If the Bible was written by men who completely worshipped God, could it be they exaggerated a little?

Question

If I write about my girlfriend, I use much bigger words than I would use if I wasn't so much in love with her.

The writers of the Bible absolutely adored God, and the Bible is filled with stories that are, to say it mildly, a little 'too much', a little over the top.

So, does the Bible truly teach me an unbiased view on God, or is it not really objective?

Answer 1

If by "exaggeration" you mean "outright fabrication", then yes! =0)

Answer 2

The HB/OT originated from oral traditions passed down before it was even written down. There are about 4 different oral traditions that are woven together to create the HB/OT cannon that is known today. (This is why there are some contradictions.) Also, all of the original copies were done by hand, so there could be errors. There are also the translation problems from Hebrew, to Greek, to Latin, to many other languages. However, the Scholar's Bible (NRSV) uses the oldest sources and is very careful about the translations in contemporary times.

The NT wasn't written until the end of the 1st century CE, many decades after Jesus died. The books were written by second hand sources, and no one has discovered the Q text yet.

A lot of effort and even politics has gone into the redaction of the Bible published today. If you ever have a chance to take a course on the history of the OT/HB or the NT, I would recommend it!

Answer 3

i'm not sure if "exaggerated" is the right word, but I do know that a lot of the Bible's language is a result of human fallability and error. For example, when the Bible speaks of fire and brimstone, I honestly don't feel that was meant to be taken literally.

Rather, when it says the wicked will be punished by fire or whatever, I believe that it is analogous to inner feelings of guilt that we'll experience when we are faced with a review of our life. I don't think God ever intended for us to take everything in the Bible literally.

Just like any other piece of effective literature, the Bible relied on the use of metaphor, imagery and parable. But I think that agenda-driven individuals who had power and influence over others, twisted and manipulated the Bible in order to maintain control and influence over people, particularly during the middle ages.

Believe it or not, during the mideaval ages, the masses of people in most European countries were forbidden from reading the Bible by the Church. The only individuals who were authorized access to religious documents and books were the priests.

This not only caused oppression of religious intellectualism but the result of this oppression also extended to the arts and sciences as well, thus giving rise to the term, "The Dark Ages".

Answer 4

Not when you consider that, unlike other religions, Christianity shows man as totally depraved and hopeless. Within the 66 books of the Bible this theme is very apparent. Also consider how there were 72 Old Testament prophecies about Jesus Christ, and he fulfilled each and every one. All of them were made 500 or more years before his birth, and the statistical odds of this happening are something like 10 to the 100th power (Equivalent to finding one marked quarter in stacks three feet high that covered the entire state of Texas).

Other religious books tell of how man is not so bad, and can work his way to God. The Bible shows man as totally depraved, and dependent upon the shed blood of Jesus Christ for he and God to be reconciled to each other. Within the Bible is 66 books where God used authors over a span of better then 2000 years to get his message to mankind! Its historical accuracy and theme of man in need of salvation is unique to any other religious writing there is. It is the very objective Word of God!

Answer 5

Your question cannot be answered in a short paragraph. First of all you being "in love" with your GF is a totally different (and far off way way down) level to being at one with the Holy Spirit. It's not as simple as being "in love" with God rather it's like possessing a "mental key" to unlock the mysteries of life. Secondly, to fully understand the contents of the Holy Scriptures, one will have to throw away all spiritual education from childhood and start from scratch. Your religious/cultural biases may be impeding you to accept the truths indicated in the Scriptures. Thirdly, the Bible is not a book to be read from beginning to end. It's a hodge-podge of historic, dogmatic, and prophetic pieces of literature - combinations of which allows the reader to answer a particular question in mind. For example understanding the nature of the 4 horsemen, we can understand them more by reading both Revelation and the Gospels. Then we discover that they are White Rider = False religion or false interpretation of dogma, Red Rider = War/Disputes, Green Rider = Famine/Pestilence, Black Rider = Death/Destruction. You can know more by accessing the official website of Philadelphia Church of God.

Answer 6

The answer to your question is NO. The Bible is not an unbiased view of anything.

Put down your Bible and go read some fiction that you can understand.

Answer 7

The bible is a book written by man for man. It is direction and understanding of a true power that does not exist. Remember The bible was written back in the day when man was very uneducated and easily manipulated. I am not saying that there is not a higher power, all I am saying is that through lack of education and understanding of the world around us we needed to believe in something bigger. So we could feel better and not a lone.

Answer 8

No they did not exaggerate. Destiny is right. Take for instance Jesus' resurrection. The gospels agree that the empty tomb was dicovered by women who were friends and followers of Jesus. When you understand the role of women in 1st century Jewish societ, what's really extraordinary is taht this empty tomb account should feature women as the discoverers of the tomb in the first place.
Women were on a very low rung of the social ladder in 1st century Palestine. There are old sayings (outside the Bible) that said, "Let the words of the law be burned rather then delivered to women' and "Blessed is he whose children are male, but woe to him whose children are female. Women's testimony was regarded as so worthless that they weren't even allowed to serve as legal witnesses in a Jewish court of law.
In light of this it's absolutetly remarkable that the chief witnesses to the empty tomb are these women who were friends of Jesus. Any later legendary account would have certainly portrayed male disciples as discovering the tomb- Peter or John, for example. The fact that women are teh first witnesses to the empty tomb is most plausibly explained by the reality that-like it or not- they WERE the discoverers of the empty tomb! This shows that the gospel writers faithfullly recorded what happened, even if it was embarrasing. This bespeaks the historicity of this tradition rather than its legendary status.

Answer 9

This would be illogical for lots of reasons. People exaggerate to make themselves look good. The contents of the bible do not make the writers look good.

For example it is accepted that moses wrote the first five books of the bible. In the incident around the burning bush, moses declares that he is afraid to talk to israel. If he wanted to make himself look good then he would have added how wonderful he was.

In the new testament the disciples are frequently portrayed as "
just not getting it" including where they ask him stupid questions, run away naked, and are rebuked by jesus for keeping children from Him.

Your question beggs the question and is just plain inaccurate.

Answer 10

It was inspired by God. Most of the Bible tells of life stories of many different people.
If you choose not to believe then okay, fine but do not tell the rest of us what we should or should not believe.If you are so darn sure then why are you bothering us about our beliefs? You are not going to change your mind and neither will we.I for one am not telling you that you have to believe.So why not drop it! Just live your life the way you want and leave us alone! K?

Answer 11

The writers and the words written are inspired by God himself. So you're asking did God exagerate? No He didnt, cause everything in the Bible is true.