Life's most used book
Posted by Doug Tue, 20 Sep 2005 17:16:00 GMT
I saw this billboard for SBC Yellow Pages:
Life’s most used book™
I don’t know if there’s statistical validation for this claim or not. Personally, I hope it’s not true for me. I’d hate to think the book I use most is primarily for shopping. When it’s all said and done, I hope the Bible is the book I use most.
I believe the Bible is true and an accurate representation of God and how He wants us to Live.
What people believes about the Bible seems to vary a lot.
There are many who believe that it’s merely an old book of mythology; that it’s no different than Greek stories about Zeus and Apollo. By extension, anyone who believes in the Bible is superstitious and silly.
Others think the Bible is a collection of teaching from wise men about their time. There may be things you can learn about morality, but it’s not much different than teachings of Mohammad, Budda, Confucius, or even Stephen Covey. Also, there may be parts of the Bible that are either wrong or simply don’t apply to our modern world.
Some believe in what Bible-geeks call plenary verbal inspiration. That means God told the writers every word to write and nothing actually came from the individual authors. The result is that Bible scholars study each and every word in the original language and trying to determine what it all means. We end up with sermons where the key points hinge on whether a specific version says “looks” or “searches”.
I believe God (and specifically His Holy Spirit) was actively involved in writing the Bible. I believe He had a hand in which works were included in the Bible and which weren’t. I believe the Holy Spirit gave the authors insight and understanding so that they only wrote what is true. However, I believe the authors wrote from their own perspective and life experiences.
What I think this means is that we need to be concerned with understanding the thoughts and concepts the original authors were trying to express. We need to understand the context it was written and try to apply that to our own situations. I do believe the Bible can be applied to our modern lives and can be a guide and ruler to measure Truth and Morality.
Anyway, the billboard made me think about what role the Bible plays in my life. I thought I’d write about it. I’m leaving comments open and I’d like to hear from you; but I’m not going to engage in a debate here. You’re free to express your beliefs and thoughts though. If you want to discuss this, email me and I’ll be glad to talk about it there.
I believe the Bible to be just another book, written and rewritten many times by many people. This resulted in a long and diverse book which provides room for many interpretations. As we apply our experiences and our character when interpreting the Bible, our doing so reveals our own standards of truth and morality. Other people with other standards will find other interpretations in the Bible. As such, I believe the Bible (and all other texts) to be a poor tool to judge truth and morality. It works remarkably well as a tool to inspire us if we want to find inspiration in it, however. It is our quest for inspiration that lets us find it, however. The real measure are our deeds. That is why many who believe in the Bible can do evil, and why so many who do not believe in the Bible can do good. Because it is part of them, not part of the book. The deed is the only important measure, not the book.
I suspect you saw this kind of comment coming given our past discussion about religious beliefs and morals. Too bad I did not find your old post with our chat from IRC on your site just now. I would have liked to link to it.
I’m glad to see something like this posted. I feel like I’m in the minority at times. Geeks bashing religion is all too common. Anyways, thanks for the post, it made my day.
Thanks :) I just want to second Larry here really – I don’t think I could have said it better.
Thanks for the feedback guys.
Yes, Alex, I’ve always enjoyed our conversations. I too believe our actions are the true measures of who we are. It’s just that I believe the Bible to be the ruler by which we measure.
Without a standard for Truth and Good, those become whatever you want them to be.
And oh, by the way, while the Bible has been copied and re-copied, there is significant evidence that we have very accurate transcripts of what was originally written. And yes, there were many individual authors of the various books in the Bible.
Yes, people can take the Bible and use it to justify doing wrong. History is littered with examples. That doesn’t change that absolute Truth exists as does absolute Good. I believe that Truth can be found in the Bible.
As far as the ‘most read book’ comment, if you know a book really well, I don’t think it means you have to consult it always. No one is going to memorize lists of phone numbers and therefore people might consult the yellow pages very often. Even if the majority of people consult the yellow pages more than the Bible, I don’t think it devalues the Bible, or any other book.
It’s the content that is important. In fact I would think a person who knows the yellow pages inside out is rather strange, and therefore it must be consulted often, for looking up information. I think that someone who knows the Bible by heart is rather special, because there is more value in those words.
Isn’t it sad that I can quote more numbers from the phone book than I can scripture. Although I try, I don’t retain.
“That doesn’t change that absolute Truth exists as does absolute Good. I believe that Truth can be found in the Bible.”
Can you point out just one piece of anything in the world that can be proved to be true? (aside from a boolean)