{"id":651482,"date":"2013-11-18T06:00:33","date_gmt":"2013-11-18T06:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/?p=651482"},"modified":"2017-02-08T14:50:48","modified_gmt":"2017-02-08T19:50:48","slug":"the-bible-can-we-trust-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-bible-can-we-trust-it\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bible: Can We Trust It?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"The-Bible-Andy-Gill-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Have you ever taken a step back and asked the question, \u201cWhy do I believe what I believe?\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of us when asked this question, reply immediately, \u201cBecause of the bible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up in Churches this is just what we\u2019ve been taught in Sunday school and youth group, from child hood on, singing aloud without thinking: \u201cJesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

We find ourselves believing and dedicating the entirety of our lives, the basis of our morals, the foundation of our hope, the very essence of our faith off \u201cthe fact\u201d <\/i>that the bible tells us so\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026 But does it? And if it does, why should we trust it?<\/p>\n

You see, we have somewhere around 5,360 manuscripts in the Greek that are all or part of what now makes up the New Testament. None of these manuscripts are originals. With the exception of small fragments, there is not a single manuscript that is the same as another. Within these fragments there are more variants than there are words. Yes, majority of which are minor, but does not the smallest of changes in a sentence at times alter it\u2019s entire<\/em> meaning?<\/p>\n

\"Kamilon-Andy-Gill-Patheos\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Though this is a \u201csmaller\u201d change that does not alter the meaning of a text, we have to question, the credibility of the text. With the knowledge that there are not only thousands of other variances but there are now complete omissions of entire verses and debates about which books should or should not be included\u2026<\/p>\n

It\u2019s arguable that the bible was never\u00a0fully\u00a0<\/i>canonized and that it\u2019s\u00a0an ever-changing document being tweaked, corrected, and translated still to this day<\/a>. Men over the course of centuries have added and deleted verses, and entire books. Fueling the debates in regards to whether or not the bible is\u00a0inerrant<\/i>\u00a0or if it\u2019s\u00a0infallible<\/i>.<\/p>\n

You ever find it weird how it seems some people use not only the same bible but the same verses to justify their contrasting views?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason the bible matters, is because it can mean whatever you want it to mean.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So it\u2019s more than a valid question it\u2019s a\u00a0necessary question to ask, \u201cWho<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is deciding what makes up, \u2018The Word of God\u2019s\u2019\u00a0<\/i>and\u00a0what<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0makes their authority higher than any other authority?\u201d (Martin Luther vs. The Papal authority **cough cough**)<\/p>\n

Now many throw both of those options to floor and question if the bible is even credible.<\/p>\n

This poses many tough questions for the church at large. The worst part is, this isn\u2019t even the beginning of it. What about the manuscripts in which we\u2019ve found recently? Or why did not Jesus write anything down? Were there certain agendas<\/strong> the authors, scribes, and councils had when piecing together these books and letters that now make up the bible?<\/p>\n

It seems like this is more than a poorly kept secret, but it\u2019s become one of the many elephants in the room that the church is beginning to face. We\u2019re no longer able to brush these issues to the side with books such as \u201cThe Case For Christ\u201d which might be suitable for a high school lead small group discussion, but for both Christian and secular academics is seems to be laughable and biased-ly slanted.<\/p>\n

What\u2019re your thoughts? Is the text credible? Why or why not?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever taken a step back and asked the question, \u201cWhy do I believe what I believe?\u201d Many of us when asked this question, reply immediately, \u201cBecause of the bible.\u201d Growing up in Churches this is just what we\u2019ve been taught in Sunday school and youth group, from child hood on, singing aloud without […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2493,"featured_media":655549,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[181,9,59,39],"tags":[25,180,182,183,184],"class_list":["post-651482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-christian","category-reason","category-theology","tag-andy-gill","tag-bible","tag-manuscripts","tag-the-bible","tag-the-bible-can-we-trust-it"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Bible: Can We Trust it?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Bible: Can We Trust it?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-bible-can-we-trust-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Bible: Can We Trust it?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Bible: Can We Trust it?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-bible-can-we-trust-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Andy Gill\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-18T06:00:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-08T19:50:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/604\/2013\/11\/The-Bible-Andy-Gill-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"278\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andy Gill\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andy Gill\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-bible-can-we-trust-it\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-bible-can-we-trust-it\/\",\"name\":\"The Bible: Can We Trust it?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-18T06:00:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-08T19:50:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#\/schema\/person\/4db132075291b01585ac509973439e59\"},\"description\":\"The Bible: Can We Trust it?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-bible-can-we-trust-it\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-bible-can-we-trust-it\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/the-bible-can-we-trust-it\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Bible: Can We Trust It?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/\",\"name\":\"Andy Gill\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#\/schema\/person\/4db132075291b01585ac509973439e59\",\"name\":\"Andy Gill\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd242f2de7cb0eb5e7189ccb783e0b63?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd242f2de7cb0eb5e7189ccb783e0b63?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andy Gill\"},\"description\":\"Andy Gill has studied theology for two years in Princeton and graduating from Eastern University stepped into pastoral ministry in southern California. 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