November greetings from Inspiration from a Blind brought to you monthly by www.ShirleyCheng.com !
Do you desire to know the truth? How valuable do you believe the truth is?
Nowadays, people believe there is no absolute truths—it's just a matter of personal choices. When we believe that everything can be true, then it means that we should agree that stealing and murder are okay because that may be true to some people.
When one+one no longer equals two every time, then there is no set standard of doing anything, do you agree? Therefore, absolute truth is vital in living a proper life. For example, when everyone believes that murder is absolutely wrong every time, then we all can know how to react whenever murder occurs. We would set laws to prevent it from happening and follow a set of procedures when it does happen. Otherwise, if we don't believe that murder is absolutely wrong, then we would live in a world of disorder and terror. This is just a small example of how important it is to know the truth.
Where do we find the truth? Many people claim to have the truth, but how could they all be the truth when they contradict one another?
The truth is found in the Bible. Why the Bible? Isn't it just a book like any other book? The Bible is the greatest book that has ever been written, and it contains absolute truths, and nothing but the absolute truths. Now, before you roll your eyes, let us consider why I'm making such an outrageous claim, alright?
I believe the Bible to be the source of absolute truths. When I say that I believe in the Bible, I'm not saying that simply for the sake of believing. Believing the Bible is not blind faith, contrary to what many believe. I repeat: believing the Bible is not blind faith. Yes, I have very good reasons to believe the Bible...
The Bible is completely trustworthy. How can we know? It is trustworthy because:
1) It is accurate
If something is not accurate, how could it be true? If a book you read tells you that the United States of America currently has forty states, wouldn't you raise an eyebrow? A book has to be accurate in as much information it gives out as possible. The more accurate it is, the more trustworthy it is.
The Bible fulfills this accuracy requirement in every detail. Even though parts of the book were written over three thousand years ago, archeology has time and again proved its validity. The descriptions of the way of life of ancient days are proved true by what archeologists have found so far, even down to the smallest details!
Science also proves the authenticity and accuracy of the Bible. Did you know that thousands of years before scientists proved it, the Bible states that the Earth is round and that it hangs in space?
And get this: not only is the Bible accurate regarding the past, but is also accurate about the future! Hundreds of prophecies in the Bible have already come true in every detail—prophecies that were written hundreds and thousands of years before the foretold events actually took place! Take, for example, the eternal destruction of Babylon. What was once the world power lies in ruins to this date, exactly as the Bible foretold. It was something unimaginable when the prophecy was given, because it is like saying that the crowded New York City or Shanghai will be totally uninhabited forever in a month from now. Among other prophecies in the Bible are the prediction of the successions of world kingdoms: Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome—in that order. Only a handful of prophecies are yet to be fulfilled, and can you blame me for eagerly anticipating their fulfillment?
2) It is honest and straightforward
Would you trust a book if it is dishonest, boastful, covers up people's mistakes and faults, filled with exaggerations, and if it is written in an ambiguous language?
From the first page, the Bible describes historical accounts in an honest and straightforward manner, without sugar-coating the embarrassing or costly mistakes that people made. For example, Moses, the writer of the first five books of the Bible, did not hide the fact that he had disobeyed God which consequently cost him dearly—he lost the privilege of receiving God's promises to the nation of Israel. The Bible also truthfully told us of the terrible sins the great King David committed: he committed adultery with a married woman and murdered her husband. And Paul, one of the greatest apostles of Christ, was open in telling people how he had wrongfully and shamefully persecuted Christians prior to becoming a devout Christian himself.
3) It is written by eye witnesses
While a book does not have to be written by an eye witness in order to be trustworthy, don't you agree that it is more trustworthy if it is written by someone who has personally gone through what they write? Let's pretend that you've written a book about the experiences of performing an operation on someone, yet you yourself have never set foot in medical school, let alone have operated on someone. And now let's say that your friend has written a book about the same topic, but the difference is that she has been a surgeon for twenty years. Which book do you think people would trust more, yours or your friend's?
The Bible is written by eye witnesses. It is written by those who had personally saw, heard, tasted, and felt what they had written. It is written by men who personally witnessed the wars and battles in ancient times, the miraculous parting of the Red Sea, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And because they had witnessed all these firsthand, many were willing to die for what they saw. Nothing could convince them that what they had experienced was untrue.
4) It is written by more than one eye witness
The more eye witnesses a book has, the more trustworthy and truthful the book becomes. Often, a textbook that teachers and students use is written by more than one eye witness. Learning from materials written by multiple eye witnesses gives students an extra layer of assurance of what they study is true and trustworthy.
The Bible consists of sixty-six individual writings written by about forty men. We call the sixty-six writings "books." "Bible" simply means "books," so that's why it's called the "Bible."
5) It is consistent and harmonious throughout, without contradictions
Would you be surprised to know that a book is entirely consistent and harmonious even though it was written by dozens of people who lived in different centuries, cultures, with different languages, and who had never met one another?
Well, most of the forty Bible writers had never met one another because they lived in different time periods and places. The oldest part of the Bible was written about 3,500 years ago! And the last books were written about 1,900 years ago. So if you do a little math, you will see that the Bible was written in a span of 1,600 years. Yes, in spite of the great gap in time and the differences in cultures and languages, the entire Bible is incredibly accurate and consistent in subject matters, themes, and messages. All of the Bible writings harmonize with one another without contradictions. How can this be?
How can a book that is written in a span of 1,600 years by forty men be so accurate and consistent? The Bible is accurate and consistent because it actually has only one Author.
The Bible says, "Every Scripture is God-breathed." (2 Timothy 3:16, WEB.) "Scripture" means "writing," and here, it refers to the Holy Scriptures, the Bible. What does "God-breathed" mean? It means that it was God, Jehovah, who told the forty men what to write. Jehovah is the Author, and the men acted like His secretaries, who recorded down in writing what He told them to write. This is why the Bible is accurate and consistent—it only has one Author!
In a nutshell, the Bible is trustworthy because it is accurate even in the smallest details, historically sound, scientifically sound, honest, consistent throughout, and all of its prophecies have been fulfilled so far—all because it was written by the all-knowing God.
In other words, believing in the Bible is believing in a bundle of facts, and these facts are God's everlasting truths for all "that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men." (Ephesians 4:14) Contained in these facts is the "Good News of Christ ... the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes." (Romans 1:16) Can believing in facts be blind faith?
~*~Q&A with Shirley~*~
Question: Do we have an immortal soul?
Answer: Contrary to what many believe, we do not have an immortal soul. Note how Jehovah created the first human being: Jehovah God "formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7, WEB.) Note that Adam became a "living soul." He was a soul, not that he had a separate soul. "Soul" is often synonymous with "living creature" in the Bible.
After Adam sinned, Jehovah said to him, "You are dust, and to dust you shall return." (Genesis 3:19) Death was the penalty of sin that God has set. God's words to Adam are very clear; they indicated that Adam would return to the state before he became a living soul: as dust. God never implied that the man would live on as a spiritual being. Death was a penalty. If people lived on as spirits, what purpose would the death penalty serve? Adam had nothing in him that was a separate spiritual individual with the ability for conscious thoughts apart from the physical body; all that he was made of were dust and the life force that God breathed into him, and the life force is just that: a force that enables us to live, not something that has a mind, etc.
After sentencing Adam and Eve, God drove them out of the Garden of Eden. Why? He drove them out because He did not want them to eat from the tree of life lest they "live forever" (Genesis 3:22). Without eating from that tree, they could not obtain immortality—they did not have immortal souls.
However, when believers are resurrected (raised from the dead) in the future, they will be resurrected in immortal, spiritual bodies (1 Corinthians 15:52-54). That'll be the first time that people will be immortal spiritual beings. Amen!
Have Bible questions and want answers? Then e-mail me and I'd be more than glad to lead you to Bible truths!
~*~Shirley's Corner~*~
My book, "Do You Love Jehovah?" won another award! If you're keeping track, it's the seventh award for this book, making it my 27th book award overall. Yes, 27-year-old author wins her 27th award. So to celebrate, I'm extending my last month's special: the first three people who reply to this newsletter will receive thirty percent off an autographed copy of the book, so drop me a quick note!
~*~A Biblical Ending~*~
"What does Yahweh [Jehovah] require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)
Jehovah's request for us is never burdensome. He asks us that we be fair and just in our dealings with one another, be merciful, and hold a humble attitude as we live before our Creator. Justice, mercy, and humility will bring a smile upon God's spirit. Why don't we make Jehovah happy today by fulfilling His righteous desires?
May the grace and peace from Jehovah God and Jesus Christ be with you.!
Content Copyright by Shirley Cheng; All rights reserved
You are permitted to only give out or link to this website or post; all other distribution and copying is prohibited without the prior written permission of Shirley Cheng. Contact Shirley at www.shirleycheng.com
Did you get this from a friend's forward and would like to subscribe? Then send a blank e-mail to subscribe@shirleycheng.com from the e-mail address you'd like to sign up under.
Award-Winning Author with 26 Book Awards
Proclaimer of Jehovah's Good News
Author/Contributor/Editor of 32 books by age 27, Poet, Motivational Speaker, Self-Empowerment Expert, Advocate
Board member of World Positive Thinkers Club http://www.shirleycheng.com
Having a bad day? Then meet Shirley Cheng, A.K.A. the modern day Helen Keller, to inspire, empower, and motivate you to go for the gold medal in life!
"Although I'm blind, I can see far and wide; even though I'm disabled, I can climb high mountains. Let the ropes of hope in Jehovah God haul you high!"
Sign up to Inspiration from a Blind newsletter by sending an e-mail to: subscribe@shirleycheng.com
Please sign the Parental Rights in Children's Medical Care: Give Parents the Right to Say No Petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/parentr7/petition.html
Sunday, November 28, 2010 4:39 AM
Noel wrote:
Did u know most people that believe in a 'flat-earth' do so because of their belief in the bible? That is a simple fact. Also, hindsight allows you to translate the bible as correctly stating the earth is a ball, but their are still people clinging to the bible as they translated it as flat (four corners, etc) and have rejected science because they believe it so strongly!
Did u know that secular scholars that study the bible do not believe it was done by eye witnesses? You claim there are eye witnesses in the bible, but it is doubtful if not wrong, in a search for truth one has to admit to the weakness of the evidence one finds.
You also claim the bible is accurate because it shows detals of everyday life during the time of the bible correctly, which is like believing a modern novel is not fiction because it correctly names presidents and and city names. It just doesn't work.
I see no othercomments so I expect this one may be moderated as well, but feel free to answer via the email adress I provide. I too believe in a creatormof some sort, I just discovered the importance of reading anything and everything with a skeptical heart, and taking truth from unlikely places, truth that I realise could be wrong, so I don't cling to my beliefs.
Thank you for your questions, which are much appreciated! Below, I'll do my best to answer them:
1) Many who believe in the Bible believe that there's a literal burning hell and that we have immortal souls--both of which are unbiblical beliefs. So if those who believe in the Bible believe that the earth is flat, it's simply another false belief. Can we base the Bible's trustworthiness on people's false beliefs about it? The problem is that many, many who claim to believe the Bible have never read through the entire Bible even once. Instead, they simply believe whatever other people tell them. The same can be said of those who criticize the Bible. If we choose to believe or not to believe in the Bible, we cannot base our belief solely on what others tell us. If we truly want to know what the Bible teaches and says, then we must, must read and carefully study the Bible on our own to draw a correct conclusion.
The Bible is very clear on the fact that the earth is round (Isaiah 40:22). When the Bible uses such phrases like "four corners" and "four winds," it's simply referring to the four general directions of the north, the south, the west, and the east; the phrase can also mean "every corner and crevice of the world," depending on its context.
Even today, we use sayings like, "to the ends of the earth" and "corners of the world." Does this mean that we believe that our earth has "corners" and "ends"?
The Bible stated certain scientific facts thousands of years before scientists actually proved them, such as the earth being round. No contradiction between the Bible accounts and scientific facts exist. The Bible is scientifically sound, completely.
2) The approximate forty writers of the Bible fall into mainly three categories: eye witnesses who had personally witnessed the events they wrote about, companions and disciples of eye witnesses, and a handful of unidentified writers. The majority of the Bible was written by eye witnesses. Nearly, if not all, of the New Testament, for example, was written by eye witnesses. The apostle Paul wrote thirteen of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. In one of his personal letters to the Corinthians, he mentioned that over 500 people personally witnessed the resurrected Jesus Christ, and that many of these witnesses were still alive when he wrote that letter (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). These witnesses included:
a) Peter and John, who spent three years with Jesus. They wrote seven other books in the New Testament.
b) James, who wrote one of the book in the New Testament.
c) Paul himself. In his letters, he mentioned Luke, who wrote two of the books of the New Testament. Luke was one of Paul's traveling companions and missionaries, so he personally witnessed certain experiences he wrote in the book of Acts.
And Jesus, who is the subject of the New Testament and whose miraculous resurrection was witnessed by over 500 people and which many had died for, personally attested to the trustworthiness and authenticity of the entire Old Testament, including the books by prophets Isaiah and Jonah, both of which were eye witnesses of their own events.
When we research what secular and religious scholars say, we must carefully examine the basis on which they establish their claims. Are their reasons sound? Do they base their beliefs on sound basis? Even secular scholars differ between themselves in their claims. So we must be sure to examine the reasons for their claims. We must weigh their reasons and any evidences against one another, and also compare them with the religious scholars' research, claims, and evidences. Not all religious scholars believe or support the Bible, and not all secular scholars deny the Bible. As a matter of fact, many unbelievers became devout believers after they have done extensive research about the Bible and seen the undeniable evidences of the Bible's historicity and authenticity.
3) When I say that the Bible is trustworthy because it is historically accurate, I meant that this single aspect of its trustworthiness is just one reason why we can trust the Bible. We cannot base a book's trustworthiness solely on one aspect--we'd have to consider all the reasons for its trustworthiness. The more reasons we have for a book's trustworthiness, the more confidently we can trust the book. For example, if a book is dishonest even though it's historically accurate, we don't have really good reasons to trust it. On the other hand, if a book is both historically accurate and honest, we have more good reasons to trust it. The Bible is not only historically accurate and painfully honest, but it's also scientifically sound, as mentioned. It also contains hundreds of literally fulfilled prophecies. It prophesied events hundreds and thousands of years before their literal fulfillment. No other book that has ever been written has the credentials that the Bible has. The Bible is the most unique book. It's completely trustworthy. Belief in the Bible is therefore not blind faith.
However, no matter how great the Bible is, it won't do anyone good if no one reads and studies it and applies its teachings and principles to their daily lives. As I stressed earlier, we must study the Bible on our own to truly know what it really teaches. Then and only then can we decide to trust it or not.
Noel (and anyone else who's reading this), I'd be more than happy to be your Bible buddy if you need a bit of guidance or help in understanding the Bible. Any diligent Bible reader and student will have questions. Think of me as your friend/guide/answer lady. Our Bible study will be done via e-mail without any cost to you, in your own pace, in your own style, and at the comfort of your home. For example, if you just have questions about a specific passage you read, just ask me. If you have questions prior to reading the Bible, ask as well. No question about the Bible is ever too small or stupid. Whatever you need, just ask and I'd be glad to best assist you. Life is a giant school, and we're all in this together. So feel free to e-mail me anytime whenever you have questions. Those who read this post and want to get in touch with me can leave a comment here or e-mail me via my site http://www.shirleycheng.com
Thank you again for your questions! Talk to you soon.
