Garnet

1. No. I've never seen evidence that convinces me of the existence of God. Therefore, I think the Bible is the creation of man.

2. At risk of being snarky, ask them, not me.

spin

If the reality behind the notion "divinity" doesn't exist (as implied with "God does not exist"), then anything labelled "divine", ie of the non-existent reality behind the notion "divinity", is obviously mislabelled (hence the bible "certainly isn't divine"). (I'm sure if you work hard enough, you can quibble about this explication, but you should have the basic idea of the intent of the original statement, at least as I perceived it.)


spin

Sparrow

Assuming you mean the Judeo-Christian god, No I don't believe the bible is the word of god. I don't see any evidence for a god of any type, especially the Judeo-Christian one. So the bible can't be the word of a non-existent entity. If there were a god, the bible would be a poor communication from such a powerful entity.
I'm not the best one to explain the alternate point of view (i.e. that the bible is the word of god), but any number of different explanations could be offered such as emotional dependency, intellectual laziness or dishonesty, self delusion, brain damage. My fourth great grandfather had a son who was brain damaged at birth and was a firm believer in the gospel. I suppose it's possible there are some positive reasons to believe in a god, but I'm not aware of them.

The value of a belief in a god is debateable. Many have reported an improved life and have credited it to a god. Much persecution and violence has been fostered by such beliefs as well.

Vorkosigan

Looks like GRD stuff here.

spin

How can you ascribe anything to a theoretic existence you don't have any means at all of objectifying?

Some people don't believe in electricity because they can't see it, so you get a video-camera and film a person touching a live wire, and then ask what was the cause of the phenomenon? The non-believer in electricity sees the same phenomenon and can reproduce it themselves at any time, so the phenomenon itself has to a certain extent been objectified. You can test the results in front of people who don't hold your understanding and they have to deal with the phenomenon.

God, by definition, is outside your range of possibility of verifying, therefore you can only have a subjective perception of the subject, just as a schizophrenic (no attack on schizophrenics intended) cannot objectify the subjective perceptions s/he has. What is the difference between a xian's knowledge of a god and the schizophrenic's knowledge of the [little friend that sits on his/her shoulder -- to be extreme and simplistic]? None. (The only difference between the two people is the relationship they each have with the subjective perceptions. Of course this doesn't mean that God doesn't exist, but that, if s/he does exist, we have no way of knowing it -- unless of course you can distingush a psychotic attack from a divine revelation and it would be interesting to know how one could make such a distinction.)

The question "Do you believe the Bible is the word of God?" presupposes things that render the question ultimately meaningless.


spin

Chili

But sir, the bible teaches us that to enter into the reign of God we must have the mind of Christ and so become God. Does this means that those who do not believe in God are also "not too brigth?"

I have no problem with you calling believers kind of dumb but would this not make unbelievers even dumber since the believer my or may not have correct opinion while the unbeliever obstinatly stated: there is no God --while not realizing himself that unstructured space is a deluge wherein not all thoughts have been properly evaluated.

Here's a poem for you:

Had he known that unstructured space is deluge and stocked his life house-boat with all of the animals -- even the wolves -- he might have floated.

But obstinate he stated: the land is solid and STAMPED . . .
watching his foot sink down throught up to his knee.

Libertus

1. No I do not. I don't believe it is the Word of God primarily because I do not believe there is such a being.

2. I believe that other believe it IS the Word of God, because it serves as proof to them that there is someone out there watching over them and he gave them a message. I believe that it serves as a fanciful security blanket for people who are induced to fear uncertainty.

Libertus

Angyson

I was an agnostic and atheist for 30 years until I met a very attractive Christian girl who refused to discuss religion with me until I had read the Bible cover to cover, saying I did not have a clue what I was talking about.

Out of spite, I took her up on her challenge and somewhere in the book of John, I became converted. I have been a Christian since although I have chosen not to join any denomination as none have demonstrated to me that they are doing anything more than talking the talk but not following the walk.

I now believe that the Bible is the word of God expressed by people least likely to be chosen for the task, like the stutterer Moses or tax collectors or fishermen or simple folk. God works in mysterious ways. To answer your second question, the Bible states that God choses not to punish evildoers directly, but through their descendants to five generations. If you fall into this category, the word of God falls on deaf ears.

Chili

Oh yes I do but philosophers usually say what they mean and mean what they say or pretty soon mislabelled statements become the evidence that God does not exist.

Chili

Nobody said that the Bible is not a creation of man but it is inspired by God . . . which already proves that man has the potential to be God and write his own bible if you see the difference between [your idea of] God and the Bible.