I think when someone says it "contains truth", they don't mean all of it is true. Otherwise they would have said that. They mean there are true things in it, but not all of it is necessarily true.
(This happens to be my view of the matter, btw. But you probably know that! )
Its hard to find any writing of any kind that doesn't "contain truth" somewhere.
The Bible doesn't simply contain truth, it defines and establishes truth.
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"Resolved: That all men should live to the glory of God. Resolved, secondly: That whether or not anyone else does, I will." ~Jonathan Edwards
"The only man who has the right to say he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ." ~Dietrich Bonheoffer, The Cost of Discipleship
"Preachers who should be fishing for men are now too often fishing for compliments from men." ~Leonard Ravenhill
Yes, that is a commonly held opinion in these parts.
Granted.
But assuming you believe in a such thing as "truth" (which based on your admission the Bible "contains truth") and thus, moral right and wrong. Can you tell me how you can define moral rights and wrongs without the revealed word of God?
Do you determine right/wrong based on your own opinions? Experiences? Popular opinion? Cultural or subcultural norms? Legislation?
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"Resolved: That all men should live to the glory of God. Resolved, secondly: That whether or not anyone else does, I will." ~Jonathan Edwards
"The only man who has the right to say he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ." ~Dietrich Bonheoffer, The Cost of Discipleship
"Preachers who should be fishing for men are now too often fishing for compliments from men." ~Leonard Ravenhill
But assuming you believe in a such thing as "truth" (which based on your admission the Bible "contains truth") and thus, moral right and wrong. Can you tell me how you can define moral rights and wrongs without the revealed word of God?
Do you determine right/wrong based on your own opinions? Experiences? Popular opinion? Cultural or subcultural norms? Legislation?
A little of all of the above. It's mostly common sense, really. Nobody, and I mean nobody, needs God to tell them not to murder. But only the written word would tell you that, e.g., gay sex is morally wrong. That's not common sense. Even if it seems "icky" to a lot of people, that doesn't make it wrong.
Can I ask you this? (Will anyway! ) Would you think it was perfectly fine to smash as store window and grab some jewelry, if it were not for the Bible? Would you think it's OK to lie? Kill? Rape?
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
BTW, laws against murder and many other things predated the Ten Commandments.
Well that's good use of a red herring. You absolutely did not address my questions.
Second to that, just because because there were laws against murder prior to the 10 commandments doesn't mean that murder was ok prior to that. In fact we would expect to find laws against murder goes back to the dawn of creation (Cain and Abel) and God punished Cain so severely that he cried out "my punishment is more than I can bear." So murder has always been morally wrong, and in particular because GOD defined it as so. Not only that but God created humans with a conscious so that we we have a general knowledge of right and wrong. And because we have a conscious which helps us define right and wrong, it is more overwhelming evidence we were specially created (not evolved by accident) and thus have a Creator whose laws we are subject to, and who we are ultimately accountable to.
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"Resolved: That all men should live to the glory of God. Resolved, secondly: That whether or not anyone else does, I will." ~Jonathan Edwards
"The only man who has the right to say he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ." ~Dietrich Bonheoffer, The Cost of Discipleship
"Preachers who should be fishing for men are now too often fishing for compliments from men." ~Leonard Ravenhill
Well that's good use of a red herring. You absolutely did not address my questions.
"A little of all of the above." To concise for you? OK, I developed my moral code from a combination of sources and methods. The resulting code is very similar to nearly everyone else's in the world. One of the sources was, in fact, the Bible, as that was my earliest influence (being raised in a Christian family, going to church every Sunday, etc.). The Golden Rule, as Jesus articulated it, is an excellent starting point. I have dismissed some of the other rules, but hey, hasn't everyone?
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Second to that, just because because there were laws against murder prior to the 10 commandments doesn't mean that murder was ok prior to that. In fact we would expect to find laws against murder goes back to the dawn of creation (Cain and Abel) and God punished Cain so severely that he cried out "my punishment is more than I can bear." So murder has always been morally wrong, and in particular because GOD defined it as so. Not only that but God created humans with a conscious so that we we have a general knowledge of right and wrong. And because we have a conscious which helps us define right and wrong, it is more overwhelming evidence we were specially created (not evolved by accident) and thus have a Creator whose laws we are subject to, and who we are ultimately accountable to.
My point was simply that nobody needed God's written commandments (or a select few taking dictation form Him) to determine morality. You might say God "wrote it on our hearts", and that's cool. But, again, were the tablets of stone really necessary? Hard to make the case for it, given that the gist of the Big Ten were already codified centuries earlier.
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
OK, the Ten Commandments did introduce some new laws, I admit. E.g., nobody knew (or it wasn't required yet?) that they had to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Maybe they thought graven images were OK before then. And I'm not sure about envy being a sin. But the basics were around for a very long time before the Big Ten, as everyone agrees. Even the Bible, as you pointed out, indicates that murder was already wrong.
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
No book handled by human translators and scribes over a 2,000 year time frame is inerrant.
However, the Bible is a very good revelation of God to those whose heart is turned to God and seeks after God. To those whose hearts are carnal and turned to ever thing wicked and evil, it is not a revelation of God, but a stubblingstone, and a rock of offence.
To hide a matter is divine, to search it out is human.
__________________ For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God. (Romans 14:11- NASB)
No book handled by human translators and scribes over a 2,000 year time frame is inerrant.
Because human effort can't be perfect? The translators will get something wrong. The scribes won't copy exactly. The original writers won't get it exactly as God wants them to. Oh, wait. Maybe that human effort was perfect?
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However, the Bible is a very good revelation of God to those whose heart is turned to God and seeks after God. To those whose hearts are carnal and turned to ever thing wicked and evil, it is not a revelation of God, but a stubblingstone, and a rock of offence.
What?
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To hide a matter is divine, to search it out is human.
What?!
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
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) Would you think it was perfectly fine to smash as store window and grab some jewelry, if it were not for the Bible? Would you think it's OK to lie? Kill? Rape?
OK, I developed my moral code from a combination of sources and methods. The resulting code is very similar to nearly everyone else's in the world. One of the sources was, in fact, the Bible, as that was my earliest influence (being raised in a Christian family, going to church every Sunday, etc.). The Golden Rule, as Jesus articulated it, is an excellent starting point. I have dismissed some of the other rules, but hey, hasn't everyone? 
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