I'm curious why you would believe that scripture. Of all the scriptures written in all the holy books in human history, why would you focus on this one scripture and decide to believe it? Is there single iota of ANYTHING to make you think it's true, or is it just that you need/want to believe something and this appealed to you? This is an honest question, I don't believe in reincarnation because I don't "believe" things in that way, but I think that it makes a lot of sense. I see multiple lives as being no more miraculous than a single life and we certainly cannot learn all we can here in just one lifetime. I have no reason to think that souls (if they exist) have gender, so how will you learn what it's like to be a woman if you don't come back for a life as one? I've always thought that logically the idea of one life and then non-existence or some kind of Judgment was unbelieveable, it seems to make God too small, it makes our "immortal souls" almost like throwaway batteries which cannot be recharged but instead get sent to the garbage or the Heavenly Storage Yard.
I will assume you mean the entire text, and not that specific verse. The reasons I believe the Bible is multi-fold.
First, because of it's historicity. It is historically accurate. People and places indicated in the Bible have been shown over and over to be true.
Prior to the 1900s, the Hittites were considered made up, now the you can graduate with a doctorate degree in Hittitolgy at the University of Pennsylvania.
All the cities Abraham visited, have been discovered, including his home town of Ur. The Bible has even been accurate in some of the most insignificant of details.
For example the woman at the well who said while speaking to Jesus "how will you get a drink? You have no bucket and the well is very deep". Jacob's well, which has been excavated has been found to be 80 feet deep.
This is not some guy in a cave who says he heard something, nor someone in new york that claims he got golden tablets, nor someone sitting in a forest cross legged with his hands in the air. These are real people like Pontus Pilot, Herod, Nebuchadnezzar, the apostles and so on. These are real places, like Nineveh, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Rome and so on.
Second, because of the prophetic nature of the book. Thousands of prophesies are in this book. If the ones that were supposed to have come true, didn't you could point to that and prove it wrong. But you can't.
For example, Micah warned in 730 BC, that Zion, a central part of Jerusalem, would be plowed under like a field. Micah 3:11-12. In 135 AD, the Romans crushed Jerusalem, and used a massive plow on the area know as Zion.
Moses in 1400 BC, wrote the law that if the people of Israel turned against the messiah, that Israel would become a wasteland of salt and ashes. Deuteronomy 29:23. Mark Twain wrote in 1867 "Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes… the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies… Palestine is desolate and unlovely… It is a hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land."
Jesus said the people would be exiled and Israel over run with enemies. Luke 21:24. During the multiple Roman conquests of Israel, they were killed, and captured, and taken to countries throughout the Roman empire.
Isaiah in 700 BC, said that the Israelites would never be forgotten, nor would they disappear. Isaiah 49:13-17. No matter how cultured they might become, no matter which land they are in, Jews have always been an identifiable race of people.
Ezekiel in 590 BC said G-d would bring his people out of the lands they were, with a mighty hand and even with wrath. Ezekiel 20:34. The Zion movement to repopulate the land of Israel existed for many years prior to WW2, but it wasn't until Hitler and Stalin persecuted the Jews, that this actually began to happen.
To add briefly, the Bible claimed Israel would be reborn, that it would be a better and stronger nation than ever before, that it would be a terrible swift sword (six day war), that it would be a flower in the desert, that they would be a thorn in the gentile nations. And honestly, I can't even begin to list all the prophecies in the Bible that have come true. Not including some prophecies that are in process, like the one world currency, the one world government, the one world religion, the 'mark' on the hand and forehead for commerce and so on.
Finely, personal experience and seeing G-d work myself. This will be short because obviously there is no way to explain to you what I have personally witnessed, nor could you understand something that G-d has obviously not given to you to know. To put simply, when you meet G-d directly, it's as real as your wife of your parents, or your children. This is why the apostles were willing to die even when they could have been set free by simply saying it wasn't true. The list of millions of people whose personal testimonies are beyond number or comparison. Try Unshackled radio program for one.
Many people become senile as they age.
Funny how quickly atheists attack their own. But at least you are consistent.
I will assume you're referring to abortion since babies don't generally infringe upon people's rights--except by throwing up on them.
There is no better example of an action being between God and a specific person than in the case of abortion. The fetus is a parasite living off the mother's body, if she doesn't want it, who am I to tell she has to continue to keep it?
Again, this indicates to me a double standard since once born, a child is still 100% dependent on it's mother and in effect her body, since a child will undoubtedly die without his mothers milk and care. Should a mother be given the right to ditch the 1 year old parasite, since who are you to tell her otherwise?
The fetus, or whatever word you will sub in for baby, is still a human. Again, use DNA if you wish to prove otherwise.
I wish there would never be another abortion, but I also realize that as long as that fetus is not viable and inside the mother's body, then the mother has the final say--it's between her and God. It's difficult to give others the right to choose how they use their own bodies, but I think it's necessary. Did God give each woman her body and free-will?
It would be good to note here that early Christian thought was that a baby became a person at birth because they knew that so many pregnancies failed to come to term that it made no sense to them that God would instill a soul into baby when 70% of the pregancies failed before a live birth.
Let's skip what some random specific sect said somewhere, and worry about what the bible says.
"Did not He who made me in the womb make him, And the same one fashion us in the womb?" (Job 31:15)
"Yet You are He who brought me forth from the womb; You made me trust when upon my mother's breasts. Upon You I was cast from birth; You have been my God from my mother's womb." (Psalms 22:9-10)
"For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them." (Psalms 139:13-16)
"Thus says the LORD who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you, `Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen." (Isaiah 44:2)
"Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, "I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, And spreading out the earth all alone," (Isaiah 44:24)
Clearly the bible teaches that from conception, you are human and a value to G-d.
The list of Prophets said to have been called from before they were born include Pual, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Jesus, and Samson.
Even in old testament law, there was value placed on the child before birth, and G-d was said to have judged nations that 'ripped open the womb'.
It seems rather clear to me that the Biblical view is that murder is wrong, even if we're talking about babies not yet born.
