What do you really think about the Bible?

Question

I personally used to believe in God and his son Jesus (I still kind of do), but as I got older I started to see things differently. I have seen some History channel programs on how some scriptures were taken out of the Bible. That makes me think that if priests or whatever could take scriptures out then what prevents them for adding stuff in. The Bible was was written by men, and that's what bothers me the most. Also I'm going to go off topic, but it's still relevant to my question. Howcome we as humans didn't get to live with the dinosaurs, and if we were present at that time why are we still here? Wasn't much of life destroyed by that commet during that time? My only conclusion to this is that we somehow came out of something (evolution). Think about it we're not entirely different form animals. what seperates us from them is that we have a bigger brain which made us create our languages which helps us to communicate. I believe in god because I can't understand emotions.

Answer 1

The bible. Used as law by some, considered art by others.
To me, the bible is a compilations of stories which were passed through oral tradition, some of them readjusted to characters and beliefs of the time when was written. (religious syncretism)
There are clear proofs of that. For instance, Noah's arc history: a vase with more than 10000 years, and with Ganesha as the main character, was found. the story was identical.
and so on, and so on.
Many ideas present in the bible (all of the books) show clearly a tendency to convey the ideas of that time. Like women must have a secondary role, and men short hair.

Since i don't like religious books which are deprived of deep philosophy, the bible is meaningless to me. It has laws, it has advices, it has dogmas, but it fails to teach a very important thing: to awaken answers within you (im sure you have heard the famous advice: accept and don't question... - how great it that...)

Many people try to adjust the bible and religious books to new discoveries, while other dont even try.
I say, you only do that if you are pretty lost. The heart and the human condition was and will be the source of knowledge!

Want "a bible"? try to dicover about yourself, challenge yourself, and do always your best.
believe me, you will be doing much more than most people do during their whole lives.
I think you are following a good path, keep it up^-^ (im speaking like an old man...)
Goodluck^^

Answer 2

Number one - yes, the Bible as most know it has been edited a few times to say the least - and most certainly yes - they have taken things out and put things in - the Bible is now a story book - the bible was not this detailed or complete but the High Priest filled in the blanks literally so that it would make sense to the masses and to control the people. Just like today most religions are a people control "thing" - and maybe that is what GOD intended - I don't call it religion per say - I call what GOD gave us - the way of life the the set of rules GOD gave us to live by - not a religion!! Religion is a cult or a group of people doing things that they are told. Second question - people and dinosaurs don't go together - we would have been eaten - case closed!! Evolution - mentally yes - physically no! And I agree the existance of GOD you can't deny - the rest is interesting!!

Answer 3

The Old Testament is made up of ancient Hebrew scriptures. For hundreds of years the church fathers argued as to which books to include in a formal Bible. There was much back-stabbing and power play in the church and when they finally came to agreement, many of the original scriptures had been totally left out and branded heretical or altered to benefit the church powerbase. I would suggest reading The Book of Enoch (available on the internet), The Lost Books of the Bible, and Fallen Angels and the Origins of Evil by Elizabeth Prophet. As with all writings there are diamonds and stones, so discern the facts from the writer's opinions. You will go on an incredible journey in search of the true facts - I know I did, and I'm still going!

Answer 4

You're right about wondering why we are here and the dinosaurs aren't. The only answer that seems logical is the flood. The dinosaurs probably couldn't live after the flood for a long period of time. The Bible is the most historically accurate book in the world. People just don't like to admit it, because it also brings to attention people's sins, and no one likes to admit that they are wrong. It's good that you are searching for the truth. There is a website that has tons of references to the topics that you're confused about. It gives a lot of good answers. It's called "Answers to 100 common questions" under the "Get equipped" section on www.wayofthemaster.com .

Answer 5

great question. first, why assume that the history channel is the supreme authority on the bible? there are many who claim to know the "truth". but i believe in one truth. if you look at the history of the scriptures you will see that there were not that many authentic choices, and the apocrypha that was supposedly taken out(and the lost gospels, etc..) were never really in to begin with. the contemporary media is pushing an agenda and does not care about truth and accuracy.
as for dinosaurs, many bible scholars say that they are described in the book of job (which is chronologically the oldest book) and so there could have been co-habitation. then, when there was a global flood, there were atmospheric changes that could account for their demise. there are also geological evidence that points to this being a likely possibility. there is some great info on this, that is sound in the empirical scientific data to support the bible and follow science. it's too bad that so many scientists can't bring themselves to see that faith and science can co-exist. understand the times and k house have lots of info on these subjects. k house is run by a guy that used to work in aerospace. he is great at talking about the relationship between science and the bible.
good luck in your quest for truth. remember to really weigh the "facts" that you are given.

Answer 6

Ah...ok...well, all animals communicate...some more effectively then humans. I don't know if God owns a pen so that might be why people write religious texts. Jesus was a man...says it in the Bible...so if he was good, what makes the people constructing the Bible bad? You like dinosaurs? I do too :-) I suggest believing in something because there is a benefit, as opposed to not believing in it...don't doubt something because you can argue against it...if you did that you would believe in nothing.

Answer 7

Your dinosaur 'question' first. Paleontologist have found Human foot prints along side that of dinosaurs. They have also mapped (at different places on the globe) dinosaur foot prints, and have found that they were NOT chasing each other as was previously believed, but that they were RUNNING FOR HIGH GROUND! The Flood! Your first part of your 'question'. The Bible was written by man, inspired by God. It took about 2500 yrs. to write, and most of the authors did not have access to the other authors writings, and yet the themes flow seamlessly from Gen. too Rev.

Answer 8

yep. you are right, the bible is written by men but it is inspired by God & Holy Spirit. God created us according to His likeness, because we have intellect, emotions and knowledge, we did not came out from nothing, He created us special, He loved us even we are sinners. Before I used to think scientifically, but if you'll really try to learn or study things about the bible you'll find out that God is so powerful and at the same time loving and just. You'll find out also that the it's good to read the bible that to believe in evolution which is really not true. You can check websites that explains that evolution has no good basis.

Answer 9

Some things in bible cannot be taken literally such as cut ur hands off or pluck ur eye ball out. We need the Holy Spirit as our guide to reaffirm God's words so that we can abide by it daily. Why would men write things down that they know that themselves can't be perfect in? God word is not for us to work at but it is for him to the job not us thru and by his Holy Spirit. The environment changes may have posed a problem for dinosaurs existence I guess. All I know is that everything is evolving because of God and that we have dominion over all things.
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Answer 10

I am a devout, fundamentalist, Christian. I believe the Bible is truly the word of God.

When I first became a Christian, I struggled with a lot of the things you do now. To answer some of your questions...

Nothing was removed from the Bible. In Jesus' day, the Old Testament then, was the very same Old Testament we have now. As to the New Testament, the earliest manuscripts we have is from, IIRC, the generation after the disciples, and the earliest complete manuscripts come about 100 years later. As to the Deuterocanon and Apocrypha, they were not in common use, nor accepted as inspired works, by the original Jews, but rather, as side literature (much in the same way we treat Commentaries today... worth reading, valuable, but not inspired).

As to the Gnostic gospels, they were a minor sect whose writings didn't occur until at least 300 years *after* the Apostles had all died. As such, their so-called "gospels" were not eye-witness testimonies (such as the Four Gospels are). They were never included with the Bible because 1.) they weren't eye witness testimonies 2.) their teachings run contrary to what was known to be truth and 3.) the Bible was already compiled into the form we have today, by then. They could not be removed, because they were never added in the first place.

As to "adding stuff in", as mentioned, our Bibles now match exactly, word-for-word, to the earliest manuscripts. If anyone added anything, it would have had to be the original writers. However, considering just how much both Jesus and they preached *against* deception, and modifying the word of God, it makes little sense for them to be hypocritical about it.

As to the Bible being written by men... it was written by 40 men, over a period of over 1,500 years, ranging from shepherd to king, from fisherman to doctor. You get 3 people, of the same profession, today, in a room, and ask them about any one subject... and everyone will be in disagreement. For example... if I asked three modern scientists "How many planets are there?" I would get the answers of : "9", "53", and "How do you define a planet?". If I asked 3 nutritionists this, "Are eggs healthy for me?" I would get, "Yes", "No", and "Depends on how it's cooked". Yet... these 40 men wrote a single, contiguous book, accurately, on the history of Israel... penned in such a manner, it is as if it came from but One Author. Every major incident in the Bible can be proven by archaeology, from Sodom and Gomorrah, to Jericho, to the 10 Plagues, to Golgotha.

As to the dinosaurs, check out these sites (starting to run out of time...) :
http://www.icr.org/ (Institute for Creation Research)
http://www.answersingenesis.org/ (Answers in Genesis)
http://www.carm.org/ (Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry)

As to not being different from animals... when was the last time a turkey laid down its life for you, so you could have a Thanksgiving dinner? Man can do that... animals cannot.

As to bigger brains... the sperm whale has the biggest brain in the world... yet it does not make skyscrapers, nor trains, nor seeks to leave its boundaries to learn about 'what's out there'... yet man does. ...and Einstein, one of the world's most intelligent men, had the same sized brain of a man of average intelligence.

Go check out http://www.needgod.com . I hope it may prove to answer any unresolved, deep down, questions.