What parts of the bible are man-made?

Question

Parts of the bible originate less from divine influence and more from human influence. What parts were obviously inserted to further someones cause?
I think one likely candidate would be the idea that it's necessary for one to accept Jesus as your savior or you go to hell. The is so obviously a control mechanism. It allows for some really evil things to happen in the name of Christ. For instance:

1. It creates a position of percieved superiority, which in itself opens to door to corruption.
2. It creates a weapon of fear to weild against the ignorant and unwitting.
3. It is an edict that requires complete submission or suffer horrors worse than you can imagine.
4. It creates an egotistical side to religion, which greatly increases the likelihood of bloodshed.

"Believe it, or else!!" is essentially what that means.

My God does not need to stoop to petty threats to gain popularity.

Answer 1

I know that some of the Gospels (Mark?, Luke?) were written in a way so as to appeal to certain groups like the Romans but don't recall specifics.

I think that one should divorce the actual teachings from any religious institution. Jesus would be horrified at all those who killed people in his name or tried to forcibly impose his teachings on non-believers.

It's not the bible that's the problem, but man made religious institutions that are intolerant of anyone who doesn't agree with them and try to impose their will on others.

Answer 2

here is a somewhat off-beat approach. i use it all the time to help me to "evaluate" books, locations, art, people--anything and everything. everything in the universe is vibrational, and, thus everything "emits" a vibrational signature. sensitive people can "feel" that energy, or "see" it, etc. the higher the vibe ,the more i am attracted to the emitter. have you felt "fine" and then gone somewhere and began feeling weak, shaky, nervous--a mall for example. that's a case of being influenced unpleasantly by the place's vibes, probably due to the excessive number of people there emitting not too great vibes, plus the electro-magnetics in the mall itself. you're unconsciously reading the energies. have you been around someone and started feeling that same way. same problem, low vibe. do you notice how you feel more energized being by the ocean or in nature, generally--high vibes. what you need to do is learn how to consciously become aware of the frequencies through practice. doing energy work like chi kung, reiki, jin shin jyutsu, and the like will bring you this ability. how does this bear on your question? once you can consciously recognize the incoming frequency as high or low, you'll be able to tell which part of whatever you're reading was "divinely inspired" or the creation of a mere mortal. the frequency right off the page will be your guide. why? because the true author's frequency is always attached to his writings. this is a somewhat complex area that i'm simplifying probably too much, but perhaps it will help a bit. also, very important--check out www.sahajayoga.com , you may be already aware and sufficiently sensitive to "read" the vibes on that site, they are unusually potent, helpful and healing. once you "read" them you'll know exactly what i mean. good luck.

Answer 3

Here's the thing, if Jesus is the only way of salvation, wouldn't it be bad for Jesus not to tell us? Wouldn't that be evil? If a doctor knew you were sick, and had the only medicine to cure you, and he didn't offer it to you, wouldn't that be "Evil"? If Jesus is the only road to salvation, the everyone should be informed of this. Actually the New Testament spends very little space talking about hell, or heaven for that matter, and state more thoroughly that we should seek Jesus out because of the love he showed to us on the cross. To say that the bible says, or christianity says, that its "either this or hell" is for the most part creating a false charactization. In formal argument its refered to as "Creating a straw-man": a fake identity thats easy to argue against. Unfortunately some Christians do argue its either this way or hell, which isn't the way Jesus preached the majority of the time, but again, would we find it wrong if a doctor told us we either take such and such a medicine or die, if it really is the only solution?

Answer 4

Well, you are mixing Old and New Testaments here. As times go on, we interpret the Bible to fit our cause. Many other religions are similar to the writings in the Old Testament. I do not believe the Bible was meant to be taken literally. But you are right in that it is often used as a reason to empower some people at the cost of others. Man seems to be able to corrupt anything, even the word of God. But, to the point, it is my understanding that all of the books of the Bible were written well after they occurred, so they are man-made.

Answer 5

First Question, the Bible is Man-made, if it wasn't we would have holy-rollers worshiping a book the was "holy and divinely made."

The answer to your second comment:

If you look at the Bible and God's purpose for our existence, from the stand point of Satan's accusation and question, "If God is a loving and Gracious Creator, why would he cast the rebellious Angels into the Lake of Fire?" and that the human race serves the purpose of how a lower creation (humans) could love and worship a creator without seeing God and being with Him 24-7. Additionally, the fall of Adam, the rest of the human race born as sinners, and God providing a salvation, has absolutely nothing to with our good works. But serves as proof that Satan's accusation is wrong.

A lot of Christians have the concept of salvation, Christianity wrong. Most believe they must live sinless, be "good" people, and chastise everyone who don't believe in their morals.

In reality, God has given us an offer we can't refuse, the Gospel is called the "Good News" but in today's society that "Good News" has been bastardized into something that turns people "off" to God.

Answer 6

None.
All of the Word comes from G-d. Even Satan, the former great archangel knows the Bible is true!

1-God is the Superior Trinity. He is three in One, simultaniously.
2-We who Believe, "Fear Not". God allows for God's purpose, not for ours.
3-Yes. You got that right. Eternal Lake of FIre, without being able to die. (Knarly promise from the only man every to die, rise from the dead. and bring others back to life.)
4-God is not a"religion". Men make religions to fulfill self needs; Christians are reborn as Believers who study to fulfill God's Will.

To feed your curiosity howevver, the KJV title itself boasts of self pride.
And, you are absolutely correct believing in the increase of bloodshed! Jesus, the Christ will return on a horse with vengence and blood will run in a river over a meter deep. If you join a Bible study at a nearby church, I know you will find the insight tempting, not to mention the Christian sitting next to you who once felt some of the same thought you now have!
Now, realize that Satan in sitting next to you as you write just hoping that you will not open your heart to his former boss. Your choice.... because God allows free will. I made my decision 7 years ago. Blessings.

Answer 7

All of the Bible is God-Inspired. Meaning God gave the authors what to say and they were merely the messengers. in the Old Testament, you had to make a blood sacrifice to receive forgiveness. But when Christ died for our sins, all He is asking for is for us to believe that and accept Him. Accepting Him once is better than having to make regular sacrifices like in the Old Test because once you accept Him, you are His forever. There has always been some sort of submission, accepting Christ just makes it easier. God wants our submission but if you are saved and backslide, it doesn't mean that He is going to turn His back on you. No sin is greater than the next. I don't know how you perceive me from my answer but i can tell you that right now i am in a backslidden state, i am not the most righteous or religious person, but i do know that if i were to die right now that i will go to Heaven. I don't know if you were serious about your question or if you were just looking to get people riled up but i hope i could answer at least part of you question. 2Timothy 3:16 states" All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof (to tell one what is wrong), for correction (to tell one how to correct wrong), for instruction in righteousness (to tell one how to live).

Answer 8

The entire bible was written by humans, supposedly recording things that happened in the past. (Can't record things that didn't happen yet, can we now!)

So if humans recorded these past events, and if humans are not perfect, how many errors does the bible contain?

To answer your basic question, "What parts of the bible are man-made?", the correct answer would have to be "all parts of the bible are man-made."

Answer 9

It's all "man-made". Unless someone proves to me that God (or your version of a higher power) hit the print button and out came the bible from his (now why can't it be her?) printer, it's all man's interpretation. Now maybe if it had been women's interpretation, things probably would have turned out differently.

Answer 10

Considering that you have it in text and whatnot, it's safe to assume all of it.

Now if you have some natural landmark with parts of the Bible in it, I'll assume otherwise. In either case, it's safe to say that man wrote the whole thing.