Is Belief in the Historical Accuracy of Gospels a prerequisite to Christianity?
Upvote:-1
I once had a deacon say to me "Everything in the Bible is true. And some of it actually happened."
Basically I believe most of what is in the New Testament happened, or something close to it.
In the Old Testament, I believe some of the historical stuff like where they are talking about which kings did this and that (it seems as believable as any other history), but in the earlier books like Genesis where they talk about Noah and the Ark and Jonah and the whale and those stories, not so much.
Upvote:0
I guess you can take the bible on blind faith. It is not the most potent witnessing tool though (Blind faith that is).
The historical basis should be the starting point for any talks with non believers as the take a logical stance on these matters of facts. Something that usually garners respect from the naturalist in the crowd.
We are lucky that we have a religion that intersects with the physical world in a very real way. It does give it a great deal of credibility. So it should be every Christians ace up his sleeve.
Upvote:5
Personally, I do believe all events portrayed actually happened.
However I do not think there is any requirement in Christianity that you understand or even believe everything just perfectly so -- cross your t's and dot your i's -- in order to be saved. You can not be convinced of the exact details in the gospel accounts and still believe in Jesus as savior. Do you or do you not believe that He is Lord, the only way to the Father, the one who secured God's forgiveness for your sins? If so then there is lots of grace for our doubts and confusions.
My question in return would be: Why? What is the point? Also, how did you get there? Let's take the walk-on-water example. If you believe Jesus is who he said he is, something had to convince you of that. If the accounts we have of His miracles are to be distrusted and discarded, how are we to trust the accounts of His teachings about being the only savior of men? If his disciples fabricated the story of His walking on water, what business have we to trust the teachings they spread throughout the area in the years following?
There is room in Christianity for all manner of mis-directed beliefs. Our salvation depends on the person and works of someone else, not our own. We would all be damned if we had to get every detail right. However, if we HAVE been saved, I think it is part of our calling to learn as much about Him as we can as rightly as we can. There is no excuse for deliberate disbelief or being picky-choosy just because you don't LIKE something that He taught.
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