tam wrote: ↑Mon Oct 04, 2021 2:48 pm It is also ok to throw away the belief that the bible is the authority for Christians. God is still on His throne and (more than) worthy of our trust, faith, love, allegiance; Jaheshua (not “Jesus”) is still Savior and Lord. He still gave His life and rose from the dead, God still created all things through Him, the flood was still a literal worldwide flood, Adam and Eve are real people. We should still keep the law – but the TRUE law which is written upon the heart of those in the new covenant – which law is LOVE (love is the law from God, from the beginning). We still have an authority: the TRUE Word of God, who is alive and sharper than any double edged sword. He (Christ Jaheshua) lives and teaches and leads His sheep into all truth.
This is a good segue into reasons for accepting the Bible as the authority for Christians.
Let’s start with the assumption that theism is true. A person believes God exists and it interacts with mankind. Without some sort of written material, how would you know it is like? How would you even know about its characteristics? It would either be someone else told you or you heard from it, But, that would not be very objective. A book would be an objective way to transmit information. So, the best way for God to reveal specifics would be through some sort of book.
Without some universally accepted written document, there would be no basis of rule and cohesion. Suppose we play a game and we just make up the rules as we go along. It wouldn’t really be much of a game. People can play a game together because the rules are codified. Countries (at least civilized ones) are governed and ruled by a codified set of laws. Without that, it would be anarchy. Companies are built on a business plan that founders and investors can agree on. Written documents are especially important as an organization gets large.
With a Bible, Christians in China and Christians in Africa can agree on things. Without it, there would be little basis for agreement. (Yes, I hear the skeptics pointing out Christians don’t agree on everything. But, without a book, there certainly would be much more disagreements.) With a Bible, at least there’s an agreed upon starting point for discussions.
Without a Bible, how would you even know there was an Adam and Eve? Or a worldwide flood? Or even about Jesus for that matter?
A book is also a good method to reliably transmit information. Oral communication is prone to errors, esp when when it has to span a large space and time.
So, at a minimum, some book is required. Whether it is the Bible is for further discussion.
https://debatingchristianity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1051984#p1051984