Why I think a lot of the Bible is False

[darkstariscool]

The Bible teaches us to believe in one god, the one mentioned in the Bible. This is one of the Ten Commandments. The Bible also teaches us that God is perfect and is a loving God. If this were true, how come he would damn someone who does not believe in him. You don't have to be a Christian to be a good person and good people should not be damned. To me such a god is far from loving and perfect.
The Bible also tells us that: But Cain answered the Lord, "My punishment is too great to bear! Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me."
15Then the Lord replied to him, "In that case, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over." And He placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
If the Adam and Eve were the first to humans and Cain and Able were their children. This would mean that once Able was dead that the total population would be 3 people, Adam, Eve, and Cain. If that were true then who did Cain have to worry about killing him.
There are many other reasons why I feel most of the Bible is BS, but I just don't have time to write it all. The message of the Bible is good; be a good person, but just about everything else just seems rediculous.

 

[sandandfoam]

The Bible teaches us .....

The Bible is a book. What you learn from it is up to you. It does not of itself, teach you or anyone else anything.

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

I personally don't think that the story of Adam and Eve is factual. I think it was a story made up by their decendents to explain where they come from. I don't have evidence to support that, but I think it makes sense. My belief is they did not have any stories (or written accounts) of anyone before Adam and Eve, so therefore constructed the story to explain how they got there. It may even have never been intended to be taken seriously, just a fun story to explain where they came from. It seems likely to me that there were many other people around at the time of Adam and Eve as evident by the fact there are others around in the story you have quoted.

Some Christians claim that Adam and Eve had 100s of other children and that those children were the ones people like Cain were talking about. (And one of them was who Abel went to marry... was it Abel? I can't remember). However I find that hard to believe. It sounds like there were many other tribes of people unrelated to Adam and Eve there.

Anyway, the big discussion about where all these other people came from becomes moot when you consider that they were all wiped out by the big flood. Then you have the problem of how the world's population got so big with just Noah and his family being the only survivors!

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

The Bible is a book. What you learn from it is up to you. It does not of itself, teach you or anyone else anything.

I think a lot of Christians make the mistake of taking it all as factual history. I personally don't think that is necessary. I don't see a problem with the bible containing stories to educate or entertain. Or to show a moral.

 

[Quagmire]

If "BS" stands for "Basically Symbolism", then I'd say you have a point.

 

[PureX]

The Bible teaches us to believe in one god, the one mentioned in the Bible. This is one of the Ten Commandments. The Bible also teaches us that God is perfect and is a loving God. If this were true, how come he would damn someone who does not believe in him. You don't have to be a Christian to be a good person and good people should not be damned. To me such a god is far from loving and perfect.

This is a good argument, and I have no reasonable excuse for this irrational depiction of God except that it is a view of God from man's perspective. Perhaps it's simply wrong.

The Bible also tells us that: But Cain answered the Lord, "My punishment is too great to bear! Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me."
15Then the Lord replied to him, "In that case, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over." And He placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
If the Adam and Eve were the first to humans and Cain and Able were their children. This would mean that once Able was dead that the total population would be 3 people, Adam, Eve, and Cain. If that were true then who did Cain have to worry about killing him.
There are many other reasons why I feel most of the Bible is BS, but I just don't have time to write it all. The message of the Bible is good; be a good person, but just about everything else just seems rediculous.

In this case, I would say that you are taking a story that is symbolic in nature and treating it like text from a news paper. These stories are not meant to be taken so literally. When you read them, look for the lessons that they are trying to pass down, and forget the incongruous details.

 

[Charity]

I can only suggest that if you don't like the bible don't read it. Read something that makes you feel better and something you believe in. Why torture yourself with something you feel is not right.

 

[Neo-Logic]

The Bible is over 2 thousand years old. Its stories have been 're-worked' and 're-written' by multiple divinly inspired writers and many of its stories have been passed down from generations.

We have a word for that in the legal system ...... "hear say"

 

[Sententia]

The Bible is over 2 thousand years old. Its stories have been 're-worked' and 're-written' by multiple divinly inspired writers and many of its stories have been passed down from generations.

We have a word for that in the legal system ...... "hear say"

Not admissable? I agree completely but you have to appeciate the irony of swearing in on the bible...

In my opinion it is argubly culled together from so many ancient traditions, religous rituals and altered for the sake of the jesus story that its near worthless except maybe as a testament to the history of historical revision.

 

[Neo-Logic]

Not admissable? I agree completely but you have to appeciate the irony of swearing in on the bible...

In my opinion it is argubly culled together from so many ancient traditions, religous rituals and altered for the sake of the jesus story that its near worthless except maybe as a testament to the history of historical revision.

If you're an athiest and you have to be sworn in, can you legally purjure because you were sworn in on the Bible, but you don't believe in it???

Maybe if you're an Athiest or Agnostic, they swear you in with a biology book or something. That'd be neat.

 

[sandy whitelinger]

The Bible teaches us to believe in one god, the one mentioned in the Bible. This is one of the Ten Commandments. The Bible also teaches us that God is perfect and is a loving God. If this were true, how come he would damn someone who does not believe in him. You don't have to be a Christian to be a good person and good people should not be damned. To me such a god is far from loving and perfect.
The Bible also tells us that: But Cain answered the Lord, "My punishment is too great to bear! Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me."
15Then the Lord replied to him, "In that case, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over." And He placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
If the Adam and Eve were the first to humans and Cain and Able were their children. This would mean that once Able was dead that the total population would be 3 people, Adam, Eve, and Cain. If that were true then who did Cain have to worry about killing him.
There are many other reasons why I feel most of the Bible is BS, but I just don't have time to write it all. The message of the Bible is good; be a good person, but just about everything else just seems rediculous.

You fall into a catagory of many disbelievers who limit God to only one or two characteristics to the fault of ignoring many other of His attributes.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

If you're an athiest and you have to be sworn in, can you legally purjure because you were sworn in on the Bible, but you don't believe in it???

Maybe if you're an Athiest or Agnostic, they swear you in with a biology book or something. That'd be neat.

I don't know how things work in the US, but up here, any time you might need to swear an oath for legal reasons, you have the option to give an affirmation (not on any book, but still binding under penalty of perjury) rather than an oath.

 

[Valjean]

Same here in the States, penguin. The Bible thing is mostly for show. The court just wants a public affirmation that you're going to tell the truth.
Of course, if you're being tried in the Bible Belt and forgo the Book for a simple promise that you'll tell the truth, it might look a little suspicious to the pious onlookers.

 

[Weddy]

The Bible teaches us to believe in one god, the one mentioned in the Bible. This is one of the Ten Commandments. The Bible also teaches us that God is perfect and is a loving God. If this were true, how come he would damn someone who does not believe in him. You don't have to be a Christian to be a good person and good people should not be damned. To me such a god is far from loving and perfect.
The Bible also tells us that: But Cain answered the Lord, "My punishment is too great to bear! Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me."
15Then the Lord replied to him, "In that case, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over." And He placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
If the Adam and Eve were the first to humans and Cain and Able were their children. This would mean that once Able was dead that the total population would be 3 people, Adam, Eve, and Cain. If that were true then who did Cain have to worry about killing him.
There are many other reasons why I feel most of the Bible is BS, but I just don't have time to write it all. The message of the Bible is good; be a good person, but just about everything else just seems rediculous.

People choose Heaven or hell. Obviously being "good" isn't enough to get to Heaven because God sent Jesus to suffer and die for our sins. Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. John 14:6 - Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

As far as Adam and Eve's children: You forgot about Seth (Genesis 4:25), and the other sons and daughters (Genesis 4:26).

It would seem that Cain was afraid that one of his siblings, nieces, or nephews would kill him for what he had done.

 

[Starfish]

The Bible takes a life time of study to even begin to understand fully. Most aren't willing to put in the time and effort. But the pursuit is worth it. One of the biggest lessons is that we know very little. Someone out there knows more that we do. Someone out there knows better than we do.

Like teenagers who think they know more than their parents; then they grow up and realize differently.

 

[Weddy]

The Bible takes a life time of study to even begin to understand fully. Most aren't willing to put in the time and effort. But the pursuit is worth it. One of the biggest lessons is that we know very little. Someone out there knows more that we do. Someone out there knows better than we do.

Like teenagers who think they know more than their parents; then they grow up and realize differently.

I agree, especially about the teenagers.

I've been a Christian for 30 years and didn't actually read the entire bible until a couple of years ago. I even read through all the "begats". I learned so much and can't believe I waited so long to read it.

Like most Christians I just skimmed through the bible looking for stuff that suited my needs at the time, and I just assumed when someone said, "The bible says..." that they were correct. I've learned to look it up myself, and most of the time "The bible says..." something completely different than what I was told.

 

[McBell]

You fall into a catagory of many disbelievers who limit God to only one or two characteristics to the fault of ignoring many other of His attributes.

Your comment strikes me as being the same as:

"But your honour, you are ignoring that the defendant gives generously to charities, volunteers at the YMCA, attends church regularly. Why are you not addressing these things but instead are concentrating on the fact that he brutally raped and murdered several women, children and animals?"
​

 

[Starfish]

I agree with some who say that most Christians don't really know the Bible and the people who discredit it, know it the least. I've studied it my whole life, and still am just at the surface.

 

[astarath]

AS to who has and has not read the book in North America where most of our needs are conveniently met there are many who have not read the whole book or know why they believe as they do. However as you move into persecuted nations all over the world the opposite applies where they most assuredly have read the entire book and know large portions of it by heart.

 

[Father Heathen]

This should help some of you out: Skeptic's Annotated Bible / Quran / Book of Mormon