[Darris McNeely] Here at Beyond Today, we receive a lot of comments from viewers of not only the program, but also the Dailies that we do here every day and put up on the web. We had one recently that was left behind that raised a number of interesting points and questions and statements that we thought we'd do a series on, that I think will help all who watch our program and watch us here on BT Daily in understanding about God and especially His Bible.

This writer left a note and said this:

"I am agnostic and am currently studying the Bible over multiple translations without a particular religion in mind. I just want to know what the Bible says in its pure form, before I make up my mind about God."

I found that to be interesting. They're wanting to decide about God – and to find, in a sense, the Bible in its pure form as they're trying to grope and come to an understanding of God. I think that's a good approach this person has – an honest one, as they recognize where they are and where they want to be.

The Bible is a book that reveals its Author as the One who created human life and created this entire universe and all that is within it. And as we study that Bible and its pages and come to understand the revelation from God, we understand why life exists, why humanity exists – and by continuing to study the Bible and to search those Scriptures, we can come to know who this God is. And in time, any of us can become one who decides about God and comes to know the true God. And that is a good effort, and that's what we are wanting to help people do here on Beyond Today.

As I said, the Bible shows the purpose for human life. There is a reason that man is created in the image of God. Man is not an animal. Man is not just the highest form of the animal creation. Man is a unique creation as Genesis 1:26 shows. We are created in the image and in the shape of God. And that message is consistently embedded throughout the Scriptures in the Bible. I encourage not only this viewer, who wrote in, but all of you that are watching us on a regular basis, to continue to study the Bible, to come to know the one true God and Jesus Christ, whom He sent, to be our Savior. And as you study, it is good to read the Bible, as this viewer says, in other modern translations that will in some cases, bring out the meaning of certain passages in a clearer way.

One note of caution, as this person writes: they are looking for the Bible in its pure form. Well, that's going to be hard to do. To get the Bible in its pure form, we would have to have the original pages on which the Bible was written, with the original autographs, as it is called, and we would also have to know and understand every aspect of the language in which – those ancient languages, largely Greek, Aramaic, or Hebrew – which they were written. Some of that has been lost and is not completely understood today. So to find the Bible in its purest form perhaps is not going to be found. But we can be certain that the translations that we do have, and the Bible taken as a whole, does give us a revelation of God and His purpose for life and an understanding of how we might obtain eternal life.

It's a good thing to seek to decide about God. And once we do that, we then can begin to take the steps to prove what God is and what He says is indeed true. In Malachi 3:10, God issues a challenge to all of us who read and study the Bible. And that is to, "Prove Me now – prove what I say. Take it and taste it, and see if it does indeed work as a way of life to produce success in our life today." (Psalm 34:8) Many of us have found that it does. And I think you will as well, as this viewer and others who write in and tell us about that.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.