Could the bible just be a regular old book?

Question

Like would if in a million years someone finds Harry Potter book and bases a way of living off of it, and base their laws around it, wouldn't that be crazy? But isn't that kinda what Christians do?

Answer 1

you're insulting Harry Potter's books.. they have a lot more credibility than the Bible does.. i won't let you speak like that about Harry Potter, you hear me?

Answer 2

Hi, hope I can help with your question. I don't believe that the Bible is a regular book. Why? For several reasons:

1. It was written over a period of 1400 years, by 40 different authors, on three different continents (Africa, Asia, Europe) and written by people of all walks of life (Kings, prophets, herdsman, fisherman, doctors, scribes, etc.). Considering all this, the Bible is still unified in its central message and theme: The Messiah and the restoration of creation and its humanity.

2. Archeology has proven the Bible to be at least historically accurate. Through the many ages, people have always been skeptic of the Bible's details of the culture and geography of the land. Atheists and the like have tried to discredit the Bible, saying that its detail was too great to have been written in the time period that it was written. One such famous "contradiction" had to do with the book of Daniel. It was stated that because Daniel chapter 5 stated that Belshazzar was king, it must have been a farce. Secular history had recorded that Nabonidus was the king of Babylon and that Belshazzar never sat on the throne. However, in 1853 a cylinder was found which verified Daniel chapter 5. There were two kings, a father, Nabonidus, and a co-ruling son, Belshazzar. The cylinder states that Nabonidus was in Arabia the night the Medes and Persians attacked and killed Belshazzar. This then, also explains Daniel 5: 29 when Daniel was made 3rd highest ruler instead of 2nd.

3. Fulfilled prophecy of the Bible has been completed just as the Bible stated. The propehcies concerning Christ are especially interesting. There are over 500 prophecies concerning Christ and He has fulfilled everyone of them to the smallest detail including His place of Birth, type of death, and even where He would be buried. One hot controversy surrounding Biblical prophecies was that many of the texts used were dated pretty far away from the original. But when the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in Qamran it shed a lot of light on some things. Almost the entire book of Isaiah was found, which is where many of the prophecies of Christ are written, and it was dated to about 400 years before the coming of Christ!

4. The Bible also deals very frankly with the fallen humanity. Think about this for a second. If you were going to write a history about yourself or even a story that was made up, would you make yourself totally depraved or basically good? I don't know of a single person who thinks of themselves as a "bad" person. Most of us tend to think of ourselves as basically good with a few flaws.The Bible pulls no punches when dealing with man's sinful nature. It is candid and honest about the way we think and act towards our fellow man and God.

Well, these are just a few reasons why I believe that the Bible is not just an ordinary book. While it man not suffice you, you can check out some stuff for yourself. Look up Josh McDowell, or C.S. Lewis or James White. All these guys are good and take honest approaches to questions. All of them have books availabe for reading.

I certainly hoped this helped.

Answer 3

Personally, I'm not convinced of the divine inspiration of the Bible. It is conceivable that parts of it were divinely inspired. But as so many of these contributors have said, this is not the work of a single author. This is the work of 40 different men over a span of 1400 years, compiled and edited by another group of men 250 years after the last of it was written. It has been translated and edited numerous times throughout the years and we are asked to believe that none of the people involved have ever made a mistake. I'm sorry folks, but it just doesn't work for me. I believe there is a great deal of history and philosophy that is worth reading even if you discount the theology which I don't. I just don't think it is 100% accurate and honest. There have just been too many human hands involved to assume that no mistakes were made. I'm sure that most of it was written in good faith and with honest intention, but these are just men writing what they believe to be the truth. That does not make it true. A great deal of the old testament is written as a simple history of the Hebrew people with great attention to detail and honest portrayal of human imperfection. As such I give it a great deal of credence, but that does not make the entire book true. In many of the later books of the new testament, especially those attributed to Paul, characters are idealized and stories are contrived for simplistic moral lessons that were palatable to Roman audiences. This falls more into the realm of propaganda. Revelations makes for a great read, and I can't discount the possibility of prophesy, but it more than likely is a fanciful story denouncing the evils of Rome. The Bible is not "just a book" it is many books. each should be evaluated on its own merits.

Answer 4

No, because they would find that Harry Potter could not be found prior to about 1994 or so (I'm not a fan so I may have the dates wrong) and that they have no real relation to actual physical places on earth. i.e., there is no archeological, historical or other evidence to verify it. Also they would find that one person wrote the books, as opposed to the Bible, which was written over thousands of years by different people who knew nothing of each other for the most part, but who all managed to come up with the SAME EXACT story.


Try reading Josh McDowell's "Evidence that Demands a Verdict" on this.

Answer 5

The Bible cannot be just a regular old book----it is on the best sellers list every year, its written by 40 different men(inspired by God), living on several different continents, over a period of about 1500 years. They all agree about who God is and what He says about man. There is unity in its message.
Hundreds of its prophecies have been fulfilled.
The Bible is historically and archaeologically accurate.
Many lives have been changed by its message.
Many have found hope and assurance that nothing can take away. The very fact that we are discussing this Book on yahoo now says something. Think about it.

Answer 6

Truth is truth only the sages change. If there is Truth in harry potter that touches the inner reaches of the human condition then I suppose it will become a classic.
Take the Bible. Love thy neighbor well thats truth. though shall not kill well thats truth pal.
You will find that same truth in other bibles too.
Your problem is that you cant let go of resentment and get on with your own life. Let it go. Live and let live. Your parents were just doing the best they could. im sorry if they were phsyco christians. But you need to move on.

Answer 7

Over 3 million copies sold within 24 hours....sounds like their is a Harry Potter religion already.

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Answer 8

Well- not really. I don't think the bible is just a "regular old book" - but I don't know how much of it has been lost in translation (but I imagine a lot) - and I don't think it is THE holy book. There are others. And yes - Harry Potter - DOES have some good stuff to say - so it's a bit of a "holy book" if you ask me.

Answer 9

No, because Christianity began before the Bible was put together into a single book. We're not basing beliefs on a book, our beliefs came before the Bible was put together.

Answer 10

Not only Christians based their lives on a book, my friend!