Seriously, why do you believe anything in a book that was written thousands of years ago?

Question

They knew nothing about the universe at that time, and nobody, e.g., God or Jesus, had anything to say about the scope of it all. Heaven was supposed to be where they opened the floodgates to make it rain. Doesn't that make you question the whole thing just a teensy bit? Why would anyone not question the so-called wisdom that came from those ages. I'm not disputing that there is a certain amount of wisdom in the Bible, but any philosophy or science text makes much more persuasive arguments. Is it just that you don't want to know? No mean answers please.

Interesting Teah4, but why does God have to be "desparate" about it? He had self-imposed paramaters. It's rhetorical question, you don't know and I don't know. How could we?

Bedazzld: Okay, for starters:

Brian Greene: The Elegant Universe
Brian Greene: The Fabric of the Cosmos
Tim Ferris: The Whole Shebang

Any modern philosopher: Shopenhaur. Or ancient philosopher even: Zoroaster
Spinoza made some interesting observations on the human condition.
Nietsche was a closet-religious atheist, if you want a touch of irony and dichotomy.

PUB, did I insult you? No. Wtf you need to insult me for?

Cochetta, I have TRIED to read the Bible. After so many pages of blood, gore, begats, murder (both Godly and otherwise), sodomy, I just stall out around the begats and begin to skip around. You know, Job, popular book sections. It started out really interesting: Let there be light. Cool. But from there it really falls apart from what we know about the nature of things like photosynthesis and the large scale galactic structure of the universe. In addition, its observations about the human condition always have a ready reason for why so: God did it. That is just way too convenient.

The Bible was very smart in the strict sense that it had the prescience to know it was the intended "holy" text to be handed down through the ages, to be revered for all time. The seeds that were intentionally planted long ago have grown. As we sow, so shall we reap. Good advice gleaned from an agricultural society after so many failed crops years.

Not mean spirited, Littledrum. Only taken that way. The only mean spirit I'm getting here is from you. It was a simple, honest question. Can't appreciate honesty yet profess holy aspersions? Ooookay.

Answer 1

The bible and related jewish texts were destroyed or totally corrupted by paul/constantine to destroy evidence that would challenge the cult of Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic Church were quite shameless in their fraud even to the extent of burning mankinds greatest repository of knowledge the library of Alexandria. If it were not for the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls then we would remain largelky ignorant to the extent of cycnical fraudulent vandalism perpetrated by the Vatican even to this day. Read the "Hiram Key" and "The Ascent of Man" to see what the old testament and the surviving Jewish texts can tell us about the Bronze age.

Answer 2

Wefmeist ,
I am only going to take on your first fulfilled prophecy , as I have other important things to do .
First of all people around the time of Jesus were EXPECTING the Messiah because it WAS predicted in the Bible . Many people , including John the Baptist , came out and said they were the Messiah during this period in response to the peoples expectations .( Self Fulfilling Prophecy = invalid ). Jesus is the one that Paul and Constantine selected as a figurehead fro their new "inclusional' religion . It isn't much of a stretch to expect that the Messiah(s) would be "cut off" from mainsteam Judism as it would challenge the Status Quo .
The time frame isn't too exact either . It would be expected that it would be BEFORE the fall . It could have been a year , or 1000 years or 70 years as you think . Besides if Jerusalm fell earlier they could point back to another person as having been the Messiah . Or blame the sooner fall on some extra punishment for sin . When you make things up, you always have an out . And of course your million to one odds were made up by you, weren't they ? !
For Jenx : Some history books ARE wrong Islamic history books deny the Holocost . Many US history books had different observations on how the US treated native people . As some one else above stated You have to use your intelligence , science , and logic to determine the accuracy of the books you read . There are more than opinions to find the Bible to be inaccurate . There are contradictions such as all the killing versus the Commandment "Thou shall not kill" . There is common sense . For example Man is created more in the image of God than woman is . There is outdated information . For example the Earth is the center of the Universe . And that masturbation should still be considered sin when the Earth is overpopulated . And then there is science . There is no scientific evidence of a total world flood ( Noah ) . There is plenty of evidence that the world is over 6000 years old .
Furthermore the writings of the OT were controlled by the Jewish Rebi . There were no independent writings of the time for that area . But some findings in Egypt do contradict the story of "Exodus" . The writings of the NT were tightly controlled by Paul and Constantine and the Catholic Church . It wasn't until the time of Martin Luther that we had significant independent texts .
Rayne , I clicked on that link . What a buch of vague references , made up "truths" and just plain nonsense . It claimes the Bible was descibing a dinosaur when it was clearly describing an elephant ! even used the acient word for elephant , beomoth . They just made up things as they went along hoping to trick children or the very uneducated . Also note ( from that same site ) that in their description of stars being unique they clearly show the Bible writers didn't realize that the sun IS a star .

Answer 3

All ancient texts of the various religions were written by human beings who were trying to explain God and the world. Lots of it is leaps of faith, but it's faith nonetheless.

In the Old Testament, the whole Genesis creation story was an attempt to explain how the world and the universe came to be. They obviously thought God all-powerful, so it's not hard to imagine why they came up with something as spectacular as the whole six-days explanation -- they knew nothing of carbon-dating, let alone that dinosaurs had walked the earth. So they weren't scientists -- so what? There are still a lot of wonderful parables and teachings about how to be a good person.

My take on the creation story is this: Why would God be in such a rush? There were no bleachers full of witnesses, so what would be His urge to impress anyone. The answer of course is that He wasn't in a rush -- He's far too much an artisan than that. :-) So I believe that God is more powerful than our puny little brains can even begin to comprehend -- you know, the belief that He's in every atom of the universe, and is the forces of nature. Hardly some grandfather in flowing robes sitting on a throne.

And I have to wonder why you're so gung-ho about discrediting anyone's faith or beliefs. If you don't believe, then be content with that -- there's really no need for you to foist your convictions on others. Just as you don't want someone rudely trying to convert you, don't likewise rudely try to dissuade others from their convictions.

Answer 4

Why do you even ask your "serious" question, when the rest of what you write indicates you have made up your mind what you will/will not believe before you post the question?

Have you actually read the Bible? I have read it for the last 36 years. I have found help, hope, encouragement, teaching, wisdom, humor, gripping drama, amazing wonders and more in the Bible as I've repeatedly read in it.

What have you done except pose a question?

If you ever really want the truth, the Bible will give you enough to study for the rest of your life. I hope you will want to seek truth, for your own sake. I get no "brownie points" with God for answering these questions, I just care about people who are hungry for something more than what the day to day world can give, something beyond the material world. I personally would be dead without Jesus.

Answer 5

I went about reading the Bible from the beginning to end also, just like a normal book. But the Bible isn't like any other book - (if you're ever interested again) try reading beginning with the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I know what you mean about all the "begats!"

Also, you'd be surprised to find out what they knew about the universe. They knew the earth was round and hung on nothing, for instance. They knew the mass amount of stars in the sky, although we can only see around 3,000 at any given time with the naked eye. They knew things they couldn't have possibly known at that time. (They also knew about blood circulation, the circulation of the atmosphere, biogenisis, the chemical makeup of flesh, the list goes on and on.)

There really is a ton of proof that backs up what the Bible says. If you'd ever like to talk about it, please email me. I promise, I won't be mean. :)

Answer 6

I dont know why all these people are sitting here and ridiculing you and insult you for a question..lol..i dont get it and they are suppose to be answer from a christian prospective. all im going to say is try reading the bible and then putting whats written in the bible to the things and events that are happening in the world today. try starting with matthew 24. end of times..thats will help you out alot, i hope.

Answer 7

What do you personally believe? Have you read this said book, all the way through? What do you make of it?

I question the whole thing everyday and I still find good wisdom in said book. I have read/am reading other "holy" books and find much of the same messages thus far in my readings.

Answer 8

The real question is why believe anything written, PERIOD?

The answer is, when a text can be verified via multiple sources, critical & peer review, other corroborating text, and it makes logical sense, it can *probably* be safely believed.

The age of the text doesn't matter, but obviously older books will be less accurate concerning observations pertaining to the workings of nature and the universe.

Answer 9

There is a ton of evidence and support as to why the Bible could not have been written by "some drunk" as one person mentioned. If you research it, as I and many others have, you will realize that. I would like to know what philosophy or science text you are referring to, and if you know of any that can tell us where life actually came from without a creator.

Answer 10

The bible is God's revelation to man and it was given thousands of years ago. For man to understand it then, God had to use their language, figures of speech, and syntaxes so that they can grasp the timeless truth God wanted to convey.

Biblical scholars are continuously digging into the many fields of science in order to understand ancient cultures that will help them uncover the timeless truths of the bible.

But for us ordinary Christians and seekers of truth, Jesus left this promise. On the eve of His departing, he said that He had to leave and go back to heaven so that the Father can send the Holy Spirit - the comforter. In every believer resides the Holy Spirit that helps the Christian in understanding the revelations of God. No more digging into ancient-cultural fog - just right on plain revelation and enlightenment. Now of course, preachers and scholars still dig into their knowledge of sceince and culture inorder to exegate the bible accurately. However, there is nothing like listening to the Holy Spirit explaining it to you.

Pray that you may understand.