. At least the messages behind the stories. I don't necessarily beleive that the Bible is the literal word of God.

 

[dcentity2000]

There's no reason why you can't

The bible is both a history (the great flood) and a set of moral lessons. You can believe in it or not.

It is mutually exclusive from the belief that there is some higher entity.



Rich::

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

<font color=navy>I believe in God, and I believe in the Bible. My opinion is that if you do not believe in the Bible, you've only heard part of the story.

 

[TigerBear]

Originally posted by Melora
I often wonder why it was OK to have had God talk to you hundreds of years ago but nowadays if you say God talked to you (perhaps through a burning bush), the nice men in the white coats might be paying you a visit.

LOL!!!

 

[TigerBear]

Originally posted by BedKnobbery2
I know the Torah is what Christians consider the OT, but I'm guessing most people of Jewish faith would not profess belief in the Bible, which is what the OP had asked, and is why I made that distinction.

I think it is just interesting that many Christians downplay the importance of the OT. I know, I know - its what distinguishes believes from non-believers.

I think really what the OP might be getting at (rather than a debate about world religions) is whether someone can be spiritual but not religious. In my experience, the answer is definitely "yes".

 

[battricia]

Originally posted by TigerBear
I think really what the OP might be getting at (rather than a debate about world religions) is whether someone can be spiritual but not religious. In my experience, the answer is definitely "yes".

I agree with what you're saying.

tricia.

 

[dmadman43]

Originally posted by Serena
What about The Book of Mormon? They believe that is another part of the bible. But lots don't.

Actually, that is not accurate at all.

 

[dmadman43]

to answer the question, you would need to define "God" for me. For example, Muslims don't believe in the God of the Bible. The Jews don't believe ALL of the Bible.

If was are talking about the "christian God" (for lack of a better descrition) I think the answer is no. Or rather, one is being someone selective and almost disengenuous in their beliefs in God if they do not accept the Bible as His word.

just one man's opinion. I could be wrong. For all I know, in the end we will find out this just one giant Tootsie Pop we are living on.

 

[disneychrista]

I don't view the bible as much more then a story book. But I do believe in a "higher being" whether you call that "God" or something else.

So IMO, YES you can believe in (a) God and not "believe" in the Bible.

 

[treesinger]

Originally posted by *Fantasia*
I guess you can believe in God, but not necessarily mean you have to agree in everything what the bible say and I guess the church too cause they read some stuff from the bible script.

Maybe it depends on your religion? I'm Catholic, and I don't know everything what is in the bible. But I thought that believing in God and the Bible and the Church goes hand in hand.

Ok, stay with me.

I'm not of any particular denomination. I try to live by Jesus' teachings though I do not believe He has saved my soul. So I'm not Christian, but I'm still trying to model my life as if I am.

As far as God goes, I definitely see Him at work in my life in so many different ways that I can't deny he exists. But I don't believe that the Bible is His word to a degree. Men wrote the Bible. Some of it probably is God's own word writ for everyone to see. Some of it is man's interpretation of what God wants. Some of it is allegorical like the flood story. (The Sumerian story of Ut-Napishtam mirrors the flood story and is many hundreds of years before the Bible.) Doesn't mean the flood didn't happen. It means that the flood is not necessarily as the Bible says it is.

And because the Bible has been edited, heavily at times, to add or subtract what was once or is now considered sacred text...well, that seems disingenuine. If I'm a believer that the Bible is the uneditable word of the one and only God, how can it be edited? Because men make mistakes! So I have a hard time believing the Bible is the inerrant word of God, though I believe God is here and at work in all of our lives. The Bible has much that is true, but I question it's accuracy because on man's involvement.

 

[treesinger]

Originally posted by N.Bailey
I don't think there is any argument that the Bible can and has been interpreted many different ways. Though, Catholics and Protestants do not always believe the same way, they both do share a belief that stems from God's word. Where is your basis for your belief without something written?

I guess I could understand someone saying, there is a higher being than what we are that has created everything. But that's as far as you can go with it without writings of some kind.

Personally, I believe that the Bible is Gods word, and if God cannot protect his word, what can he really do?

I believe in SOME of the Bible, but not all of it. Therefore, I cannot profess to believe in the Bible of God, even though some of it is accurate. So that's my problem. I see it as reasonable to believe in God and not the Bible. Belief is pure and unalterable. The Bible is not. But going to church is a bit unnerving because the Bible is the rock that the church bases it's sermons on and it is, IMO, altered by men in some parts in some ways. So I'm having trouble rectifying the two. It seems wrong to say I can't believe in God unless I accept the Bible as 100% truth.

 

[gina2000]

I'm a Roman Catholic and with the exception of early Bible stories, I have never read the Bible. I don't know why but it was never a major part of my religious training. So I don't look at the Bible and consider it an indispensible part of my religious beliefs.

 

[treesinger]

Originally posted by FroggyinArk
ik believe the bible to be a set of guidelines set down by god,, and interpreted by man as He guides, If a certain storey doesnt ring true, or if a passage reads off to you, try reading hte bible as God guides you too instead of as a book. i have read the entire book over a cpl times, but i seldom read straight through, my idea s tat he will guide the pages to what i need to see eachj time i pick it up, i let it fall open in my hands and read that passage,, until He leads me to stop reading. so depending on what part you dont believe today, if you use the bible as a way to get his daily or week ly messages and some passages read differently each time you read them, i believe its his words and mans interpretation of thier order try thisway and i think it might wortk better for you.

My spiritual eyes have not yet gotten quite so attuned. Believing in God and feeling the Holy Spirit are two separate things to me. To simplify, I do see the Love, but I'm not quite FEELING it. My problem. God and I will work that out someday.

 

[treesinger]

Originally posted by Aimeedyan
What is it that you don't believe in the Bible? Obviously it exists... so you have to believe something about it, because it's there. Do you not agree with some of the teachings? Or do you think some of the stories are bogus? Or that many of the books don't belong in there? See where I'm taking this?

I can't really offer my thoughts because I'm not sure WHAT about the Bible you don't believe in.

On more question - have you actually read and studied it? In what context? What translation? What religions take on it?

Sorry for so many questions! Just wanted to get a grip on where you're coming from =)

It isn't really about specific unbeliefs as much as not trusting the men who have gotten there hands on it the last couple thousand years.
Also, I've studied many religions in the scholarly sense. I missed a religion minor in college by a couple of classes. I'm almost certain that the only bersion I've seen is KJV. (Now that's a whole other ball of wax, which VERSION of the Bible? Shouldn't God's word be only one version? If someone wants to start that debate in another thread, here's your cue)
I've read the Bible ALMOST in its entirety, but usually in a scholarly sense rather than a spiritual sense.

 

[treesinger]

Originally posted by KristaTX

It is easy to be confused and disagree with things in the Bible. I have a TON of serious "why" questions for God when I meet him face to face. But as one who believes in God and Jesus, to discount the entire Bible because I don't like some of what it says wouldn't make much sense. Maybe that's not what you are saying, anyway, or maybe you don't believe in Jesus. Hopefully you do believe in prayer, and that is probably what you need to do if you really want to find the answer you are looking for.

I don't want to get into where the Bible may be inaccurate, corrupt, etc. That is a debate thread and would be an ugly one at that IMO. I'm not trying to argue the finer points.

I'm not discounting the Bible as a whole. But I believe that, if you believe in something, be sure you BELIEVE in it before professing to. As I've said, I try to live a Christian life, though I am not a Christian. It would be hypocritical and false to call myself a Christian because I don't buy the whole package.

Or to put a DIS spin on it, it's like saying you love WDW, but you hate MGM, Epcot, and AK. Well in that case, you love MK, not WDW. In my own mind, I can't profess to believe in something unless I buy all of it. To do so would be against God IMO.

 

[treesinger]

Originally posted by TigerBear
Take a world religions class and then ask this question.

Been there, done that, corrupted for life!