How is the bible a "reliable source" of information when it talks about...?

Question

how you shouldn't wear clothing of mixed fibers, eat shellfish, and it supports selling women into slavery, and a talking burning bush, a talking snake and donkey, 900 year old people, a sea parting, a stick turning into a snake, a mad rush of the escape of a large amount of Egyptian slaves never recorded anywhere in history by any people in the world, a little boat that held 2 of every species of animal on the planet and their food with only 8 people to take care of them all for 40 days, a man born of a virgin woman the son of a god, water is turned into wine at a touch, a man walks on water, and a man rises from the dead after three days, especially when said man is not recorded anywhere in history by anyone except in the bible where the bible says that whats in the bible is true?

How can this ever seem "reliable" to you?

And don't tell me "It talks about some places and people that actually existed" because that means nothing. Harry Potter talks about London, cars, and telephones, does that mean Harry Potter is real?

And I ask this because I just got told this when I answered a question.

http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ann3yCO8TA4Bti6PgetB1AbAFQx.?qid=20070712090523AAz7tbq&show=7#profile-info-AA11628744

Fuzz, I noticed.

Captain, definately.

kc, scarey isn't it?

NN, so what? It hasn't been changed THAT much that those things no longer apply.

z0plax, ooo I like people with a brain. Well said.

Answer 1

Certainly isn't reliable, IMHO, as a historical work. People who take it literally are more likely deluding themselves in the hope that there truly is a God and life after death, when in fact this may not be the case at all.

There is value in the Bible as a source of parables and anecdotes. You can learn valuable lessons in human nature from some of the scripture. At the same time though people seem to wrongly interpret much in the Bible as rules for life (e.g. discrimination against women, homosexuals, various other peoples).

No one should go through life with their nose in the holy book, living their life by every sentence and punishing themselves for failing to live by it to the letter. Consider how long the Bible has been in human hands over the centuries, how many kings and rulers have had their own personal agendas which they might've eagerly forwarded by altering the so-called "word of God" to their own ends.

EDIT: TG, history may support the Bible, but it's also true that history is written by the victors. Whether victors in war or in politics, the agendas of the victorious are most likely those to survive through the ages. Who speaks for the defeated, are their words of no value, or just quashed?

Answer 2

The Bible is what it is. It is a compilation of works by various authors selected to be the official canon of the church. They are what they are. They are as valid as any other ancient writings.

I am not a religious man but I have my own beliefs. I do not understand why anyone finds it so necessary to disprove the particular writings in the Bible. I wonder, do you doubt any other ancient writings? Are the Hieroglyphics on ancient pyramids works of fiction? Do you believe any ancient texts in Greek or Hebrew or Latin or any other language are true? Do we know for a fact that Julius Cesar ever existed? All we have to prove it is ancient writings.

Why are you so able to accept some and dismiss others?

.

Answer 3

Hello,

It is not written like a history texts should be but besides a lot of allegory and metaphor you refer to, characters from Senacharib of Assyria through to Antioch Epiphanes ,Herod The Great to Governor Pilate, Felix etc are real characters documented in history by other sources.

There was Jewish migration into Egpyt when the Hyksos came down from the North and conquered Egypt staying as their overlords for about 200 years. The Egyptians eventually threw them out, looked to the Jews as collaborators and treated them as such. I admit though that particular era of history is quite hazy.


Michael

Answer 4

Have you ever read any of the books and documents written by men who lived during or shortly after the "Bible times"?

Philo, the Jewish philosopher of Alexandria (20 B.C. - A.D. 50) wrote prolifically and frequently quoted the Old Testament

Josephus (A.D. 37-95) He wrote: “We have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another, but only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine...” (Against Apion 1.8). By combining several Old Testament narratives into a “book,” the thirty-nine of our current editions become the twenty-two alluded to by Josephus.

Others include Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Irenaeus, Clement, and Eusebius.

These were men who quoted from and wrote about events that happened in the Bible. If the Bible is not reliable then neither are any of these people who lived during this time. History supports the Bible.

Answer 5

Harry Potter is a much more reliable source of information than the bible will ever be

Answer 6

That is Old Testament Law. Jesus came to fulfill the law and we are not bound by old covenants. Jesus made "new rules" while expanding on some of the old ones.

Romans 6:14
Ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Romans 7:4, 6
Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ .... We are delivered from the law, that being dead.

Romans 10:4
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

Answer 7

the bible is a lot of misogynistic patriarchal violent horrors.

It is not a reliable source of truth

Answer 8

The bible has been changed by people, it was reaveled by God to Jesus peace be upon him but it changed, the bible we have now is not the same

Answer 9

Well in my opinion I believe the Bible should not be taken so literally. Also who knows maybe in that time these things really DID happen, maybe people DID live to 900 years old. What's wrong with having an open mind?

Answer 10

lol you know there just going to say stuff like

"Have faith,god bless you,I will pray for you tonight"