Is the Bible a timeless book, should the Old Testament be taken seriously?

Question

I've heard people say the thing that's so great about the Bible is that it's a timeless book, that is the stories and lessons in the Bible that were written so long ago are still true today, things like don't kill, don't steal, ect. But there are also things that are just crazy, things that most Christians just ignore these days, things that God was very clear about, things like "Doing any kind of work on Sunday is punishable by death" or "Pigs have cloven feet but don't chew their cud so therefore unclean and are not to be eaten." But when asked about these things people will say, "Oh, that's the Old Testament, as in obsolete." But then the same people use that Lividicus passage to excuse hatred toward gays. Should we take the Old Testament seriously and kill anyone on sight seen working on Sunday? Or should we just denounce it as an Old Book and forget about the Ten Commandments? God was probably just kidding anyway...

Answer 1

The way I see it, the Bible is a book written by human beings from their limited perspective. It has some good, universal ideas for a healthy, productive society (don't kill, don't steal, don't lie, respect your parents, don't sleep with your best friend's wife, etc. -- by the way, these ideas aren't limited to the Bible. Every society has these rules.) and it has some obsolete things, like not working on Saturday (when they say the Sabbath, they're talking about Saturday, not Sunday), not wearing clothing that's made from two different types of cloth or not eating pigs. It mentions things that are downright evil, like condoning slavery, the murder of disobedient children, rape and human sacrifice.

When taken in a literal, "the Bible is 100% correct, relevent and inspired by God" way, there's no way that a modern way of life can be reconciled with the Bible. In fact, a lot of the things mentioned in the Bible are illegal now. But to completely scrap the Bible is to lose a lot of our culture, which is based in the Judeo-Christian mindset. The Bible does have some good messages, but like everything in this world, a person reading it needs to be able to exercise some judgment and common sense and say, "Okay, yeah, this makes sense to me, so I'll do this" and then "Yeah, you know what? Whoever wrote this part must have been high--I'm not doing that." Nothing in this world is black or white--there are infinite shades of gray.

Answer 2

No, it is a timeless VOLUME of books, not just 1.

Yes the OT should be taken seriously. If I write my kids 2 notes, I would expect them to read and interpret both of them, not just forget everything from the first.

There is a difference between purely Jewish law and universal law in the OT. Some of the laws were destined to be characteristic of Jews only and some are universal. (True for all people all time) It doesnt exactly take a Bible scholar to see the differences. Of what we read in the NT, ALL sexual sin is STILL forbidden. That is stated so many times in the NT I fail to see how there is still any debate today over it. Actually I do see, because a number of people are trying to justify their unGodly lifestyles by knowlingly confusing and clouding the Scriptures.

Both are both important and need to be followed but in certain ways. It takes discernment and work on your part.

Answer 3

Take the Holy Bible for a joke? I myself knows better than that. The Bible from front to back is the basic instruction before leaving earth.
When Jesus was born and died he tore the veil of Moses old laws. Called the New Testament.
The New Testament happen 400 years after the Old Testament. I've notice that the Old Testament has allot foretold stories in it from the Prophets. They could actually see the foreseen events before it actually happens. The Old Testament is so cool to me. I'll give you an example: There was a story about incest in the Old and not the New. There was proof of the strength that God has. He Loved us so much that it hurt him to create the floods on the earth that he states;"I'm sorry I ever created man" due to the violence man created. The stories are so awesome to me. I could go on and on.
I will say this I'm so grateful that he did bring Jesus here to save our poor little souls for those who believe in him by grace.

Answer 4

That's a spiritual question however many things in the OT actually have relevency to them. For instance - eating animals with the cloven hoof. Carriers of salmonilla and at that time, cooking conditions werent exactly great. I view the OT as a good story but little else. I am personally a Gnostic Christian. We believe in the spoken words passed down over the centuries and not the edited version of the Bible as selected by the Council of Nicea. C.

Answer 5

Have you considered the reliability of the bible? Ignore for the moment the whole notion of God and just think about the book's content.

Some have claimed that the bible is no more accurate that Homer's Iliad. I respectfully disagree and the table shown at the link below clearly demonstrates my argument that the Bible is one of the most accurate sources for the events described in it.

Investigation will also reveal that there exists NO SINGLE SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY that has been shown to prove error, factually or doctrinally, in the Bible. There is lots of speculation and hypotheses, but not a single verifiable fact.

To make this claim alone is quite a feat for ancient texts, but when you add to it the fact that the Bible was written over more than 1,500 years by forty vastly different writers, yet every book in the Bible is consistent in its message. These 66 books talk about history, prophecy, poetry, and theology.

No human beings could have planned such an intricate combination of books over a 1,500-year time span. Bible manuscripts (remember, there were no printing presses until 1455) have survived despite weather, persecution and time. Most ancient writings written on weak materials like papyrus have vanished all together. Yet many copies of the Old Testament scriptures survived. For instance, the Dead Sea Scrolls contain all books of the Old Testament, except Esther, and have been dated to before the time of Christ. Now consider Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars. Only ten copies written about 1,000 years after the event are in existence. In comparison, there are over 24,000+ New Testament manuscripts, the earliest one dating to within 24 years after Christ.

Sources for the Dead Sea Scrolls:
http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/index.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/deadsea.scrolls.exhibit/intro.html

The Bible also validates its divine authorship through fulfilled prophecies. An astonishing 668 prophecies have been fulfilled and none have ever been proven false (three are unconfirmed).

An honest study of biblical prophecy will compellingly show the divine authorship of the Bible. Further, archeology confirms (or in some cases supports) accounts in the biblical record. No other holy book comes close to the Bible in the amount of evidence supporting its divine authorship.

Few fail to realize this and show their lack of knowledge in the historicity of the Bible by objecting when folks use the bible to support their own positions. While no one objects when a journal article or some popular book or media piece is quoted, there is always lots of flippant commentary when Christians use the bible as a reference.

When I examine the evidence on both sides, I can only rationally conclude that given the bible's accuracy on so many issues, I have no reason to doubt its validity on all issues it contains, especially when it speaks to God's divine revelations.

To learn how the books of the bible came to be assembled as such see: http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/bible/canons.stm

Catholic and Episcopal bibles have the same number of canonical books. The Catholic and Episcopal bible also includes some non-canonical books, grouped as the Apocrypha.

Many versions of the bible existed before the King James and the advent of mass printing.
See: http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/

For an analysis of the various translations of the bible see:
http://faith.propadeutic.com/questions.html

For accurate translations of the bible at the literal level use the NASB or ESV translations.

If you run across what you think is a biblical contradiction, please study the two sites' content below for a comprehensive list of so-called biblical contradictions.

http://kingdavid8.com/Contradictions/Home.html
http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/bible.htm

Accuracy of bible:
http://www.carm.org/questions/trustbible.htm
http://www.carm.org/demo2/bible/reliable.htm

How about as an experiment you simply read the bible as you would read a book of fiction. You may say, but wait, I have already read it. Just read it again this time with my precondition that you make no assumptions as you read, but just read the book. It will take you about two weeks to read the 726,109 words, of which 14, 462 are unique of the bible (NIV translation).

Afterwards, honestly ask yourself if you have found the bible to be a work of hate or one of manifest hope. Take the challenge and report back here afterwards.

Answer 6

The Bible is timeless, but the Quran is more to the point and far less repetitive. I'm in the middle of reading the Entire OT and I have heard "the Jews shall suffer for their iniquity" more times than I can bear. The Quran is more about peace and listening to the Prophets.

And i have to agree, dying because you worked on the wrong day of the week is like that law in Spokane, WA (and this is real) where you cannot buy a TV on a Saturday.

And Pork is gross anyways, but eating it is no reason for death.

Answer 7

The Old Testament has many guidelines that are still relevant today. It also stands a history. If not for the Old Testament we might have come from apes. As far as not eating pig they are a scavenger and will eat anything so therefore unclean. Today we have farms and know exactly what they eat and know they are clean.

Answer 8

Part of the 'contradictions' come from the following; the scriptural old testament that was done away with when Christ died on the cross was the law of Moses; not Genesis-Malachi. Was a woman's pain at child birth (Gen. 3; before Moses was born) 'crazy' or something 'obsolete', the rainbow (Gen. 9), multiple languages (Gen. 11)?
That lack or discernment is also part of what is dividing the churches in the USA today (to God's pain)!!!

Answer 9

Nothing people do or not do, say or not say,
changes right or wrong! There is a time to KILL - to protect your family or your neighbor!

There is a time to LIE, to save your family or your life. The BOOK never said, lie down in the road and let the filth run over you!

Gays are a direct violation of Nature! The sperm cell has no function with human waste!
Or did Nature make a mistake in the way sperm cell were created. Maybe you think that if should fertilize SH*&T. Too, do you know of any baby being born out of the male butt hole? Then again, I have heard of some being refered to as a Butt hole!

GOD Gave Humans a free will, pointed out what is correct and left the choices up to humans. We chose war, hate and violence
should we make LAWS sayng that is acceptable just because members of every country participates in it?

We can cut down every tree on earth, should we do it? Should we pass laws the give thoes business the right to cut down every tree should they chose to do it?

Answer 10

Jesus paved the way for the New Testament, to clear us out of all the traditional practices that people have fixated on, and make us focus on God alone. remember the Pharisees that He called heretical? The NT also talked about [eating pigs], that sin is what comes out form one's mouth, not what comes in.

meanwhile the old testament is there because it prophesied about Jesus, and without it we will question the basis of Jesus' history, lineage, intention and humanity-Godliness.