Bible Credibility?

Question

As a previously religious sceptic, I have concluded that the creation and the existence of life on our planet and the fine-tuning of the universe could not be attributed to chance. There had to be a creator. That said, the question would be, which “franchise” of religion directly serves the being (for arguments sake – God) who created it all?
I am beginning to realise the account of creation in the biblical sense, might also be more than chance. Science seems to confirm what is written 2000 years ago only now. How could people 2000 years ago have known this? I would say this is more than a lucky guess.

Anyhow, this brings one to the question of the credibility of the Bible. Even though there seems to be all this valid information, I have doubted in my mind the origin.
Art History 101, Egyptology, seems to have many similarities with Christianity. I.E. the Pharaoh was the son of god, Ra, on earth and when he died, he had to be buried to be resurrected in the afterlife. They also had the concept of a spirit, Ka, which needs to be judged by Hores, for eternal damnation or heaven.
Then there are also the similarities between God and Zeus, and Hades and the Devil and many other. How does this reflect on the credibility of the Bible? Is there some man made information mixed up with the sacred truth? What should I make of this?

Answer 1

i wish people would stop saying life is too complex to have happened by chance. things are far more likely to be complex when they happen by chance. an intelligent creator simplifies, my friend...
let me give you an example... a few years ago, a freak accident went like this. a semi truck, as it was on an overpass, lost a wheel. the wheel cleared the railing, and rolled down a hill, avoiding a bunch of trees, big rocks, always rolling... then it hit pavement at the bottom of the hill, bounced, cleared a school yard fence, and killed two kids who were on the swing... complex enough for you? could anything but chance have created this? if a master criminal had been in that truck, could he have created such an accident, despite all his evil genius? no, he couldn't have. more importantly, he wouldn't have tried. he would have found a place just outside the fence from which to carry out his plot, and a better means of assuring that he would succeed in killing the right children. complexity is one of the reasons i believe in evolution, and in chance.

as for the account of creation in the bible.. i am not familiar with all this confirmed information you speak of. i will however grant you the benefit of the doubt and say that sure, a lot of it is being confirmed. why could they not have known it then? we have a tendency to look back at people 2000 years ago and think "yokels", or at least "poor ignorant fools, we know so much more than they did". but need i remind you there were tribes who mapped the sky with incredible accuracy without long range instruments, a few short years ago, we were still contemplating the possibility that the pyramids and the heads on easter island were left by aliens (because humans back then couldn't have possibly made them), and in fact there are any number of such mysteries. we don't give people in the past nearly as much credit as they deserve. the fact that they didn't have carbon dating 2000 years ago doesn't mean thay couldn't know things we are now only beginning to accept because we refuse to accept the validity of any kind of information that hasn't been tested and established and measured to death.

as for the credibility of the bible... as a direct quote of the words of some god, assuming for a moment that such a god even exists, which i don't believe, it has none. there are too many contradictions, too many things that just don't add up. it has been translated to death, tweaked to please political interests and to brainwash people into submission. as a metaphorical depository of values and ethical guidelines, it has as much validity as anyone cares to give it. personally, if i look at the bible in such a metaphorical way, i believe most of what i see.

by the way, god and zeus have very little in common. god is the only god, a creature of virtue and righteousness, with no beginning and no end, while zeus is merely the big honcho. zeus is married, he routinely comes to earth to impregnate pretty mortals whose children he then proceeds to ignore or toy with. he is vindictive, jealous, and not by any means all powerful. he has no end, but he has a beginning. he was born....

also, hades and the devil, not much in common. hades (the place) was not hell. it was merely the place everyone went when they were dead, good or bad. it had some negative images associated with it only because death is something that has always been feared, but there was none of this fire and brimstone hell the devil resides in. hades (the god) was not evil. just the god who ruled the underworld, the guy supervising the operations down there. he cared enough about humanity to allow his wife to spend half the year above the surface, allowing spring and summer to develop so that life could continue. he allowed orpheus a chance to bring euridice back to life because he was moved by beauty. his function was not to tempt anyone to evil doings, but merely to make sure that the souls of the dead stayed in hades and did not roam the world of the living. and though in "hercules" you may see hades always trying to take his brother's place, i don't remember ever hearing anything about hades being rebellious in ancient greek mythology. he was merely the counterpart. of course, i'm not an expert...

Answer 2

You have taken the first step in equating the Egyptian culture with a culture that recognized a surpreme creator god...if you study anthropology... you will fine at least 15 other ancient cultures that also recognized a creator god... and the Bible was not written 2000 years ago... it has been written longer than that... the Old Testament is the History of the Jews from way... way back... it is the New Testament that is the history of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles after he left them...that is 2000 years old.
Bill Moyers had a Physicist from Oxford University on his program today discussing "Reason and Faith." This well aclaimed scientist stated that he believes in the universe having a Divine Creator... and I bet that Physicist has more knowledge that you do... as he has gray hair... and has been here for quite awhile... But keep studying... be a sceptic... and continue to look for answers... Only by doing so will you find the answer yourself as that is how God works... INDIVIDUALLY... thru each single person's knowledge... your belief in God needs to be personally ... YOUR belief... and that takes study... You will find the answers... ask the question and seek the answers to that question... take it one question at a time and over the years you will accumulate your knowledge and it will give you deep faith that no one or nothing can shake... I have been studying for 47 years... and boy... do I really have a deep belief in how God did it... :) You can find lots of answers in science... just look between the lines... and listen to your "inside voice" as you learn...Good Luck!

Answer 3

The biblical account of creation isn't the original either. Epic of Gilgamesh is much older and is basically the same story, just with different names for the characters. I think the general Idea behind it (God created everything... the word God being a very general word here... I don't adhere to any specific religions idea about "God" ie: Zeus, Jehova, Thor, etc..) is true, but the story itself is just that... A story. Created by men for men...

And you are absolutely right. All of these religions have similarities to the point that it would be hard to say they were accidents. Especially considering there are stories like that in places that had no contact with those people until much later. So I think it's a lot like what we do for our children when they ask questions we only have a general answer for. We incorporate it into a story so they can understand the concept. But that hardly makes the story true.

Answer 4

a lot of the stuff at the limits are common but to think that the people 2,000 to3,000 years ago thought like we do is false. However, most of the problems were logical and quite a few of their logic problems still stand as unsolved. They were not dummies and they had no TV so on nice clear nights they would have sat out seeing the stars, and in the clearer atmosphere with the absence of skyshine. They would have talked about the big questions, the whys, the meanings of life, the creation of everything and would have made stories that made sense.
So do you think random guessing or refined logic. You should check out the history of astronomy and the Chaldean's Observatory systems. they were not dumb back then, and were making observations that were not matched for accuracy again until the 1800s

Answer 5

It's all man made information. These stories you refer to all come from the same region. If you look at Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Hebrew stories you'll see many similarities. These stories made their way into Greece and some were assimilated with the cults in that area. And by the way the creation story in the bible is more than 2000 years old. Take some more history classes, it will become clearer.

Answer 6

Yes,i believe in that Credibility.Bible was write by apostoles who accept
The Holly Spirit,we can say that The Bible is written by The Holly Spirit,throw the apostoles. There are many mens interpretations,by we must take care of Word Of God. All which is for the good of mainkind is from God. God is all the Good energy in Universe,because in Good, God can create enything He wants.After the good energy ,was borned the bed energy. So was an begining.

Answer 7

The earth was created by Elohims
Yahweh the elohim was OUR creator.

There was at least one counter-creative activity (known to me) that produced many hybrids and were destroyed in the flood.
(They still dont know how to create. And that explains all the abduction stories.)

The creator of the hybrids (popularly known as Satan)
is basically a deciever. He claims to be the creator, and is known by many names in different parts of the world.

So dont bother too much about the various gods (including the annunakis) that seem to share the same attributes of Yahweh. They are all deceptions meant to confuse earthlings.

Answer 8

The quest for religion is a primeval one. The basic religious formula has been around for a very long time. Christianity follows the formula closely but is one of the newest religions to follow it.

Religion fills the primeval desires of people who cannot accept or cope with modern knowledge. That is why as mankind learns more and become more rounded and confident human beings the church attendance is dropping.

Answer 9

It's called creation 'science', but in order for creation 'science' to be correct 42 different dating techniques would have to be incorrect and useless and millions of very educated Ph.d level scientists must be in on a giant centuries-old conspiracy to discredit Christianity and everything ever learned in the sciences of Geology, Quantum Physics, Radio-Astronomy, Paleantology and Archaelogy must be false.

Answer 10

you nailed it.
Genesis 1 - Let us make man in our image. The word for God in the original hebrew for the entire chapter 1 of Genesis is elohim - which is plural for god - ie gods.
Chapter 2 in the english translation has a new name, the LORD God. In the original hebrew this is YHVH elohim. So out out all these elohim, the story of YHVH and his people - Adam (in the original hebrew means mankind) and Eve begins in chapter 2. That's why when they left the garden - there were already people out there. after Cain murdered Abel, he had to go live with these people - was afraid of being killed by them - and was given a protection. That's one of the reasons why you see in Genesis a separate lineage for Cain - and a separate lineage (DNA) for Adam.
the Sumerians - the oldest writing and oldest super-civilization in our historical memory (in Sumerian - Soma means 'the gods spoke and it was so' -- Soma-rians) had a map of our solar system with all the planets and called earth the 7th planet - which it is if you count from the outside of our solar system in.
The gods spoke and it was so - Let us make man in our image. different gods for different people.
Then YHVH in Exodus said I Am the God amongst gods - YHVH Adonai Sabaioth - and proved it by overpowering the other gods - often called the hosts.
if you read/check the Bible yourself - you will see it is not only historically true, but the prophecies made 2500-2000 years ago are playing themselves out right before your eyes with the exact players prophecied. many of these players meant nothing to the world 50 years ago. even 30 years ago.
Israel originally split into two countries - the northern tribes called Israel - capitol Samaria. The southern tribes who kept the capitol in Jerusalem were Judah, Benjamin and some Levites (Levites = priests and also in the north). the prophecies of the Old Testament to Israel were told to the ten northern tribes. - the prophecies to the southern tribes told to Judah.
the northern tribes were captured by the Assyrians and taken there (modern Iran). eventually they were let go, and the historical Ninevah Tablets tell exactly where they went - over the Caucus mountains into Europe where you can pick up historically the nations they settled.
the prophecy to them - I will scatter you - you will not know who you are, and I will regather you in a far-off place of milk and honey.
European nations are the so called Lost tribes.
The Master told some of the apostles to "Go find my lost sheep". He told others - including Paul - to preach to the nations - include everyone. St Peters and St Pauls are in europe.
The United States is a regathering of these nations, in what is a far off place of milk and honey, along with all the other nations as prophecied by the Master Yeshua Messiah, Jesus.
the prophecies to Judah were that one day they would return to Jerusalem. They were captured by the Babylonians and taken to Babylon - modern day Iraq - which curiously enough is where they stopped the oral tradition and started writing the Bible down on paper.
this is also where the priests split because when they first went back to Jerusalem - Babylonian priests came with them. These are the sadducees that the Master encountered. they ended up as a sect of priests in YHVH's Temple that did not believe in an afterlife and taught the people as such. The pharisees did believe in an afterlife. so in babylon, the priesthood became very polluted, and was carried back to Moriah in this state.
as prophecied to Judah, they were returned to their land in 1948 - and notice the only country to recognize Israel in 1948 -- which stopped the arab nations around them to not attack them immediately -- was the United States.
the other prophecied players - kings of: babylon (iraq), persia (iran), north and tyre (lebanon + hezbollah), south (egypt, saudis), east/orient (china, north korea - supplying the players with military technology including nuclear) and Esau (russia - seemingly on the fence now but has supplied military technology, including nuclear).
so yes - you're right - historically, there is proof there is definitely a plan that is being carried out. 1 day for God is 1000 years for man and if you check the hebrew calendar, were about to hit day 7 (Revelation) -- because remember the new day begins at sundown in the hebrew tradition - western tradition still considers the beginning of the new day at sunrise.
there's gobs more - but that might help you with some facts.
Also - read an accurate translation of the original hebrew - the Bible does not say the earth was created 6000 years ago. it says it already was - and was recreated over 6000 years (6 days in biblical terms - reference Peter2) - and that's why Genesis 1 says Let us re-(emphasis on re)plenish the earth. God himself talks about dinosaurs in Job when he asks the know-it-all men 'where were you when I created the great behemoth whose tail is the size of a cedar tree?' only one creature we know of on earth with a tail that size, and it's a dinosaur, and God is - for a reason - talking about the past and what we don't know.
sorry - never gave such a long answer but your question was worth it.