Can you be a Christian and not believe in the bible?

The first thing the devil said to the human race (through the serpent) was, "Has God indeed said."
Satan was cunning enough to know that an attach on God's Word would work to his advantage.
It has been said that if something works, stick with it, well the devil, and those that do his bidding, has stuck with it through the centuries since. All of those, who believe this way, are, IMHO, doing the devils work (rather they are aware of that or not) and the child of God should have no fellowship with them.

 

Matthew 7:21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

People are religious. They have their own perception of what and who God is. Usually based on logic. When someone denies the bible and argues with you abour it, it is common that they are basing their argument on a mish mash of opinions and bits and pieces they have picked up over the years. Even when you can pin them down to a religion it is difficult. Christians tend to become skillful at defending the faith from false religions. So when you pin them down with what their religion teaches, they will argue not according to knowledge. They will also argue about what you beleive without really knowing what it is you beleive because they reject God's word.

These people are and cannot be Christians. If they reject His words', they reject Him!

2 Timothy 3
15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

 

Not for long.

 

I agree with Link. Yes, you can be saved without believing the Bible is entirely literally true. You would have to believe some of it (God, Jesus, etc.), but you could believe that without having ever heard of a Bible. Many people were saved in the Book of Acts and they did not have a NT then, and some gentiles probably did not believe in or know about the OT but were saved.

 

There are many Christians who believe the Bible teaches false doctrines, though some exempt one translation.

 

Jesus is the Word.

Jesus is the Christ.

There is NO way that someone can be a Christian and NOT believe in the Bible.

NO WAY!

 

Rachel
the answer is absolutely no. If they do not believe the bible they cannot come to faith since faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. They are lost if they claim they do not believe the bible is from God because they have no sourse for faith.

 

Link,
Your post was excellent.

Karen

 

(I think I messed up! Sorry for the first one, I'm new at this.) I've heard a lot of people say that it is indeed possible, but even as a relatively new Christian, I don't believe that. It seems like you would be picking and chosing whatever suits you best at the time, kind of like "situational ethics", if you don't believe in the entire Bible. I have only recently ever read the whole Bible (a divorce seems to kick start you in the right direction), and though I don't understand it, I certainly agree with your assessment!

 

Rachel, your question was,

I think you have to define what you mean by the bible being God’s Holy Word. There are a large variety of opinions as to what that means exactly. Some Christians believe in a word for word dictation from God to men. Others believe that the ideas of scripture are inspired but the individual words were chosen by men. There are some Christians that believe the Bible is infallible as it relates to spiritual truths but contains error as it relates to other areas.

I would say yes you can. You do not have to believe the Bible is God’s word to be saved, you only have to believe a small portion of the Bible. Anyone who recognizes their sinful condition and calls upon God can be saved, they can figure out the rest later.

Now, if they don’t believe that Jesus came and died for their sins, or if they don’t think they are sinners and don’t need to be saved. Well then they are not saved.

 

(I think I messed up! Sorry for the first one, I'm new at this.) I've heard a lot of people say that it is indeed possible, but even as a relatively new Christian, I don't believe that. It seems like you would be picking and chosing whatever suits you best at the time, kind of like "situational ethics", if you don't believe in the entire Bible. I have only recently ever read the whole Bible (a divorce seems to kick start you in the right direction), and though I don't understand it, I certainly agree with your assessment! </font>[/QUOTE]It's as simple as this:

Without Jesus The Christ there are NO Christians, and Jesus The Christ is the Word (it says the Word NOT some of the Word):

So there is NO way to be a Christian without believing in the Bible.

 

I agree. I may be a new Christian, but I believe what you say. I certainly believed in the Bible during a very trying time in my life, and found much comfort in it.

I do think that a new person in the Lord needs a mentor-type, at least to field questions and such. Because sometimes it is hard to know WHAT to believe.

 

So, where does this leave somebody who believes that Genesis 1-11 are not literal?

 

To answer the question...yes, it seemed to work for Paul

 

So, where does this leave somebody who believes that Genesis 1-11 are not literal? </font>[/QUOTE]Since we were not there in the begining, we as Christians have no choice but to trust(have Faith)in His Word.

Hebrews 11:1
Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.


But just out of curiosity, if not literal, how do you take Genesis 1-11?

 

Jesus is the Bible so how can somebody believe in Jesus and not believe in the Bible. The tone of the OT is set for the coming of Christ and then the NT is his coming, his ministry, his death and resurrection. How can everything else be a myth but the story of Jesus? I am with Here now, we accept by faith, and by the way Hebrews 11:1 is my favorite verse - we don't need to understand it all or analyze it, we just need to trust it. I believe the Bible to be the infalliabe word of God. I don't believe you can pick and choose what to believe and what not to.
So my answer is no you can't be a Christian and not believe the Bible because that's what the Bible is all about.

 

Joh 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

" Can you be a Christian and not believe the bible is God's Holy Word??"

North Carolina Tentmaker gave a good reply here.

Just what does this mean?

I think we'd all (I hope) agree that in order to be saved one must believe (and trust in the fact)that Christ came in the flesh, died for sins, and rose bodily.

Without this there is NO CHRISTIANITY.

Thus one who believes that Jesus was an admirable moralist but believes that the Bible is all myth is not likely to have put trust in Christ for his/her salvation.

Conversely there are many who do believe in Christ's death and resurrection BUT may not believe that all of the Bible is LITERAL. These people most certainly can be saved.

 

Personally, I take it literally, but I know there are people on this very board that do not. There are people here ranging from theistic evolution to gap theories, etc. Can these people not be a Christian even if they go as far as to not believe that Adam and Eve existed, that they were more of a parable?

Then, do we get into interpretation of pre-trib, post-trib, etc.

Actually, my real point is, the Bible says there is one way to get to heaven. What is that way?

If you answer that question, it alone, is your ticket to paradise, no other stipulations are required.