When I was a teen, someone told me the bible & higher power, God, was created to keep the masses of people in order when the world was going chaotic-to give people something to fear. Honestly, it seemed to work okay, so if that is the truth, I'm not knocking it.
My husband & I got into a conversation about religion. The stories of the bible don't add up. Entire populations deriving from inbreeding of Noah's clan don't either.
My husband tries to argue the bible was created by witnesses, hence my subject line. Sure by the time Jesus came along people were protecting documents, but not 50,000 years ago. Yes, I think Jesus may have existed. He was probably a great man who made ppl believe. Immaculate conception is dodgy.
I understand it's about believing, but I don't want to believe a lie. I live my life as a good person with compassion, integrity, so I don't fear hell or worry about a heaven. That should be enough.
2007-08-19 03:43:01 · 12 answers · asked by Stephanie 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I believe the religious answer is that at least the first five books of the Bible were written down by Moses at "dictated" by God . . . they were not an ongoing current events, but a history.
Historically speaking, many ancient cultures have a "great flood" story, for example, which were passed on for generations by oral tradition until eventually they made it to writing.
Those oldest books of the Bible are some of the most influential writings in the history of man, and it's silly to ignore them, but that's not to say it's necessary to take each word as absolute fact. ( I think the Bible would have you believe Earth is 6000 years old. There IS evidence of a massive Black Sea flood - 7000 years ago.)The same goes for the teachings of Christ - a beautiful message for Christians and non-Christians alike.
By the way, I am not Christian, but that doesn't mean I can't respect the Bible. It also doesn't mean that I'm amoral. You sound somewhat agnostic. . . and I thought you may be able to relate to my perspective
2007-08-19 03:55:44 · answer #1 · answered by Todd T 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's true that by the time Moses wrote the Pentateuch, there were no longer any living witnesses.
However, if the Genesis creation story is compared with many other creation stories, they're quite similar, but the Genesis story is less adorned with fancy language, and isn't as complicated as some of the others.
MY theory is that the creation story (and the stories of Noah, Abraham, and all the rest) were passed down word for word through each generation. The Jews VERY closely guarded their religion, and their stories. The fact that even pre-Mosaic stories have evidence that they are correct (such as the place where Abraham lived, and even Abraham himself, Joseph, Jacob, Sodom and Gomorrah...) shows that perhaps the transmission was accurate. Children grew up with these stories, and they probably heard them at least a couple times a week. By the time they were married with children of their own, they would be able to remember these stories word for word, and if even one TINY detail was off, they'd be corrected.
If one studies Jewish culture of that time, they'll see that I'm right. Villages were VERY close-knit. There probably wasn't a single person within a village that wasn't related to everyone else either by marriage, or by blood. This means that village get-togethers were probably the norm, and the elders probably took turns telling the stories.
And back then, they wouldn't have been distracted by internet and TV, lol.
Even now, Jews closely guard their heritage. There are some Jews even today who claim to be able to trace their lineage back to the twelve tribes, who were Jacob's sons.
It seems to me that all religions come from the same source, but only one stayed CLOSE to that source.
2007-08-19 03:55:42 · answer #2 · answered by The_Cricket: Thinking Pink! 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Obviously the books of the Bible were written after the events they claim. In fact, the book of Genesis is claimed to be authored by Moses, and he was not presumed to be alive during the creation or flood.
But of course, even the books attributed to Moses must have been later, it's hard to write about your own death.
To the answer above me: Then why was the instruction to make an Ark of the Covenant given to Moses according to Exodus? That would be much later. The second book of the Torah is Exodus, detailing the life of Moses and the founding of Israel. You are saying that was all written thousands of years before it occured?
2007-08-19 03:52:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Why can't Sodom and Gomorrah be physically possible? The Catholic teaching is that the bible doesn't necessarily have to be taken literally as long as the subject in question does not pertain to salvation. So therefore all of the things you listed above don't even have to be true in fact as long as you understand the metaphor behind them.
2016-05-17 07:24:54 · answer #4 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Torah ("old" testament) is about the relationship between God and His people, Israel. The creation story is a foreward to that story. It contains the stories handed down from many generations.
Revelation at Sinai was witnessed by 600,000 men of military age *plus* older men, women, and children.
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2007-08-19 04:01:27 · answer #5 · answered by Hatikvah 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Read Genesis 5; 1-2, it states this is the book of Adams history so records were left.
2007-08-19 03:52:07 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not enough just to consider yourself a good person. You will never know everything God has done or will do and it's not up to us and try to explain everyhting that does not make sense in our earthly minds. Faith is the greatness of God. To believe in the unknown and watch His miracles appear before our eyes is more wonderful than having debates with people about whats real and not real. I would say that you need to look into finding a faith based church, and hopefully it's leader is a teacher as well as a pastor. If you would like, I can give you the link to my church and you can just listen online-no tactic here, I just want you to enjoy. I was like you and I understand your question a lot......I've learned to let go and allow God the power in my life He deserves. I'll wait to have my questions answered in heaven! Please feel free to contact me for that link. You husband would enjoy as well. Our pastor is so "normal", wise and extremely funny, it's easy to listen to and learn. It's almost like taking a class somedays! I feel blessed and would like to share it with you! Good luck and God Bless you and your family.
2007-08-19 03:54:47 · answer #7 · answered by KayJay 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
When they said "the world" was flooded, they didn't mean the entire world, but their "world", as in the region that they lived and were familiar with. It's been proven that there was a huge flood in the Mediterranean region around that time.
2007-08-19 03:51:21 · answer #8 · answered by Ambrielle 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The Torah which is the first five books of the bible (the arc of the covenent) was with Noah and his family on the ark.
2007-08-19 03:52:07 · answer #9 · answered by ckrug 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Why argue over a book. I argue over REAL things.
2007-08-19 03:49:27 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋