No Way The Bible Is The Word Of God! (spirit, ancient, origin)
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how can anyone who reads a translated version of the bible believe they are reading the word of god? It has been translated from its original language (latin?) into the different spoken languages of today. but before it was translated it was copied, by hand mind u, hundreds maybe thousands of times over the last 2 millenia. between all the hand copying and the tranlating over all this time do u really think anything wasnt ommited, re-interpreted, tranlated incorrectly, or added??
Well first of all, we have the Dead Sea Scrolls which go back at least some 2100 years. And second of all, we have thousands of copies of the Bible from many time periods, and from many areas of the world. And in those we find agreement. Also, I might point out, historical discovery only confirms the truth of the Bible. Never has such discoveries ever shown the Bible to be in error. And as always, the Bible also has proven correct when the prophecies have been considered as well. Belief that the Bible is in error because of the passage of time is a popular belief, yet that belief does not hold up well when the actual evidence has been considered.
So when are you going to start being truthful? Or are you going to continue to justify anything you wish by twisting your own beliefs?
Predos, I always give evidence for my beliefs, could you give us examples of me not being truthful? General statements are always easy to make, yet the devil are in the details.
Predos, I always give evidence for my beliefs, could you give us examples of me not being truthful? General statements are always easy to make, yet the devil are in the details.
Campbell I have never once seen you give any valid testable evidence of anything...All I've ever seen you provide is links to fundie sites, or quotes from the bible which is far from being testable, let alone evidence.
Well I believe you have a rather simplistic way of looking at the Bible. There is much more going on in the Scriptures, and to suggest the Bible is the cause of (all) you have listed is simply not the result of the Bible. The Bible often reports history, and much of that history is based on the actions of man, not God.
I have skipped reading more than the first two pages of this thread as I wish to simply respond to the original question, which is a fair one. To be clear, I define myself as an orthodox Christian, though I do not ascribe myself to any major sect theology-wise.
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How could the Bible be the word of God if it is filled with contridictions, unanswered and unexplained questions, unverifiable events, questionable characters and many, many other flaws?
I think it would be helpful for all these flaws to be defined. One might find that there are many fewer flaws than one might have at first imagined and that the flaws are of a different nature than expected. I have so far never come upon a scientific or archaeological finding that disproves all orthodox interpretations of the Christian scriptures, though no doubt there are a number of inconsistencies. (I don't believe that the word-by-word constancies are as important as the major chapter-to-chapter ones, meaning different chapters of different books, histories, gospels, or letters.)
I am not so certain that a basic Christian tenant is that the Bible is the inerrant "word of God". (I'd say the final phrase is oft misinterpreted by Christians.) Instead, I regard it as the scriptures, the holy cannon, of the instituted Christian church. This means that it is okay for something in the Bible to be wrong, since the church tradition has also been wrong many times. However, the scriptures have been reviewed and critiqued for so long it is rather hubristic for any Christian to quickly say that any portion of scripture is wrong, since that would contradict millennia of study. The scriptures is the story of God's people, written by God's people, for God's people. God uses it as he uses everything else, the Holy Spirit working through it to enlighten our hearts.
A final thought: many Christians idolize the Bible, paying far too much attention to it and not spending time studying theology, exploring mysticism, and reading more modern works which could have been added to the cannon if it weren't for the church splits.
Just some thoughts; I'd love to hear responses. I'm not rock solid on everything above, so with your thoughts I'll be able to change or better-define my beliefs about scripture.
Campbell I have never once seen you give any valid testable evidence of anything...All I've ever seen you provide is links to fundie sites, or quotes from the bible which is far from being testable, let alone evidence.
Well I believe you have just made a false statement here. I say that, because I have shown you that King David and Israels two Kingdoms were proven to be true, based on the findings at Tel Dan. This is spoken of on Christian sites, yet it is common knowledge among those who are educated. And those findings are more than testable. I could give you other examples as well, yet I'm sure such facts and truth would not impress you.
Well I believe you have just made a false statement here. I say that, because I have shown you that King David and Israels two Kingdoms were proven to be true, based on the findings at Tel Dan. This is spoken of on Christian sites, yet it is common knowledge among those who are educated. And those findings are more than testable. I could give you other examples as well, yet I'm sure such facts and truth would not impress you.
Perhaps king David did exist. I don't know, but really what does that prove..It certainly doesn't prove that it is the word of god.....I have never denied that there is a smattering of history in the bible, but most of the bible is just fantastic impossible stories.
The Tower of Babel: Here's a story in the Bible which states that God cursed man with different languages as a result of man's attempt to build a tower to heaven.
As all knowing, God was fully aware that man was incapable of building a tower to Heaven, so why would God get so pissed for man's absurd attempt to build a tower to heaven? Some say it was the motive or the very "idea" of man attempting to reach God's throne. But, if that's the case, why didn't or doesn't God curse all men who seek him spiritually? Isn't that more of an invasion of Gods heavenly kingdom than the ridiculous attempt of a group of ignorant men to build a tower to reach Heaven?
If people would use the intelligence and common sense given to them, they would see that the Bible is a book of mythology and tales, no different from any other ancient book of mythology written during ancient times.
The Tower of Babel: Here's a story in the Bible which states that God cursed man with different languages as a result of man's attempt to build a tower to heaven.
As all knowing, God was fully aware that man was incapable of building a tower to Heaven, so why would God get so pissed for man's absurd attempt to build a tower to heaven? Some say it was the motive or the very "idea" of man attempting to reach God's throne. But, if that's the case, why didn't or doesn't God curse all men who seek him spiritually? Isn't that more of an invasion of Gods heavenly kingdom than the ridiculous attempt of a group of ignorant men to build a tower to reach Heaven?
If people would use the intelligence and common sense given to them, they would see that the Bible is a book of mythology and tales, no different from any other ancient book of mythology written during ancient times.
You can only believe the Bible is a Book of mythology, if you are willing to ignore a warehouse of evidence that would suggest those Biblical accounts are true. And people do this all the time. The Bible is not like other books of mythology, because historical discovery continues to show us, that numerous accounts found in the Bible are true. Yet what I see, is an on going attempt by some to ignore or dismiss such evidence. And when you point out such evidence to them, they will say. "Well ok, maybe that story is true, but all the other stories are not." Ect. ect. ect. Every new historical discovery just keeps revealing the truth of the Bible. And if that is a false statement, please, can you show me where I am in error?
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