Treacle Worshipper

As Jinto says, these mean exactly the same. The phrase you are looking for is, "I believe there are no gods."

Btw Magus, why do you feel it's necessary to disprove the existence of God in order to prove the Bible inerrant? Many Xians agree that the Bible is errant, but they don't think it impacts on God's existence. They think the Bible was passed by God to & through people, and people make mistakes. So I don't see why accepting that the Bible has some errors and contradictions would undermine your faith completely. After all, there are some words in the Bible where the translation from ancient Hebrew into modern English is uncertain, which is why many versions provide alternative translations in footnotes. (Including the KJV.)

Just wondering
TW

Magus55

I don't consider translations to be inerrant. I'm fully aware they do have errors, whether copyist errors, or problems with the translation from ancient Hebrew. I do however, believe the original Hebrew and Greek Bible's to be inerrant.

Clutch

Still waiting to learn where Genesis says that Adam was going to live forever if he did not eat the fruit...

Treacle Worshipper

Fair enough, and thank you.
(I looked into that point of view when I was Xian, and decided that it wasn't very helpful, 'cos we don't have the originals, so they can't have much bearing on life today. But that was just my opinion )
TW

Magus55

Correct, since we don't have the originals, we can't really cross reference the translations. We just have to do what we can by cross referencing the earliest copies/manuscripts of the original ( Dead Sea Scrolls) and compare with the translations to understand the meanings. The study of the Bible is as in depth and complicated as science is. Theoligists, Archaeologists, historians , scientists, etc have been doing it for centuries.

Gooch's dad

But Magus, think about what you're saying here--you say that the originals are inerrant, but the translations (such as the KJV or NASB) might well have errors.

So what if I read an English-language bible, find that it obviously has contradictions and errors, and decide that Christianity is false because of this? Say I die the next day--in your worldview, I end up in hell for eternity due to a bad translation?

So your God is capable of inspiring inerrant Greek writers, inerrant Hebrew writers, but not inerrant translators? WTF?

lpetrich

I don't have to, anymore than I have to prove with 100% certainty that Zeus does not exist. Or Odin. Or Amon-Ra. Or Marduk. Or Brahma. Or Quetzalcoatl. So should we worship all of these deities if we cannot rule out their existence with 100% certainty?

Magus55

Why does there need to be a specific reference that says, if you don't eat from this, you will live for ever? God said, if you do eat from this tree - you will die ( i.e, will no longer live forever). Use that common sense. If God says Adam will die from eating from the Tree, obviously not eating from it means He won't die. God gave you a brain for a reason. The Bible is not meant to point out every tiny little detail ever imaginable, only a basic layout and explanation of what you need to know. It takes a brain to figure out the rest. God didn't want the Bible to be a novel you read once, and get rid of it because you understand the entire thing on the first read.

Magus55

No, you use your brain and realize there would likely be errors in copying and translation. If you had faith in God, and realized since He said the Bible is His word ( which became Flesh in Jesus) , and since God is perfect - His word has to be perfect. Common sense would then tell you that if you see a supposed contradiction in later translations - you would study it to realize its not actually a contradiction, only a mistranslation.

Having no Faith in God is where the problem stems from. You don't trust Him ( well you don't even believe in Him) - so you create your own problems. Thats also why God gave believers the Holy Spirit. When reading the Bible, the Holy Spirit helps us understand the Bible due to the difference in translations. Unbelievers don't have that, so its harder for them to understand it. If you had any trust in God, it wouldn't be an issue - therefore its your fault, not His.

Clutch

Well... because you said so. Do you remember defending the coherence of Genesis by saying the following, just a few posts back:Because if you remember using this dodge, you should be worried about your own statement that Adam was going to live forever. The verse also never says anything about Adam living forever.

So your principle appears to be: Strictly textual when you want, but imposing stuff you make up when you want, too.

Which is sort of intellectually vacuous. A realization of which might lead one to recognize the bankruptcy of one's cherished belief...