Originally Posted by antlers
The story of how we got ‘the Bible’ begins with a single event. An event that was so extraordinary that it was worth writing about.

The story of ‘the Bible’ does not begin with Genesis; the story of ‘the Bible’ actually begins with Jesus. The story of ‘the Bible’ actually begins in the first-century when Jesus’ tomb was found empty, and then later He was seen. And His cowardly followers who ran and hid when He was arrested…and later crucified…showed up in the streets of Jerusalem and said “He’s back, He’s alive from the dead.” They said this to the very power structure…the very men…who had Jesus crucified. And many Jewish people in the same area where Jesus was arrested and crucified…in the area of Judea and the city of Jerusalem…embraced Him as their savior.

And the church launched, the church began. And then there was interest in documenting the words and the works and the life of Jesus.

If Jesus had stayed dead, we likely would have never even heard of Him because there would have been no church, and there would have been no Christianity, and there would have been no ‘the Bible.’

The story of ‘the Bible’ actually begins with the resurrection of Jesus. And He is infinitely more important than “modern Christianity” and the church, etc.. And He always will be.

The original version of Christianity was an event-based faith; not a text-based faith. The shift from the resurrection of Jesus to a Bible centered faith…which was done by man…has left us with an anemic version of Christianity evidenced by a poor evangelistic effectiveness and an undermined credibility. Which is the clearly the polar opposite of the original, first-century version of Christianity.

So many people fighting and bickering, hateful and spiteful assertions and accusations, wholesale slaughter of countless numbers of people, manipulated for power and money, and countless people who have simply thrown their arms up in the air and walked away and/or want nothing to do with the faith…all over a book that didn’t even exist when Christianity first began.

The first century apologetic was not ‘the Bible.’ Period. And Apostle Peter’s living hope…the foundation of his faith…was not ‘the Bible.’ Period, on steroids.




There are all kinds of inaccuracies in your assertions… for one, Christianity was considered a sect of Judaism made up of Jewish followers. That was because Christ claimed to be the Messiah promised in the OT, and He Himself used those texts to explain His identity to the despairing disciples on the road to Emmaus.

Bigger than those, however, is your fundamental internal inconsistency; all the facts he uses to support his arguments come from the very book he is attempting to minimize.

I personally appreciate much of what you are trying to say regarding the historicity of the events surrounding our Lord’s life, death, burial, and resurrection. However I believe you have fallen into a modernist trap by allowing those good ideas to justify cutting at one of the epistemological basis for that historicity though.

Notice I say “one of”? I believe the Father has multiple means of calling people to Himself and He uses them all… His Spirit, Who works in concert with His text. They’re means by which He communicates to us His grace.

As for those who suggest that these conversations are just overly argumentative dogmatists hating on each other over the number of angels that fit on the head of a pin hear this; the Lord, the God of Israel and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is a God of grace. I don TV claim to know the things of God to such an extent that I’d condemn those who contend for The Faith.

I do know, however, that He is a God of Truth, those who love Him do so by Faith in a Truth He has passed to us and I will contend for that.

I hope everyone reading this is as hopeful for the beauty of God Himself taking on flesh and dwelling among us as the Living Word! There can be nothing in all the universe with the power to change us into His likeness.