Answer with at least 10 sentences

Question

Is it enough to have one source of authority when it comes to a religion or worldview? What factors determine if that source is reliable? Some religions rely on holy books while others base their ideas on people. Which is more reliable or stable? Why? What factors would cause a source of authority to become invalid or untrustworthy?

Answer 1

Answer 2

books are reliable if they don't contain contradictions or statements of fact that can't be verified. The more factual assertions that can be verified, the more reliable. Also if current versions of the books aren't too different from older versions that are later discovered.

relying on people usually means relying on oral traditions. What people said is less reliable than what was written down, "in stone," and carefully copied.

The "Bible Code" popularized by Michael Drosnin and a US code mathematician expert Harold Gans, finds patterns in the Hebrew Torah and Bible that suggest a supernatural source was the original Author. Drosnin, an atheist, ascribes the Author as extraterrestrials who came to earth to warn humans of the future. More religious interpretations argue this is evidence a supernatural Deity wrote the Bible. In general, whether from a code or expressly in the book, a prediction of the future which came true is strong evidence of some supernatural origin.

Skeptics will argue any fulfilled prophecy was written after the date of the predicted event. Mark's Gospel though is seemingly written prior to the destruction of the Tempe and Jerusalem, so Jesus was either very visionary or knew the future too well. The return of Israel as a nation is considered a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies as in Ezekiel.

Some claim a similar Bible code is in the New Testament Greek. Muslims have the number 9 seemingly appearing in the Koran having some special or numerology significance.

The ethical nature of the writings also is a requirement for any deity based book or oral message. India's Gandhi was so impressed with Jesus' words in the Gospels that he said he would be a Christian, but for the Christians. Written in a highly patriarchal racist slave era, Jesus' quoted words show a surprising attitude of equality of genders and races, seemingly out of place for its time.

The personal background & ethics of the authors of a book may also be an indication of the reliability of a book, or of oral messages. Buddha deserted his family, similar to Karl Marx, which seems not congruent with an ethical or reliable message. We distrust the message, if we distrust the messenger.

Scientific inaccuracies are a major basis of critics who dismiss "holy" books, relying particularly on Darwin's evolution. Flood stories appear in every culture's "legends" of the distant past, suggesting there may have been a real worldwide flood. Fossils do show an extinction period which may coincide with a widespread flood or asteroid hitting the earth.

Scientists until fairly recently had rejected the Big Bang Theory, as it suggested a Creator, but the evidence became too convincing. To salvage the secular viewpoint, scientists speculate other universes exist, although they appear as imaginary for similar reasons as the deity they reject as an explanation.