Myth vs. Reality

The bless(prenominal)ed leger has been dubbed as the all-time bestseller and most astray train book, with 2 billion printed copies rough the adult male. It is composed of a accretion of old-fashi unmatchedd manuscripts that seed as keister for some of the worlds religions. The Old testament (OT) of the p degradescript has twenty-four books written in Hebraical (except for a few passages in Aramaic) and is often quantify called the Masoretic text. At the time of Reformation, the Hebrew books were rearranged and some were classifyd and so became thirty-nine in all. Roman Catholics, ilk Protestants, divide the parole into an Old and a newly Testament.The Roman Catholic Old Testament (OT) contains 46 books (most of them from the Hebrew parole). Some atomic number 18 called canonical or causalityitative other(a)s deuterocanonical, irregularary, merely nonetheless authoritative. Protestants term the deuterocanonical books The Apocrypha and consider them to be surf aceside the Canon of Scripture. For its Old Testament, Catholics go away the list of books included in the Septuagint, a Greek version that was the source of the Latin Vulgate translation. The following chart lists the agreements and oddments between the stray and content of the books of the Hebrew Scripture among Jews, Catholics, and Protestants.Some easterly Orthodox communities include 1 Esdras, the requester of Manasseh, Psalm 151, and 3 Maccabees as split of their Old Testament canon. Catholics and Protestants be in virtual agreement on the 27 books of the New Testament (Flinn, 2007). No doubt, the consecrate tidings is the foundation m all ghostly principles. In fact, the account book is constantly canvass to provide clerics not just with the basis of his doctrine scarcely also with an place repertoire of examples which served to illustrate their positions. Since the tidings contains twain historic and literary texts, many commonwealth have their own recitat ion of what they read in the Bible.Not to mention, the Bible has been translated many times from Hebrew and Aramaic to Latin to contemporary languages. In gain of the dishrepancies in interpretation and translation, the veracity of what has been written is constantly regardd by many religious pundits. Are linguistic process written in the Bible impartiality or is just a collection of ancient myths? How can people disclose lawfulness in the Bible? In this paper, we will try to delve latterly into the veracity and authority of the Bible as a real source of historic and religious events. Baring the Truth in the BibleIn an article, Bob George (2005) procl quarryed that the Bible is the only source of neatness ab erupt delivery boy Christ and idol. He argued that Christianity is root in historical rightfulness because the Bible presents objective, concrete factsnot fanciful tales or mythical legends. George (2005) proved that persons, places, and times has factual basis. F or example, he said that when Caesar Augustus was governor of Syria (Luke 22) he ordered a count of the empire, so Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem (Luke 24).John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, began his ministry in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar (Luke 31). All these events can be traced posterior with historical data available. Trembath (1987) agreed by citing theologian John Warwick Montgomery as he presented a deductivist historiography according to which the truth of the Bible can be inferred from the historical accuracy of the gospel authors in save the vitality of Jesus. Another theologian Edward John Carnell understood that the inspiration of Bible is what reports for its systematic consistency of the Bible.For Carnell, the truth of the Bible rests on the fact that it is graven images rendition of both logic and history (Trembath 1987, p. 9). The Bible is a miscellany of genres story, history, law, prophecy, song, poetry, and letters, making up a inviolate encyclopedia which has for centuries been a bill source of reading byout the world. The divers(prenominal) genres of the Bible tended to make it into a historical, compassionate document whose truths magnate be sex act kind of than absolute. This is why some tyro scholars began to interpret scriptural language as symbol or allegory.They assumed that although the oral meaning of biblical stories might be rooted in historical mise en scene, these stories merely conveyed deeper universal truths. However, biblical inspiration has sometimes been misunderstood as plainly like with inerrancy or immunity from errora view that creates impossible difficulties for those who cherish the Bible. matchless should prefer to discuss truth rather than immunity from error and, even more(prenominal) importantly, appreciate that truth is a result or consequence of inspiration.Despite a machinelike view of inspiration that h ighlighted the role of the Holy Spirit as principal author and hardly allowed for the sacred writers cosmos authentic human authors. This is why, pontiff Leo bakers dozen in his 1893 encyclical Providentissimus Deus clarified the tuberosity between biblical inspiration and truth the Bible is inspired, and therefore it is true (Ocollins & Farrugia 2005, p. 111). Defending Inconsistencies It cannot be denied that errors and inconsistencies can be found in the Bible. Like for instance, the account of the worlds creation being completed in a workweek (Gen.1 1-2 3) looks incompatible with the findings of cosmology and the theory of evolution. The sing and other OT books reflect in places the view that the earth is a flat disc and the sky above is a strong vault supported by tugboats at the ends of the earth. Add too the fact the Bible gives us conflicting accounts of the same episode. How did the Israelites break away their Egyptian pursuers? In describing the escape through t he Red Sea, Exodus 14-15 offers trinity versions. Moses stretched out his hand and as in the Cecil B. de Mille word picture depicted the waters piled up like walls to let the Israelites pass through.Then the waters flood back over the Egyptians (Exod. 14 16, 21, 22, 27, 28). In a second version, an east reverse proved decisive. It dried up the ocean for the Israelites, while the Egyptian chariots got stuck. Then God stopped the Egyptians with a glance and threw them into the sea (Exod. 14 21, 25-6). Finally, an angel of the Lord and the column of cloud no longer went in front of the Israelites, but behind them. As a result the pursuing Egyptians could no longer see their quarry, who thus blithely escaped (Exod. 14 19-20). Then who killed heavyweightDavid or Elhanan (1 Sam.17 2 Sam. 21 19)? Did the office of the Jerusalem Temple cost David 50 dinero of silver or 600 shekels of gold (2 Sam. 24 24 1 Chr. 21 25)? In short, factual inconsistencies and errors of a historical, g eographical, and scientific nature turn up frequently in the scriptures. Faced with such(prenominal)(prenominal) evident factual, moral, and religious errors, Ocollins and Farrugia (2005) explained the biblical truth in recalling three interconnected points the intentions of the sacred authors, their presuppositions, and their modes of observation.Thus, the authors of the opening chapters of generation could be defended. They intended to teach a number of religious truths about the index finger and goodness of the Creator God, about the iniquity of human beings, and so forth they did not intend to teach some doctrine of cosmogony and cosmology. They simply did not aim to describe coherently and in scientific detail the origins of the universe, our earth, and the human race. In recalling the second coming of Jesus, Paul did not intend to communicate a timetable of its arrival but to encourage a full and campaignnt commitment to Christian life.In sum, it is unfair to commove bi blical or any other writers of falling into error by ignoring the difference between the points they really wished to communicate and those that lay outside any such intentions. Second, OCollins and Farrugia (2005) justified that some biblical authors show that they shared with their contemporaries authentic false notions about cosmology and astronomy. But, their bankers acceptance of a flat earth, for instance, remained at the level of their presuppositions it was not the theme of their direct teaching.The Bible was not artificially protected against geographical, cosmo analytical, and astronomic errors to be found in the presuppositions of the sacred authors. Similarly the view that genuine human life ends at death form a presupposition for the drama of Job and not the direct teaching of that book. At a time when death was cerebrated to end all, how could an vindicated person interpret and cope with colossal pitiable? Job did not debate with his friends whether or not there is life after death, but whether undeserved suffering can be reconciled with the institution of an all-good and all-powerful God.Third, OCollins and Farrugia (2005) cited Pope Pius XIIs1943 encyclical letter that pointed out how alleged errors are often simply no more than legitimate modes of expression used by biblical writers In many cases in which the sacred authors are accused of some historical inaccuracy or some inexact recording of plastered events, on examination it turns out to be nothing else than those customary forms of expression or narrative style which were current among people of that time, and were in fact quite legally and commonly used (OCollins and Farrugia 2005, p.113). destination Bishop J. W. Colenso wrote that he did not see any conflict between divine revealing and human reason, and the Bible had to be approached scientifically and logically. Colenso assumed that scientific logical thinking is privileged, not in opposition to Gods revelation but as its elf a gift of God. Thus, it depends on the reader of the Bible is encouraged to charter whatever resources are available numeral skills, history, philosophy and comparative religious texts, in the firm belief that truth is one and belongs to God (Sugirtharajah 2001, p.144). In detecting the truth in the Bible, we should take into consideration context in which biblical language had been spoken. It was recognized that the meaning of words or stories might depend on the broader cultural purlieu in which a given text had been produced. Furthermore, it was supposed that meanings might have been muddled or blurred in the word form of history as cultures changed to make them less apparent. Finally, we should all remember that truth is subjective.When semantic, systemic, logical or empirical truths come into conflict, theorists urge that we believe that truth as such has no cognitive valuethat we literally should not care whether our beliefs are true or false, but only whether they enable us to achieve more indispensable goals such as happiness and well-being. Thus, we should believe that the Bible speaks the truth because it can serve as our moral and spiritual betoken to attain a spiritually function and happy life. References Flinn, F. K. (2007). The Bible. Encyclopedia of universality, Encyclopedia of humans Religions. New York Facts On File, Inc.George, B. (2005). Conservative Christianity Is a Biblical Relationship with God. In M. E. Williams (Ed. ), opposing Viewpoints Constructing a Life Philosophy. San Diego Greenhaven Press. OCollins, G. & Farrugia, M. (2003). Catholicism The Story of Catholic Christianity. Oxford Oxford University Press. Sugirtharajah, R. S. (2001). Bible in the Third World Precolonial, Colonial, Postcolonial Encounters. Port Chester, NY Cambridge University Press. Trembath, K. R. (1987). evangelical Theories of Biblical Inspiration A look into and Proposal. Cary, NC Oxford University Press, Inc.