Do you think of it as the Word of God, a Fairy Tale, a History book, a religious manual written by a cult, etc? Have you ever read the entire Bible and does it have any influence on your life? Because I have chosen to believe that the God of the Bible is who He says He is...I also have chosen to believe that the Bible is God's Word. I have read it many times because I find it fasinating and each time I read it I learn something new. In the Bible I have found history, prophecy, miracles, wisdom and discernment, encouragement, and my Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. The Bible has great influence on my life as a guide to living as God's child, it's words often comfort me and increase my faith and hope and has helped me learn the real meaning of love. And it has given me confidence and assurance of where I will be going once I die to this earthly life. The prophetic parts of the Bible prepare me for the future and what lies ahead in that future. To me it really is the greatest story ever told. "The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me." Martin Luther
I've gone through the entire Bible 6 or 7 times now and it certainly does have influence in my life... it's my road map. Yes, it's the Word of God and I've never considered any other possibility. I've seen too much to ever change my view on that.
The Bible has just about everything. I mostly see it as a manual, like the one you get when you buy a new car or washer. To avoid that, do this. Follow the directions and things will go much better.
I remember, many years ago, when I started reading the Bible from the beginning. It really scared the heck out of me at just how powerful God is. I wasn't able to continue reading, but started listening to Ministers/Pastors much more closely. I now have a Men's Devotional Bible and the Daily Devotional's in it are really interesting. Now, my impression of the Bible...........wonderful. If more people read it, we have a whole lot less problems in society!