The bible... why take it seriously?

[Fidel_Castronaut]

In short; no. It's marketed as a literal fact (or at least has been over the centuries) but you're right that when you drill down into it very little of it actually holds up to scrutiny.

Many will argue the allegorical value of the stories and myths contained within it, which is fine I guess if that's what you're after. Michael's point about community stories wirtten by communties for communities that have since evolved is probably right. But sometimes those very same people flip between "it's just allegorical designed to impart some 'higher' truth" to "It says so in the bible so it must be true!"

Like the flood story, for example. There is evidence that the whole flood story is actually just cannibalised from mythologies about local/regional floods (or indeed a single flood) that came many centuires before: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_myth

So elements of stories that, somewhere back down the line, may have had some truth that have been re-written to serve the ends of the biblical tales and indeed those wishing to promote the biblical god. A flood of somesort could have indeed happened. But a global flood, and a ark designed to carry all the animals and a centuries old man is just absurd and clearly false by the standards of anyone who is sane. IF we're judging it on its truth merits then the bible has to be seen as nothing more than a claim. Not evidence.