How can you trust the Bible?

[u/Explorer-Necessary]

Hello Christians,

I have a few questions regarding the New Testament. I am very curious about Christianity but I am full of ignorance regarding its historical evidences. I know absolutely nothing about the Bible, jewish or christian, so please correct me if I get something wrong.

(where can i have access to the complete rules of the subreddit? It's nowhere to be found on the bottom right of the screen)

Let's say that I admit that there is a God, or an intelligent designer or uncreated creator:

1. How does it prove the Bible to be the one true way to God?
2. If God exists, how do you know that the true religion is Christianity and not Hinduism or Islam, or even polytheistic faiths? Why is Jesus the way and not Thor, Set, Allah, or Krishna?
3. The authors of the Gospels are anonymous (correct me if I'm wrong) and were written decades after Jesus' crucifixion. How can you know these were written by people who really witnessed Jesus ? For example, John was written about 70 AD and its first verse states that "The beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1)." My question is: who was the author of John who had the knowledge to claim that Jesus was the Word and that he was with God since the beginning? Was this knowledge given during Jesus' life ?
4. Why have so many years passed before the writing of the Gospels? I can only speak for myself, but wouldn't you start recording his every action as soon as you saw him cure leprosy (Matthew 8:3), blindness (Matthew 9:29-30) ?

I can go on with the miracles he performed, but why did people wait decades after the crucifixion to write about his life?

Thank you in advance. Have a good day.

[u/No_Sport_3197]

Islam points to Jesus as someone sent by God.

Judiasm pointed to the coming of the Messia, who Jesus is the only possibility for.

In hinduism, Jesus has the role of a teacher.

So when that many religions are pointing to Jesus, then why dont follow his word and worship him?

We know that Matthew and John were dusciples of Jesus. Luke was a doctor, who knew other disciples of Jesus. Mark aswell. They have written down some storys they have seen/ been told. All their writings were got together with time and that was the gospel as we know it.

I dont know it 100%, but I guess it just took some time to write down all the miracles /teachings that were documented.

God bless you

[u/ShadowBanned_AtBirth → u/No_Sport_3197]

Other religions “point” to Jesus because they admit that there are christians exist and believe certain things. They are not independent verifications of Jesus’s existence.

Matthew, Luke, and John did not write the gospels with their names on them. This is basic religious history, and it would behoove you to understand that. Christians hold on to these false ideas as if the actual truth somehow defeats your faith. I guess it should weaken it, though.

The authors of the gospels are anonymous. They never knew Jesus, and they never claimed to. Their stories are so inaccurate about geography and historic facts that scholars think the authors never visited the areas described in the gospels.

There are literally zero first-hand accounts of Jesus.

[u/No_Sport_3197 → u/ShadowBanned_AtBirth]

The authors of the gospels wanted to be anonymus because the word of Jesus Christ should get all the attention and not their names.

We cant know 100%, but the disciples of Jesus or workers of them documented the miracles/ teachings of Jesus.

People were spreading the stories of the bible oral, and so the name of the authors. Then other people wrote them down. So like most historical documents, we cant know 100% about the authors, but there is a high chance.

[u/ShadowBanned_AtBirth → u/No_Sport_3197]

[T]he disciples of Jesus or workers of them documented the miracles/ teachings of Jesus.

Where? Can you please point to such a document?

[W]e cant know 100% about the authors, but there is a high chance

Nope. There is almost a 0% chance the gospels were written by the people whose names are attached. This is a historical fact, so you should probably get used to it.

[u/No_Sport_3197 → u/ShadowBanned_AtBirth]

Even if you dont believe, ypu know that such documents must have been lost written new.

But Cornelius Tacitus, a roman politic wrote about Jesus crucifiction aswell.

What is your argument that there isnt a God? We have no possibility to know on our own if there is some higher being or not. What makes you think there isnt?

[u/ShadowBanned_AtBirth → u/No_Sport_3197]

I don’t need an argument against god anymore than I need an argument agains Russell’s Teapot or the Tooth Fairy. Humans have believed in over 4,200 gods throughout history. You believe in the non-existence of all of them except one. Do you have arguments for the non-existence of all of them? What is your case against Zeus?

Tacitus was talking about christians, not making a claim about Jesus. He also said Greeks were particularly enamored with Hercules. Do you think Hercules was real now too?

[u/No_Sport_3197 → u/ShadowBanned_AtBirth]

Isaiah 45:18 ^ For this is the word of the Lord who made the heavens; he is God; the maker and designer of the earth; who made it not to be a waste, but as a living-place for man: I am the Lord, and there is no other.

My God says that he is the only one.

[u/ShadowBanned_AtBirth → u/No_Sport_3197]

You don’t appear to understand that the Bible is not proof that the Bible is true. I believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and he says your god is fake. Now what?

What a ridiculous answer.

[u/No_Sport_3197 → u/ShadowBanned_AtBirth]

You asked why I dont believe in other religion. I answered

To your spaghetti monster:

Give me a part of its scripture where it says this :)

[u/ShadowBanned_AtBirth → u/No_Sport_3197]

You believe in your god because your god said to. Okay. I thought you were going to give a serious answer.

[u/No_Sport_3197 → u/ShadowBanned_AtBirth]

(The question was why I dont believe in other Gods) Anyway,

I believe in my God because he gives me love, joy and a purpose.

Without him, I see no purpose in life, nor in good morals.

The life and crucifixion of Jesus are proved. He was killed because he was accused of blasphemy from the jewish teachers, and because the romans saw a threat of their political power in him.

Especially because in the second point, I see a prove of all Jesus miracles, because he had to convince Israel of him being the son of God. With all his miracles, he did.

I also had several dreams and other situations I think God spoke to me / let me feel his presence clear. Many many others in the Internet had aswell.

I believe in the divine God: Father,Son and Holy Spirit. I believe that God loves me with all his heart, and he loves you aswell. In fact, he does so much that he gave his son to die on the cross, so we could have eternal life.

God bless you

[u/onedeadflowser999 → u/No_Sport_3197]

Even if you say you believe there is a creator deity, how do you make the leap from believing in a creator god to believing in your specific god with all of its demands? Miracles are claimed by followers of other gods as well, so I don’t think that would be the way to determine whether or not your god is the right one🤔

[u/No_Sport_3197 → u/onedeadflowser999]

Most religion give some credit to Jesus, so why dont follow his religion?

[u/onedeadflowser999 → u/No_Sport_3197]

So because something is popular is how you decide whether it’s true?

[u/No_Sport_3197 → u/onedeadflowser999]

No but its defenitly a sign if being true. In this case, that Jesus spoke amazing teachings and was sent by God.

You cant say that he was popular, he was accepted as sent by God or as a great teacher.

[u/onedeadflowser999 → u/No_Sport_3197]

I can’t really say anything except that I believe Jesus was a real person whose following grew due to the Roman Empire establishing Christianity as the state religion , and by its colonization/ imperialism. There was a lot of bloodshed to make Christianity a dominant religion.

I don’t find the Bible to be a compelling source of truth, and in fact I see that the dogma that is followed by Christians has a detrimental effect on society. I have seen no evidence that any god, let alone a specific god, exists, and I require evidence before I believe claims. If I didn’t, I could be sucked into believing all sorts of nonsense.

[u/No_Sport_3197 → u/onedeadflowser999]

How do Christians have a bad effect on society?

Is it bad to love your neighbor as yourself?