Ecclesian:  Most Christians would see the Bible as central.  After all, doesn't all we know about this God of Israel and the Messiah Yeshua come from the Bible?  So, what if we found out that the Bible was faulty or that bits of it were inaccurate?  This is the big question.  But first we need to understand some important things - I will try to keep this as simple as possible - that different people believe different things about life, what we call our world view, and this of course impacts how we understand what truth is.  If the Bible is true, then what do we mean by this? We in the western world usually see truth as something we can see, measure and understand with our minds, which is based upon science.  But there are other ways of knowing - our emotions, our instincts, our spiritual or moral sense or our imagination.  We humans have two realities that we live in, the objective physical world all around us and the subjective internal world of our perceptions and feelings.  The problem is that our minds can play tricks on us.  This has always bothered me.  For example - if I see things which aren't there, does it mean that I'm insane?  Is this spiritual experience, this vision of God, this feeling as I pray, is it really from God or am I deluded?  This then leads to - what if those people who say they saw God in the Bible, what if they were deluded?  The problem is that would make an awful lot of people nuts!  Common sense would tell us that just because someone says they believe something to be true, that it doesn't mean that it is true.  But if a billion people say that they have had spiritual experiences, then it is likely that they are experiencing something real.  So, I reject the materialist understanding of the world - that we are nothing but matter that has managed to become self aware.  The very fact of our self awareness means that there exists this thing called mind, something which isn't physical, but is spiritual.  Most people on the planet would agree with me that this is our common experience.

So - back to the Bible.  A whole bunch of people had experiences of "something" and they called that something God (Yahweh Elohim Jesus etc. etc.).  I cannot deny their experiences because they are still experiencing them and so am I!  Something or someone is definitely "out there" and trying to get our attention.  The fact that scientists can't seem to capture this something and measure it, does not exclude the reality of it.  Just because I can't measure everything I experience, doesn't mean that my experiences are invalid.  I will not go down the path of those kinds of assumptions.  A long time ago, some of those people wrote down some of the things they experienced - here is where it gets interesting.  For the ancient Israelite tribes, their "history" was their shared experience, not just the objective "scientific" stuff of the physical world around them, but also that internal reality where spiritual things happen.  They tried to write it down, but didn't always understand what it was or what was happening to them and they also made mistakes.  So what we get is their second hand reports.  This is enough for some to just discount the whole thing as unreliable, but not me.  You see, it is important to put ourselves into their shoes spiritually speaking.  Something happened to this bloke called Moshe (Moses) and he descended from a mountain with a whole legal framework.  The Israelites had just witnessed Egypt destroyed by a huge cataclysm which had enabled them to leave the Nile valley - it did something to their collective conscience.  Likewise, a bunch of Jews met a rabbi named Yeshua.  He was an extraordinary man with great insight, courage and moral strength.  They saw something divine in him.  Then they saw him die, willingly so, rather than strike out at his enemies.  He loved his enemies enough to forgive them even as they tortured him.  Then something else happened that science cannot explain and that history does not reveal.  People claimed that he was alive again.  What really happened?  Again we get second hand reports, but there is no doubt that a phenomenon was taking place within the embryonic Messianic community afterwards. 

The point I am trying to make is that while the Bible has inconsistencies and problems, and despite being written by people, who can often be mistaken or stupid or ignorant or all of these things together, the Bible is what it is and what we have as a record of other peoples experiences of this something called God.  As such I can only seek within myself for that same something and see if that something bears witness to the experiences of those others.  As I said, it is difficult to believe that a billion people can all be wrong.  Now I'm not saying that we should throw our minds away, that we shouldn't do historical and scientific research, I'm just saying that it isn't enough if we are to find truth.  Of course it is a complex thing.  A lot of people have used the Bible and religion and God to do some really evil things.  People today are still mistaken, stupid and ignorant.  But strip all of the crap away and get to the heart of it the something is still there looking back out at us.  That is all I think I need to know in the end.  Ecclesian

Mike:  Thanks Ecclessian for a well thought out response.  

There is one thing I would like to challenge you on.  You made a statement "But if a billion people say that they have had spiritual experiences, then it is likely that they are experiencing something real" (Ecclesian).  No doubt millions of people say they have spiritual experiences.  So do I!  But my experience although powerful at times and somewhat hard to describe is difficult to place in the specific realm of religion, God or other.  I don't think I am wrong in saying that all religious people say they experience some form of spiritual experience.  But the question remains, is it fair to attribute that experience to God?  Maybe it is, but maybe it isn't.

I don't believe it is wise to say that just because a religious person, of whatever persuasion, experiences something it automatically ratifies (authenticates or makes real) their religion.  Muslim suicide bombers also experience significant spiritual experiences contemplating their destructive plans as do paedophiles, serial killers and the like.  Is it fair to say that their experiences make their peculiar beliefs justifiable?  Read more here on Encounters with God.

I find it interesting that people's spirituality can justify the crap in the Bible.  On the other hand some are able to reject it.  Unfortunately spirituality and spiritual experiences are so different and lead to such different outcomes it becomes virtually impossible to determine if they are authentic God given experiences.

As a church going person I used to be told that the Bible was the benchmark and measure of my spiritual experiences and revelations.  However the Bible is so topsy turvy it becomes a benchmark where anything and everything can be justified.  Let's face it even Charles Manson justified his actions from his spiritual experiences and the Bible.