If He can, then the Bible is not an "eternal" source of "authority", since it could be contradicted by God. If He can't, then He's not omnipotent....the Bible is.
God is all powerful and the Bible was created by the Church not the other way around. The Bible is divinely inspired but its role in the Church should be to help guide the faithful and prevent heresy. Any church that says the Bible is perfect is kidding them,selves because it is not. Which Bible is true, which language, who decides its veracity? The Christian faith should be built upon faith in Jesus, Church Tradition, and the Church fathers guidance in interpreting scripture. Not to mention the Bible does not have all of the scripture used by the Church. It just has the most important.
And how do you do that? If you have to rely on the Bible for how to build on faith in Jesus....and the Bible isn't perfect? Anything in it about Jesus would atleast be up for debate or even suspect?
Plato destroyed the concept of God's authority with his work Euthyphro's Dilemma. Put simply, Does God determine what is good/moral, or does God simply approve of that which is good/moral ? The problem for religious people is that either option renders the need for God useless. Here's why. If God determines morality, that means that stealing is wrong only because God says so. If God had said, "Thou shall steal," it would be mandatory and moral to do so. This renders morality arbitrary when ordered by God. On the other hand, if stealing is wrong and God simply acknowledges that, that means that we don't need God to determine morality. The thinkers have been kicking the religious' ass for centuries !
But when they brought out the dead, they brought out the wrong one. "Bring out your dead (gong) bring out your dead"..
The Bible goes against itself, and God contradicts himself in the Bible. So the answer is of course. lol
There's your problem--and why only Catholic traditions (including Orthodox) will answer this question of yours. It's a problem for non-Catholic denominations.
Exactly you do not "rely on the Bible for how to build on faith in Jesus." The Bible is but one part of the process of understanding and accepting the Lord. It is when you try to just use one source of information that the confusion realy sets in.
Let's take an example....suppose God wanted to go back in time and instead of creating the Sun, stars, life on Earth and Man 10,000 years ago as it says in "Genesis"....he wanted it to take BILLIONS of years and use evolution to create life and Man.... could He do it? If so....then the Bible isn't "eternally true"? If not...then The Bible is more powerful than God. - - - Updated - - - Okay...let's hear the answer then. - - - Updated - - - Is belief in the Bible the BEGINNING of building faith in Jesus? Or do you just hear people talking about Jesus and later find the Bible to "back it up"?
Crawdadr already told you in both post #4 and #15. The man Jesus is everything God the Father has to say, but transmission of who Jesus is is revealed in Divine Revelation. Here is further info: http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s1c2a2.htm
The Bible is a divinely inspired text used too promote the faith of believers and ward off heresy. In my opinion faith in Jesus comes in many ways divine inspiration, education, or circumstance. Belief in scriptures should come after belief in Christ.
LOL. So a man made doctrine is more reliable than the inspired word of God. I think that the RC problem. They think they are better than God. Would that be a correct statement? Or don't you believe the bible is the inspired word of God?
And you like many before you dodge the question entirely. Either God can create a stone so heavy even he can't lift it or he can't. There are many ways to present the question and I'm sure you understand it so why avoid it?
But which came first...the Jesus or the Bible? Seriously, what supports your faith in Jesus...except what you believe ABOUT Jesus....from what the Bible tells you about him???
Try it this way... God manifests himself on Earth....creates a stone that He desires to be so heavy that even He cannot lift it from the surface of the planet. Can He do it? - - - Updated - - - Which books of the Bible did "God write"? Or are they all "man-made"???