Subject: Re: Why do you believe the bible?
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 09:27:50 GMT
From:  (Nigel B. Mitchell)
Newsgroups: aus.religion.christian
Nigel:
>>Hi, Joan.
>>
>>Firstly, I do not know your position, because you seem to only be able to 
>>express it in single sentences, some of which are very cryptic. 

Graeme:
>Maybe she is adept at expressing herself adequately in few words,
>unlike some others who type screeds and say nothing.

Yes, I have noticed you have been posting screeds from your 
‘files’ again, eg about Liberalism and 1 Corinthians 15.

>>> Your position has been to discredit the Bible’s infallibility by
>>> using ‘fallible man’ as a means to reduce   God’s Holy Word in it’s
>>> authority and authenticity.
>>
>>That is not my position at all. I believe that the Bible is authentic and 
>>authoritative. That is why I preach and teach from it.

>You are contradicting yourself. You keep saying that it was written by
>fallible men and is full of contradictions. How then can you say it is
>authoritative? 

Graeme, this may come as a shock to you, but a text can be 
authoritative without being infallible. The Australian Constitution 
is authoritative because of the consensus of Australian citizens 
and the Law of the Commonwealth. The Rules of the game of Cricket 
are authoritative because of the consensus of ruling bodies of 
cricket playing nations. The service manual for my car is 
authoritative because it was written and published under the 
authority of the manufacturer of the car. All of these documents 
are written by fallible people. None of them is perfect. The 
authority of the Bible is analagous to the authority of all three 
of these documents. It is authoritative because it was written 
and published under the authority of the Church, and is accepted 
by consensus of Christian churches and people. 

cheers

N+
Nigel B. Mitchell