Summations Only

Because this is my belief and it is very important to me for it to be real. I can read fiction and fantasy from any writer, but when it comes to my faith/belief, I am more likely to trust a writer who has had experience with God and/or Jesus. There is no concrete way to prove that an individual has had these experiences, nor is there a way that the experiences can be replicated upon demand. There is a way that you can judge the character and honor of an individual based on what they have experienced, however. Corrie Ten Boom and her experiences in the nazi death camps comes to mind. Listening to survivors of such strong emotional events allows you to separate the fake from the real. Call it intuition. And yes, I will admit it is not 100% foolproof. I admit that I could be wrong in my judgements. I also admit freely that confirmation bias is usually involved. It is my belief, however, that the genuine and honest storyteller will be self evident. A genuine experience can be written about better than a made up fantasy.

A lot depends on what it means to be inspired. It is my observation that humans can be inspired (or motivated) by stirring classical music, or a jaw-dropping gorgeous sunset(or Blond, for that matter ). ) It is also my belief that there is a spiritual realm. There are two flows. (Originally set in motion, perhaps, by the awakening that was symbolically if not literally portrayed in the Garden Of Eden--Humans were actually allowed by God to choose whether or not they obeyed Him or not. When our eyes were opened, we became quite able to personify evil intent and action.Critics will, of course argue about whether good and evil are arbitrary human constructs or whether both of these forces existed before we humans were able to understand or comprehend a spiritual realm. I believe that the latter is most likely---at least among the two choices I just discussed.In my belief, spiritual inspiration originates from the very essence and character of either The Holy Spirit or the imitators...suggesting that those who worship a stone idol or a literary character such as Zeus either are inspired by themselves or perhaps by satan. This of course presupposes that satan has counterfeit power. (This also presupposes that God too has the power to inspire.) True, but God supposedly gave Noah the correct dimensions of the size of the boat--perhaps even giving Noah wisdom beyond his natural boat building common sense. There is no proof to this, granted. Look at Moses and the Magicians. Each was inspired to manifest magic before Pharaoh. Both sources of inspiration were clearly manifest. One prevailed. This assumes that our opinions are inspired by ourselves alone. No Man is an Island...Personally I believe that God exists and has the power to inspire myself and/or you also....though perhaps the source of inspiration cannot be objectively proven.

Our opponents may claim that just because we preach and/or proclaim God the Holy Spirit as a valid source of inspiration we cannot prove this to be the case beyond a shadow of a doubt. I have listened to many sermons and my observation is that some of them were more than just an individual opinion as No Nukes suggests. The content of the wisdom suggests that it originates from a strong and common source. Naturally I believe God to be that source but attempting to get others to see this is a process that involves patience, prayer, and awareness of how I present myself to them when attempting to convince them. If I say something even the slightest bit stupid or unprovable I will get called out on it.I am sure you are aware of this also. Keep praying and asking God for wisdom and the strength to present your arguments in a fashion such as He would desire to manifest through you.

I can't argue with you there. In a multiple choice test, the possible answers to the question of whether scripture and/or human sermons are infallible would be

quote:

---

a) Yes.God exists and speaks through humanity.
b) Yes, but being inspired does not mean speaking as an infallible Prophet.
c) No. Evidence is the standard and there is no evidence for inspiration apart from human inspiration
d) We Don't Know.

---

Personally I go with B. It is my belief.Edited by Phat, : spellingEdited by Phat, : No reason given.

e and c are basically the same thing.

In this case it would be me that was attempting to inspire you by pointing you towards this sermon. The sermon may very well be inspirational to me, yet not so much for you. If, on the other hand, you found it yourself and were inspired by what you heard, the inspiration came from the content of the sermon itself. What does this word correct mean in this context? You now have me thinking.(you inspired me through these questions! ) I believe that we choose what inspires us. You would be inspired through listening to what resonated with your soul.This brings up jars old Source versus Content argument. We need to ask ourselves if we are inspired more by the source (who said it) or by the content (what was being said.)Edited by Phat, : changed a word

Upon reading and researching what others say about this, i came upon the following quote:

quote:

---

The Holy Spirit moved men to write. He allowed them to use their own styles, cultures, gifts, and character. He allowed them to use the results of their own study and research, write of their own experiences, and express what was in their minds. At the same time, the Holy Spirit did not allow error to influence their writings. He overruled in the expression of thought and in the choice of words. Thus, they recorded accurately all God wanted them to say and exactly how He wanted them to say it in their own character, styles, and languages.

---

I can't speak for Percy or Faith or any one of you. All I can tell you is how I feel and what I believe on this subject.Let me just say that I have been inspired by a lot of different books, a lot of different authors, and that their inspiration was accepted and acknowledged by me--in part--because what they said stirred me up and caused me to want to do better...speak more intelligibly so that--perhaps--I could pay it forward and allow their inspiration--filtered and rearranged by me---to inspire, educate, and bless others. Should I give the credit to God? Let me just say that I believe that God gives me life and that I trust Him to shepherd me into eternity...I don't believe that this life is all there is.I agree with those of you who say that we (I) should live this life as fully, altruistically, and profitably as I can...and I don't mean profitable in a financial sense. If I can inspire you by my actions and words...if my teaching encourages you to also make this world a better place...than I can die happy. In summation, we humans can't prove the source of our inspiration. Some of us believe that we inspire each other and that is where it stops. Others, myself included..believe that it is part of a Divine Plan.

What Are We Trying To Prove, Anyway?1)Was the Bible written by men or by God? I believe that it was of course obviously written by men. I do believe that these men were inspired.So our argument is concerning the source and/or sources of information.Essentially our overall argument is about many things. Is humanity the sole source of inspiration for itself, or is God the source?Who is God, anyway? Is there only One? Many? None? Must this argument be black & white or can it be gray?

Good question. Did God inspire Lucifer to choose to rebel? Did "the devil" make the devil do it? false gods are simply our inborn nature to deify ourselves one way or another. Some folks even use the real God as their excuse...their own ego.Others use intellect and false humility. Notice how there are so many "humanitarian secular humanists who get all teary eyed and touchy feely over saving the whales or the forest or adopting stray animals. They essentially value their good deeds as the highest form of altruism...one that everyone with a heart simply must emulate. Its a form of proselytizing that insists that humanity take care of itself in an almost sacred way. Humanist sacredness is itself a false god, in my opinion.

Assuming for a moment that the story that the books of the Bible is trying to teach involves humanities relationship with One God who eventually made Himself known to all people---what significant errors are there that muddy this thinking or contradict it in any way?

I can show you the water. Its your choice whether to drink it or not. Denying that your thirst will be quenched is of course your decision.

The problem I have with human consensus is that it is quite limited. Always imperfect. And sort of a touchy feely altruism versus a noble agape sort of love.Humans allowed to think freely never deify anything. (except, unknowingly...their own improving opinions)I dont know where im going with this.... ...lets see...IF The Bible is simply human agenda and human opinion/belief, how can GOD be known? I realize some dont find this important, but I do.

Hello PaulK. I cannot speak for anyone except myself, but the Tower of Babel story is quite symbolic to me. I see it as showing how humanity seeks to be unified in purpose without God. No Pastor taught me this and it was never presented this way to me from any Biblical Christian newspeak. It was the way that the story seemed to me to be. I'll show you how I interpreted it. So this group of people...who the author sees as being "the whole earth" or all of the people in existence at this point in time...had one language and one speech.The word "speech" in Hebrew is thus: Thus these people had One action. One cause. One concern. One purpose. And apparantly, were all on the same journey. So they find a place to dwell. A place to settle. To marry. To live.So then they get to talking to each other. Keep in mind they are all in agreement as to one purpose,one power, and one provision. So they begin to build themselves a city with a symbolic tower. They do this to make a name for themselves. They want a common identity. a common memorial of individuality,authority,and national or collective character. Why? So that they not become scattered individuals with no name, no character, and no purpose. Sounds logical, right? But as the story says, the Lord came down(descended) to check out what was happening. Personally, I could see a similarity between the symbol of the Tower of Babel and todays modern methods of social cohesiveness. But anyway, getting back to the story...God sees that these people are one. united. Of one spirit. One purpose. And yet they are not of His Spirit. He is not part of the common union. There is no communion between GOD, creator of all seen and unseen...and these people on this mission to create their mark...their memorial...their tombstone epitaph as it were.But of course, one could accuse me of reading my own particular ideology and bias into this interpretation. I wont deny the accusation. That is, however, what the story meant to me. Edited by Phat, : No reason given.

Some things that we learn change with time as new information is added.Other things never change and are timeless truths.

Haven't you ever heard the saying about how History repeats itself? Or about how those who don't learn from the past are condemned to repeat it?Lets take one such example:The Love Of Money Is The Root Of All Evil.This basic observation can be tested aginst daily logic, reason, and reality. You give your spare change away, which might protect you from becoming evil. Those of us which hoard money or squander it on vain pursuits of self fulfillment are likely unhappy people.Thus the saying is a timeless truth.