What's new

What do you think about the Bible?

But back to topic... the original question: I read the Bible frequently, I study it intently. I find it relevant, applicable, instructive, and meaningful. It has enriched my life and I continue to find richness and beauty in its pages.

The Christian Bible is a collection of books written by a variety of mostly Jewish authors over a period of a couple of thousand years. It is usually divided into Old Testaments (39 Books) and New Testaments (27 Books) with most containing a third section of Deuterocannon or Apocrypha (7 books). The current arrangement developed during the early centuries of Christianity at a series of synods and councils.

Evangelical Christians regard the Bible as Scripture, as the inerrant Word of God. Authored by men (and a couple of women) through the inspiriation of the Holy Spirit. In several places the Bible identifies the person of Jesus closely with the "word". It is also identified as daily bread and spoken of as more important than food. 2 Timothy 3:16 reads "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness." So the reading of the Bible by Christians is not only encouraged, but usually viewed as essential to healthy spiritual growth.
 
...

First; define objectively: 'God'
I'm more of an atheist and I'm not searching any religion.
For me, Bible, Koran,... all of those religious books are more than rulez and exsamples, how to live a good and happy life, if you do, what is written in there. (somehow, seems more like brainwashing to me, but just keep it objective)
There are so many of religions, that everyone can search and pick up his own... like in a supermarket^^

However, I'm not searching, because it's a pitty of wasted time. (my opinion)
I just live my life, because I believe, life itself is the reason we live!
(check it?^^)
I'm very openminded about religions, because every culture has it own religion and that makes that culture unique... and so far it doesn't harm anybody, it's ok - i think.
PS: ... and all those wars, carried 'in the name of god' (so some fanatics says) are jsut cheap excuses. There is no religion I know, which tells to harm other people. It's just the humans, who care the responsibility of their doings.

(PS: just for the record: The question was: 'What do you think about the bible')
 
Please, please tell me Sabro san you don't believe in what Kent Hovind spouts? YE creationism is bad science, pure and simple. It is literalists of the bible who don't like the fact that modern research shows that biblical creation is wrong. I wouldn't object so much if fundamentalist Christians would look on it as allergorical in Genesis rather than true history. It is as bad as flat earthers sticking to their theory when all evidence shows them to be wrong.
 
What Kent Hovind spouts isn't science at all... and I think that many of my Christian brethren that indulge in the pseudo science of creationism are misguided.

and rather that beleive that "modern research" shows that "biblical creation is wrong" The Bible isn't a science book. It pre-dates any idea of scientific methodology by a millenia and a half. I think you are compairng two disparate types of work. On the other hand, if you are a literal fundamentalist, you need not believe that the tale given in Genesis is entirely allegorical.
 
4. A.

5. The Masoretic text describes YHWH as a god which demands exclusive devotion. The term also gives rise to the concept or emotion of jealously. YHWH may be patient a little at times, but cannot retain anger very long against those followers of his who stray from worshipping him. (I use masculine here because the Hebrew does--YHWH is without mistake male)​

Ex 20:5; 32:7-10, 30-35; 34:14-18; Num 25:11-13; Deu 3:23-26 (connect with 32:48-51) 5:9; 6:15; 13:1-18; 18:20b; Josh 24:19; Judges 2:2, 3, 11, 12, 17; 3:7, 8; (plus many more in this document) 2 Sam 6:7; Pslm 106:28-31, 35-43; Isa 51:17-20; Jer 29:16-19a; Eze 13:3; Mic 5:15; Na 1:2; Zec 13:3; etc.​

YHWH is the only ever true god--forever.​

Deu 4:35; 6:4; 1 Sam 2:2; Pslm 40:25-28; 41:21-24; 42:5-8; 43:1, 3, 12, 13; 44:6-8; 45:5-7, 18, 21, 22; Hos 13:4; 14:1​

It would be in line to point out here, that YHWH is not presented as denying that humans have and worship other gods, but that those gods are non-realities, figments of the imagination.​

Ex 18:11; 20:23; 22:20; 23:32; 33:14, 15; Judges 2:11, 12, 13, 17; 6:10; Isa 37:38; etc. etc. etc.​

Next I will go into some more emotional aspects of the personality of YHWH, beyond that seen here--anger and possessiveness (jealously).
 
I would agree that this represents a tenable biblical theology. It is the common theology presented by most protestant evangelicals.
 
Yes, I would strongly reason so, since, in fact, it is coming straight from the Masoretic texts themselves, and thus represents the raw god-model prescribed to YHWH. As I go on, the model will fill out a little more.
 
I confess that I have not read the whole thread, but will answer based on the topic and what I have learned and researched.

The bible ( at least the Old Testament) is almost a literal translation of the Sumerian texts, which are the oldest known writings on earth today and date back more than 6,000 years.

A little more research and putting on one's Conspiracy hat one comes to learn that the Old Testament is indeed a literal translation of those texts with a few flourishes thrown in here and there to make one think it is a divine scripture.

Further putting on the "C" hat one may come to believe that there was indeed an advanced civilization that came to this planet and through DNA manipulation crossbred the hominid species of this planet, along with the DNA of with those who "descended from heaven (the skies)" and made us "In their image" to be their slaves and do their work for them and that was mining gold in Africa so that they may disperse it through thir atmosphere to "save their planet".

Once we became intelligent enough, they then gave us some of their beliefs or "religions" if you will. The only problem was that "they" were fractured and fought among themselves and fought also for their territory and their beliefs as the world at that time was divided among themselves and they fought for control. (look at the ancient Greek plays and such for what I am referring to here.)

Each region was taught that theirs was the true "god" (as we mere mortals perceived them who could outlive us) and that the other region or "god" was not the true "god". And the fighting for control and supremacy of this planet ensued to this very day.

That is the main reason why we have so many religions and faiths. They are still fighting among themselves today for control of this planet with the main crux being the Middle East where they first landed and where the Garden of Eden and the beginnings of man were supposed to be!

Could this be all a crock and a bunch of BS? Maybe so. But the Ancient Sumerian texts and their translations say something different and I believe in the ancient translations.

Where did they go? I have no idea. Maybe their planet was eventually destroyed or died and these so called "fallen angels" were left here or maybe exiled here to live out their life and we are their pawns or "souls" put here to learn and to see if we succumb to the 7 deadly sins or to rise above them and maybe advance in this strange universe of ours. I don't know.

But what I do know and believe is that we are here for a purpose and those that strive to control this planet have been and always will be here. It is up to us to decide the true path and which path we will follow and only then will our souls advance to the "next level".

People like Richard Hoagland have said that maybe the Book of Revelations should be the first book of the Bible instead of the last. I tend to agree with him here as I believe there was an advanced civilization on this plant way befor ours and they may just have nearly destroyed themselves and it has taken them 2008 years to get back to maybe where they were once before.

Crazy hypothisis I know, but it is something I believe.

Therefore, IMO, the bible is nothing but a flacid recreation of a past world that already existed on this planet and somehow destroyed themselves in the Book of Revelations.

Call me crazy or what-have-you, but google some of the things I have written about and you too may just say, "this couldn't be true, but it seems so".

Thanks for letting me rant here and expressing opinions which 99% of people may never believe, but which I believe for the most part until I come across something that proves otherwise.
 
I think the bible is a freakin' game sometimes. It's been edited so many times: There's no telling what it said originally. It's like that game telephone. Also it's so difficult to understand sometimes.
 
Well, I have answered this in another thread. But I will repeat.

I believe that the bible is nothing more than a book of morals and lessons that was meant to set a foundation for societies to obey the laws under the pretense of going to hell if those laws weren't obeyed. The bible is genius! Seriously though, what a great way to control people! Strike fear in people, that'll do it!
 
Looking around i can see that there is alot of strong emotion in this post on both sides... All i can say is, there's alot of innacurecy... And i'm not reffering to the bible... Mostly that from random people entering... Though, simply, i will say to the person speaking of christian pseudo-science, there is much anti-religious pseudo-science as well. Often, one can't be genuinely sure that results come from true science and were not from suggestion interpreting a result. Though, i can't understand how anything involving the past can be science, since science is testable, but the past cannot be directly tested, therefor science of the past must be speculation...
 
Though, i can't understand how anything involving the past can be science, since science is testable, but the past cannot be directly tested, therefor science of the past must be speculation...

And the fault of that argument is that while it is true that the past cannot be tested, the principles of nature can, and have been, and thus lead to conclusions which can be applied so as to understand claims made about the past. That's how it is relevent and is used to test 'the past.'
 
Pachipro, I get what you are saying. If you really look at the bible, everything comes out of the sky. When you read some of the accounts it sounds like aliens visiting our planet. I once thought that sounded crazy, but now I am not so sure.
 
Pachipro, I get what you are saying. If you really look at the bible, everything comes out of the sky. When you read some of the accounts it sounds like aliens visiting our planet. I once thought that sounded crazy, but now I am not so sure.

As is so often the case, Pachipro's post was hugely readable and interesting. And, although this is one of his vapour trails of thinking that differ greatly from my own, he's certainly a gentleman I'd love to share a long chat with over a cool beer (preferably outside, at night under the stars, around a blazing fire, and perhaps a peace pipe should be passed around too!)

Pachipro's post reminded me, perhaps partly indirectly, of a documentary shown here in the UK in the last year or two. It visited the area where the book of Revelation was quite likely written, and presented a convincing argument that it may very well have been conceived under the influence of 'magic' mushrooms. If you think about it, that would certainly explain a lot of the imagery!

Throughout history, many of the 'holy' or 'enlightened' or 'mystic' figures of different communities or societies - those who offer some way to the divine side of things; spiritual guidance, as well as healing - have been those who offered or controlled access to mind-expanding substances. We can still see this today in many spots around the world - the gurus in India, the medicine men of South America and elsewhere, in Rastafarianism, the elders in the native American tribes (what is left of them)...

Although consciousness-expanding plants aren't a part of western religion anymore, I personally have no doubt at all that some of these natural, organic (but extremely powerful) compounds very well could have played a role in the early days of some, if not all, of the major religions (and also might explain some of the recorded ancient interactions with aliens!)

For me the Bible's a wonderful book full of insight and lessons to be learnt, experimented with personally, where I feel it's valuable, and in some cases rejected completely. Imvho, part of it is history, many parts story. And most of it we have only a faint understanding of the circumstances it was written in, the writers themselves, and of course their states of mind (and any means by which they had 'expanded'/altered their consciousnesses!)

I do have my own belief and vision of 'god', through both instinct and experience, and like many here in the UK see myself as spiritual rather than religious.

peace to all :)
 
made of Stone said:
As is so often the case, Pachipro's post was hugely readable and interesting. And, although this is one of his vapour trails of thinking that differ greatly from my own, he's certainly a gentleman I'd love to share a long chat with over a cool beer (preferably outside, at night under the stars, around a blazing fire, and perhaps a peace pipe should be passed around too!)
Ty you for the kind words MOS. There are a few others with differing, interestiing opinions here on JRef, like MM for one, that I would love to sit around a fire with one night over a few beers and toss around our opinions. I think it would make for a fantastic discussion. And a "peace pipe" would be most welcome. All opinions are acceptable as no one as yet proved one way or another. I tend to lean though towards findings and writings that are ignored, rather than studied, by learned scholors and institutions today and ask why.

Throughout history, many of the 'holy' or 'enlightened' or 'mystic' figures of different communities or societies - those who offer some way to the divine side of things; spiritual guidance, as well as healing - have been those who offered or controlled access to mind-expanding substances. We can still see this today in many spots around the world - the gurus in India, the medicine men of South America and elsewhere, in Rastafarianism, the elders in the native American tribes (what is left of them)...

Although consciousness-expanding plants aren't a part of western religion anymore, I personally have no doubt at all that some of these natural, organic (but extremely powerful) compounds very well could have played a role in the early days of some, if not all, of the major religions (and also might explain some of the recorded ancient interactions with aliens!)
I have no arquments with you here mos and it may well have been used much as they are still used today, legally, in the US by certain Indian tribes. Substances like peyote and "magic mushrooms" for example.

To go any further on this would be getting off the topic and into a discussion of legalizing drugs. I've always wondered as to why the "powers that be" (both now and in the past) strictly forbid the use of mind expanding and altering substances. There's something they don't want us to see or experience. But they have no qualms about offering us, in a heartbeat, an anti-depressent or other drug that does quite the opposite in that they numb the mind.

Goldiegirl said:
Pachipro, I get what you are saying. If you really look at the bible, everything comes out of the sky. When you read some of the accounts it sounds like aliens visiting our planet. I once thought that sounded crazy, but now I am not so sure.
Many "learned" people and skeptics have derided and put down the writings of Zecharia Sitchin when he wrote his Earth Chronicles series of books beginning with "The 12th Planet" in which he lays out what is written in the hundreds and hundreds of ancient Sumerian stone tablets and why the bible mentions the Nefilim and those that "came down from the skies" and those that mated with the daughters of men.

He translates exactly how the solar system was created and why we have the planets we have and how the earth was created. If what he translated was honest, and I believe it is, how did the ancient Sumerians know 6,000 years ago that there are nine planets as is depicted in their drawings and that neptune was the shade of blue/green it is?

He translates how and why the pyramids were made and why Mars lost its atmosphere when the planet next to it exploded creating the asteroid belt.

Someone of some vast superior intelligence must have been able to create the pyramids as modern man is unable to do so today even with the aid if the best computers! They didn't just appear out of nowhere.

Even our best machinery today would not be able to lift even one block in the pyramid so I wish the modern scholors and intstitutions today would stop feeding the line of BS that they were built by slaves by an ignorant Egyption civilization for to admit that would be admitting that they were vastly superior to us in all aspects and had access to technology that we can't even comprehend. The Japanese tried some years ago recreating it and were unsuccessful in moving even one block of similar size any significant distance.

He translates the name of the first human/alien hybred as being called "The Adamu". All the rest of his translations have been carefully linked with the old testament, including Cain and Abel, Abraham and the burning bush and the sacrificing of his son, Noahs Ark and why there would be a flood, etc, etc. as these people and experiences actually happened, but not through some divine power we are told is God. Coincidence? Hardly. Someone does not want us to know our true past.

His book, Divine Encounters, clearly lays out the tablets vs the Old Testament wonderfully. After one reads this book, they cannot but help walk away bewildered and wondering if we are being taught the truth about our history and origins. The skeptics and

It's when I read things like this that the establishment completely pooh-poohs and ignores that I become suspicious of what I am being told to believe as these are the greatest writings ever uncovered and tell us our true origins. Skeptics and Institutions (and those that control them) completely ignore the ancient Egyption and Hebrew writings found in the southwest United States at the beginning of the 20th century along with the bones and remaining red hair of giant humans who were over 9 ft tall. And not just in the US, but in the UK and many other countries around the world. They are just locked away never to be seen again and ignored and not discussed.

Don't get me wrong here, the bible is filled with great teachings and shows, in some respects, the proper way to live and should be followed to a certain degree, but imo is not a true account of the creation of man by a divine power called God. As much as they want us to believe it, after reading all of Mr. Sitchin's books, I cannot go down that road.
 
He translates how and why the pyramids were made and why Mars lost its atmosphere when the planet next to it exploded creating the asteroid belt.
Mars does still have an atmosphere. It is not as thick as the earths because the planet is not large or dense enough to produce a sufficient gravity field to hold onto a thick atmosphere. Also recent studies tend to think that the asteroid belt was never a planet, there is not enough material. If it was all collected together it would be a 'planet' less than 1/1000 the size to the earth. More likely the remains of the formation of the solar system, as are comets, the Kuniper belt and the Oort cloud.

Someone of some vast superior intelligence must have been able to create the pyramids as modern man is unable to do so today even with the aid if the best computers! They didn't just appear out of nowhere.

Even our best machinery today would not be able to lift even one block in the pyramid so I wish the modern scholors and intstitutions today would stop feeding the line of BS that they were built by slaves by an ignorant Egyption civilization for to admit that would be admitting that they were vastly superior to us in all aspects and had access to technology that we can't even comprehend. The Japanese tried some years ago recreating it and were unsuccessful in moving even one block of similar size any significant distance.
Incorrect. It has been shown on several occasions that it is possible to build a pyramid using the tools and technology of the 25th dynasty. Even done on a BBC2 programme. Plus there is a definite evolution of pyramid construction, cumulating with the pyramid of Cheops. Also fairly recent discoveries of construction ramps next to the pyramids at Giza.
Pyramid Construction
 
Moses WAS Stoned!

made of stone said:
Throughout history, many of the 'holy' or 'enlightened' or 'mystic' figures of different communities or societies - those who offer some way to the divine side of things; spiritual guidance, as well as healing - have been those who offered or controlled access to mind-expanding substances. We can still see this today in many spots around the world - the gurus in India, the medicine men of South America and elsewhere, in Rastafarianism, the elders in the native American tribes (what is left of them)...
OK MOS my friend, here is a story from Israel that says Moses, as well as his followers, was probably high on hallucinogenic drugs when he claimed to receive the 10 commandments from God. Another story here from Reuters.

For the rest of this post see this thread
Early man, the pyramids and aliens
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top Bottom