My Own Response to "Gay Marriage Ban Overturned!"
Current mood: pensive
Category: Religion and Philosophy

Until the blog on the gay marriage ban being overturned, all the blogs I have written I spent at least some time before I published them. Many I spent significant time, particularly with research.

With this one it was just an off the cuff in my emotions rant. I have mixed feelings now about having published it.

My comments were intended for and actually directed at Christians or those who call themselves such. The honesty about my feelings (which are passing in every human being) was met with contempt by those who disagree. With one exception and that was with Dennis, who is a Christian (oh and Blessed Trinity but he was understandably upset with me on the Pope comments). All the other so-called Christians that opposed what I said were almost invariably insulting, rude and biblically illiterate.

I didn't mean to offend anyone outside the Church or even those in the Church except with the truth. For that I have no apologies.

It is not now nor has it been my intention to write blogs that are sensational, but rather educational and helpful. If you read my other blogs you will see just that.

I'll think twice about wearing my emotions on my sleeve in the presence of those who sit and wait to pounce on any little mistake a Christian makes like starving wolves. Not that my feelings are a mistake mind you, but this is what they do.

God forbid if a Christian makes one error, because if they do they are attacked by not one, but several people lying in wait for any and every fault.

This should be a lesson for all Christians.

If you have read my blog "Is the Bible Reliable: Introduction", you would see where my stand is on debating with militant atheists whom I describe as dishonest critics (and God/Christian haters). I also say why.

I find it interesting that none of the people in this blog, who make one ignorant comment after the next about the Bible, have been to any of the blogs I have written on its reliability. Nor are they able to refute these facts with the never ending flow of subjectively written studies that are by and large skewed and outright falsified so-called studies.

The same people seem to post the same Bible verses (out of context) to make the point that we and God are hateful.

My first question is have any of you who do this ever asked why God did what He did? Have you ever really tried to understand? Much is spiritually discerned and this keeps you blind to a degree, but if you honestly and sincerely wanted to know the truth God would help you. Even if you don't want the truth but at least wanted to know how knowledgeable Christians explain these things you could find out. Few do.

Along this same line they throw out verses they say support slavery and the like. They are oblivious to the context or the proper interpretation for which there is a science. They do what I've seen most militant atheists do as well as Fred Phelps from the Westboro Baptist Church, cults and sorely liberal Christians; cherry pick the Bible for their own subjective purposes.

I am stunned by the hate I and others have been bombarded with by the atheists and homosexual advocates. Not all but many. Despite the repeated attempts to make clear the position of the TRUE Christian that we hate the sin and not the sinner, we are nevertheless pummeled with hateful comments, insults, unfounded accusations, and the twisting of what we say.

Additionally, we Christians have not tried to STOP any behavior that is within legal limits between consenting adults or make everyone see it and do it "our" way; though we continue to be accused of this very thing.

For people who get so hostile about supposedly not being allowed by Christians to be who they are and believe what they want, they spend a lot of time and energy telling us how bad we are and wrong we are to believe what we do. 

While they scream about their rights, they angrily, rudely and at times crudely deny us ours.

That this is ironic and the epitome of hypocrisy is one thing. That they could read through these comments and not see this blatant pattern is astonishing.

Why are so many incapable of being civil about our disagreeing positions?

Some of the comments have been outright vulgar. It is quite revealing of the person.

In general though, the very hate we're accused of they are doling out.

I want to add right here how pleased I am with (most) the responses by Christians here. With the exception of just a few, the responses to this often hostile, unreasonable discourse and twisting of information have been met with intelligent reason and respect. This has been done though the return comments have consistently been met with insults and condescension.

While I appreciate nearly all those Christians who responded, some more than others have been standouts in terms of their stick-to-itiveness as well as their respect and facts. For them I am truly grateful.

I know some who have communicated through email that they are not willing to subject themselves to the abuse and some just plain don't want to climb in the gutter with a lot of the garbage thrown in the way it has been. I find no fault with that.

Christians don't need to agree on everything either, but we better be able to back what we say with a reasonable understanding of Scripture. We can have honest disagreements without dividing, but we darn sure need to be united on the essentials; this is paramount!

Speaking to the oft brought up issue of adultery, divorce, and the myriad of sexual and marital sins by the heterosexual, or the Christian heterosexual to be more specific I say these things; I agree! I'm not excusing or justifying them because I didn't mention them! I didn't talk about child abuse, the mistreating of animals, littering or countless other things as that was not what the blog was about.

Of course the sexual sins and the divorce rate among those who CLAIM to be Christians are tragic and unacceptable. I would say these are symptoms of the problems that I have mentioned as well.

I wasn't rating sins here either which has been brought up numerous times. So let me make this clear from a biblical standpoint.

In terms of salvation a sin is a sin is a sin. The least sin separates us from God just as the greatest sin. I was not saying homosexuals are worse sinners than any others. In fact, I have said many times that my pet peeve about some Christians was their obsession with focusing on the sin of homosexuality to the practicing homosexual when telling them of the free gift of grace that comes though faith in Christ. Every person has many sins; there is no need to focus on any given sin when telling a person about Christ.

It takes on a new life however, when it is brought into the legal arena and I'm within my rights to respectfully stand in opposition.

Now, outside of salvation there are worse sins than others. You don't honestly think the torment in hell will be the same for a sexually immoral person as for a Hitler or serial killer or child predator, etc? Of course not. There are degrees of rewards in heaven and degrees of punishment in hell. Nor will the Christian who fails to seek earnestly their relationship with God and obey Him by faith be rewarded the same as the one who does.

Additionally there are more severe consequences here on earth. The sexually immoral person (straight or otherwise) runs many higher risks of worse consequences than say a person who uses foul language.

And guess what? I do believe a practicing homosexual can be a Christian. Yes me, a conservative Christian. Wow! Now people on all sides can be hateful toward me. Let me qualify though.

First, when we receive Christ I don't believe anyone knows or understands that all their sin is sin. This comes as we allow God to reveal our sinful hearts as we fellowship with Him through Bible reading and study, meditation and prayer. This also comes through the teaching from and the fellowship with other Christians.

Second, once this person (practicing homosexual or ANY other person practicing a sinful behavior!) receives Christ, he/she needs to submit to the truths of God as revealed through the Bible. If they do not and refuse to leave their sin, then as per Paul in 1 Corinthians 5, they need to be expelled from the Church. This is to be done only after respectful and compassionate efforts to help the person see their sin from the Word of God. Even then they are not to be made enemies, just expelled and treated as lovingly as we are called to treat any pagan.

Third, if this person STILL denies their sin, then again as per Paul they should check to see if they are actually in the faith. No true Christian can know the truth and live the lie and be at peace. If he/she knows the truth, defies it and still lives in relative peace, then in all probability the Holy Spirit does not reside in his/her being.

I am not talking about the person who struggles with a sin. That is someone who obviously agrees with God but is still growing by way of sanctification.

Now there also seems to me to be an incessant need to accuse me (and other fundamentally sound Christians) of judging and that we are not to judge.

I'm not going to go into the whole thing here because there is much that could be said. However, people that say this are first of all making their own judgments and can't even recognize it! Second, we ARE called to judge; just not self-righteously or hypocritically.

Now I have been accused of quite a bit here and called all kinds of names by many people, most who call me judgmental and even more ridiculous hypocritical!

It amazes me that people who don't believe the Bible, use it to argue with the Christian, though it's by twisting it or through ignorance.

If you want to know what the Bible says about judging rightly as to whom, what and when we are to judge, do a thorough and honest study. You will then have the opportunity to have a biblical perspective verses a worldly one.

What we as Christians are not to do is to condemn people. Behavior yes, people no. That is up to God alone. Besides, anyone outside of Christ is ALREADY condemned unless or until they receive Christ by grace through faith, so I certainly don't need to do it.

Also, there is no one that is out of the reach of God, so far be it for me to say any such thing.

Plus, I am no one to condemn and am living proof that anyone can be saved and changed. I was a drug/alcohol addicted sexually promiscuous person living a very violent lifestyle. People who have met me since my conversion can't believe that when I tell them who I was.

I'm not perfect and I fail more than I care to say, but I am not the man I was by any stretch of the imagination.

As to the liberal so-called Christians I am still disgusted. The reason being is that if in fact you are Christian, you defy the clear-cut truths from the Word of God - The very God who died to save you. You are no longer your own you have been bought with a price. You are not at liberty to take and leave what you want and don't want from the Word of God. Nor are you allowed to twist it to fit your desired positions.

I find you far more difficult to digest than the most hate-filled, irrational, un-believer.

There is a difference between an extremist and someone who is fundamentally sound. That you don't know the difference says a great deal about your knowledge and insight or lack there of.

The worst part is the siding with the people who defy God and agree with them on the very things they defy God with! You will listen to their bogus unproven propaganda, but you ignore the credible evidence that refutes their claims and most unsettlingly you do not adhere to the very words of God. This goes beyond simple foolishness, it is reckless and shameful.

I do want to apologize if (if…lol…I guess I have) I've offended any of my Catholic friends. While I do stand by what I say, I could have been more graceful in my comments.

In fact, I stand by all I said.

The last thing I will say here is in response to one of the things that drives me insane.

Now read very carefully:

True Christianity IS NOT A RELIGION!!! IT IS A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD!!!

Those who have the Holy Spirit indwelling their being understand this profoundly.

He is available to all who humble themselves before and surrender to Jesus Christ.

4:35 AM - 579 Comments - 80 Kudos - Add Comment

Gay Marriage Ban Overturned!
Category: Religion and Philosophy

So most of you have probably already heard; the gay marriage ban has been overturned by the Supreme Court in California "paving the way for California to become the second state" to legalize gay marriage. 

Well first off, gay marriage has not only always been legal, but in fact encouraged. It's actually homosexual marriage that has been made acceptable in the eyes of the so-called Supreme Court. Ya, the word gay has been hijacked by the homosexual community.

My first response was shock, then sadness, then anger. I wanted to be mad at the homosexual people. They are after all, the ones in blatant sin. And through that sin are unwittingly helping to destroy our country.

I could be angry that homosexuals hijacked the word gay. I could be angry they have mocked God by using the rainbow as their symbol.  I could be appalled at the way they flaunt themselves at their "Gay Pride" parades (and I can't help but think about the verse from Philippians 3:19 "…and their glory is their shame.").

I admit I'm tempted to say hurtful things and more. I won't though. I won't stoop to the level of the Westboro Baptist Church, the knuckle head here on myspace who proclaims himself to be a mountain preacher or those like them that teach that God hates certain people.

I'm definitely ticked at the California Supreme Court. How could they go against the majority of the American people on this? What arrogance! What ignorance! It's nothing short of liberal fascism.

However, I can't really blame homosexuals who are just doing what those outside of Christ do – rebel against God. That is the "natural" thing to do if you're not a believer.

I know that those who defy God will get theirs; at some point anyway. This is not to the pleasure of God, but to His justice.

I know too, that the so-called California Supreme Court will be held accountable by God for the failure to uphold that which is right. The four who voted for this are despicable. They will surely answer to the true Supreme Court – God.

You know who I'm really ticked at? Christians! That's right, Christians. All those who suppose themselves to be, yet deny the Word of God and have been conformed to the views of the world, the culture.

Shame on us! How we have failed the world, our country, our fellow man, our families, and our God.

The liberal mind-set of those who claim to be Christians disgusts me to no end. The ignorance, the twisting of the Word of God or the flat out denying of it is deplorable. It's the same reason that abortion has been allowed in this country, that God has been booted from our schools, that the farce of evolution is taught as fact, that every belief in this country is tolerated except Christianity, and much more.

That so many Christians have gone to the side of Satan on these and other issues is why they have been allowed to legally prevail.

So how did it start? What is the real problem or problems? These events are just symptoms after all. What is at the root of the problem?

Is it just the twisting of Scripture? Using one or two passages to create an entire philosophy for the acceptance of abortion or homosexuality? And this despite the clear evidence that God hates these sins?

Is it the flat out denying of Scripture? The fulfilling of Scripture that many turn away to words and beliefs that tickle their ears?

Is it the failure to pray? This is severely neglected and keeps the Christian thinking, working, and creating in his own strength and wisdom.

Is it the secularization of the Christian community, the Church? Secular is not the elimination of God like many think. It is putting Him second! We are however on the way to eliminating Him in our culture. Today was one more step in that direction.

Is it the neglect and/or ignorance of Scripture? This too is pervasive among Christians. Not just liberals, but conservatives as well. However, we do see many more liberals among certain denominations like Episcopalians or Catholics. Not to pick on these two groups and I know it does not speak to all of them, but they are at the forefront of Christian liberalism. It's shameful!

And what's with this Pope? I try to keep on good terms with Catholics and emphasize those truths we agree on, but for crying out loud – aliens!? He was already on my bad side for taking the position that true salvation is only found through the Catholic Church in violation of Scripture. But aliens? What nonsense. He would do good to read the Bible and stick to that and leave the alien garbage to the Sci-Fi channel.

(Now I know the Pope himself did not make these statements. However, nothing comes out of the Vatican without his blessing. My point it this: many Catholics defy the Word of God on the issues of abortion, homosexual marriage, etc. even though the Pope speaks out against them. So you would think he would speak more about these things than allow the Vatican to release comments telling Catholics it's ok to believe in aliens - it's a ludicrous distraction from that which is truly important).

I don't know what exactly the root cause is, but I do know that it both starts with the Church and is a result of liberal un-Biblical thinking.

Am I overreacting? Am I too emotional over this? I don't think so. I mean, I do know God is in control. I know this didn't catch Him off guard; He was not shocked as I was. I do know He's not pleased though.

I know too that as our country descends into a deeper state of immorality, that we all suffer.

While I despise much of the teaching by Reverend Wright, when he said after 9/11 the chickens have come home to roost, I agreed! I just disagree as to why. While I can't tell you for sure why, I would say our killing a million babies a year could be a strong possibility. The point is, it will get worse as God withdraws His protection on us to allow His discipline to us for our failure to love Him and to obey Him.

So it's a sad day here in America, a sad day indeed. We the Church, have only ourselves to blame.

6:43 PM - 3364 Comments - 146 Kudos - Add Comment

Is the Bible Reliable? Part 3: The Manuscript Evidence
Category: Religion and Philosophy

Is the Bible Reliable? Part 3: The Manuscript Evidence

3:54 AM - 95 Comments - 54 Kudos - Add Comment

Is the Bible Reliable? Part 2: Who is Jesus and how did He view the Bible?
Category: Religion and Philosophy

"And it is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail." Luke 16:17 (NASB)

To get started I would like to declare to the reader that Jesus is Thee Lord and therefore His understanding and recognition of the Bible is imperative to its credibility. It's also important that the Christian understand this.

Jesus was a good teacher, a wise man, a prophet, a holy man, but if that's all he was, then His perception is no better than the next person defined by these traits.

What did Jesus say about Himself? Did He prove his claims? We'll look briefly into this and move on to what importance Jesus attributed to the Bible. I say 'briefly' because there is a mountain of evidence (to which I will allude) that supports His and the Bible's claims about Himself. To go into detail would take us away from our main focus. However, these facts need to be acknowledged for the purpose of establishing the magnitude of Jesus' view of His Bible, the Old Testament, as well as His divine inspiration for the New Testament.

There are many examples that could be given here to show that both the Bible and Jesus Himself claim He is God. A long and exhaustive chronicle could be written on this issue alone. For the sake of simplicity and keeping the article reasonably brief, I will give just a few.

An oft quoted verse is in the Gospel according to John:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1

This is significant because as you read further in this chapter it is made abundantly clear the "Word" is Jesus. Not to mention that these passages speak to the Trinity by making reference to the person of Jesus as being God, yet distinct from the Father.

Next, in John 5 we have the Jews responding to Jesus healing on the Sabbath and calling God His Father:

"For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God." John 5:18

In this same vein we have Jesus telling opposing Jews about Abraham rejoicing at the coming of Christ (Himself). The Jews mocked that He wasn't even 50 years old and therefore how could He have seen Abraham. This is what came next:

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am." John 8:58

At this they tried to stone Him. Why? Because they understood without question that Jesus was calling Himself the "I AM" that God had identified Himself as to Moses. Again He was making Himself equal with God which was blasphemy, punishable by death.  

It gets no clearer than it does in these passages:

"Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." John 10:31-33

In the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark and Luke, a paralytic is brought to Jesus by some men. Jesus was so pleased with their faith that He told the man he was forgiven his sins.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law who were watching, immediately accused Jesus in their minds and hearts of blasphemy. They unambiguously understood only God had the authority to truly forgive sins. Jesus then does some of the most amazing things.

First, he asked them why they were thinking these things in their hearts and minds. Not only did he know their thoughts, he knew their hearts! This is extremely incredible because only God knows the hearts and minds of men (Jeremiah 17:10 among other verses). More than that Jesus went on to say,

"Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk?'" Matthew 9:5, Luke5:23 {similar in Mark2:9}

He then did the miraculous - He healed the paralytic! See, anyone could just say, 'your sins are forgiven', but only God could then actually heal the paralytic. Jesus did this to demonstrate He was who He proclaimed Himself to be.

So Jesus took the position of God by forgiving sins. Then to make evident that He was in reality God, read the thoughts and hearts of the Pharisees and teachers of the law and preformed the miraculous healing.

Jesus performing authentic miracles is what separates Him from all others. He healed countless people both spiritually and physically by casting out demons, healing every kind of sickness, even raising Lazarus and 2 others from the dead. He also altered the laws of nature by (among other things), changing water to wine, feeding the five thousand and the four thousand (plus the women and children), walking on water, calming a storm and most notably, the resurrection.

Not only does the Bible record Jesus was performing miracles, but so do Jewish documents outside the Bible. His very enemies! They never denied the healings of Christ; they just attributed them to the devil.

I will add here that the evidence for the resurrection is nothing short of astounding. It is worthy of its own presentation and by itself gives the New Testament immense credibility.

Last are the Old Testament prophesies of the coming messiah fulfilled in Christ. We will address these in Part Five.

What I've presented here is a mere sample of all that could be written on what both the Bible in general and Jesus say about who He is.

What is the conclusion? There is no mistaking that the Bible and Jesus Himself say He is God. He then proved it beyond a shadow of a doubt.

So how did Jesus view the Bible?

First off, He was a student of it from early on. We know this from Luke 2 where Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple courts with the teachers:

"After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed by his understanding and his answers."

Luke 2:46-47

We see further evidence of this in Luke 4:

"He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom…"Luke 4:16

When He was led into the desert to be tempted by the devil, His responses to the devil all begin with the uncompromising statements,

"It is written…" and "It is also written…" and "For it is written…"

At which point in all three responses, He quoted from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy.

The most telling of these was the first however:

 "…It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"Matthew4:4

So Jesus equates the Bible with being the very words of God.

More than that, He referred to the Old Testament when teaching, rebuking and settling disputes numerous times. He did this in the context of giving the OT spiritual authority as well as historical reliability.

Interestingly he referred to people and stories in the OT that are often at the center of debate. For example,

Adam and Eve are thought by many to be mythological or symbolic, but Jesus quotes from Genesis 2:24 in Matthew 19 giving this account credibility.

Also thought to be just a myth is the great flood of Noah's day, but Christ speaks to this in Matthew 24 from a historical perspective using it in reference to a prophesy about Himself and a warning to us all. Furthermore, preceding these comments He says,

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." Matthew 24:35

This is consistent with His many other claims as well as His conviction that His words are God's words, that they are one in the same and they are revealed in the Bible in its entirety.

In addition to these references Jesus, when making His points on various issues, cited Jonah, Sodom and Gomorrah, words of Moses and so on. All of these people, places, and incidents have been questioned, but not by Jesus. He recognized them all to be real people, places, and events. 

Moreover, when Jesus had silenced the Sadducees (a Jewish faction that opposed Jesus and who did not believe in a bodily resurrection or immortality of the soul) after failing to trick Him on a question about marriage in heaven (and Jesus rebuked them for not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God), the Pharisees got together to give Jesus their best shot. So they asked Him what the greatest commandment was. This is when Jesus said one of His best known passages:

"Jesus replied, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 23:37-40

This is an all encompassing conclusion by Jesus of the Old Testament.

In addition to this, Jesus repeatedly talked of the Scriptures being fulfilled, all in direct or indirect reference to Himself. Most significantly is this:

"…Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Luke 24:44b

Is it clear enough yet? Again, this is only a fraction of what could be written here.

The point is this; Jesus claimed He was God. Apart from His own claims, the Bible in general calls Him God. Now let me make this perfectly clear; you can say Jesus is a liar, you can say He was crazy as a loon, but you cannot say that He did not identify Himself as God, nor can you say the Bible fails to teach that Jesus was fully human and fully God. To say anything different is the result of two probabilities. The first is simply a lack of understanding the text. The second is a torturing of Scripture beyond recognition.

Jesus saw the entirety of the Old Testament as the Word of God. Jesus is the authority by which the New Testament has its roots, its inspiration, and its purpose.

Let's move on to the manuscript evidence.

"Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken…"

Isaiah 1:2a

5:50 AM - 70 Comments - 34 Kudos - Add Comment

Is the Bible Reliable? Part One: What does the Bible claim about itself?
Category: Religion and Philosophy

Is the Bible reliable? Part One: What does the Bible claim about itself?

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."2 Timothy 3:16-17

Well with that verse I'd like to close up my briefcase and go home. I'd like to but I know I can't. First off, I don't have a briefcase. Second, I'm already home. Third, I know I can't get away with demonstrating what the Bible says about itself with one strikingly impressive verse. It does speak volumes though and unquestionably sums up what the Bible teaches us about what it claims to be; the Word of God.

You may think this sounds a bit like the story "The Emperor's New Clothes". That just because the Bible says it and all us Christians say, "Amen", then all you folks are just supposed to buy it, take your briefcase and go home. You might then be saying, "Hold the syrup on them pancakes here sparky. Just because it says so doesn't make it so."

My first response to that would be, don't call me sparky. After that however, I would agree! I realize this alone is simply a circular argument and by just accepting it is one reason B.T. Barnum became wealthy.

In any case, understand this; it is crucial that we have a defendant's statement of being something extraordinary before bringing in evidence and witnesses to corroborate his claims are needed. If I were to claim I'm Super Man there would be good reason to ask me to give some evidence. If on the other hand I were just to state the obvious like, "I'm gorgeous", why would anyone need to expect any further proof of anything? Let alone that I was Super Man.

With that said, let's take a further look to see how indeed Scripture defines itself. We'll begin with some of the Old Testament claims.

To start, Moses declared again and again his writings were from God. For example:

"And God spoke all these words:" Exodus 20:1

"…Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them." Deuteronomy 1:3

And more than once,

"Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said." Exodus 24:4

We know of course that God wrote the 10 commandments down himself on stone tablets. Twice!

It doesn't end there. The assertions made in these next verses are monumental:

"And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times. " Psalm 12:6

"Your word, oh Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens," Psalm 119:89

"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8

"Every word of God is flawless…" Proverbs 30:5a

I chose these verses because they acknowledge God's Word as being perfect and eternal. This is significant for the purpose of establishing that the Bible claims flawlessness as well as being the Word of God. It does so not only in these verses, but in the entirety of the Old Testament. What I mean is that hundreds of times in the Old Testament you find the phrases,

"says the Lord" or "word of the Lord" or "God says" or "the Lord says" or "He said…" or "declares the Sovereign Lord" or "the Lord has spoken"

This doesn't even include the mentions of God giving visions to and speaking though the prophets or the "Spirit of the Lord" speaking through people.

While there is more from the Old Testament on this, these statements alone are more than sufficient to say the Old Testament professes to be the infallible Word of God.

In the New Testament we find quotes or clear references to virtually every book of the Old Testament. These are communicated in such a way as to claim divine authority.  Those quoting or referring to the Old Testament always did so from the position that it was undisputed fact very often saying,

"it is written"

Additionally, the New Testament authors spoke in general terms referring to the Old Testament as,

 "the Scriptures" or "the Law" or "the Law and the prophets" or "the Word of God" or "the holy Scriptures" and my favorite "the very words of God"

In respect to the New Testament Jesus made the awesome promise to the disciples that,

"…when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth." John 16:13a.

And

"He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you." John 16:14

It was this truth that is communicated in the Gospels, the book of Acts and the epistles. Of course the book of Revelation is a direct revelation to John from Jesus Christ through an angel.

Furthermore, we not only have the statement from 2 Timothy3:16-17, but we have other statements that testify to this as well:

"For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." 1 Peter 1:23

After saying this and then quoting Isaiah 40:6-8 (see part of quote above), Peter goes on to make an astonishing connection