i believe there is a god, but why does the bible HAVE SO MANY MISTAKES?

Question

hayaa bi...good summation, its about where im at

Answer 1

tricky trucker,

This question looks like a shill for hayaa bi taqwa's answer, I'm sorry. She should concentrate on the flaws of her own holy book.

Here's an example:
Narrated Zaid bin Thabit:" So I started looking for the Qur'an and collecting it from (what was written on) palm-leaf stalks, thin white stones, and also from the men who knew it by heart, till I found the last verse of Surat at-Tauba (repentance) with Abi Khuzaima al-Ansari, and I did not find it with anybody other than him."

WHAT? One man had the last verse of Surat at-Tauba? I thought the early sources of the Koran all had memorized it in it's entirety?

Answer 2

This is what I believe from observation, and you may or may not agree, but that's up to you.
In the beginning of the Torah, the Gospels, any book considered Jewish or Christian, there were no mistakes. It was the truth and the word of God. Over time, the hands that were meant to protect it instead changed it. Wasn't immediate, wasn't noticeable either, especially when translated. Now that the original manuscripts no longer exist (or are being withheld, you never know), it's impossible to compare it to see exactly what has been lost and what has been added.
You say you believe in God, which I applaud you for (especially when there is no holy book you find you can rely on), so I assume you believe God is infalliable and perfect. As would His word be. I believe the same. So when I find something that makes no sense regarding logic or something that has been absolutely proven otherwise, I know that this is not something that comes from God. Of course it gets harder than this! For example there are many things science has yet to prove/disprove. We may never know until we leave this life.
What I find disheartening is that so many Christians will have absolute total faith that what they are reading is the truth, no matter how many mistakes or contradictions they can see, EVEN while there are so many Christians who admit that the Bible is no longer in it's original form. I remember reading an article about a Christian convention held in the 80's where they came to the conclusion that 80% of the Bible has been changed. Closing your eyes in fear of what you may learn is certainly not a way to live life.

Answer 3

Because the Bible was written by people that were largely ignorant of the natural world and illiteracy was rampant.

I am firmly of the opinion that the book Revelations was written by someone smoking some kind of hallucinogen. The Milton book "Paradise Lost" was written while the author was doing heroin- when he came off the stuff, he couldn't write like he did when he was high on the stuff.

I am not especially religious, but I believe in a "greater good", and there is no need for any kind of deity or deities to believe this.

I think the Bible was inspired OF God, but not written directly under the influence of a God. So, basically, the Bible is a creation of mankind, and not ultimately divine and unassailable from logic or science.

Answer 4

The bible has been translated several times and into several different languages. Some of the languages do not have the right words and so words of similar meaning are substituted. This causes conflicts. The Bible was authored by God but written by people. God is perfect but people are not, there are bound to be some typos.

Answer 5

Because you're viewing it through faulty filters.

Jesus said: It is the Spirit that quickens (makes alive and responsive to the Word of God); the flesh profits nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are Life. John 6:63

1 Corinthians 2:14 says: But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.

The only way to view the Word of God through the right filter is by the Spirit which God gives in the new birth through Christ Jesus: Truly, truly, I say unto you: Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 1:5-6

Answer 6

There are no mistakes. All of the Bible is the truth. God used human beings to physically pen the biblical text. But remember God is the author, they are His words. The Bible is inspired by God. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew. The New Testament was originally written in Greek (with a few portions in aramaic). Learn those languages so you can read it for yourself in it's original. Check out some good commentaries (NIV Application commentary, Anchor Bible Commentary, New International Commentary on the New Testament (also one on OT), New International Greek Testament Commentary). You will see there are no contradictions.

The Bible is inerrant and infallible. Inerrant means it is incapable of having errors, and infallible means incapable of being false. So this means that God protected the Bible while it was being translated to other languages and other translations.

When scribes were copying the biblical text they would count how many words were in each book, in each page, and in each sentence. They knew which word would be exactly the middle of the book/page/sentence. If their text did not match up they threw it away and started over. So they were extremely careful and meticulous in their work.

Answer 7

Believing in the Bible is a mistake.

Answer 8

Yeah 50,000 mistakes, and yet you still believe there's a god.

Answer 9

Show me only one

Answer 10

cos humans, who are open to "human error" like the rest of us, wrote it!