Divine Origins
The WordWhy do you believe your holy book is truly from God?
Anglican: The Christian Bible tells us what sort of God it is that Christians worship. It does that by telling the stories of the communities who worship God. Christian communities have songs and stories, laws and legends, conflicts and concords. Our greatest story is the story of Jesus, his ministry, his execution and the creation of a community in his name at Easter.
The Bible in this view is not something dictated by God, nor something that is verbally inerrant. Its power comes from its being the Church's book.
Judaism: It makes great sense to believe that God would leave a blueprint, an instruction manual, for how to live. Our Holy Book, the Bible, is that blueprint. The Torah, the Bible, the Five Books of Moses, contain promises about rewards for adhering to the dictates of faith, or the consequence for failure to adhere.
The Bible is committed to telling the truth, even if the truth is painful. There you have it - a Holy Book that is painfully true.
Islam: It is a fundamental belief of Muslims that the Holy Koran is truly from God. A person is not a Muslim if he or she does not hold this belief. For Muslims, the Holy Koran contains the Creator's will and guidance for human beings in this world so "that people may stand forth in justice" (57:25).
"Koran is not such as can be produced by other than God: On the contrary it is a confirmation of (revelations) that went before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book - wherein there is no doubt - from the Lord of the Worlds: (10:37).
United Church: In the United Church of Canada, we say that the Bible is never less than the Word of God. We do not presume that the Word of God is limited to the Bible. Holy or not, the Bible is a book; a biblios of books: 66 in our version.
The Bible is truly from God not because it was dictated from heaven, but because it reflects how flawed humans struggle to describe our relationship to God. the truth is in the struggle.
Metropolitan Bible Church: The Bible makes a bold claim for itself. It claims to be from God. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed". God's Spirit supernaturally influenced the writers of Scripture so that the words we read in the Bible are from God, completely trustworthy and authoritative.
The Bible has proven historically reliable. The Bible refers to dates, events, people and places in history. Its accuracy has repeatedly been verified by historians and archaeologists. The Bible has proven prophetically precise. It remains the best-selling book of all time. It has been globally influential. No other book has changed individual lives and entire societies like the Bible.
Hinduism: Although of divine origin, Hinduism does not claim that its most sacred text, the Veda, was uttered by God. From the Sanskrit "veda" which means knowledge, the Veda is a body of primordial knowledge that according to tradition was intuitively revealed to Sages. Thus it is apauruseya, authorless and therefore revealed, and its wisdom is eternal and imperishable. The Vedas are not dogmatic, proclaiming that Truth is one, but "sages call it by different names".
The world's oldest scripture, the language of the Vedas is archaic and needs interpretation and is studied mainly by scholars and priests. However, individual verses known as mantras are recited at prayers, religious functions and other auspicious occasions in contemporary Hinduism.
Roman Catholic: If we accept there is a God, that He wants us to be able to know Him and to have a genuine relationship with Him, and that we want a relationship with Him, then this answer will make more sense. Over the course of history God revealed Himself to us through human beings who, inspired by God's Holy Spirit, revealed necessary truths to us to help us to know Him.
In the resource book of the teaching of the Catholic church (the Catechism of the Catholic Church) we read in paragraph number 104: "In the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet His children, and talks with them." It makes sense that God would provide us with the means of knowing Him.
Sikh: The Sikh scripture, Sri Guru Granth Sahibk (SGGS) is the revealed and divine shabad or word of God. SGGS was compiled by the Sikh Gurus and includes their teachings as well as those of other, contemporary spiritual teachers who experienced the divine. Sikhs consider SGGS their eternal spiritual master and guide to union with God.
The subject of reverence in all Sikh scripture is the one God and all nomenclatures in use in that geographical region at the time have been mentioned to address the supreme, eternal soul.
The summing up through the various lenses of particular perceptions and adherences of humankind's devotion to the belief in an Almighty. And for those who seek harbour in no such dependencies? Perhaps self-reliance, native intelligence, patience and goodwill.
Labels: Human Relations, Political Realities, Religion
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, January 30, 2010
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