The Words in the Bible are Divine

Hello, I assume you know that I am a devout Christian, and I believe that all of the words of the Bible are the infallible words of a living God. Contention 1: To clarify and rebut your arguments. 1) Prophecy: It is true that there are many prophecies who's fulfillment is found in the Bible. However, there are many prophecies in the Bible that's fulfillment is definite historical fact. For example, all over the Bible, there are prophecies about the Jewish captivity. We know that the Jews were captured by a group named the Assyrians (who were not a people group at the time of the prophecy), that the original captors would be captured by another people group, and they by another people group. It is irrefutable fact that the Jews were captured by the Assyrians, the Babylonians captured the Assyrians, and the Persians captured the Babylonians. Also, in the book of Isaiah, there is a prophecy that says that a king from the east named Cyrus, who would not be born for around a thousand years, would capture the Babylonians and free the Jews to return to Israel. Now, we know that the King of Persia who freed the Jews was, most definitely, named Cyrus. Also, there are many other prophecies that are historical fact, including: Jesus would be from Nazareth, but born in the city of David, Bethlehem; that Jesus would be a carpenter; that Jesus would be in King David's blood line; that he would have to leave Israel; that he would come in the time of Herod; and many others that we know are historical facts. 2) Translation: Many translations of the Bible are translated directly from the oldest texts we have. When we compare more modern copies of Hebrew and Greek Bibles to our oldest copies, which are quite old, they are nearly identical. We know there has been little change in the Bible over the thousands of years it has existed. Now, about differences in translations, because English is quite a different language from both Greek and Hebrew, there are many words that we do not have in English that exist in these languages. For example, there are four main Greek words used for the word "love" in the Bible, "Agape, Eros, Phillia, and Storge." We English-speakers only have one word for love, "love." Obviously, you can see the controversies that can arise from these differences in words. There are also concepts that the Greeks and Hebrews could not describe that we can describe quite easily in English. Because of this there are three main types of Bible translations. There are those translations that are quite literal (NASB), those that are translated for ease of reading (The Message), and those that are in the middle (ESV). So, a reader has to put some trust in the translators, but many people who speak Greek and Hebrew revise these translations, to minimize fallen input. Also, many people get into arguments about wording in non-Greek or Hebrew translations. These are not very worthwhile, but what really matters is the ideas that are present in the Bible. 3) Contradictions: To start off, you are using a specific translation to justify your argument. The Hebrew word in this context is ratsach, of which, the meaning is to premeditate a murder, to assassinate. The word that is smite is nakah, which is a punishment. The Amalekites that were killed were "nakah-ed", not "ratscah-ed". That is akin to saying someone who is killed by the death penalty has been murdered. This is not true because he was tried and convicted by a Judge. The same is true of the Amalekites, they were tried and convicted by the ultimate Judge, God. What were these people convicted of? Well they, sacrificed their children to false gods, they were abounding with sexual sins like infidelity and homosexuality and bestiality, and had committed a vast number of other sins as well. They were by no means "innocent" and their punishment was death. Also, the Mosaic Code allows for people to be executed by the testimony of two witnesses (and if these witnesses had lied, their punishment was death as well). God is perfect and does not need a witness, for he is omniscient. So, to answer your question, the real translation of Exodus 20:13 is "do not murder" and the Hebrew people were completely justified in killing the Amalekites, as well as the Canaanites and other people groups. Contention 2: My arguments. My arguments are mostly based on the previous rebuttals, but I will add some new information. 1) Followers of Christ prove its divinity: The prophet Isaiah scribed a book of prophecy, and claimed that they were true, a crime punishable by death. Except, if someone revokes their teachings, then they are not executed. Isaiah stood by his teachings, and, as a result, was put in a box and sawn in two. Now, you could say that Isaiah was insane, and many people would be fine with that. Then I'd tell you about Jeremiah, who was shoved down a hole, for the same reason. You could claim he was insane as well. Then I could tell you about a few more prophets, and a few more, and you could, technically say they were insane. Then why did their writing survive? If they were insane, then the people may have believed one, maybe two, or even a few. But when you look at all of the Prophets who died for their teachings, and their teachings still survived, that at least a bit far-fetched if you believe they were all insane. Then I will tell you about all of the disciples, who were all martyred simply because they believed that Jesus was divine, except for Judas, the defiler, who committed suicide in a field, and John, who was exiled to the island of Patmos for Jesus. They all could have been insane. So could every single martyr that ever died for Jesus, like the men and women who die daily in North Korea, Uganda, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Somalia... simply for being Christians. All they need to de is deny their faith, and they live, and they refuse. Why? Because the words of God have an effect on people, because they are divine. I have a missionary friend who frequently has Muslims come to him with the same dream. They see they're town in darkness, and a light falls upon them as they are doing what they do every day. Then they stop what they're doing, go around town, and spread the light. Few at any point in their lives had ever heard the Gospel. Now, I know my friend is not insane, and neither are the people who come to see him almost daily with the exact same dream. 2) Effect of the Bible and Jesus prove its divinity. Quite simply put, the Bible has had more effect on the world than any other book in the World. The worlds best selling book every single day is the Bible. The Bible has been translated into more languages than any other book in the entire world (Almost 7,000). The Bible is the only book that people will literally tear apart so that multiple people can read different parts at the same time, because they have too few Bibles. The Bible MADE the World into what it is today, unlike any other book in history. 3) The vast number of people who scribed the Bible proves it's divinity. At first glance, many parts of the Bible seem to contradict (C1 subpoint-3), however, after being further scrutinized, there are no contradictions in the Bible, this is quite impressive for a book that was "written" by over 39 scribes over a vast time period of 1,500 years. In the ~8000 years the world has existed, that is almost a fifth of the world's age. Also, the Bible had scribes from all sectors of societies, ranging from shepherds, to kings, to merchants, and everyone in between. All of these people's writings contribute to make one book that has one purpose, and one message, without contradicting itself. That can only happen if there is only one author: God. 4) The Bible is constantly right about history. For many years, people discounted the truth of the Bible, because it talked about a group called the Hittites, and such group had never been discovered. In fact, it was the laughing stock of the Bible, until people actually looked, and found the Hittites. Everybody stopped laughing after that. Every time people try to find a historical fault in the Bible, and they actually search for the truth, they find that the history mentioned in the Bible actually is historical fact. Nearly every fact in the Bible is uniformly confirmed and accepted by historians around the world, and the Bible is regarded as a very good source for historical information. In conclusion, prophecy is an important part of the divinity of the Bible, and most of these prophecies are proved by history. The translation of the Bible is not a problem, because we have very old copies of the Bible, and because they are edited by such a large number of people. Also, many "contradictions" in the Bible are not really contradictions at all, they just seem to be when taken out of context. Also, the Bible's divinity is proved by followers of Christ, the effects it has had on the world, the number and diversity of people who scribed it, and its historical accuracy.