The overwhelming splendor and excellence of the Bible cannot be disputed
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
John Adams called it the best book in the world. Continued that "It contains more philosophy than all the libraries I have seen."
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"I have examined all religions, as well as my narrow sphere, my straightened means, and my busy life, would allow; and the result is that the Bible is the best Book in the world. It contains more philosophy than all the libraries I have seen.
What are your thoughts on this country being founded around Christian principles? Debates to be had, but theres no doubt that the founding fathers had a GREAT deal of Christian influence. A debate also cannot be had on whether this is indeed a Christian nation. Well, the term is subjective, so heres the facts:
1) This country, now and since its creation, has had an abundance of Christian influence
2) The country isn't a theocracy (...as it shouldn't be)
Psalms 33:12
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance
Interesting.
Benjamin Franklin
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Here is my Creed: I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by his Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we can render to him, is doing Good to his other Children. That the Soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with Justice in another Life respecting its Conduct in this.
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As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see;
Alexander Hamilton after the Constitutional Convention of 1787:
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For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests.
..revealing the connection between Christianity and the Constitutional freedom:
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Alexander Hamilton, who led his household regularly in the observance of family prayer, wrote to his friend James Bayard in April of 1802, revealing the important connection between Christianity and Constitutional freedom:
In my opinion, the present Constitution is the standard to which we are to cling. Under its banner bona fide must we combat our political foes, reflecting all changes but through the channel itself provided for amendments. By these general views of the subject have my reflections been guided.
I now offer you the outline of the plan they have suggested. Let an association be formed to be denominated 'The Christian Constitutional Society,' its object to be First: The support of the Christian religion. Second: The support of the United States.
...Expounded:
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I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor. I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted to the mind of man.
I post these quotes not as end all evidence. This is pretty commonly known and I could post such quotes for days and plenty of which are more apparent than the three I chose.
~The Word of God is not bound
(2 Timothy 2:9)
According to The Economist over 100m copies of the Bible are sold or given away every year.
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Yet over 100m copies of the Bible are sold or given away every year. Annual Bible sales in America are worth between $425m and $650m; Gideon's International gives away a Bible every second. The Bible is available all or in part in 2,426 languages, covering 95% of the world's population.
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Although it is impossible to obtain exact figures, there is little doubt that the Bible is the worlds best-selling and most widely distributed book. A survey by the Bible Society concluded that around 2.5 billion copies were printed between 1815 and 1975, but more recent estimates put the number at more than 5 billion.
Those numbers sound large but they mean nothing until you at least know how it compares to other book sales...These numbers are staggering when compared with the very few books which ever sell just ten thousand, let alone just one million.
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The Bible is often said to be the world’s best sold book but search the best seller lists and you won’t find it anywhere, top to bottom. It makes you wonder. If it is a best seller why isn’t it listed? Well, the answer is simple. The annual sales figures for the Bible are so high, averaging between $425m and $650m, repeatedly – year after year – that it dwarfs the sales of all other books. The best any other book can hope for is second place and a very distant second place at that. A list of “best sellers” is interesting only if the top spot is up for grabs so the real best seller had to give way to all the rest.
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Not only is the Bible the best seller of all time it continues to be the best seller every year even when compared to the astounding sales figures of a series like Harry Potter.
The familiar observation that the Bible is the best-selling book of all time obscures a more startling fact: the Bible is the best-selling book of the year, every year. Calculating how many Bibles are sold in the United States is a virtually impossible task, but a conservative estimate is that in 2005 Americans purchased some twenty-five million Bibles—twice as many as the most recent Harry Potter book.
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But other research has found that ninety-one per cent of American households own at least one Bible—the average household owns four—which means that Bible publishers manage to sell twenty-five million copies a year of a book that almost everybody already has.
According to Wikipedia the Call of Duty series had sold "over 100 million" games as of November 11, 2011. The Bible matches that number in one year, every year. The Halo series has reportedly sold 46 million copies. If you take the estimated 100 million Bibles distributed yearly that calculates out to ~190 Bibles sold or given away every single minute, over 3 every second. Astonishing numbers to say the very least. Its mind boggling that a book thats been out since forever can continually sale like an ongoing midnight release. On top of that, the Bible is also the most shoplifted book in the world!
Matthew 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Re: The overwhelming splendor and excellence of the Bible cannot be disputed
Since slavery will so obviously be a topic of discussion I'll touch on it in this post and later respond directly to anything else. (Didn't want to ruin the beauty of the OP)
I came across this the other day, and though it's as simple a concept as can be, its vital in ones understanding. Three things to consider when reading the Bible:
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What the Author wants to convey
What God wants to convey
What the times are when the Author wrote this
That pretty much sums up this..
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Contrary to popular belief the Bible was not written by God whispering into the ears of the human authors to write what he wanted written, but rather the Scriptures are inspired by God. The Holy Spirit guided the authors to be moved in such a way that their writings were of God.
Just as we participate in God’s ongoing creation (procreation) we also had a part in creating the Scriptures. God and his people have always worked side by side (Mary to bear Jesus, we create human life, the Scriptures, the prophets brought the message of God to Israel). The message that God wants conveyed is contained in the Scriptures, but the way it is conveyed was left up to the specific authors.
To that list I would like to add that the purpose of the Bible is to point the way to salvation and not reform society
John 3:17
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
I can go into more detail (specifically about how God is blatantly against slavery (in the sense of physically abusive treatment), more specifically that practiced in recent years) but I think the above best briefly gives explanation enough to what you might cherry pick from the Bible regarding slavery, so that is all I'll say for now. If anything else is said on the subject that I feel the above doesn't clearly apply, I'll respond in more detail. But more than likely anything on this, or any subject, is made clear given you understand the above.
Accurate consideration of the Bible and reading scripture as a whole blatantly shows God has always deplored the cruel and abusive treatment of humans, his undying love for his creation.
Another topic of discussion will be that of a number of founders that supported/practiced slavery (even as far as using the Bible for justification), as if it lessens the greatness of their achievements. I'm fully equipped
Re: The overwhelming splendor and excellence of the Bible cannot be disputed
I always want to talk about a lot of things. Something I saw earlier in the week on here caught my eye, that was about the number of denominations within Christianity.
Denomination has nothing to do with salvation. There are no denominations in Heaven. Commitment to forsaking sin and trusting in Christ as the Lord and savior is the route to salvation and way into eternal life.
Its not hard to tell right from wrong. A Christian denomination founded around everything in the Bible except it's view on gay relationships is wrong (yes there are denominations as such). That certainly isn't to say that gays shouldn't be allowed in Christian churches or that they shouldn't be considered Christian, but that like all sin, it should be a goal that it be eliminated, not ignored.
Re: The overwhelming splendor and excellence of the Bible cannot be disputed
The obscurity of the writings is the reason why there are thousands of christian denominations. Believers simply could not agree on every issue, whether or not a passage is meant to be taken literally or metaphorically; or whether or not a passage could still be applied in today's society. Personal interpretations differ and could also be influenced by cultural and social upbringing, hence geographical location is also major factor in determining what particular denomination you'd adhere to.
Re: The overwhelming splendor and excellence of the Bible cannot be disputed
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Originally Posted by vinsane01
The obscurity of the writings is the reason why there are thousands of christian denominations. Believers simply could not agree on every issue, whether or not a passage is meant to be taken literally or metaphorically; or whether or not a passage could still be applied in today's society. Personal interpretations differ and could also be influenced by cultural and social upbringing, hence geographical location is also major factor in determining what particular denomination you'd adhere to.
No doubt that is the reason for some, but many are due to people just not wanting to give something up--hence they build a denomination that allows it
Re: The overwhelming splendor and excellence of the Bible cannot be disputed
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Originally Posted by BuGzBuNNy
I'd expect even the most hardcore atheists can acknowledge the greatness (for lack of better term) of the Good Book
Common sense stuff. Do unto others, don't steal and lie, try not to act like a prick. Oral traditions and fables were promoting similar messages to burgeoning civilizations for centuries before the Bible started coming together.
Re: The overwhelming splendor and excellence of the Bible cannot be disputed
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Originally Posted by Derka
Common sense stuff. Do unto others, don't steal and lie, try not to act like a prick. Oral traditions and fables were promoting similar messages to burgeoning civilizations for centuries before the Bible started coming together.
Re: The overwhelming splendor and excellence of the Bible cannot be disputed
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Originally Posted by BuGzBuNNy
So you think thats a good summary?
Yep. I've read the thing cover-to-cover. Dad's family is devoutly Southern Baptist, Mom's family is strict Roman Catholic. Probably one of the few people in this city who not only had to do Confirmation, but also attended Sunday School a couple times a month.
Its not my intent to slander the Bible by any means, so don't interpret my words as such.
Re: The overwhelming splendor and excellence of the Bible cannot be disputed
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Originally Posted by Derka
Probably one of the few people in this city who not only had to do Confirmation, but also attended Sunday School a couple times a month.
What does this even mean? Unless you're from some heavy atheist area with a small population I find it hard to believe you were 'one of few people in this city' to attend a sunday school. How do you even come to such a conclusion and what are you proving by saying it?
Re: The overwhelming splendor and excellence of the Bible cannot be disputed
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Originally Posted by BuGzBuNNy
What does this even mean? Unless you're from some heavy atheist area with a small population I find it hard to believe you were 'one of few people in this city' to attend a sunday school. How do you even come to such a conclusion and what are you proving by saying it?
...okay. You've basically ignored the actual substance of my reply in favor of adopting a snarky, defensive tone for no reason and questioning a small point I couldn't possibly offer proof of.
You are the reason that debating on the internet is mostly the province of the retarded.
Re: The overwhelming splendor and excellence of the Bible cannot be disputed
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Originally Posted by Derka
...okay. You've basically ignored the actual substance of my reply in favor of adopting a snarky, defensive tone for no reason and questioning a small point I couldn't possibly offer proof of.
You are the reason that debating on the internet is mostly the province of the retarded.
Okay okay okay..
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Originally Posted by Derka
Yep. I've read the thing cover-to-cover. Dad's family is devoutly Southern Baptist, Mom's family is strict Roman Catholic. Probably one of the few people in this city who not only had to do Confirmation, but also attended Sunday School a couple times a month.
Its not my intent to slander the Bible by any means, so don't interpret my words as such.
So you're saying that you would know a little about the Bible. Fair. I obviously disagree with a summary like what you gave. My response is that any attempt of a summary of the Bible does a major disservice
The overwhelming splendor and excellence of the Bible cannot be disputed
So you think thats a good summary?
