On the subject of Hell and Salvation

[possibletarian]

Well don't you think the existence of god is kind of important to everything else you say ?  If we can't even establish the existence of god then  saying things like 'hidden by god' and 'blinded by god' and all your other excuses are a moot point.  You the further claim to have revelation from this god, so I'm a bit surprised that the existence of where you get your inspiration from is a point that you don't feel able to discuss.

Of course it's more easily explained by a 'no god' scenario.

But for now I'm particularly interested in why you believe the bible, can you fill me in on that  ?

If you can't get past the existence of God as a premise, then there's no point in having a section on this forum titled "Christianity." Why bother discussing anything at all that's predicated on the existence of God?

Of course, much of the problem atheists have is with doctrine, which is understandable to a degree. The doctrine often makes no sense, which is no wonder, considering the pagan influences on interpretation and translation (in nominal Christendom, that is). Then you have pagan practices such as Christmas and Easter further complicating things.

To answer your question, it isn't so much that I trust the Bible, but that I trust what the Lord has shown me about the Bible. As the Scriptures say, "For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little." (Isaiah 28:10) When the Lord gave me understanding, I discovered this verse to be very true. There is no contradiction in the Bible when one is given the proper understanding of its contents, and one doesn't receive this understanding by figuring it out on his or her own, neither can it come from the Bible itself. It comes from God and only from Him.

Oh I'm fine with god as a 'something that you believe is true' but wouldn't you agree to give it any authority beyond that means establishing that this god exists as a fact.

To quote scripture, or claim that a god showed you the truth of, or revealed to you the meaning of anything in scripture require that you provide reasonable proof, otherwise how can anyone tell the difference between what you simply believe is revelation, and what is in fact revelation. ?

For instance lets take your above reply 'neither can it come from the Bible itself. It comes from God and only from Him.' How do we tell the difference ?  This is meaningless as an authoritative statement unless we can first establish there is a god outside of a persons faith.