Why do so many Christians wanting to preach salvation back up the key points of their arguments by saying 'as it is written in the Bible
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Because it's ok to disaggree? To get a bit Jim McNiesh-y, the most interesting conversations which change us the most, tend to be over the things we don't aggree on, and occur when we say what we think and don't look for aggreement.
Saying "the Bible is the true word of God" probably hasn't saved many people, but watching Christians sure as heck has. And if one accepts noone has a 100% monopoly on the truth, saying what we think is true has to be constructive.
Yes, it's ok to disagree - and can be good to have a no-holds-barred debate. I was thinking more of people who imagine that by saying something is written in the Bible, they have proved to everyone (even those who have no reason to agree) that it is true.
I found the truly awful website teen-4-christ.org from someone's blog and it's full of people saying 'the Bible says so' to stop debate, rather than start it. I've heard it from quite a few people - most of them otherwise very sensible, but apparently not able to understand that "the Bible is the true word of God" is a claim which must be backed up - whether by a demonstration of the love of Christ in their lives, or by debate.
I have been wondering this myself. In last week's CU meeting they were preparing for Mission by giving out 'Top Ten Tips for Evangelism' leaflets etc., and having studied them, I think I have noticed a flaw in the plan. For example, there is a chapter in I think the Gospel of John that contains four statements that put together sum up the whole message, and they recommend using these in conversations with non-Christians. Also, a key question to ask is 'Who do you think Jesus is?'. But, why should a non-Christian give the Gospel of John any credence? Jesus said he had come to give us life etc. etc., but the evidence for that, and for his resurrection, comes from the Bible, and why should the Bible be trusted? For all any one knows, it could all be propaganda - of course they want you to think that Jesus said this about himself, and that he performed miracles both before and after his death and resurrection. If one were a conspiracy theorist, everything since the lying Bible could be a mass delusion
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Saying "the Bible is the true word of God" probably hasn't saved many people, but watching Christians sure as heck has. And if one accepts noone has a 100% monopoly on the truth, saying what we think is true has to be constructive.
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Yes, it's ok to disagree - and can be good to have a no-holds-barred debate. I was thinking more of people who imagine that by saying something is written in the Bible, they have proved to everyone (even those who have no reason to agree) that it is true.
I found the truly awful website teen-4-christ.org from someone's blog and it's full of people saying 'the Bible says so' to stop debate, rather than start it. I've heard it from quite a few people - most of them otherwise very sensible, but apparently not able to understand that "the Bible is the true word of God" is a claim which must be backed up - whether by a demonstration of the love of Christ in their lives, or by debate.
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