What makes the Bible Holy: response to Baha'i faith

Response to a comment on video 3 of the Rainn Wilson interview by Oprah Winfrey about the Baha'i faith.

What is Holy?

Why didn't the Jews consider Jesus holy?

What makes the Bible holy?

~Great questions, keep asking them!

"Be holy because I am holy."  ~God

Isaiah 48:17

Matthew 3:11

1 Peter 1:16

Mark 10:18

Holiness.  What is it?  Can it be defined multiple ways?  Can your idea of what is Holy differ from my idea?  What about the bible - is it Holy?

On the Bible:

The Bible is an amazing book and has had a tremendous impact on the world for the past 5-6 thousand years.  I'm certain nobody would argue with that.  What some would argue though, is whether or not the impact it has had is good or bad.

The question forces a deeper question.  It's the same as asking, "what is holy?"  This question is as follows:  What is good and what is bad?  In this little bit of web space I'd like to deal with the concept of good in brief.

What is Holy?

Rape is bad, right?  Murder is bad...  right?  Even if your deceived enough to say that these are ok sometimes, wouldn't you agree that it is certainly not ideal?  

I've been around the world in several places and have found the same answers to these questions.  Asians agree that murder is bad, plain wrong in fact.  Argentineans agree that rape is never good, but always wrong.  Canadians, North Americans, Koreans, Somalians and many others from many other countries that I've met agree the same.  Simple agreance does not mean these things are ok, I'm only using this as an example to say that many people from many differing - even conflicting - world views have some common ground on these types of things.  Boiled down, here's where we can start:  Good exists.

So what is good?  Even better:  Who is good?  Is there a tangible example we can look at?  Follow me for just a second - the holiness answer is on it's way.  Jesus said:

"No one is good - except God alone." 

God is good, and nobody else.  God also said: 

"I am holy."

The connection here is that God is the supreme being, the most desired, and he alone has been holy from eternity to eternity.  Therefore he is the standard of what is holy because only he has been holy forever.  We have not.  He has never done anything unjustly, we all have done at least one thing bad, or wrong...  From Tibet to Tennessee we are all equally in the same place before God.  Namely, lesser than him.  Why?  Because he is perfect, we are not.  He is holy, and apart from him we are not.  He's the baseline - the foundation.

So what makes the Bible holy?  The Bible is holy because it is the word of God - The thoughts, desires, and instructions from the holy being.  God's word is perfect and eternal.  The page type and thickness of the leather on the outside don't matter.  His word is eternal and by God's grace, we have as much as he wants us to know written down for us in the book we call, "The Bible".  But, even though one day the letters in my bible will wear out and fade away, his words will never fade away...  They are eternal.

The Bible is holy because God inspired it.  God never changes, nor does his message.  If he did change his message he would not be perfect, balanced, just, and he would be a liar because he himself said, "I the Lord, do not change."

So, if God said that the only way to get to get to him, (to know him, to restore relationship with him) is through casting all your trust on Jesus to cover your "bads" or "wrongs" (unholiness aka sin), but turned around and told Mohammed to tell everyone that the only way to him now, is by living a good life and doing 5 basic things because simple faith alone isn't enough now, Then he would be contradicting himself.

The Jews and Jesus: Why didn't they see him as holy?

Lastly, we know that agreement does not make something true or right or good.  Conversely, badness is not needy of our validation.  It exists.  Something is true or right or good simply because it is, and it doesn't require acknowledgment, or a certain number of people to agree in it to make it true, and it doesn't need worship to be true.  Gravity existed and was understood long before Newton helped us understand it.  Jesus existed when no human existed to worship he.  

When people don't see him as holy, (like the majority of the Jews didn't while he was here) it really is not evidence that he is not, it is evidence that they don't understand yet.  It is worthwhile to note however that Jesus said he has existed forever and was not created.  He said he is the beginning and the end!  Bold statement for a simple profit, wouldn't you agree? 

He is God apart from a certain person's belief in him.  What truly matters is, do you know him?  Do you know who he is?  If he alone is God all others cannot be true.  It isn't an issue of being intolerant, it's an issue of truth.  Please allow yourself to see that these aren't words of hate or separation, but of unity.  God loves everyone the same, and sees everyone as equally lesser than him and equally needing of his free gift of restoration.  for more see:  Knowing God Personally.

P.S.  I am still hoping you can give me an answer to the questions I asked you.

Sincere love,

See: What is the gospel?

things relevant not addressed in depth:  Bible translations and why the bible can be trusted.  Relativism and Post Modernism.  The issue of tolerance and the lack of it for absolute truth.