Question:
Ok.. that is something a friend stated to me, not something I think.
Here is a huge questions, How do we Christians tell someone in a loving way that the Bible is Truth, the full on Word of God and the "Play book" we are to go by with out being "preachy" overly forcefull, or in a way where we just turn some one off completly from looking for the truth?
Answer:
Ask him how that makes any sense whatsoever... Seriously. That is a self-defeating statement, unless the word "God" is previously undefined. Your friend needs to believe in the God of the Bible; the Real God. It makes no sense to tell him about how the Bible is the book of God when you are both talking about two completely different things in reference to God.
Answer:
What about the bible does he not believe? Inspiration? Authority? Historical accuracy/veracity? Interpretation?
Answer:
Originally Posted by Andrew Ask him how that makes any sense whatsoever... Seriously. That is a self-defeating statement, unless the word "God" is previously undefined. Your friend needs to believe in the God of the Bible; the Real God. It makes no sense to tell him about how the Bible is the book of God when you are both talking about two completely different things in reference to God.
Sorry, but last time I checked, there were many "Gods" that weren't the God of the Bible. "I believe in God, but not in the Bible" is in no way a self-defeating statement. You could be Muslim, you could be Jewish, you could be something else entirely and believe that although there is a God, He has not revealed Himself through any written document. All of those are perfectly reasonable and perfectly tenable positions to take in regards to the existence of God. We just so happen to believe something different.
There is little you can do to make someone believe that the Bible is the written Word of the one true God, other than to let them continue to read it, to trust in the promises of Scripture, and to let them come to their own conclusions... so that's what I would suggest. If they ask you questions about the Bible, by all means attempt to answer them, but I wouldn't go looking for ways to convince them.
Answer:
Originally Posted by Nate Sorry, but last time I checked, there were many "Gods" that weren't the God of the Bible. "I believe in God, but not in the Bible" is in no way a self-defeating statement. You could be Muslim, you could be Jewish, you could be something else entirely and believe that although there is a God, He has not revealed Himself through any written document. All of those are perfectly reasonable and perfectly tenable positions to take in regards to the existence of God. We just so happen to believe something different.
There is little you can do to make someone believe that the Bible is the written Word of the one true God, other than to let them continue to read it, to trust in the promises of Scripture, and to let them come to their own conclusions... so that's what I would suggest. If they ask you questions about the Bible, by all means attempt to answer them, but I wouldn't go looking for ways to convince them. Once again, I was referring to his own personal connotation of the word, not the denotated meaning. God in modern America typically =/= God that is real.
Answer:
I have encountered this many times. The person believes that there "must be something bigger than us that created the earth", but hasn't put enough thought into it to get to what they really believe. The next step I take is to talk about Jesus, and whether we can at least agree that He walked on this earth about 2000 years ago. Then I talk about what kind of event would have to occur today for us to reset our calendar. From there you can move to the prophesies of the OT and how they were fulfilled.
If you are around this person quite a bit, you might want to take it slow. Pray about your approach and ask for direction and Divine intervention!
Answer:
Find out exactly what it is this person believes. Chances are, he really doesn't know. There are many ways to prove the historical reliability of the bible (that is, we can know that what we have is what was originally written). That is all I can do to prove the 'Bible'. If he doesn't believe that what is written in it is truth (it's all lies, they're tall tales, etc..) that's another story and is slightly harder to prove, but not impossible. Give us more information.
-shane
*EDIT* Do NOT. I repeat DO NOT use the Bible to prove the Bible. Do not quote scripture to this guy. Don't throw out 2 Tim 3:!6. If he doesn't believe that the book is truth you can't convince him of it from the book. You have to use external sources and reason.
-shane
Answer:
Thank you all for the replies, they will help me alot. The person I am talking to I met on-line many years ago. We became pen pals and the relationship has continued on and off over the years. Just recently we began writting again and this all came up. I said to give me a couple of years to try and prove the Bible is real. So I will keep you all updated on how its going. If anyone has anymore please comment. If there comes up a situation that I cant seem to explain I will come in here again and ask all of you for help. I think this will also be a learning process to me and help me to know more about God and why I believe the Bible is the true Word of God. Thank you my friends!
Answer:
Originally Posted by James11 Thank you all for the replies, they will help me alot. The person I am talking to I met on-line many years ago. We became pen pals and the relationship has continued on and off over the years. Just recently we began writting again and this all came up. I said to give me a couple of years to try and prove the Bible is real. So I will keep you all updated on how its going. If anyone has anymore please comment. If there comes up a situation that I cant seem to explain I will come in here again and ask all of you for help. I think this will also be a learning process to me and help me to know more about God and why I believe the Bible is the true Word of God. Thank you my friends!
If he is open to hearing what you have to say, then you are already half way there. I will pray for both of you, that God will give you the words that will speak to his heart.