Why the bible may NOT the Inspired Word of God

[Enoch07]

Because we all know that the US is the total sum of the world.

I can only speak for the U.S. because that is where I live.

 

[themadhair]

I can only speak for the U.S. because that is where I live.

Of course. It couldn't be because you were wrong and simply unwilling to admit such now is it?
List of Christian denominations by number of members - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[InfinityUnlocked]

The fallibility lies in the hands of humans who where inspired by God, then put it into written word, not to mention the various translations over time. Not Gods inspiration itself. Like I said the written word can never compare to the power of thought. That is why it is up to each individual to discover truth on their own, using the Bible and a bit of help from God.

What killing and confusion are you talking about anyways?

I have no problems with sinners going to hell. If you do the crime be prepared to pay the consequences.

Whoever said other faiths are automatically damned to hell? Your understanding of Christianity is elementary at best. Granted not everyone will pass judgment and be allowed into the Kingdom, but it is God's discretion (and only God's) who enters and who does not.

Of course different cultures and religions are going to disagree. They believe their own religion and god(s) are the only true path as well. That is only natural. So why you have a problem with just Christians doing it, evades me.

This is exactly what's wrong with people like you... you are fine with anyone, presuming yourself included and your own family too... going to hell for infinite time for a finite and unavoidable circumstance of life defined as "sin" by christians. Like I said, sadistic, ignorance and above all... 100% intolerant. People like you have no place in religion or this world for that matter. Be gone.

 

[Smoke]

Well as pretty much proven in another thread. A written word cannot always properly convey thoughts and ideas. Sometimes it is hard to produce an idea of something onto paper. While the physical authors of the Bible are divinely inspired by God, they are still human and suffer from human error, and this flaw that the written word is not as powerful as thought.


You are searching for absolutes from a culture of beings (us humans) that are not perfect, therefore obtaining all absolutes from our fellow man is virtually impossible. That is why we turn to God for divine inspiration ourselves. Speaking as a Christian that is. Some will find truth, some will not. But even the ones who do will always have a hard time converting that truth to paper, because of the written word flaw.

One would think that an omniscient and infallible being would have foreseen those problems, and would have come up with some better way of communicating with humans in some clear and unambiguous way -- assuming it did in fact want to communicate such eternal truths as "don't eat shrimp" and "don't braid your hair."

 

[InfinityUnlocked]

One would think that an omniscient and infallible being would have foreseen those problems, and would have come up with some better way of communicating with humans in some clear and unambiguous way -- assuming it did in fact want to communicate such eternal truths as "don't eat shrimp" and "don't braid your hair."

Exactly

 

[Enoch07]

This is exactly what's wrong with people like you... you are fine with anyone, presuming yourself included and your own family too... going to hell for infinite time for a finite and unavoidable circumstance of life defined as "sin" by christians. Like I said, sadistic, ignorance and above all... 100% intolerant. People like you have no place in religion or this world for that matter. Be gone.

Hey my youngest brother is more than likely doomed, he has a criminal record several pages long and he is only 22. My father is a die hard atheist. I am always open to talking to them if they choose to change paths. But I am not going to try to force them to change. If they don't change then they will pay the consequences as well. There is nothing I can do about it. Their blood will be on their own hands. How is this intolerant?

 

[sojourner]

Question....

You know normally I am critical of most of what people say the bible is or isn't, who said what and who didn't.......but here's my question...

You say the bible wasn't "intended" to be a how to book and I agree but weren't certain scrolls intended to be a howto?

Leviticus comes to mind but you can correct me if I'm wrong. Isn't it a scroll of do and don't?

Well -- no. Leviticus is a book of Laws. But that's not the same thing IMO, as a "how to book for life," in the way the Fundamentalists mean it.

But I understand what you're saying, because there are instructions about how to cook, how to sacrifice, etc. I look at this as religious "stage directions" -- but not a "how-to book for life." To me, there's a big difference, because we can divorce the stage directions for religion from magical formulae that "get us into heaven."

 

[sojourner]

That is just your opinion, and you are in the minority. Most Christians will agree that the Bible is written for any and everyone.

No. It's the considered conclusion by Biblical scholars. Xians are meant to abide in community. The Bible is the record and witness of our relationships.
The Bible was written for us, not for me. There is a difference.

 

[Halcyon]

If anyone else caught the show "Secret America" on Discovery, the last part where they discuss exactly how little we really know about the American flag... nearly nothing... no one knows for sure who really created it, why, what the colors really represent, etc.

Thirteen stripes for the thirteen original states, 50 stars for the current ones. Red, white and blue because the flag used to incorporate a British Union Flag in the upper left where the stars now are (like Australia or Hawaii), so the colours are simply left over from when the states were British colonies. Simples.

Oh, and yes the Bible wasn't written by God, I think most Christians who don't have a mediaeval mindset are aware of that.

 

[sojourner]

If the bible is not absolute, or at the very least, coherent then why are so many christians basing their arguments on this acclaimed "inspired word of God"? Lastly, you must be one of those that base your belief on the contents of the bible, otherwise you wouldn't have felt personally attacked as your comment, "petty jabs" indicate. Like everyone else, feel free to comment on any topic you wish, or not comment... no one forced you to read the thread, of which you must not have done or you would have attempted to answer instead of posing a defensive posture.

So many Xians buy into the Protestant idea of sola scriptura. That idea is relatively recent, and does not take into account the ongoing verbal witness of the Church.
I do base my beliefs, in part, on the contents of the Bible. All Xians do. But most of us go beyond that, and apart from it.

I answered, and I answered well. I can't help it if you refuse to see it. Your tone was not one of honest inquiry. It was belittling. When you post in that way, you're likely to get answers such as mine, that are defensive. You're attacking our faith. No one forced you to read the answer...

At any rate, the Bible is not as you have posited. Therefore, your theory is wholly incorrect and needs to be reexamined and restated, so that it is within the realm of reality.

 

[sojourner]

Christians certainly see it as a how to in terms of "how to get to heaven"... yes, it's a how-to book... just confusing which is why these arguments have lasted for 2000 years.

No, most Xians don't. It is not a how-to book. I don't see why you're so dogmatic in insisting that it is. Your dogmatism is what causes confusion.

 

[sojourner]

I can only speak for the U.S. because that is where I live.

But you're part of a world-wide church, in which the RCC takes the biggest slice of the pie.

 

[sojourner]

This is exactly what's wrong with people like you... you are fine with anyone, presuming yourself included and your own family too... going to hell for infinite time for a finite and unavoidable circumstance of life defined as "sin" by christians. Like I said, sadistic, ignorance and above all... 100% intolerant. People like you have no place in religion or this world for that matter. Be gone.

There is something wrong with any Christian who has no problem with anybody going to hell.

 

[sojourner]

One would think that an omniscient and infallible being would have foreseen those problems, and would have come up with some better way of communicating with humans in some clear and unambiguous way -- assuming it did in fact want to communicate such eternal truths as "don't eat shrimp" and "don't braid your hair."

I don't think those are eternal truths. The only eternal truth I'm aware of is love. And we don't have to read or write to experience and know it.

 

[sojourner]

Hey my youngest brother is more than likely doomed, he has a criminal record several pages long and he is only 22. My father is a die hard atheist. I am always open to talking to them if they choose to change paths. But I am not going to try to force them to change. If they don't change then they will pay the consequences as well. There is nothing I can do about it. Their blood will be on their own hands. How is this intolerant?

Because we're all part of the same big family. The "us"/"them" distinction is false. By losing even one person, you're losing part of yourself.

BTW, I thought our blood was in Jesus' hands, and that he is the perfect expiation for our sins?

 

[Enoch07]

Because we're all part of the same big family. The "us"/"them" distinction is false. By losing even one person, you're losing part of yourself.

BTW, I thought our blood was in Jesus' hands, and that he is the perfect expiation for our sins?

He is.....if you accept Him. But Jesus will not pay for your sins if you deny Him.

 

[OmarKhayyam]

The Christian concern for the "sinner" is here reflected by one the revered and Blessed Saints

That the saints may enjoy their beatitude and the grace of God more abundantly they are permitted to see the punishment of the damned in hell.
Saint Thomas Aquinas

Or this:

If forgers and malefactors are put to death by the secular power, there is much more reason for excommunicating and even putting to death one convicted of heresy.
Saint Thomas Aquinas

'Dem Christians, ya gotta luv em.

 

[ayani]

something that always bugged me about the Bible is how little it resembled religious texts i found to be more profoundly meaningful and universal in scope. like the Tao te Ching, Upanishads, etc. i was expecting for the Word of God to more closely resemble a philosophical work of general wisdom and insights,more outisde of historical or cultural contexts.

but what i've come to understand is that the Bible is essentially God in human history. and as such records the good, the bad, and the ugly of human nature. it records God's hand in creation, His creating the first humans, and the first several generation of human life on earth. it records God's wilful, stern, forgiving, and just hand at work in human society, in response to sin, righteousness, the need for second chances, and the promise of eventual reconciliation between man and God.

the Bible doesn't tend to meditate on God as an abstract or philisophically approachable Being, but records His hand at work in human lives and societies as a wilful, powerful, and knowable Someone. it's not a philisophical, advaitic kind of text, as i expected. but it is remarkably thorough, and still relevant and meaningful today.

 

[anth]

Although I'm not religious (in many senses), I still find the Bible even refreshing. I occasionally pick it up, flip to the books I like, and give it some reading.

and still relevant and meaningful today.

I couldn't agree with you more. I don't think every piece of the Bible is true, or even relevant, but I do think certain parts are relevant to today's situation. In fact, when you look into historical text, people, in terms of instincts and impulses, haven't changed much at all! We still do crazy things were later regret, we still steal and murder, and we're still very impulsive and somewhat insane. Sometimes, a good look at the Bible helps one look at themselves and figure out what's wrong with them.

------

The problem with the Bible is that, once upon a time, the Catholic Church went through a dark, corrupt, sinful age where orgies occured in the Vatican (quite literally), non-believers were killed, and so forth. During that time, certain chapters were pulled from the Bible. Because of this, I wouldn't be suprised if some of the chapters were even changed! It crazy how much things as simple as basic guidlines can change.

 

[sojourner]

He is.....if you accept Him. But Jesus will not pay for your sins if you deny Him.

The only sin that now exists is forgiven sin.