It is claim by Christians that the bible is the inspired word of God, and we have only their word on this. But how could a skeptic go about verifying the Christian's claim? Is there any evidence within and/or without the bible that proves that it is the word of God?

If a skeptic is presented with a copy of the Qu'ran, the Bible, and other religious text from other tradition, what attributes or criteria could she use to select the most likely to have been inspired, given that they all claim to possess the word/truth of God?

OR

Should we just accept the claim because it says it is?

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Some of my other threads


The Dangers Of Religious Fundamentalism To Intellectualism
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=110955.msg1929006#msg1929006

What Are The Core Tenets (doctrines, Value And Virtues) Of Christainity?
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-112990.0.html

What Fate For Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Constantine And Tomás De Torquemada?
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-112997.0.html#msg1958617

Is The Doctrine Of Trinity Biblical? The Johannine Comma
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-112865.0.html#msg1957266

On The Authenticity Of The New Testament, Part 2
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-112848.0.html

How Is Salvation Achieved?
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-112833.0.html

Only For Those Who Know Their Bibles And Some History: Who Was Jesus?
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=112697.msg1954632#msg1954632

Only For Those Who Know Their Bibles: Old Testament Stories
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=112679.msg1954426#msg1954426

Human Sacrifice In The Bible: Lev 27: 29 & Judges 11
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=112584.msg1953340#msg1953340

Please, Please, Please: Christians - Read Read Read Your Bibles
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=112578.msg1953311#msg1953311

When Was Jesus Crucified?
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=112557.msg1952665#msg1952665

On Conversion To A Religion (christianity Or I-slam)
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=112547.msg1952353#msg1952353

Faith-healers And Tele-evangelists
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=112398.msg1950528#msg1950528

Where Did Sin Originate?
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=112377.msg1950291#msg1950291

For The Non-beleivers Only, 1
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=112262.msg1948957#msg1948957

Would Christains Be Criminals And Offenders If They Were Not Christians?
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=112259.msg1948919#msg1948919

On The Authenticity Of The New Testament, Part 1
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=112240.msg1948631#msg1948631

Has Atheism Got Principle? No
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=112216.msg1948180#msg1948180

It Is Biblical To Have Sex (and Lots Of It) Before Marriage
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=112139.msg1946940#msg1946940

Should The Old Testament Laws Be Observed In The Modern Era?
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=112114.msg1946682#msg1946682

Founding A State or Nation On Religious Principles
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=112086.msg1946268#msg1946268

Great Books About Non-belief
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=111928.msg1943935#msg1943935

Who Are The Self-declared Non-believer? Resources For You
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=111806.msg1942137#msg1942137

Beware of a Simplistic Interpretation of Jesus's 2nd Coming Passages
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=111677.msg1939992#msg1939992

Archbishop Cause Furore Over Sharia Law In The Uk
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=111645.msg1939155#msg1939155

Eminent Christian Scientist (francis Collins) Explains The Evolution Of Humans
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=111482.msg1936158#msg1936158

Please, Help Me Out With Your Knowledge Of The Bible
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=111474.msg1936099#msg1936099

Why Biology Is So Important To Our Modern World
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=111466.msg1935975#msg1935975

Genesis Vs Genetics
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=111227.msg1932655#msg1932655

Jesus Genealogy
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=111222.msg1932616#msg1932616

£300 (three - Hundred Pound Sterling) Essay Competition
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=111143.msg1931508#msg1931508

Beware Of Religious Fundamentalism In Your University Campuses
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=110965.msg1929160#msg1929160

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therationa:

It is claim by Christians that the bible is the inspired word of God, and we have only their word on this. But how could a skeptic go about verifying the Christian's claim? Is there any evidence within and/or without the bible that proves that it is the word of God?

on what evidence does the skeptic prove that the bible is not the word of God?

therationa:

Should we just accept the claim because it says it is?

no you shldnt but i'd expect you to at least READ the bible rather than saturating urself with atheist websites that dont help you form an independent oppinion.

4Him:

on what evidence does the skeptic prove that the bible is not the word of God?

Back to you old tactic again. Changing the question. And you would accuse me of not staying about to defend my views. How do you expect me to stay about when that is NOT the questions I asked?

I would have liked something like: It is the world of God because;

It contained the truth the origin of humankind, the origin of the world, it correctly predicted the development of supercomputers, it correctly foreshadowed the event of the world wars etc.

But you are playing evasive games. This shows you are not prepared to stick your neck out for what you believe. You are only comfortable amongst the credulous and ignorant, so you can bamboozle them by quoting and jumping from verse to verse showing off your skills of memory, but nothing else. What a way you underuse/abuse those little gray cells.

therationa:

Back to you old tactic again. Changing the question. And you would accuse me of not staying about to defend my views. How do you expect me to stay about when that is NOT the questions I asked?

I would have liked something like: It is the world of God because;

It contained the truth the origin of humankind, the origin of the world, it correctly predicted the development of supercomputers, it correctly foreshadowed the event of the world wars etc.

But you are playing evasive games. This shows you are not prepared to stick your neck out for what you believe. You are only comfortable amongst the credulous and ignorant, so you can bamboozle them by quoting and jumping from verse to verse showing off your skills of memory, but nothing else. What a way you underuse/abuse those little gray cells.

for someone who has made about 30 threads in less than 1 month you are not one to talk about evasion tactics.

Now get the truth rammed down your throat you hypocrite . . . you cant claim to be asking for the answer to 5*5=25 when you dont believe that 1+1=2.
It is either you believe God exists or not, to jump from there to asking whether His word is valid or not is not reasonable.

We started out by trying to take u through our persuasions thinking we were interacting with an individual with a capacity for rational reasoning. . . now we know better we will continue to serve you your own unpalatable dish of inconsistency and dishonest approach to issues until you show that u are ready for a reall discourse.

How many times did Stimulus call you out to thrash out issues? How many times did you cleverly dodge them by running like a scared rat to open another thread?

I am more than ready to stick out not only my neck but my arms, legs and entire trunk for what i believe in but i also stand for the truth that you cannot afford to cast ur pearls before swine (and that is no insult at all).

have a good day.

4Him:

for someone who has made about 30 threads in less than 1 month you are not one to talk about evasion tactics.

Now get the truth rammed down your throat you hypocrite . . . you can't claim to be asking for the answer to 5*5=25 when you don't believe that 1+1=2.
It is either you believe God exists or not, to jump from there to asking whether His word is valid or not is not reasonable.

We started out by trying to take u through our persuasions thinking we were interacting with an individual with a capacity for rational reasoning. . . now we know better we will continue to serve you your own unpalatable dish of inconsistency and dishonest approach to issues until you show that u are ready for a reall discourse.

How many times did Stimulus call you out to thrash out issues? How many times did you cleverly dodge them by running like a scared rat to open another thread?

I am more than ready to stick out not only my neck but my arms, legs and entire trunk for what i believe in but i also stand for the truth that you cannot afford to cast your pearls before swine (and that is no insult at all).

have a good day.

What a waste, what a waste !!

that's true, what a waste of time trying to make a blind bat see the difference between the colors red and blue.

the bible is the word of God,
the proof that the bible is Gods word is that the bible says i heal the sick -i do that i speak in an unknown tongues-i do that a believer that lives a rigtheous life is born of God and i believe that.
if you dont believe is the word of God come let us go and do exploit. and i will proof to you that indeed is a book that contains the written word of God.

That's an awful lot of threads that you've started. Obviously you are not a christian, but may I ask what your motivation for all this is? I find it hard to get my head around why someone would be so passionate about what they don't believe in.

@therationa / tpaine / huxley
Since you are so rational and scientific, please design an experiment for us that would PROVE to us (conclusively) whether the bible is the word of God or just another hoax.

Therational is no longer doing this. . .
He left after incessant ban on his numerous IDs.

@Poster!
What is the evidence that therational is a human and not a demon?

Ifyou can answer this then you would have answered the thread you started.

ty4real:

@Poster!
What is the evidence that therational is a human and not a demon?

Ifyou can answer this then you would have answered the thread you started.

LOL. That cracked me up.

It is claim by Christians that the bible is the inspired word of God, and we have only their word on this. But how could a skeptic go about verifying the Christian's claim? Is there any evidence within and/or without the bible that proves that it is the word of God?

If a skeptic is presented with a copy of the Qu'ran, the Bible, and other religious text from other tradition, what attributes or criteria could she use to select the most likely to have been inspired, given that they all claim to possess the word/truth of God?

OR

Should we just accept the claim because it says it is?

if u are a strong born again christian,whenever God wants to give u a message he quotes his scriptures, which are in the bible,dat is proof enough for me to know dat d bible is a word of God

4Him:

We started out by trying to take u through our persuasions thinking we were interacting with an individual with a capacity for rational reasoning. . .

A christian wants to interact with an individual because of his "CAPACITY FOR RATIONAL REASONING!!!"
Since when do people of faith start having an afinity for "RATIONAL REASONING?!"
HAHAHAHAHA!!!I am laughing myself kapput!

it really suprises me that so many of us that call ourselves christians and profess to believe in the bible know so little about the bible. Ask the average christian "how the bible came about" and he would not be able to answer you properly. well the bible is a collection of about 67 different books written by several authurs over a period spanning about 6,000 years. It is also worthy of note that the books were only compiled around the year 400 AD by the catholic church to guide the christians and provide knowledge about our faith. Also worthy note is that the original bible contains about twelve books which have been removed from todays bible because some later christians who reviewed the origianal bible felt that those books did not have spiritual value. so effectively what i am saying is that although the bible contains the word of God, it was written and compiled by man there fore the human angle which is imperfect would also occur in the bible, i do not in tend to in any way discredit the bible becos it contains the word of God as i believe it is the word of God but there is an human aspect to it. As a result of the fact that there is a human aspect to the bible, we have a few issues that do not seem to agree in the bible, also a lot of this differences can be traced to translation from various ancient languages to our mordern day english( the books of the bible were written in at least five different languages) even our mordern day bible as several versions and the meaning of a passage might appear to mean different things in different versions.

A clear danger of trying to have an intelligent discourse with an avowed and knowledgeable Christian is that they never answer straight questions - they would rather throw it back at you by asking you the same question - per chance you have the answer, they will simply say "hey! that is the same here" it is such a childish, infantile reaction to an open question- it is not intelligence, neither is it wisdom. it is simply buffoonery at its finest.

KunleOshob: it really suprises me that so many of us that call ourselves christians and profess to believe in the bible know so little about the bible. Ask the average christian "how the bible came about" and he would not be able to answer you properly. well the bible is a collection of about 67 different books written by several authurs over a period spanning about 6,000 years. It is also worthy of note that the books were only compiled around the year 400 AD by the catholic church to guide the christians and provide knowledge about our faith. Also worthy note is that the original bible contains about twelve books which have been removed from todays bible because some later christians who reviewed the original bible felt that those books did not have spiritual value. so effectively what i am saying is that although the bible contains the word of God, it was written and compiled by man there fore the human angle which is imperfect would also occur in the bible, i do not in tend to in any way discredit the bible becos it contains the word of God as i believe it is the word of God but there is an human aspect to it. As a result of the fact that there is a human aspect to the bible, we have a few issues that do not seem to agree in the bible, also a lot of this differences can be traced to translation from various ancient languages to our mordern day english( the books of the bible were written in at least five different languages) even our mordern day bible as several versions and the meaning of a passage might appear to mean different things in different versions.

Simply beautiful! . The Bible is the "inspired" word of God, written by Man who is constantly plagued with the dynamics of religious and socio-political environment. he is bound to embellish a little bit and mostly for the reason that it would likely be believed hook-line-sinker

Bump

Its historic and scientific accuracy convinces me beyond reasonable doubt that the bible is from GOd.....

It is direly impossible to reason with a zealot. it is a painful experience when the mind is closed to reason and opened only to blind faith. truly a painful venture in mental suicide

Waow!!! I am stupefied at the level of ignorance and evasive actions being demonstrated by christians here. You guys cant even defend what you hold so true and the statement you bandy about. The OP asked a veeeeery simple question. if a skeptic wants to know which book is the real word of God of all the several religious ones we have arround, how would you prove yours is the true one? You christians go arround preaching, dont you? How do you convince a babalawo or his sons that your bible and not the quran or any other religios books is the true world of God. Answer the question and stop being silly