Does the bible really mean what it says?

Question

Historians often discount the bible as accurate history. Theologians say that much of scripture is no longer relevent for christians. What is the truth? Is the bible--the whole bible--a true and invaluable guide for christian life today? Is it just a good history book full of inspiring stories? What do you think?

Answer 1

The Bible is all things ... it is God's word ...

Since God made each of us different, there are differnt writing styles to reach us. Some of us are very anylitical and think in terms of cause and effect ... while some others need alagories to compair stuff with ... and still yet, some parts of the Bible reveal scripture to us in terms of childreen so that God may lead us one step at a time.

The Bible is God's word.

Answer 2

Well. First of all, Sandy and Lois, you've impressed me. Not that it matters one little whit to you what I think, but you were most eloquent with your subject treatment. There were other thoughtful answers as well. Good to see when, too often, folks can't even spell. Religion and/or God is such a subjective issue that any definite statement has to be taken with a grain of salt. That includes the comments made by the founding fathers which Sandy brought up. They were, after all, just men. I also believe that if you'll look at the founding documents, the Republic of the United States of America was indeed begun as a Christian nation. The Bible is said to have been written by men, inspired by God. Inspired does not mean he dictated the words. Ten people witness an accident and you have ten different stories. We all flavor our memories with our own personalities. That's human nature. The Bible is no different. I do agree with Jefferson concerning Paul, by the way. I have always thought thus. For me, the Old Testament is a history, however convoluted, of the Hebrew people. The New Testament contains the words of Christ, and I care little for the writings of the others beyond the four Gospels. Christ's words contain the pattern for a decent life and a way for a non-Hebrew to attain Heaven. It is enough for me.

Answer 3

Neither.

It could be a good book full of inspiring stories, but most of it isn't fit for a child to read, let alone believe as the truth about who and what god is.

The frightening part is that even though most "modern" christians believe that most of the old testament no longer applies the bible clearly says that god is the same yesterday, today, and forever... so the the doctrine of dispensational difference is false. God doesn't change... not even when his son gets killed by a bunch of people who hated him.

Most of the old testament portrays an evil god that hated everybody but the 12 tribes of Israel. He even turned on them on numerous occasions and brought death and destruction on a regular basis... either directly or by the "hand of his chosen ones." I don't find any inspiration in that nonsense. I'm horrified by the things the bible says god said and did. This is not a true god. An all knowing and all powerful being would be less surprised and offended when people make mistakes. It would be part of the nature of being all knowing and all powerful.

I'm sure the Bible means EXACTLY what it says... every word of it... I just don't believe that GOD had anything to do with it.

An all knowing and all powerful being would not behave like the worst of humankind. Just can't happen.

Answer 4

If the Bible doesn't mean what it says, then it must mean something that it doesn't say, and that would mean that it is lying. But of course, if one takes it literally, then one is forced to believe that the moon and sun really stood still, a flood actually covered the entire planet, a donkey talked, and many other ridiculous things. One could decide to discount some parts of the Bible as allusion and metaphor, and accept other parts as literal, but this raises the question of where one draws the line. How does one decide which parts are literal and which parts are metaphor? Why can't any two Christians agree on which are which?

Most of the stories in it really are not all that inspiring, either. What inspiration am I supposed to gain from the story of God killing innocent children and babies along with evil adults in a worldwide flood? Or in the story of a man offering his two virgin daughters to a crowd of sex-crazed men, and then later having incestuous sex with them? Or in the story of one man cheating his brother out of his birthright, and God rewarding the cheater with many blessings? Or in the account of the Midianites being brutally murdered, except for the virgin girls, who were kept as sex slaves? The Bible overflows with people who are violent, crude, selfish, ignorant, and disfunctional in the extreme. Their God is no better, raining down destruction and vengeance at the drop of a hat, throwing temper tantrums that result in thousands of deaths. Why do I need such a book?

The Bible is far from being a good history book. There is not the slightest indication that the Exodus account ever happened, no trace of a worldwide flood, most of the place-names have never been identified with real cities or nations...and the few that have, do not prove that the entire Bible is true, any more than the mention of Kansas proves that "The Wizard of Oz" is true. There is considerable debate as to whether Nazareth even existed in the time of Jesus!

Answer 5

There are 27 different versions of the bible.
That's what makes the Davin chi Code movie so interesting and to the point, what churches don't want you to know.
Think of it like this churches tend to put the fear of God before us and it's all about the money.
Gnostic Christians have a great belief system-seekers after their own truth.
Read The Holy Grail that's a real eye opener. Think it like this you tell a story and your friend tells the same story and that friend tells the same story by the time it gets to the next person it's not told the same .

Answer 6

God meant what He had written in the Bible, then and now. It is 100% relevant yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Any theologian that says the Bible is no longer relevant is a liar, and has no business calling themselves a theologian.

Answer 7

I definitely wouldn't even classify it as anything close to a history book. At best it is a collection of stories intended to teach lessons, it was never intended to be taken literally. The bible is much the same as ancient Greek and Roman mythology, therefore I think it is fair to call it The Christian Mythology Book.

Answer 8

The 1611 King James Version is as close to the original Scriptures as we have available to us today. Using a Strong's Concordance together with the KJV Bible will allow you to rightly divide the Word as told to us in 2nd Timothy 2:15.
My answer to you is to stay away from all else, and go to God direct in prayer. The Word of God is Christ Jesus Himself. All you seek is there in the Holy Word. Go there now.><>

Answer 9

What the Bible says, it means. Jesus Himself that the Word (Bible) will not pass away before the earth ends. As far as I am concerned it won't pass away after the world ends either. It is still relevant today as it was when the authors were putting the words down on parchment.

Answer 10

In a sermon of October 1831, Episcopalian minister Bird Wilson said, "Among all of our Presidents, from Washington downward, not one was a professor of religion, at least not of more than Unitarianism." The Bible? Here is what our Founding Fathers wrote about Bible-based Christianity: Thomas Jefferson: I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth. Jefferson again: Christianity...(has become) the most perverted system that ever shone on man. ...Rogueries, absurdities and untruths were perpetrated upon the teachings of Jesus by a large band of dupes and importers led by Paul, the first great corrupter of the teaching of Jesus. More Jefferson: The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind and adulterated by artificial constructions into a contrivance to filch wealth and power to themselves...these clergy, in fact, constitute the real Anti-Christ. Jefferson's word for the Bible? Dunghill. John Adams: Where do we find a precept in the Bible for Creeds, Confessions, Doctrines and Oaths, and whole carloads of other trumpery that we find religion encumbered with in these days? Also Adams: The doctrine of the divinity of Jesus is made a convenient cover for absurdity. Adams signed the Treaty of Tripoli. Article 11 states: The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion. Here's Thomas Paine: I would not dare to so dishonor my Creator God by attaching His name to that book (the Bible). Among the most detestable villains in history, you could not find one worse than Moses. Here is an order, attributed to 'God' to butcher the boys, to massacre the mothers and to debauch and rape the daughters. I would not dare so dishonor my Creator's name by (attaching) it to this filthy book (the Bible). It is the duty of every true Deist to vindicate the moral justice of God against the evils of the Bible. Accustom a people to believe that priests and clergy can forgive sins...and you will have sins in abundance. The Christian church has set up a religion of pomp and revenue in pretended imitation of a person (Jesus) who lived a life of poverty. Finally let's hear from James Madison: What influence in fact have Christian ecclesiastical establishments had on civil society? In many instances they have been upholding the thrones of political tyranny. In no instance have they been seen as the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wished to subvert the public liberty have found in the clergy convenient auxiliaries. A just government, instituted to secure and perpetuate liberty, does not need the clergy.
oh yeah and Abraham Lincoln: "The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."