Lisa Shea Forums General Discussion Religious Research Bible Contradictions ... again

it could be explained in much the same way as questions like how did jacks beanstalk reach up into the land of the giants, how did cinderellas pumpkin turn into a coach and horses, and how did the frog turn into a prince.

F I C T I O N !!!!!!

I agree with your answer janimal, and when these stories are being told if you question, you are told "it is just part of the story."

BTW I love your tag line.

Yes, it could be.

But people don't live and love and hate, according to Grimms' or Andersen's fairy stories.

I'm all for studying these stories as parables, or fairy tales, or myths, or history, or whatever, but I am intrigued by those who take them exceedingly seriously, yet are not concerned by the contradictions. What exactly are they getting out of this?

Also, why people do study them so seriously ~ what are they hoping to achieve?

Is it the same as me reading 'Hamlet', or is it something else?

I am intrigued.

So what are you actually getting out of this?
Is it simply the study of literature?
Might it just as well be Shakespeare?

The same could be said of all the ancient religions. Why did people believe in all the Greek, Roman, and Egyptian etc. gods? Why would people believe such stories? These people were just as intelligent as the people of today.

I am sure in these societies there were the non believers. But people need an explanation of the unexplainable. They need to know that there is something bigger and stronger than they are. Without that belief so many people feel we are just straw on the ocean, to be tossed about according to the winds. So we have to have a god that controls the wind.

I can't explain it. No one can. There are other texts written at the same time by individuals not even slightly concerned with Jesus or Christianity, yet it is historically accurate. To label the entire book as "fiction" is unfounded. I have read many books that contain accounts that appear to be science fiction, but I can not discount them as I was not there. The fact remains that during the times of Christ the Bible holds more data than any other recorded literature. Even Josephus, a conceited historian, took great care in following the activities of early Christians and their leader. His works are often disputed and his credibility questioned, not because of him, but because of his topics of study. It seems that anyone who believes in God or His book is quickly labeled as an apologetic fanatic. This is an easy (and convenient) way to dismiss the supernatural for non-believers. We used to think the world was flat, we were wrong. We used to think the sun revolved around the earth, we were wrong. Many people think that UFOs don't exist, despite the assorted mass of physical evidence that they do. We used to think there was no such thing as ghosts, but modern science can not only detect the ether plane, but also communicate with it's members. Our future knowledge can only increase with open minds and the ability as free thinkers to accept the possibility of all things that can not be disproved. There are considerable accounts of intelligent individuals on a quest to prove the Bible wrong only to be unable to do so, and become a believer! I study the Bible for many reasons and I refuse to dispute it's authenticity without infallible scientific evidence otherwise. Life is a series of choices that each one must make, good or bad, right or wrong. It is our individual right. No one can take it from us. It isn't harming anyone. I and those who were taught as I was do not force our beliefs on anyone. We don't make fun of the Gods others have chosen and call it all "fiction". If we just accept people the way they are, so long as there is no physical endangerment in their belief, we would have more time to solve more important issues (economy, health care, etc.). Even the Bible says that too much book learning is not expedient to our well being.

To both of you - yes! And so much more!

PDM, the bible is so much more the literature. It's history, wisdom literature, fables, folk tales, legends, mythological tales. It holds SO many religious traditions (Caananite, Akkadian, Babylonian, Egyptian, to name a few besides early Judaism). It has been the basis for 3 major religions livlihood and religion and culture.

So yes, it's like Shakespeare... but it's also likened to so so so many other authors and types of literature.

It's phenomenal. To me at least. And again, to me, it's that much more amazing when you're not bound to believing it word by word, when you can see the metaphors and the literary devices and conventions that suggest/signal a folk tale or legend.

It is so much more than God's guidebook, it's a people groups perspective (and many perspectives actually) on how their god reacts with mankind. Some think he punished the wicked, some wondered why the wicked prevailed and the righteous failed.

But this is all Old Testament. I don't like New Testament very much, nor Christianity. NT has cool stuff in it, just not my thing.

Yes, I have aways said that, but I was interested to understand what you were getting out of it ~ and also how much of it you now believed.

barak - i think i can explain it.

people hang on every word in the bible because they have been intimidated into doing so over the centuries. the illiterate masses have had the stories drummed into them and were not academically equipped to resist. those who did resist tended to pay for it with their lives, eventually turning bible literalism into a kind of race memory. this is only being broken recently as more and more people are becoming literate and gaining the tools to resist the myths being shoved down their throats.

it is not unfounded to label the bible as fiction. jesus - no historical proof. the exodus - no archaeological evidence. jonah and the whale - not even fesible. i could go on and on. there are stories in the bible with historical background, like the flood story, but they are rather thin on the ground.

nobody through history has ever believed the earth to be flat. this is a complete myth. the ancient greeks and arabs knew it was a globe (astronomy would not have been possible without that knowledge), columbus knew it was a globe, da vinci knew it was a globe, and copernicus was burnt not for saying the world was round but for saying that it was not the centre of the universe.

ufo's may well exist, but where is the 'scientific' proof of ghosts? come on.

you are arguing that the bible should be believed as it cannot be disproved. you cannot disprove the existence of cup cakes on jupiter - should we believe in them, too? the scientific advancement of our species is based on treating anything with scepticism until it is proven correct. to believe anything until it is disproved is illogical and contary to common sense.

the bible isn't harming anyone? i beg to differ in the strongest terms. it is one of the most harmful books ever to have been cobbled together by people. and why do you think the bible tells us too much learning is not 'expedient to our well being'? could it be that if we educate ourselves sufficiently we might come to the conclusion that it is a crock?

I am intrigued, Barak; you said that you were not a Christian, but, rather, 'spiritual', yet you seem convinced of the truth of the Bible.