To Be Decided During The Debate

Although I see the reasoning behind my opponent's argument that the Bible, being used as a tool and as a political weapon cannot be Holy, I find points of disagreement in his historical retelling, which provide the factual basis for his argument. First of all, my opponent wishes to paint the construction of the Bible as a political tool that Constantine used in order to "wield more power", however, this is nothing but a presumption, and my opponent has yet to validate this belief with any citation. Constantine was the one to give power to the church in the first place, not to mention the fact that he devoted a considerable amount of resources to aiding the spread of Christianity, supporting its practice, and giving practitioners the right to do so, an act that was quite unheard of in that time and place. . http://en.wikipedia.org... In addition, my opponent makes the statement "Constantine only gained power because he called the Council of Nicea. If he hadn't, Rome would have stayed pagan, and Constantine wouldn't have been emperor. The Council of Nicea was used as a tool to grab power". As with before, my opponent offers no citation to support his belief, and I find it erroneous. . http://www.ccel.org... The Council of Nicea was called in 325, which Constantine's wikiarticle determines to be part of his late rule. Constantine rose to power long before he began 306. At the point, he used the substantial amount of power he had and increased it with military victories. He did not even pass the Edict of Milan until 313, which allowed Christians to practice their faith openly without punishment or persecution. My opponent is attempting to argue that Constantine, who ruled with so much power by that time already, is looking to a persecuted group for more? That point is nonsensical. My opponent also declares that the Bible was put together during the Council of Nicea. This is also a complete untruth. The Council of Nicea was called to come to terms with several issues, including the relationship between God and Jesus, the date of celebration for Easter, and the legitimacy of baptism by heretics. . http://en.wikipedia.org... Nowhere is it stated that it was a council dedicated to the canonization of the Bible. Furthermore, according to the article on canonization of the Bible: . http://en.wikipedia.org... The canon "bible" was not developed until over a millennium later in 1545 during the Council of Trent. . http://en.wikipedia.org... Having found so many flaws in my opponent's fact finding, it is hard for me to understand where his point lies. Regardless, the fact that there are so many errors in his historical background leads me to disregard his entire argument so far. He attempted to prove that Although I am sure he is not trying to deliberately mislead the audience by giving faulty information to support his point, it does make us question his understanding. That having been said, I move to my opponent's new contentions. Although my opponent has split his argument into three contentions, all three of them rest on just one single foundation: That the Bible is a manmade work with no divine aspect. The people of the Christian faith wholeheartedly believe that the Bible is the word of God, or at the least, divinely inspired by God through man. The authors of the Bible are transcribing a message of faith. Although my opponent wants to paint the bible as a tool purposely erected to command power or to manipulate the masses, he has failed to provide a substantial reason as to why he believes so. The message of the Bible has little to nothing to do with worldly conquest or acquirement. People who read the Bible derive their faith and strength from it, and this is how we can see God through the work of man. Although we can point to any number of manmade things and pinpoint a purpose from it: That cup was made to hold water, that fork was made to eat with, one cannot point to the Bible and declare any rote, purely secular purpose. Thus, we must say that the Bible is holy. Why? Because its only purpose and its only devotion, is to the will of God.