The Basis For Your Beliefs

Many an hour has been spent arguing the origin of man, the days of man and the eternity of man. You and I have heard every opinion imaginable as to the answers to these questions. The questions are simply how did I get here, how are my days directed and what happens to me when I leave this world? The question begs....what is the basis of my beliefs? I will not bore you with all the theories and belief systems but they vary from an accidental creation to evolution to a creator. I again ask the question, "what is the basis for your belief system?" When I ask this question to those who have beliefs that differ from my own, I never seem to get a substantive answer. The answer is usually "this is what I believe and I really don't know why but this is what I believe."

I can say without hesitation that my basis is the Bible. I have found no other document or explanation that can answer the key questions posed above. If you the reader can answer the questions via a viable alternative I would be happy to hear your answer. The question that begs to be answered is why do I believe the Bible holds the answers to life's most important questions. The following are the reasons I believe the Bible is God's Word to man as to the how, when and why of this life we live:

• The Bible as any other belief system must be accepted by faith. I cannot produce a stack of documents to prove my belief. I accept the Bible by faith. Any other theory must also be accepted by faith.
• The Bible has survived centuries. Attempts have been made to destroy the Bible. It is illegal to own and read a Bible in many areas of the world, yet it is present in these areas. It has been fought for, died for and is owned by people throughout the world.
• The Bible is full of prophesies written thousands of years ago. These prophesies have been fulfilled on numerous occasions and are taking place before our eyes even today.
• I simply cannot accept alternatives to the answers to those questions that have been asked by mankind over the ages.
• The Bible is alive...it is supernatural...it speaks to me every time I open the pages and delve into the riches that are present in the books. My heart and soul are touched by the words written therein.
• The Bible is full of wisdom, understanding, help for the hurting, hope for the hopeless.
• The Bible is a guidebook to life. If one would simply sit down and read the Proverbs, it can change lives. It is full of wisdom pertaining to relationships, money management, decision making and other timely topics.

The question I pose to many critics is this: If you are so against the Bible and it's teachings and if you do not believe it to be truth then I would challenge you to read it! Before you are super critical of the Bible I ask you to read it. In most cases those who are adamantly against the Bible and the belief system of the Bible have never read it. They have heard from others that it is simply a fable and this belief is accepted by the critics. I challenge you to very slowly read it and absorb the words and allow it to speak to you. I would also advise you to start at the beginning as you would with any other book. Allow your mind to be open and let the words speak to you. This is a reasonable request that I would expect any critic to undertake before speaking against a subject.

I close with an excerpt from, The Hiding Place, a book written by Corrie TenBoom. Corrie's family hid Jews from the Germans during World War II. She and her entire family were captured and sentenced to concentration camps. In this living hell she and her sister lived among women from throughout Europe. Corrie was able to smuggle in a small New Testament and she kept it in a sack tied around her neck. She describes the little Bible and the impact on their lives. "Sometimes I would slip the Bible from its little sack with hands that shook, so mysterious had it become to me. It was new; it had just been written. I marveled sometimes that the ink was dry. I had believed the Bible always, but reading it now had nothing to do with belief. It was simply a description of the way things were....of hell and heaven, of how men act and how God acts. I had read a thousand times the story of Jesus' arrest...how soldiers had slapped Him, laughed at Him, flogged Him. Now such happenings had faces and voices."

There are countless similar stories told of the Bible and the impact it has had on the lives of people of all nationalities, ages, races, etc. It is alive. It is real and it is my basis of belief. This writing will probably not change many minds, but again I urge you to read it before you criticize it and write if off as just another book. Think about the history of the Bible and the fact that it lives on and is read by people all over this world. It holds the keys to eternity and is a guidebook to living out our lives here on earth.