Why do so many tie the Bible as "myths"?

Question

The Bible is the most important book in history.it was the first book published by Gutenberg printing press. So it has always had top importance. 6 billion copies. Way Far more than any other book in history. 100s of prophecies of the messiah (jesus) in the old Testament were fullfilled in the new testament. Also, the bible shouldn't be taken literaly. Jesus explained that it contains metaphors for greater things. With 40 authors and 1,600 years to complete... yet, it flows so smoothly. No other religion has a book so profound and impactful as The Bible.

Answer 1

Because even Christians admit that it wasn't written by Jesus himself, but long after Jesus was crucified.
"No other religion has a book so profound and impactful as The Bible." - have you read Torah? Quran? Other religious books? I'm not saying that the Bible is not profound or impactful, but please don't rate something without assesing others. You made the statement because you 'think' that the Bilble is likewise. Read Quran, Torah, Tripitaka, etc, before making such comparison. If your definition of 'impactful' means that there are a large number of Christians in this world, then what do you think of the number of Muslims and Buddhist that made up a larger protion of adherents altogether? Don't simply compare religion if you don't actually learn about other religion as well.

Okay, look,

The Bible is the most important book in history.
-says who? There are many books that historians labelled as "the most important book in history", and you're not even a historian, for goodness sake!

It was the first book published by Gutenberg printing press.
-And does that mean that any book printed by Gutenberg printing press means something to the world? The company may not even exist now!

So it has always had top importance.
-Because of Gutenberg???

6 billion copies.
-so, does by printing a book as much as that makes it important? NUMBER OF PRINTING is important than the CONTENT? What if I printed 6.1 billion Harry Potter books? Would that entitle me to create the Harry Potter religion?

Way Far more than any other book in history.
-What if I created 6.1 billion websites on Torah? Wouldn't that entitle the Jews as having the most advanced and highest number of typed book ever? Don't argue that books are different because when it comes to arguements about technology, people would always say that the Internet has a lot of advantages compared to books. And also, ever heard of e-book?

100s of prophecies of the messiah (jesus) in the old Testament were fullfilled in the new testament.
-How about prophecies of other religion's prophets? Hindus, Muslims, Jews, would always say that their prophets had had fullfilled prophecies too.

Also, the bible shouldn't be taken literaly.
-so does the Torah, Quran, etc. Torah has a greater value than Bible because rabbis painstakingly keep the original records of it, unlike Bible which has so many versions.

Jesus explained that it contains metaphors for greater things.
-Jesus was dead when they made the Bible. Muhammad was there when they recorded the Quran. Quran has expalinations on laws, family acts, division of wealth, etc in depth, not some letter by a self-proclaimed saint. By the way, I've read the Bible and it seems to me that there are more of Paul's saying than Jesus'. Why is that so?

With 40 authors and 1,600 years to complete... yet, it flows so smoothly.
-the more the authors, the higher the chance of it being corrupted.

No other religion has a book so profound and impactful as The Bible.
-how did Quran made the impact on 1.3 billion people? How did Torah made the impact on a lot of Jewish people? Why do people adhere to Hinduism's yoga even though they are from other religion?

I'm not saying that you can't respect the Bible. It IS your religious book. But don't make such statement just because you learn it from some priest at Sunday school. If you trust your Bible, you should make clear statements on why the Bible is better than other religious books, not just any ambigous statement. Shalom.

Answer 2

First of all, I would like you to validate your statements. The bible is the most important book in history? Why? Because there are a lot of copies. What is the second most read book of all time? Would it be the second most important book in history? With that statement is saying is, Most Read = Best Ever, when if fact, Most Read <> Best Ever. By the way, there are more versions of the bible than there are words in the New Testament and none of them are identical. And what OTHER history books are you referring to that aren't important in your opinion? A lot of the stories in the bible are ripped off of other Middle Eastern stories that are dated much earlier than the bible. That’s a fact. You claim that Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in the New Testament. You shouldn't validate the bible with the bible; it just doesn't make sense to do that. The statement, "I'm great because I say so" doesn't carry water because, what if I’m really not that great, I just say I am? I also note that there is evidence that most of the bible was edited for cohesion by multiple sources. One such book is the book of Daniel, which I'm sure you know, contains many of said prophecies.

I do agree with you on your point that the bible should not be taken literally. These are stories. Stories intended to provoke an emotional response or an idea. But I would say that it would be wise to study the bible from a historical point of view. What we know as the bible today is basically a top tenish version of what the actual body of work is. We have evidence of catholic officials deciding what to have in the bible and what to take out. If what they wanted to be put in didn't fit exactly the way they wanted, then they edited it for either organizational or personal gain. The order was then put out to destroy much of the other work that they left out of the bible in order to rule out attitudes of contradiction aimed at the church for centuries to come. What archeology is finding is that not everyone followed the order and in response hid these documents to be found later.

So if I could end this constitution sized response, :) I would say that what you know as the bible is really a collection of much older work that has been distorted over the centuries for the wrong reasons. So, why do so many tie the Bible as myths? In my humble opinion, uhhhh cause they probably are.

In conclusion, it is not my intention to offend anyone and if I have I am sorry. I don't think that the bible is a horrible thing. I think it is a great source of inspiration. But I do believe in taking things like this into the proper context. This is my opinion and again, if I offender anyone, I apologize.

Answer 3

#1. The Bible is the most important book to Jews & Christians. There are millions of people that populate this planet who know nothing of the book-for example tribal communities that have no contact with missionaries etc... Therefore, it is not important to them. To say that it is the most important book in history is arrogance.

#2. If Jesus fulfilled all prohecies, than why are the Jews still Jews? Obviously, they are not content with Jesus being the messiah. Only Christians. Also, the stories of the Old Testament are simply Judaic oral traditional stories. Some things added, some things taken away. As with anything translated and related thousands of times, we probably do not have the original meaning and text at this point.

#3. I don't think the Bible flows smoothly at all. If you were to read it from front to back-you would be completely confused. I have found many contradictions....God is jealous, vengeful....then God is all loving and forgiving??? HUH?

#4. How do you know no other religion has any book that is so profound? Humans have existed for millions of years. Many texts-whether on paper or on walls...have been destroyed/burned etc...by war and the like. We have a relative short life span compared to the Earth's lifespan....so the bible is relatively an infant in the grand scheme of time.

#5. The stories of the bible are mythology to me because the story of a virgin birth of a savior god is not a new story in human history. It's myth to me because just as we call the ancient Greeks and Roman's beliefs in various gods etc...silly...and mythology...so too will Christianity be called myth by humans thousands of years for now... if the bible even survives that long.

Answer 4

Thanks For your Question

But I don't agree with the last statement " No other religion has a book so profound and impactful as The Bible "

Because The Quraan has more important facts

1. The Quraan is 1400 years and it is still with its original language(Arabic) and never changed while the Bible lost its original language(Aramaic)

2. The Bible has the words of God plus the words of historians and the words of translators but the Quraan has only words from God

3. The Quraan is memorized by more than 9,000,000 person in the world with its original language .....and NONE memorized the Bible in its original language

4. The Quraan is the only holy book that got science in it and things scientist just discovered 200 years ago

and these facts really are to be taken seriously "Why The Quraan is so protected like that ? "

Answer 5

I feel the reason why people tie the Bible with myths is because even though the bible proves itself by having a prophecy predicted in the old testament and coming true in the new one, the bible is really built on faith not on something tangible that you can hold unless you count the earth and everything in it. Such things as miracles seem far fetched to some people so they tie it with a fairy tale or Greek myth. It all depends on the person reading the Bible and how they want to receive it.

Answer 6

People want to tie the Bible as a "myth" because they know that if the Bible is true, than there is some type of absolute truth. With absolute truth comes standards, and with standards comes a change of lifestyle. It also shows that if the Bible is the true inspired word of GOD than there therefore has to be a GOD hence a Creator. The authenticity of the Bible ties in with every aspect of life.

I applaud you for asking this question in such an open arena.

May GOD bless and Keep You, May His Grace Shine upon you, and Give you peace.
Numbers 6:24

Answer 7

I used to hold your view until I educated myself on the history of the Bible and Christianity. I now understand that the OT & NT were written by human beings who wanted to promote their mythical worldview in order to convince others they had the "truth." The so-called prophecies of the OT were not fulfilled but the writers of the NT tried their best to present Jesus the Christ as such a messianic figure. It doesn't flow smoothly and is filled with contradictions and inaccuracies. It is easy to accept any religious book on faith but the real challenge is to actually study it in its historical context and be prepared to accept the work for what it is... a collection of mythical stories promoting a religious dogma without a historical basis in fact.

There are many college classes you can take to study religious history as long as you understand the difference between critical history and religious studies. Obviously, a Baptist Bible College won't present the actual history of the Bible or their religion. If their is a supernatural deity, you'd think he/she would have done a better job in communicating its divine will to humanity. You have the Torah, the Bible, the Qu'ran, the Bhagavad Gita, etc., all claiming to have the ultimate truth but without offering any evidence other than to have faith that it is so. Not bad for 2000 years ago but it doesn't work in our modern rational universe.

Answer 8

I agree with all that you are saying. Perhaps the issue might be in your meaning of the word "myth". I have said before that the book of Genesis might be a "myth"...meaning a story intended to explain a "Profound Truth". God is the creator of all....it is possible He created some things through the process of evolution, and that there was not actually a garden of Eden or an Adam and Eve, but that does not negate the Profound Truth that God is the Supreme Creator and nothing came into being apart from Him. Are we in agreement of the word "myth" The Bible is God's Word, His Truth and I have the utmost respect for it.

Answer 9

I consider it a myth because I've looked into the history of how the bible came to be in its current form and also compared it to past religions. Prophecies being stated in one religious text then claimed to be fulfilled in another do very little to support the validity of such claims and popularity has never been a great determinate of truth. At one point the popular belief was that the world is flat...how silly that idea seems today.

Answer 10

Im just curious have you read any body elses bible? The Upanishads or the Damapada, The Bible is a wonderfull book butim just wondering what your basing your opinion on.