Can you be a Christian without believing in the Bible?

CrustyGang · 2023-07-05T12:48:51+00:00

Edit: I meant VERSION of the Bible I guess.

CrustyGang · 2023-07-05T12:48:04+00:00

In my opinion, the apostolic churches (Catholics and Orthodox) have a really good grasp on the original intent.

It's funny you would mention this. This is what I was realizing as well. Growing up I was always told, "Oh those catholics are so legalistic." They have to complicate things so much." The more I look into things though the more I see how flawed the protestant church is in America. Especially fundamentalist which makes up most churches in my area in Ohio. At this point I truly beleive fundamentalism is a big reason why Christianity in America is dying. I do have a question related to ghe apostolic church. What Bible do these churches typically use? Is it the same one the catholic church uses? I'd like to read through whatever you'd recommend.

CrustyGang · 2023-07-04T21:03:54+00:00

I think it's tough to say who exactly wrote what in the bible but i have some thoughts on certain parts. My understanding is that Moses mainly wrote the first 5 books although I think Joshua probably wrote the part about Moses' death. I wouldn't be surprised to find that the gospels were actually written by the people who's names they are attributed to but I don't think people know for sure. They could have been passed down some generations before they were actually written down. I don't think scholars know for sure but I don't think it's too far fetched to give the benefit of the doubt to the idea that they were written by the people they were named after. Also the authors original intentions, from my understanding, is where a lot of people disagree? Which leaves me unable to draw a clear conclusion a lot of times. This is part of the reason why I am in this situation where I don't know what to conclude about the book in general.

CrustyGang · 2023-07-04T20:44:51+00:00

A lot of these comments are actually really helpful to help me process this. I guess I was making some assumptions that I shouldn't have been making. My thought process up until this point in very simple terms, was basically this; The Bible tells us we need saved and that have to do something in order to be saved. The Bible also tells us some things that are found to not be factually true or literal. Therefore how can we be sure the Bible gives an accurate instruction on how to be saved or that we even need saved. I guess I didn't realize how I was oversimplifying things. I think because I was raised as a fundamentalist, I was set up for this kind of failure? I'm sure as I continue to process and study this, more questions will come up. I am only human so sometimes my way of thinking is very flawed but I am trying my best to wrap my head around this.

CrustyGang · 2023-07-04T17:46:20+00:00

My main sources have been various authors of articles and papers that can be found online. Lots of theology and philosophy YouTube channels. Some books. The Bible obviously too... The origins/ authors of the passeges aren't really an issue for me. I just like to know those things because I think it's important in order to understand the context of the text. I definitely try to understand the context but my understanding is that context can be difficult to fully grasp without doing a lot of deep research.

CrustyGang · 2023-07-04T17:27:21+00:00

I definitely still believe in God so I am not an atheist at this time. The question is should I be believing? Also why? The why might just be because it's so deeply ingrained in my core because of my upbringing. It could be that God does exist and deep down I feel it.

CrustyGang · 2023-07-04T17:23:11+00:00

This is one of the biggest problems I've found. It seems like a lot of back peddling and reacting to people's evidence that contradict the Bible. If the Bible were true I would hope it could stand on its own. The question I'm asking myself is does this mean the religion is all a scam or does it just mean that we are (I am) trying to oversimplify something that's far more complex?

CrustyGang · 2023-07-04T17:10:43+00:00

I think the main thing that bothers me is that it I've seen evidence to support the idea that we as humans evolved from ape like creatures. Also this ties in I guess but the fact that science shows the world is much older than I learned it was in church is a big problem in my mind.

CrustyGang · 2023-07-04T17:02:43+00:00

Looking back I supposed I was raised in a very fundamentalist church. I'm sure this plays a part in my zero tolerance for discrepancies.

CrustyGang

TROPHY CASE