Is it true that the Bible contains redundant information?

Answer 1

It's all redundant, as far as I'm concerned.

Answer 2

'Redundant' is a subjective term.

There may be many answering this who will tell you that The Bible is the ACTUAL word of God, therefore it cannot be redundant.

Even the bits advocating slavery, genocide or the killing of your own children.

There are others who may see it as a loose collection of ancient writtings that was formalised by a church seeking power over the masses into one collection that could be shown as the basis of their authority.

Some of the writings are poems. Some are the creation myths of a group of people from around the middle east. Some are allegorical tales. Some are geneological lists from long dead tribes of nomads. Some bits are collections of letters that spiritual thinkers wrote to those attempting to set up formalised 'churches' in distant lands. Some bits are fantasies, some predictions of the future, and some bits are attempts to make sense of 'history'.

There are also ancient moralistic tennets, intended to 'set out the store' for how to be a part of the tribe. Some of the later bits are attempts to explain the work of a healer and teacher who lived (??) around Gallillee aproximately 2000 years ago and may have been executed for causing a public disturbance during a religious festival.

So - how relevant is any of that to you?

It's your own choice.

How redundant it is is a similar choice.

But unless you really need to know who begat who 3000 years ago in some desert, you may go with the redundant.

Answer 3

Let's flip this question around: does the Bible contain only relevant information?

"Many of the ethical decisions in the Bible are considered morally questionable by many modern groups, and often do not match up to modern expectations. Some of the more dubious assertions it makes include the subjugation of women, condemnation of homosexuality, support for the institution of slavery, the orders to kill any disobedient children, and the order to commit the genocide of the Canaanites and the Amalekites. While some religious groups support the Bible's decisions by reminding critics that they should be judged by the standards of the time, to which they measure much more closely, other religious groups, mostly conservatives and particularly Southern Baptists, see nothing wrong with the Bible's judgements. Other critics of the Bible, such as Friedrich Nietzsche, have criticized the morality of the New Testament, regarding it as weak and conformist-oriented."

"The Biblical creation account, up to and including the Great Flood is generally regarded as pure myth both by most scientists and most religious followers"

"erhaps the largest set of statements in the Bible affecting scientific thought concern health and animal behaviour. The bible appears to make several statements contradicting modern common knowledge, such as lions killing via strangulation, buildings being able to catch plagues of leprosy, and lions at some point becoming herbivores, and eating straw. While supporters of Biblical scientific foresight view the idea of buildings catching leprosy as a problem, and resolve it by suggesting that the Hebrew word used (Tzaraath) should instead be translated mould, they believe that there is a body of evidence supporting their position that lions kill via strangulation, as well as instances of feline herbivority."

"Some consider that the biblical cleanliness passages reflect cultural constructs rather than knowledge of medicine, science or technology. Rules regarding extensive purification following nocturnal emission seem superfluous and superstitious, considering that infectious disease has never been associated with the phenomenon. Likewise, there is no known scientific reason for a woman who has just given birth to avoid attending a religious institution for seven days."

The answer is probably that so large and varied a text, one that is thousands of years old, does contain some redundant information.

Answer 4

I may be wrong, but I think what you asking is whether there are parallel texts in the bible, that is different versions of the same story or passage. The synoptic gospels of the new testament (Mark, Matthew, Luke) are on example of parallel text in that they recount the same story in different ways. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synoptic_Gospels ) But the gospels were always understood to be different versions of the same story; in the Old testament, there are also parallel texts. For example there are two versions of creation in the Book of Genesis with different words for god. This has led scholars to think that they represent two traditions brought together at a latter date. This is an example of parallel (or redundant) texts in the bible, the same information given two ways. ( here is a site that goes into DEPTH over the two genesis texts : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_1:3 ) Other well known examples are the the version of the leaving of Egypt and the giving of the law in Exodus and Leviticus and the same story and laws told again (with some variations) in Deuteronomy. Redundant or parallel texts are very important, they are the basis of biblical criticism. This is NOT a study of people trying to disprove the bible (although some scholars do this,) but an attempt by scholars to try to understand the historical nature of the bible. Here is a page that goes over the various aspects of biblical criticism.
http://www.bibletexts.com/glossary/biblical-criticism.htm
I hope this helps.

Answer 5

The New Testament of the Bible contains the observations by various of Jesus' Disciples. While each of the Disciples tells the story from slightly different perspectives and with some variations in details, those stories are largely the same, and one might view them as being somewhat redundant yes.

Answer 6

No the bible does not contain redundant information. Instead its contains the basic information before leaving earth. It has principles that will guide one while on earth.

Answer 7

It's redundant from the beginning up to and including the final page.

Answer 8

All books of information have redundant information

Answer 9

i think the one area that even the most fervent fundamentalist would concede is redundant is (are) the Chronicles, which simply retell events that are already told in the books of Samuel and Kings

Answer 10

Well to take a simple example, there are four books about the life of Jesus. Whilst they all have their own style, and are different, some of the miracles and parables are repeated.