God can and DOES reach mankind when we seek Him. The bible is simply a tool, a "guide book" of sorts, but when you have a relationship with God you converse with Him (prayer, worship etc) and you feel Him.
I believe that if a person truly seeks God and opens themselves up to the possibility of God, that He will reach them. References :
The books are for people that want to understand the bible more, because it was written in a different time period and its extremely deep so you can see how it can get complex.
God reaches through both. The bible is just one of his ways God tries to reach out to people. It is him speaking through other people who wrote down what God nudged them to say.
I hope that helps References :
Because he has tried that before. The last big guy that came to explain the teachings of God didn’t get treated so well. In fact they crucified him. I think God may still be a little bitter about that.
Walking on water was not supernatural enough? References :
Any yet anyone on here who claims to be a theist because they can feel God’s presence gets a billion thumbs down and twenty atheists asking for emipirical proof. I don’t suppose it’s ever occured to you that God does reach out to us spiritually, but if you’ve closed your mind off to that possibility you won’t feel it. References :
The correct interpretation comes from The Church. However, if someone wants to study at home on their own, then there is no reason they should not be able to, however they will want to be sure what they’re learning is accurate and truthful, so books on the interpretation of Scripture is written.
A huge majority of these books are written, of course, by protestants, who don’t understand much of what they’re reading, so their books all conflict with one another.
Humans can initially come into contact with God through their own knowledge of the world and feelings in their soul. If they want to continue that relationship and develop it, however, they need Holy Mother Church. References :
Bright people who can understand and explain virtually anything are often quickly stopped in their tracks when they read the Bible.
The reason is that spiritual things "are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2:13, 14. The deep things of the Word will never be understood by a secular mind, no matter how brilliant. Unless one honestly seeks an experience with God, he cannot understand the things of God. The Holy Spirit, who explains the Bible (John 16:13; 14:26), is not understood by the carnal, secular mind.
On the other hand, the humble, even uneducated Christian who studies the Bible receives amazing understanding from the Holy Spirit (Matthew 11:25; 1 Corinthians 2:9, 10). (AF) References :
Ever consider that the "reward" he’s offering is valuable enough to justify the hard work required to acquire it?
Consider an analogy…education. Obtaining a high school degree requires quite a bit of reading and study…and those that receive their degree generally earn more money, have greater power and autonomy at work, and more. Take it a step farther, getting a college degree requires even more reading and study…and the rewards associated with a college degree are generally far greater than those associated with a high school diploma. …keep going and you end up like me with an income more than double the national average, 20 weeks paid vacation per year, and almost complete autonomy over my work activities.
I believe that God can and does reach mankind without a media book…and after he reaches them, he points them toward the instruction manual he provided to help them learn how to listen to what he’s telling them. You can learn something about God without the bible…but if you want to increase your knowledge about God, study and reading is pretty much the way we acquire most knowledge.
…of course, some of my students try to pass my class without reading the textbook…and some can learn enough to pass just from listening to my lectures and observing the world around them…but I think in the case of God, it would be a mistake to base your learning solely on what you hear about him from others and what you’re capable of perceiving about him from the world around you! References :
Wow! That’s a lot of questions rolled up into one. Let’s deconstruct a bit.
1) Why would God have instructions put in writing?
The same reason that the manufacturer of a product issues an instruction manual. Language is the way we communicate. Written language can be passed down reliably.
2) Why do people have trouble understanding the Bible?
Let’s go back to the instruction manual idea. The instruction manual has to be translated into the language of the user. It may also have to be translated from age to age or culture to culture were it to be a very old or internationally used product.
People have trouble understanding the Bible when it is not translated–not just word for word, but thought for thought. Therefore we have translations, commentaries, etc.
3) Why doesn’t God just put his thoughts in our heads?
Two thoughts here. Back to the manufactured item. Perhaps by clever packaging and naming a manufacturer could rely on human intuition to know how to use the product. But we know that there could still be confusion. The same is true with God’s will. We do see people throughout history who claim to feel what is right. There is no real consensus and the possibility of real, damaging ideas.
Allow a wild thought here. What if technology existed that a manufacturer could have instructions implanted in human beings at birth that would program us to properly use the product? We would scream at this invasion of privacy, and rightly so! Yes, an all-powerful God could program us to know and do right, but does not. Would we really want to live that way?
4) Why would God take human form to communicate?
If you needed to communicate perfectly to your dog, for example, could there be a better way (if possible) than to become a dog?
5) How do we know that a human claiming to be God is telling the truth?
That person would need to authenticate that claim by performing actions that humans could not. The miracles and resurrection of Jesus claim to be such evidence. The eyewitnesses who recorded these miracles for those who did not see them did NOT ask for blind faith. They encouraged people to confirm it for themselves as much as possible–questioning other witnesses, examining other evidence, etc. References :
November 20th, 2009 | 
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Churches wouldn’t make money if that were true.
References :
God can and DOES reach mankind when we seek Him. The bible is simply a tool, a "guide book" of sorts, but when you have a relationship with God you converse with Him (prayer, worship etc) and you feel Him.
I believe that if a person truly seeks God and opens themselves up to the possibility of God, that He will reach them.
References :
Loss of faith lead to book writing. They make up new systems then teach you how to let it make sense.
References :
The books are for people that want to understand the bible more, because it was written in a different time period and its extremely deep so you can see how it can get complex.
God reaches through both. The bible is just one of his ways God tries to reach out to people. It is him speaking through other people who wrote down what God nudged them to say.
I hope that helps
References :
Because he has tried that before. The last big guy that came to explain the teachings of God didn’t get treated so well. In fact they crucified him. I think God may still be a little bitter about that.
Walking on water was not supernatural enough?
References :
Any yet anyone on here who claims to be a theist because they can feel God’s presence gets a billion thumbs down and twenty atheists asking for emipirical proof. I don’t suppose it’s ever occured to you that God does reach out to us spiritually, but if you’ve closed your mind off to that possibility you won’t feel it.
References :
The correct interpretation comes from The Church. However, if someone wants to study at home on their own, then there is no reason they should not be able to, however they will want to be sure what they’re learning is accurate and truthful, so books on the interpretation of Scripture is written.
A huge majority of these books are written, of course, by protestants, who don’t understand much of what they’re reading, so their books all conflict with one another.
Humans can initially come into contact with God through their own knowledge of the world and feelings in their soul. If they want to continue that relationship and develop it, however, they need Holy Mother Church.
References :
He does reach us. Through prayer.
References :
To confuse the ennemy. But I’m not that stupid.
I know the bible much better than you do, hehehe…
References :
Bright people who can understand and explain virtually anything are often quickly stopped in their tracks when they read the Bible.
The reason is that spiritual things "are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2:13, 14. The deep things of the Word will never be understood by a secular mind, no matter how brilliant. Unless one honestly seeks an experience with God, he cannot understand the things of God. The Holy Spirit, who explains the Bible (John 16:13; 14:26), is not understood by the carnal, secular mind.
On the other hand, the humble, even uneducated Christian who studies the Bible receives amazing understanding from the Holy Spirit (Matthew 11:25; 1 Corinthians 2:9, 10). (AF)
References :
Ever consider that the "reward" he’s offering is valuable enough to justify the hard work required to acquire it?
Consider an analogy…education. Obtaining a high school degree requires quite a bit of reading and study…and those that receive their degree generally earn more money, have greater power and autonomy at work, and more. Take it a step farther, getting a college degree requires even more reading and study…and the rewards associated with a college degree are generally far greater than those associated with a high school diploma. …keep going and you end up like me with an income more than double the national average, 20 weeks paid vacation per year, and almost complete autonomy over my work activities.
I believe that God can and does reach mankind without a media book…and after he reaches them, he points them toward the instruction manual he provided to help them learn how to listen to what he’s telling them. You can learn something about God without the bible…but if you want to increase your knowledge about God, study and reading is pretty much the way we acquire most knowledge.
…of course, some of my students try to pass my class without reading the textbook…and some can learn enough to pass just from listening to my lectures and observing the world around them…but I think in the case of God, it would be a mistake to base your learning solely on what you hear about him from others and what you’re capable of perceiving about him from the world around you!
References :
Wow! That’s a lot of questions rolled up into one. Let’s deconstruct a bit.
1) Why would God have instructions put in writing?
The same reason that the manufacturer of a product issues an instruction manual. Language is the way we communicate. Written language can be passed down reliably.
2) Why do people have trouble understanding the Bible?
Let’s go back to the instruction manual idea. The instruction manual has to be translated into the language of the user. It may also have to be translated from age to age or culture to culture were it to be a very old or internationally used product.
People have trouble understanding the Bible when it is not translated–not just word for word, but thought for thought. Therefore we have translations, commentaries, etc.
3) Why doesn’t God just put his thoughts in our heads?
Two thoughts here. Back to the manufactured item. Perhaps by clever packaging and naming a manufacturer could rely on human intuition to know how to use the product. But we know that there could still be confusion. The same is true with God’s will. We do see people throughout history who claim to feel what is right. There is no real consensus and the possibility of real, damaging ideas.
Allow a wild thought here. What if technology existed that a manufacturer could have instructions implanted in human beings at birth that would program us to properly use the product? We would scream at this invasion of privacy, and rightly so! Yes, an all-powerful God could program us to know and do right, but does not. Would we really want to live that way?
4) Why would God take human form to communicate?
If you needed to communicate perfectly to your dog, for example, could there be a better way (if possible) than to become a dog?
5) How do we know that a human claiming to be God is telling the truth?
That person would need to authenticate that claim by performing actions that humans could not. The miracles and resurrection of Jesus claim to be such evidence. The eyewitnesses who recorded these miracles for those who did not see them did NOT ask for blind faith. They encouraged people to confirm it for themselves as much as possible–questioning other witnesses, examining other evidence, etc.
References :