>>> Now that, at least, I can accept. Not that I accept the bible as the work of God, but I certainly can accept that many people can believe so on faith alone. It's just that the circular argument that the bible must be the work of God because it says so in the bible, is a logical quagmire that drives me nuts whenever I hear it trotted out.
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>I hear you. But it seems that in saying "by faith alone" you are implying that one can never arrive at the truth. But I assure you that there is a concrete (albeit spiritual and, therefore, invisible) reality behind the Bible that can encountered empirically.
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>Jesus told His followers, Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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>If it were not the case, then the Christian faith would be just as you describe, "faith alone."


Can [be] encountered empirically? How exactly do you mean that? Do you mean in this lifetime?