The literal & infallible word of God

[kadzbiz]

.....general impression I got from it was 'wow, there is a lot of really good stuff in here..... It just doesn't seem possible that it was man-made. The content is just too... contradictory to everything else that man has written.

The Bible is 100% man made. No question about it. Let me give you another book to read. Try "God: A Biography" by Jack Miles, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography and then make an assessment of the Bible. Another book that may influence on your opinion, which I haven't as yet read, is "The God Delusion" by professor Richard Dawkins, who I personally find annoyingly arrogant, but has made piognant statements.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

The Bible is 100% man made. No question about it.

Ha! What is the proof for that?

 

[angellous_evangellous]

And what do you mean by using it nonsensically?

By using it for something that it was never intended for, and for what it's not.

What it's not:

A modern science or history book.

A modern guidebook for living.

What it is:

Ancient literature with a variety of genres - ancient history, myth, theological reflections, and letters.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

The Bible is 100% man made. No question about it.

I somehow missed the announcement of your coronation ...

 

[tomspug]

It's one thing to BELIEVE that something is 100% true (your opinion is a BELIEF, by the way), but to try and force your self-truths on other people makes you no better than any other aggressive religion.

Anyways, this is a hard topic because most people HAVEN'T read the Bible very much, so I don't see how there could be so many opinions on something people haven't read. It's like when everyone has an opinion of a movie they haven't seen.

 

[kadzbiz]

Ha! What is the proof for that?

How about the fact that each book was written, printed, covered and bound by man? The Bible didn't form out of thin air, or sand, or even the rib of any creature........as far as I know. I'm happy to look again at any part of the Bible you believe is made by God.

I somehow missed the announcement of your coronation ...

Well whose fault is that?

It's one thing to BELIEVE that something is 100% true (your opinion is a BELIEF, by the way), but to try and force your self-truths on other people makes you no better than any other aggressive religion.

Anyways, this is a hard topic because most people HAVEN'T read the Bible very much, so I don't see how there could be so many opinions on something people haven't read. It's like when everyone has an opinion of a movie they haven't seen.

I'm not trying to force anything onto anyone. AM I? HUH?! When did I ever say I was better than anyone else anyway, aggressive religion or otherwise.

Well, maybe it is a hard topic, but in any case I've read the Bible and I'm just an average Joe. Maybe if more people red it, then they would know what they were talking about, believing in, arguing about.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

How about the fact that each book was written, printed, covered and bound by man? The Bible didn't form out of thin air, or sand, or even the rib of any creature........as far as I know. I'm happy to look again at any part of the Bible you believe is made by God.

The issue isn't what I believe. You said that the Bible is 100% man-made, and there is no proof that God doesn't exist and therefore no proof that God wasn't involved. We know that the Bible did not form out of thin air, but we don't know how much God was a participant.

 

[tomspug]

Exactly. I don't think there are many people that would argue that the Bible appeared out of thin air, written by God. The idea is that God spoke truth through people. The only reason all of these 'books' are in one big 'book' is because they have been recognized as being full of truth. And believe me, when you'll read it you'll find that there is a lot of truth in it (especially the parts with Jesus (wink)).

 

[kadzbiz]

The issue isn't what I believe. You said that the Bible is 100% man-made, and there is no proof that God doesn't exist and therefore no proof that God wasn't involved. We know that the Bible did not form out of thin air, but we don't know how much God was a participant.

Firstly, I'm assuming YOU are making the "no proof" statement and not suggesting that I said it. This sort of arguement is useless anyway. There's no proof that my butt isn't reincarnated from a rat that watched the whole story of Genisis from the sidelines, so there's no proof that my butt wasn't involved either!! Until one can prove that something was involved in an act, then one must assume that it wasn't otherwise belief in anything would seem ridiculous.

Exactly. I don't think there are many people that would argue that the Bible appeared out of thin air, written by God. The idea is that God spoke truth through people. The only reason all of these 'books' are in one big 'book' is because they have been recognized as being full of truth. And believe me, when you'll read it you'll find that there is a lot of truth in it (especially the parts with Jesus (wink)).

What I say about your "idea that God spoke through people" is what I said a few posts back. They are the ramblings of men with psychological and egotistical problems. And I HAVE READ THE BIBLE!! Did you hear me that time? So what did that mean now about my belief in what you say? What truth specifically are you refering to? There are many things in the Bible that are common sense that I have used in life my naturally before I even read the Bible. I'm not say that the Bible is full of lies or is a bad book. It can be very useful and more people should heed some of the laws, rules and sayings that appear in it for they themselves aren't bad, but again, they were written by men.

You know, the alleged words of God in the Bible are no different if I said that I was told similar things by my imaginary coconut friend, and yet if I preached such things, people would think that I am crazy. Oh wait, I guess I would have to come up with some "miracles" that my coconut friend made happen.....:sarcastic

 

[gnostic]

You know, the alleged words of God in the Bible are no different if I said that I was told similar things by my imaginary coconut friend, and yet if I preached such things, people would think that I am crazy. Oh wait, I guess I would have to come up with some "miracles" that my coconut friend made happen.....

Coconut friend?

Isn't this friend of yours have short crop brown hair, round head and 3 eyes? Yeah?

Hey, I've met him at the Gold Coast. Small world isn't it?

 

[sandy whitelinger]

It's an evangelical fundamentalist wet dream.

I see the Chrismas spirit has infected you.:llama:

 

[sandy whitelinger]

Wet dreams, parables, God's breath and His truth. Only one of these make me feel good, but it's still messy. To me, the Bible is simply a historical manuscript documenting the non-sensical ramblings of men with psychological and egotistical problems .....

That, in a nutshell, is a good reason to be lost and on your way to the lake of fire. Merry Christmas.

 

[kadzbiz]

Coconut friend? Isn't this friend of yours have short crop brown hair, round head and 3 eyes? Yeah? Hey, I've met him at the Gold Coast. Small world isn't it?

No, you're thinking of his tanned cousin. The one I know has grey hair.

That, in a nutshell, is a good reason to be lost and on your way to the lake of fire. Merry Christmas.

Love how you slap with one hand as you pat me with the other. Pray tell, what are the co-ordinates of this fiery lake? Hawaii?

 

[dance-above]

Well, I'll contribute by providing my own experience.

I don't claim to be an expert on Biblical history or anything, but what I do know is that the more I read the Bible the more I like it. I recently finished going through the old Testament for the first time and it took awhile. The general impression I got from it was 'wow, there is a lot of really good stuff in here, but the majority of it is hard to grasp'. I mean, I've known the Genesis stories since I was a kid, but even now in my 20's I'm just starting to understand how deep and surprising the implications of them actually are.

Anyways, as far as authorship goes, all I know is that I have yet to encounter anything where a red flag goes up like 'what's THIS doing here?'. It feels like a complete work rather than a collaberation. That's my opinion, but I think the only proper way to go about it is to just read it yourself and make the call. I'll tell you one thing though, this is a book of never-ending questions. I don't think I'll ever be able to say with 100% certainty that I'm an authority on any of it. It just doesn't seem possible that it was man-made. The content is just too... contradictory to everything else that man has written.

I totally agree. It has a feeling of "Authority" not like anything else.

 

[kadzbiz]

I totally agree. It has a feeling of "Authority" not like anything else.

That's a pretty subjective thing to say, particularly when you would have known the premise of what the Bible was about before you even read it. The Bible is not the only book that appears to be so contradictory to anything else man has written; what about Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses" or Hitler's "Mein Kampf" or some of Da Vinci's works, or even Shakespear's stuff, or how about anything by "Stephen King"?!. As soon as one is given the Bible to read, one has some sort of expectation about the content and it all depends on one's psyche as well as to how we receive and judge the book.

 

[FFH]

Kadzbiz,

It's true the King James Bible has been altered by man.

Joseph Smith has restored the English version of the Bible. This is a complete and correct English translation of the original text. Joseph Smith recorded this version of the Bible by direct inspiration from God, by using a urim and thummim (ancient seer stones) which are mentioned in the Old Testament.

Joseph Smith Inspired/Restored Version of the English Bible

Also see www.LDS.org/scripture for more inspired scriptures like the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants (LDS inspired scriptures).

The LDS church uses the King James, but with the Joseph Smith inspired version footnotes which correct the errors.

See this link which shows some the corrections Joseph Smith made to the King James, which were done by direct inspiration given to Joseph Smith, from/by Jesus Christ, through the use of two seer stones called the urim and thummim.

Joseph Smith's Inspired King James Corrections

I am blood related to Joseph Smith's parents, through his brother Hyrum Smith, who was killed, along with his brother Joseph Smith, for their faith, in Carthage, Illinois, June 27, 1844.

See this link: Death of Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia

 

[kadzbiz]

..... Joseph Smith recorded this version of the Bible by direct inspiration from God, by using a urim and thummim ..... I am blood related to Joseph Smith's parents.....

With all due respect FFH, I don't believe in "inspirations from God" and ancient seer stones. And I don't see what the significance of being blood related to Joseph Smith's parents is. Even if you were Joseph's wife, it wouldn't mean anything.

 

[*Paul*]

Kadzbiz,

It's true the King James Bible has been altered by man.

Joseph Smith has restored the English version of the Bible. This is a complete and correct English translation of the original text. Joseph Smith recorded this version of the Bible by direct inspiration from God, by using a urim and thummim (ancient seer stones) which are mentioned in the Old Testament.

Joseph Smith Inspired/Restored Version of the English Bible

Also see www.LDS.org/scripture for more inspired scriptures like the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants (LDS inspired scriptures).

The LDS church uses the King James, but with the Joseph Smith inspired version footnotes which correct the errors.

See this link which shows some the corrections Joseph Smith made to the King James, which were done by direct inspiration given to Joseph Smith, from/by Jesus Christ, through the use of two seer stones called the urim and thummim.

Joseph Smith's Inspired King James Corrections

I am blood related to Joseph Smith's parents, through his brother Hyrum Smith, who was killed, along with his brother Joseph Smith, for their faith, in Carthage, Illinois, June 27, 1844.

See this link: Death of Joseph Smith, Jr. - Wikipedia

You have been harping on about this for months so i'd like to know:

• What is the proof that Joseph had this inspiration for this task?
• Why does the LDS church not use the JSI version.
• The missionaries at my house said it was changed by the LDS sect that currently has the legal rights on the version is this true or was he wrong?

 

[Mr. Peanut]

HI!

The Bible, as well as Jesus Christ himself may be compared to an art gallery containing art of the highest caliber, if you will. The art is not judged by the people, rather the people are judged by the art. When a pop star calls the Mona Lisa a "piece of 'garbage'" and that is quoting it mildly, it speaks more about their character, not the art itself.

Cheers!

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Art Institute duped: 'It was a brilliant forgery'