I think most of know a Christian or two out there that believe in Jesus and God without once ever picking up a Bible to read about their doings. Surprisingly, some of these people are extremely moral, good to their fellow man, and genuinely the nicest people you will have ever met. (There are always bad eggs out there too, I haven't forgotten.)

But what if there had never been a Bible? Would there still be Christianity today? If the teachings had survived word of mouth, certainly a form of it would still be around, but would it look something like the Christianity that the above-mentioned people practice, something completely devoid of a wrathful and vengeful god?

I have to say, being an atheist, this form of religion is still not acceptable to me as I prefer facts over myth, but I find it an interesting concept, to think how things could have been without the Bible around since many people don't use it anyway.

Im sure there would be some version of Christianity. I would think it would look alot like the RC church where there would have been some sort of link between God and man and it would be like every other works based religion. Because Biblical Christianity is contary to every other major religion out there. In that Righteousness before God is found apart from how you live your life.

Well, I definitely felt better about being Christian before I read the Bible in its entirity. So it's not shocking that your Christian friends don't pick it up.

My wife is one of those. She's a Catholic, but I'm pretty sure she's never read the bible. I have a very lacking knowledge it, and I've had to point out a few things before that she didn't know what's actually in the book.

She's the nicest person you've ever met, though, and I'm pretty sure she'd be appalled at some of the more gory passages in the bible.

(July 3, 2013 at 10:55 am)CleanShavenJesus Wrote: Well, I definitely felt better about being Christian before I read the Bible in its entirity. So it's not shocking that your Christian friends don't pick it up.

Those people are also very open to scientific discoveries, such as those that throw the events of Genesis into question.

Many of my friends are Catholic, and they haven't ever picked up the Bible. When confronted with Bible stories, they will sometimes respond by saying that they don't believe the Bible account anyway. But this is an isolated phenomenon with them, as many Catholics are more concerned with keeping with family tradition than actually wondering if what the Priest teaches is true.

It's an interesting question, and my immediate (and rather odd) answer will need unpacking a little.

“It depends on what you mean by the Bible.”

If you mean the physical book, then I would suggest that the core content could have been preserved by oral tradition reasonably well (like the hadith). However, given the invention of writing, it was inevitable that the NT would have been written down eventually.

If you mean, “Why not just have Jesus appear, die and get resurrected? The rest is just padding”; there are Christians for whom this would be not far off the mark.

But I would disagree, and for the same reason, if you mean the meta-narrative of the Bible, then I would call that indispensable to Christianity and indeed humanity.

The meta-narrative of Israel and God defines and drives the human story. That story of sin, exile, forgiveness and restoration is our story.


(Tough bits in the Bible are often very informative, in my experience, but you have to be patient...)


I hope this is helpful.

Vicki Q glad you're with us, bring a thick skin though the natives have been restless lately.

She'll be given a chance...unlike you who has blown it time and time again.

(July 3, 2013 at 11:12 pm)Godschild Wrote: Vicki Q glad you're with us, bring a thick skin though the natives have been restless lately.

If we all were to talk to each other with an ounce of reason, there should never be a need for thick skin. Please don't bring up your peers to be incendiary before they get a real chance to shine on this site.

(July 4, 2013 at 7:21 pm)BadWriterSparty Wrote:

(July 3, 2013 at 11:12 pm)Godschild Wrote: Vicki Q glad you're with us, bring a thick skin though the natives have been restless lately.

If we all were to talk to each other with an ounce of reason, there should never be a need for thick skin. Please don't bring up your peers to be incendiary before they get a real chance to shine on this site.

No one has yet to be spared the insults of those who disagree with us, we all start out trying to be friendly, then wham, bam the insults roll, I was giving Vicki Q a heads up on what's to come.