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9 Nov 2007 Alpha Course: Week 5
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Halfway through the Alpha Course and this week's session is entitled "Why and How Should I Read the Bible?" Apparently it's not just a simple case of picking it up and flicking through the pages, although I feel there will always be plenty of page flicking.
According to the statistics presented by the minister speaking in this session the Bible is the most popular, top selling book ever. With around 1.52 million bibles sold in the UK each year and around 6.8 bibles in each US house (.8 of a bible? Destroying a bit of the bible? Blasphemers!!) it seems that the bible is indeed number 1. But why is this?
Whilst it is true that the bible is full of stories its serves a greater purpose. It is claimed that the bible is The Word of God (that is to say that God is speaking through the prophets that write out the passages), and that the point of the bible is for Christians to develop a relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. These words are written by various people in the past, from Roman Catholics to Greeks and so forth, and most of all the bible is perfect and it contains no errors.
The bible is perfect and contains no errors.... That is quite a strong claim to have.
Especially when you consider:
- The bible has been translated into different languages over time, including Hebrew and Greek. Could it be possible that there could be some misunderstanding and mistranslations over time?
- The words of the bible were not originally written down. They were passed through word of mouth. Could it be possible that someone forgot some bits of important information? Or worse, lied for their own personal gain?
- The bible can be quite difficult for the average person to understand its meaning. How does it relates to their modern day to day lives. Mind you there are external 'bible guides' available for people to use to help them understand the message of the bible. But does that mean all these guides will say the same thing or will they be different depending on which guide you pick?
- The difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament is that the Old describes a brutal world, whilst the New paints an image of mercy.
I believe that the purpose of the bible, for those who choose to read and accept it, is for it to be a guide. A guide to show people how to be a good human being, to co-exist with his fellow man and to create a world of peace. But these are core values and ideas that all of humanity should have. Do we need to stick a religion label on it just to get people doing it?
And if we are trying to become better people can we get the same effect as the guiding bible from various self-help books from you local book shop?
Posted at: 13:16 PM
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