Faith & Facts Participant's Guide

Faith & Facts Participant's Guide Copyright © 2006 by Lee Strobel and Rocket Pictures Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 ISBN-10: 0-310-26851-6 ISBN-13: 978-0-310-26851-2 All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for their content for the life of this book. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other - except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Interior design by Angela Moulter Printed in the United States of America 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 - 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Is the Bible Bogus? Read It! Holy Smoke? Eric and Heather, a young couple in their twenties, came to the discussion group because their neighbor Ted invited them. Ben and Elise get babysitting every week and ride their bikes a few minutes through the neighborhood to attend. Carol, a softspoken woman in her thirties, usually doesn't say much. She prefers to listen. "I'm just learning from you all," she frequently says. Nick and Heather keep things lively with their strong ideas about nearly every topic they've covered, and Peter facilitates the discussions to cover a variety of spiritual topics. Last week, when they were discussing miracles, Nick threw out a challenge. "Peter," he said, "you're always using Bible verses for us to respond to, but I think the Bible is a pretty lousy resource book. Can we leave the Bible out of it?" "I agree," said Ted, nodding. "Me too," Heather said. In fact, everyone seemed intensely interested in this issue. "That's a good point," Peter agreed. "Would you like to discuss the credibility of the Bible next week?" Everyone agreed. "Okay, then. Come ready to bring your issues and questions about whether or not the Bible can be trusted." "That shouldn't be a problem," Nick said. "It won't take me any prep time at all. I can tell you right here and now everything that bugs me." Peter laughed. "That's great - at least we're guaranteed an energetic start to our discussion!" When they gathered the next week, Nick started. "Listen, I've read the Bible from cover to cover in five and a half months, and it's a very scary book." "Tell me more," Peter urged. "Don't get him started!" Ted exclaimed. Is the Bible Bogus? Nick grinned. "Ted and I have had some conversations about this over coffee. Okay, for one thing, the Bible is full of disturbing contradictions. It says, 'Thou shall not kill,' yet the Israelites said that God told them to wipe out an entire group of people. So you tell me how that can translate into a clear set of principles for me to follow!" Eric jumped in. "Personally, I think that the Bible has some truth to it, but it's also full of errors . . . the trick is figuring out which part is which." "Well, that brings up something I wanted to point out," Ted interjected. "I think the Bible was written by humans, but Christians try to tell us that it's written by God. Then they turn right around and use it to manipulate and justify hurting people in the name of God. I hate that. I think it was written by people, and that it's totally impossible for a group of imperfect people to write a completelyStrobel, Lee is the author of 'Faith & Facts Participant's Guide', published 2005 under ISBN 9780310268512 and ISBN 0310268516.