Why Do So Many People Believe Everything In The Bible Without Questioning it?

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   vveaseyposted 11 years ago

   Why Do So Many People Believe Everything In The Bible Without Questioning it?
   
   

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   Electro-Denizenposted 11 years ago

   Hard to say. Would have thought that a debate regarding translations of original texts (e.g. Greek), regarding nuances of words etc, would be a good place to start. On the other hand, most spiritual philosophies  say that the hand of the Divine is in absolutely everything... so why not every word in the Bible too, whether it was mistranslated or not? (i.e. even a mistranslation all designed...) Perhaps reasoning doesn't go that far with some believers.
   
   Personally, I think that the Divine is in everything, even every car that crosses the intersection... but I'm still going to look both ways before crossing :-)) Even fundamental believers look both ways before crossing... so I don't know why they don't look both ways before crossing the Bible highway... As it were. Perhaps there's no sense of immediate personal danger in believing something that looks ok, but which, after some study, shows itself to be a minefield. E.g. the number of people who's lives have been worsened by the concept of everlasting hell, which is on old pagan concept, pre-dating Christianity, but incorporated into Christianity. The word Hell doesn't even exist in the New Testament, not in the way we think of the word 'hell'.

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   CalebSparksposted 11 years ago

   Those who want to follow Christianity completely will believe everything in the Bible without questioning it. The Bible itself teaches that its words are to be believed by faith. It states that those without faith cannot please God.
   
   If you want to be a faithful follower of Christ you will believe everything in the Bible; just like a faithful Muslim who wants to obey the Koran in all things will kill unbelievers.

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      vveaseyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      True

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   christiananrkistposted 11 years ago

   Good question. i think people do this in many aspects of life. not just the bible. why do so many people believe in evolution without know everything about it? why do so many conservatives believe Bush was a great speaker without listening to his speeches? I cant answer those questions, or this one really. I can say however the bible doesn't teach a blind faith. the bible teaches us to test everything leading to a reasonable faith.
   
   Acts 17:10-11
   _The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more NOBLE-MINDED than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, EXAMINING the Scriptures daily TO SEE WHETHER THESE THINGS WERE SO
   
   1 Thessalonians 5:19-21
   _Do not quench the Spirit;do not despise prophetic utterances. But EXAMINE EVERYTHING CAREFULLY; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.
   
   1 John 4:1
   _Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but TEST the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
   
   John 10:37-38
   _“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, SO THAT YOU MAY KNOW AND UNDERSTAND that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”
   
   Unreasonable Faith:
   _Believing in something IN SPITE of the evidence. We hold an unreasonable faith when we refuse to accept or acknowledge evidence that exists, is easily accessible and clearly refutes what we believe
   
   Blind Faith
   _Believing in something WITHOUT any evidence. We hold a blind faith when we accept something even though there is no evidence to support our beliefs. We don‟t search for ANY evidence that either supports or refutes what we are so determined to believe
   
   Reasonable Faith 
   _Believing in something BECAUSE of the evidence. We hold a reasonable faith when we believe in something because it is the most reasonable conclusion from the evidence that exists 
   
   REFERENCE: pleaseconvinceme.com

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      vveaseyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Reaonable faith....an interesting concept

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   Nose-in-the-Newsposted 11 years ago

   I think it is to do with having 'blind faith' or I would even go as far to say it is to do with wearing rose-tinted glasses. Those that love their religion and the positivity that worship brings to their everyday lives, will not question anything that the Bible says. Even negative issues such as natural disasters, death and disease can all be answered by the Bible if the believer has, what I call, blind faith. They will accept the stories and teachings of the Bible, and take them so far as to begin to apply them to their own everyday lives. In doing so, they have created a dependence on the Bible.
   
   Religious people believe that they work and love for their God, a concept that I personally find very difficult to understand. Surely you would work, play, love and laugh for yourself?! Not for anybody else, including God. It may sound selfish to Christians but I believe it is far more satisfying to tread your own path, make your own mistakes and learn from them by reflecting upon your character, rather than attribute every single event in your life to God and the teachings of the Bible.

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      vveaseyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thoughtful perspective

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   Billie Kelpinposted 11 years ago

   because it's easier to study the Bible than Stephen Hawkins' "A Brief History in Time" or compare Aristotelian ethics with Socratic thought on moral virtue, justice, or the highest good.  The Old Testament especially is obscure enough for anyone to defend it with impunity. Any teaching that is stamped as the official  "word of God" (as if anyone actually knew) is comforting to us because in fact, none of us knows what in the 'world' is going on.

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      Ciel Clarkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I love your answer.   It is completely opposite to how I think, but it is said  in a logical specific way that makes me understand  without dismissing.  Love it.

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      Billie Kelpinposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Ciel,  how kind are YOU?  Ans:  VERY! - to have a totally opposite opinion and see the logic in it - You're a truly open-minded person!

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   Mikioposted 8 years ago

   "Escape from freedom" - per Erich Fromm
   Folks would want something authoritative to tell them what to believe, instead of finding out for themselves. It's much easier. (Sigh...) The Bible is a very complex collection of documents from antiquity. Honestly, it is a pretty difficult book to read and understand what it says. Believing it everything in the Bible as 'real' eliminates hard work. (sigh...)

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   The0NatureBoyposted 8 years ago

   My experiences and observations suggest the primary reason people accept everything in the Bible without questioning is because they have never read it as a book they know nothing about and notice any contradiction they find.
   
   After my 1973 "new conception and during gestation" I told god "I'm going to consider everything I know to be in error so you can teach me." Spirit then instructed me to read the Bible through objectively and note every time I found a contradiction.
   
   The "objectively" and "contractions" instructions caused me to wonder why would it even contain contradictions but I did as told. Half way through the first chapter I discovered one, light being brought forth in verse 3 but the source of light was not placed until verse 14. Then in chapter 2:4 I found the earth had no plants when in 1:12 all forms of plants had appeared and also man of both genders were made in chapter 1 but only a single man in chapter 2. 
   
   I had noticed them before and asked preachers and teachers about them who could not answer the question about the light and said chapter 1 was god's thought and in 2 he preformed the work while being told we have to "accept that by faith." However, Hebrews 11:1 say "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" meaning there has to be evidence and substance to accept things.
   
   Those teachings, especially concerning "blind faith", is the primary reason Bible readers believe the book without question.

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