(September 23, 2014 at 12:53 am)genkaus Wrote: Your mistakes would be:Fiction, outside of poetry, had not even been invented in Biblical times. So you can't use the argument that the Bible is a "work of fiction".
1. I've no problem analyzing those parts individually.
2. Correlation to historical events is not indicative of historical accuracy and therefore reliability - a lot of fiction correlates to historical events. Therefore, your step 3 argument is incorrect.
3. You are the one who provided evidence against its reliability.
4. Being contemporary does not make it reliable.
Therefore, your conclusion of their reliability is invalid.
To get back to my point. The OT is much more difficult and less reliable than the NT. But it still contains more than just myths. The layers have to be separated - so the Pentateuch is separated into 5 texts, it then needs to be further subdivided because what we have today is not the text in its first edition - it was edited and re-edited several times (see documentary hypothesis). Many scholars attempt to separate the texts by their perceived authors so they can be understood better.
This is a way away from the NT. The epistles of Paul are all first-hand contemporary accounts and writings, and thus are considered quite reliable. Many of the teachings of Jesus can also be reliably derived from the gospel accounts - that doesn't mean the gospels are 100% accurate, but it does mean they contain valid events within them.
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke