Without citing the bible, what marks the bible as the one book with God's message?

[brewer]

As for the Bible I believe it has some very sound advice for living a decent and heathy life. I'm not one that believes it isn't fallible as fundamentalist do. Actually I think the Gnostic Christians may have had a better understandings of Christ than the early church did. 

I came my beliefs because of my study of near death experiences and some of the stories and testimonies of the people that experienced them.

 What study? Should I consider you a medical professional?

The Silmarillion also has sound advice for living a decent and healthy life. Why not follow that?

There are any number of books with a decent and healthy life formula. They just don't promise an after life. Isn't that what you're really chasing?

[Angrboda]

Oh come on!  Where are the god botherers when you want them?  Let me try to sleep in the daytime when I've worked graveyard and without fail, Witnesses would be at my door trying to convert me.  

Here I've been willing to concede lots of things about the bible and the Christian god AND I've invited you to guide me to recognize the bible as the true word of God - and not so much as a peep!  Damn, do you or don't you want to save me?  I'm like a voice crying in the wilderness and not one of God's children will show me the way.  Pity .. I could sense a change coming too.

You seem to be just seeking and argument, not an honest discussion. If they can't use the material they have to debate their point of few there is no point in engaging. 

As for the Bible I believe it has some very sound advice for living a decent and heathy life. I'm not one that believes it isn't fallible as fundamentalist do. Actually I think the Gnostic Christians may have had a better understandings of Christ than the early church did. 

I came my beliefs because of my study of near death experiences and some of the stories and testimonies of the people that experienced them.

Whateverist hasn't been seen around these parts in a log time.

[Paleophyte]

I came my beliefs because of my study of near death experiences and some of the stories and testimonies of the people that experienced them.

This post's resurrection is a great example. Brain dead for nearly a decade but still experiencing religion.

NDEs are the hallucinations of a terrifyingly impaired brain. You couldn't find a drunk that would make a less reliable witness. The way that nobody ever gets out anything that they didn't take in clearly demonstrates that you aren't meeting anybody except your own imagination.

[Ahriman]

Near death experiences are definitely not a reliable indicator of any kind of after-life, if such a thing should exist......the difference between a NDE and what happens after permanent death could be massive.......the after-life might not be anything like what is seen during a NDE.

[RBP3280]

I used to believe in NDEs, also; I am now convinced that they are a natural phenomenon:

Intelligence Squared -- Death Is Not Final

You are correct, physical death is natural. The question is there a spiritual death as well?

[Jehanne]

I used to believe in NDEs, also; I am now convinced that they are a natural phenomenon:

Intelligence Squared -- Death Is Not Final

You are correct, physical death is natural. The question is there a spiritual death as well?

Great question. Even if we have souls/spirits that survive the death of our brains/bodies, who's to say that the spirit survives forever?

[RBP3280]

You are correct, physical death is natural. The question is there a spiritual death as well?

Great question.  Even if we have souls/spirits that survive the death of our brains/bodies, who's to say that the spirit survives forever?

Don't know, my crystal ball isn't working right now.

[Jehanne]

Great question.  Even if we have souls/spirits that survive the death of our brains/bodies, who's to say that the spirit survives forever?

Don't know, my crystal ball isn't working right now.

I would ask for a refund.

[RBP3280]

Near death experiences are definitely not a reliable indicator of any kind of after-life, if such a thing should exist......the difference between a NDE and what happens after permanent death could be massive.......the after-life might not be anything like what is seen during a NDE.

I must disagree, even though the subject is controversial, there is a tremendous amount of circumstantial evidence that these experiences are valid. Watching someone die many times you can get a sense when the spirit leaves the body, here again one can't prove it scientifically. 

When you study a few hundred of these cases and see the consistency in them it build a very strong argument, and especially with children. 

I'm probably a little like many hear, if you are going to tell me a story, you best be able to prove it or at least build a strong argument for your story. 

What frustrates many like myself, is those who are close minded. I grew up in the sixties, what was scientific facts in many disciplines have been discarded because we continue to learn.

[HappySkeptic]

When you study a few hundred of these cases and see the consistency in them it build a very strong argument, and especially with children. 

Consistency doesn't mean "real", as in a real afterlife.

Consistency can mean commonality in how the brain works and shared mythology.  The human mind is also capable of ecstatic religious experience, but commonality of experience doesn't prove that a preacher from 2000 years ago was the actual physical "son" of a bronze age war god.

Consistency can also be the result of selection bias.  You find NDE stories that have commonality, when most people don't have NDE's, or have ones that don't fit your preconceptions.