Is the Bible the absolute truth or has man corrupted it unintentionally?

Question

I'm still figuring out what I beleive, so I am searching to find the truth. What I have found is that in every religious beleif there seems to be truth that has been idolized and boxed in to the point that the absolute truth has been diminished. I beleive that God or the Higher Power or Allah or Mohamed or Buddah etc. whatever people have grown up calling our inner strength, the power of good. Charma. All seem to have started out as the same, just different practices of Faith. If all people regardless of religion. were to search inside themselves and find that part of them that causes them to love and show kindness to everyone dispite where they come from or what they beleive, and truly see all others as living beings, all valuable and worthy of love, instead of seeing their mistakes and shortcommings (for we all have them), then there would be no need for war, Hearts would be healed and in time Love would win! Etherial? Utopian? What do you think?

Answer 1

Absolute, literal truth, in every thing it says? not possible. Nor is it possible for any other religious tome to be absolute literal truth. Religious tomes are full off allegory, and allegory is subject to interpretation. Your last word in the question can be dropped, because interpretation is subject to agenda, to wit, the KJV. What has been done to the bible has been completely intentional in most cases May I suggest that you read the works of Dr. Joseph Campbel, a great teacher of comarative religion. If you'll do hat, yu'll see that the core truths in life are there in ALL of the religions, which are more alike than any of them want to admit. Look with an open mind, discern for yourself the truth, you interpretation thereof will be worth the work it takes to do so. Go in peace, amd find your truth. The links are a start at finding works by Joseph Campbell.

Answer 2

It is said that every person has a God-shaped hole in their hearts. Every one of us is searching for meaning in life. A lot of folks search in various religions, but they cannot fill the hole with philosophies and meaningless ritual. The only thing that will bring satisfaction is knowing God personally. God chose to reveal Himself through His word, the Bible. If God were in every religion, then He would be contradicting Himself because every religion teaches something totally different. So God put together one book that would tell His story to the world. The Bible contains absolute truth, but not everything in it is absolute truth. Much of it is history, some of it is poetry, some of it is prophecy. But the words of Jesus contain absolute truths that cannot be changed. If we believe what He said is absolutely true, that "I am the way, the truth and the life, and no man comes to the Father, BUT BY ME", then we know that all the other religions cannot be true, and there is no use in looking any further. If Jesus lied about this, then all of the Bible is false, and there is no use in reading it either.

Either we must believe that Jesus told the truth, and that the Bible is the only word of God, or we must completely ignore it. You cannot have absolute truths that contradict one another- that is why all religions cannot be true.

The difference with Christianity is that it is the only religion that teaches us how to have a personal relationship with the Creator. Allah wants no relationship with his followers. Other religions teach that things in nature are God- how can a created thing be God? That is utter nonsense. A tree cannot be god.
The utopia you are looking for will only happen at the end of time, when God destroys the earth and makes a new heaven and a new earth, where man can live in peace, and people are perfect. Man has tried for centuries to do this, but it still isn't working. Only God can bring that to pass. That's why it's a good idea to get to know Him, so we can get a piece of the action when He makes all things new.

Answer 3

Man has corrupted The Bible unintentionally. The part about torture of The Damned seems a corruption. Corruption has taken place form of torture of people here on Earth. If it were to be written humanity could know love, and have rights which extend into the afterlife this could help. At the same time The Bible has been corrupted man has given into Greed. If someone were to take that Greed place it in building so all might understand it then the world could become a better place. What if someone were to set up a building with a sign over it marked Greed to emphasise this point. Then if the U.S.A. law about keeping certai thingsseparate from state were to be adopted then if it were to be utlised by those who have come to be corrupt for their own religion. Then people could refute it. Maybe one step closer if no offence given

Answer 4

Yes, the Bible is the 'absolute truth' although it is not ALL FACTUAL writing. The Bible was 'written by man' but it was written by MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE and each 'book' of the Bible tells a 'different truth' to people about the 'same subject' (God and his relationship to people) ...
I've studied the various 'human religions' widely, including Buddhist (I was a Vietnamese Buddhist who lived in a Buddhist temple for a year) and Vedantist (a sub-sect of the Hindu religion) and still 'study religions' regularly ... I do 'believe in God' but even though I'm now a Catholic, I'm sure that the God I KNOW is not the 'religious representation' we think of as being God, but is FAR GREATER. God 'lives' in ANOTHER UNIVERSE that is 'outside of time and space' and much of what we 'have from God' is MISINTERPRETED BY THE PEOPLE who are alive or those who wrote the 'holy books' (not JUST 'the Bible' but ALL religious books about 'God' whatever the 'name' or 'discipline') ... and I am looking forward to being in Heaven after I am 'dead' here, so I can learn 'the rest of the story.' I'll see YOU there ... because we will ALL be in Heaven in the end. EVERYONE EVER ALIVE ... not just 'those of us who are 'good enough,' which is a PURELY HUMAN statement that has no real value.

Answer 5

Both intentional and unintentional. I recommend 'The Jesus Mysteries'. It has great insight to Christianity (Gnostic meaning) and other religions. It is non-abrasive. I really like it but I'm studying Wicca and Buddhism right now.

Edit: Josephus Flavius' works are questionable b/c a.) he claimed to be a Jew, not a Christian so he wouldn't write what is said he did b.) some have been proven to be later insertions Tacitus mentioned a 'Christos' but it turns out that other religions used this word as a title for their savior god-man
As far as archaeological remains-I can write a book and say the President was George Bush in 2001, the 'Twin Towers were hit that year and as a consequence, Bush declared war b/c the invisible truth dictator-unicorn told him to in a dream. There are some facts and locations that exist but that hardly makes the whole thing true.
BTW, they have evidence of Pharaohs and the town of Bethlehem, but none of a world-wide flood. So, there are some truths, some stories that human reason says are not true...Someone mentioned taking a World Religion class. Good idea.

Answer 6

There is no "The truth for you."
2+2=4 is a truth. This is not subject to interpretation.
One can say I don't believe you have the truth but truth is just what it is, truth.

Christianity has a rich history which started with the jews at the beginning of time. The bible is filled with historical facts that Archaeologists use and has been proven very reliable. We have over 5000 documented ancient findings of scripture, many in different languages, all the same. WE have the dead sea scrolls to prove this also. The Vatican just bought 2 gospels dating 90 ad, the same as we have today. There is prophesies that has come to pass from the bible that proves it's reliability. Over 300 just for the man Jesus.

We have non christian evidence of Jesus from Tacitus and Josephus both historians. And a Governor named Pliny the Younger who all wrote about "Christos" and his followers the Christan's.

Archaeologists have found the tomb of Caiaphas who was the Pharisee that brought Jesus to trial.
Jesus WAS a real person who was an historical figure. Even well read Atheists KNOW this.

We have eye witnesses who had every thing to loose by claiming to be a follower of Jesus. Why? When Jesus was killed they scattered. Afraid. BUT when they saw he was resurrected they became bold. Why?
Since the bible is reliable, and Jesus WAS here you must decide.
Was he a nut? A liar, Or who he claimed to be.

Answer 7

God keeps the translations pretty pure. He will never allow mankind to destroy the truth that the Bible contains. Have you every heard of the "Dead Sea Scrolls"? These were scrolls that were found in the 1940's in a cave. The scrolls were dated to have been written about 200 years before Christ. The scrolls contain almost the complete book of Isaiah. As well as parts of other bible books. In it is the prediction of the birth of Jesus. When compared with modern translation of the same books, today's translations vary little to these older scrolls. Some spelling differences.

Eventually what you speak of will take place. Jehovah created the earth to be a paradise for humans to live on. He created the heavens for himself and his angels. Soon God will take back control of the earth from Satan and restore it to the paradise he intended for it to be. The people who will live in this paradise will all be peaceful and loving individuals. There will never be sickness, pain or death anymore. Rev 21:1-5. Psalm 37:29.

Answer 8

Jenna is right, man has corrupted it, intentionaly.
It is God's "incorruptable" word, but the versions we are spoon fed are for our spoon fed brains only.
A pastor once said to a group of people which included myself, "and they found these old scrolls of the Bible, and compared them to our oldest ones and they matched!" My question for him was = bum bum bum bum ... "Do they match our newest?"
When translating something from one language to the next there are some words that just explain something, that there is no word for in the second language, or there are many SIMILAR words for.

So say in Hebrew or greek (depending on where you are translating it from) and that one word will have 7 or 8 words to choose from in English, each carrying a slightly different meaning. Now if you spoke Hebrew or Greek with Hebrew or Greek speaking people and were very comfortable with how it is used this wouldn't be a problem, BUT
if you are translating the bible, and you want it to say something slightly more YOUR WAY than it really does, just pick a word that confuses it a little more.

My dad studies this stuff for fun!!!
Get a translation key and look at all the Bible that way!!!!
CRAZY.

Answer 9

The Bible is a fascinating collection of ancient literature. I don't personally believe it was meant by God to be a revelation to believers. But even if I did believe that, I wouldn't know what to make of it. When people tell me there is one obvious interpretation to a given passage or phrase, I often have the feeling that they are using the Bible to justify what they already believe. But if you read -many- interpretations and commentaries on the Bible, you learn that there are many ways to take it, many ways to think about it.

The idea of loving your neighbor, being responsible for your neighbor--the brotherhood of man, etc.--is all through the Bible. It was the whole basis of Jesus' teaching, for instance, and the most common theme in the New Testament. But ironically, people who interpret the Bible the most strictly, those whose religion is mostly based on certain beliefs about the Bible, those are the people who seem to miss this message the most. Thus it is, as I say all the time, that the great irony is that religions based on love and tolerance are the biggest drivers of hatred and division in the world.

I think YOU have grasped the basic idea right off! Congratulations! Now I suggest you read a wide variety of perspectives, talk to people of all faiths, and you'll find you can learn something from -all- of them! They -all- know God, but differently. What they argue about is not nearly as important as what they agree about. It's kind of like the old story of the six blind men and the elephant--each sees God but in different ways, and if you really want to find God you should talk to -all- of them and sort it out for yourself.

Answer 10

I think you are absolutely right and bright blessings for being such a rational thinker willing to look past the surface. I think every religion has at its core the seed of truth. Man and his meddlesome ways have corrupted and changed most of the worlds major religious works.

Take a course in religious study. It can be fascinating and life changing. It will give you another perspective. You might not agree with it, but at least you are making an informed decision.

Good luck.