is the bible actually quite bad?

Question

are the morals in the bible quite bad? it seems to me that a lot of what is suggested in the bible is actually pretty evil. advising the burning of women god attacking people with plagues asking people to kill their sons. and if i worship a god that does these things i get to be his servant when i die would i really want be.

Answer 1

You've been listening to Dawkins too much.

Answer 2

How about any of the ten commandments, "love your enemies", "treat all others as you'd like to be treated yourself"? They're all in the Bible too. You have to remember that the purpose of the Bible is to show you who is God, who is his Son, why we need Him and how to save ourselves. If you actually read it, you'd know that the plagues were there to show pharaoh's God's power, because pharaoh thought that he was almighty, being a mere mortal. And remember that it was that same God who gave these people food that came out of nowhere for 40 years. Asking to give the thing he loved the most was the ultimate test for Abraham and his faith, and the 'tiny' reward that he got for being faithful was to be the Father of millions of people, his name remembered for eternity and being called a *friend* of God. For me, it's not a bad deal.

That image of a cruel God that's up there throwing lightnings at you is just wrong. He loves you more than anyone, to the point where he sent his Son to die...he could've obliterated the romans with all his power, but he didn't, so you could be free today.

The bottom line? The bible is great, if you always see it as a whole, and don't take sentences out of their context.

Good luck!

Answer 3

The bible is made up of many books and is divided into two sections by some religions, like Christianity. The sections you have highlighted are reminiscent of the Old Testament and has a thoroughly different tone and message to that of the New Testament, which is paramountly made up of Gospels (literally "Good News" books) . These books describe the life and death of Jesus through secondhand accounts from His followers and primarily convey a message of compassion and love.

You should read both and research the varying religions based on them. Additionally, there are those that are not based on the Bible at all. However, remember it is your right (at least in this country, the UK) to chose and worship freely and indeed, not to be religious at all.

Answer 4

I would suggest you actually READ it, although if that is daunting a very good reading of it is availiable that is a lot easier to understand called "The Message" by Eugene Peterson, I can fully reccomend this as it has only verse numbers NOT chapter numbers.

There are good and bad people everywhere but I feel I am a better person for living by the standards set down by the New Testament. Jesus said that the people were misled by the Pharisees and his teachings of how the Old Testament should be read are in the New Testament. However I believe you should READ all manuscripts from all faiths, and make your mind up. Religion cannot and should not be taught by compulsion

Update: The Golden Rule = "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12

Answer 5

It's the same as anything else; it depends how you look at it. The bible is open to a great deal of interpretation- one example would be abortion. Nowhere, and I mean nowhere, in the bible does it say that abortion is wrong, or that it is murder. But there are many millions who would say that it does. I've read it in four languages and studied for many years, and trust me, it ain't in there. But of course you could take passages from the bible and interpret them to make them say whatever you like.

Also, one need not take the bible literally. Most people don't, given that they don't follow alot of the weird stuff in the book of Leviticus. It can be taken allegorically, so that man was bad, God punished them etc, which makes sense really, it tells one not to be bad, and you'll be fine.

Also remember that the bible was written by many different people over many, many years, and so each book was written to be understood and relevent to the generation it was written in, So some things might seem very odd to us today.

Answer 6

Gen.8:21;
The imaginations of Man's heart is evil from his youth.

Because of this it is the worst of the worst, no choice.
Land pirates.
Bondage of people.
Tower builders. High Places builders.
Cities with only one law abiding person it.
Nations that a nation can not buy a drink of water from a nation, a relative.
Nations wiped out. One of the tribes near to wiped out.
Children burned in the fire as a sacrificed to some man made god. Jer.7:30,31; 19:2-5;
People knowing for hundreds of years that a naion had no land, and they had to provide or be wiped out, and they would not share.
Jesus and others crucified.

The best of the best

Heb.11:1-40; 12:1,2; So few to care in thousands of years.

John 3:16; Rev.20:1-6,12,13 [ Plans to save all possible with new heavens and new earth in 1000 year reighn and no Satan ];

Answer 7

To understand why the old testiment was writting the way it was, you would have to look at the context in which the bible was written.
The basis of the many of the stories in the bible are an attempt to provide some form of order and peace within a society, an attempt to show that God cares for his chosen people and that in return he wants obedience.

In my opinion to truly understand that bible, one would have to look beyond a literal and contemporary context/interpretation.
If you really look deep into the bible, i think that the deepest spiritual meaning one can find is to love others.

Did jesus not say I give you another commandment, Love thy neighbour as i have loved you?

Answer 8

The Old Testament teaches how man fell from grace and rebelled against the creator so tribes and nations that continued to fall into wickedness after many warnings were punished to eliminate sin. Yes it can come across harsh if you read a verse out of context but the main point is God trying to rebuild a relationship with his creation . The reason there was so many laws was because Israel couldn't stop rebelling and just listen and follow God . So God sent a precious part of himself his Word (Son) and it became flesh and was born into humble surroundings Yeshua (Jesus) and through his teachings and sacrifice a bridge was built for man to come back into a relationship with his creator but we have freewill to accept this or not i have made my decision have you?

Answer 9

Hi, my belief is that the Bible was written by man, not God, and for the very reason you give here with your examples - to frighten and indoctrinate so to have power over others. There are some bits which do have some truth - Jesus was born and he was crucified on the cross. I despair of people on here who take everything in the Bible as God's word and condemn those that don't believe to a death in Hell - another man made concept. God loves us all, if you believe that then why oh why do they think that God punishes - of course he doesn't.

Answer 10

Depending on your religious affinities the answers you get will greatly varied. But, as you read the bible you must read it within the historical context or look it as a metaphor. Or you can read it literally can come to the conclusion you did. But while reading it you must know that there are several unwritten commandments that all Christians understand. One of the most important ones is the 13th Commandment were Thou Shall Commit Hypocrisy whenever possible.

Answer 11

I suggest that you quit talking about what you don't know about.
The part about Bible asking people to kill their sons...You are probably talking about Abraham who was asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac by God. Remember God was only testing Abraham to see if he was obedient. And in the end when he was about to sacrifice his son, God himself told Abraham not to do so, having verified that Abraham was indeed obedient to Him.
But Bible is not the only Holy Book where God tests in a similar way. In Qur'an, the same incident happens, with the only difference that the father was Ibrahim and the son was Ishmael. There, too, God stopped Ibrahim before the sacrifice was done, satisfied that he was obedient. Read the whole bible before making comments, my friend, and remember, half-knowledge is dangerous.