The Bible

[leo-rcc]

Well this one illustrates it quite nicely:

[Eilonnwy]

I'm like 8 pages in. Nearing the story of Sodom and Gomorah. I actually find the reading not to be too bad since I'm reading the NIV version. I skim over parts where lineage is just being doled out. So far it's not as bad as I thought it was. I know most of these stories as it was told to me in religion class and in church and reading it myself without the teacher telling me what I should I think about these stories I realize how horrorific these stories are.

I read about Abram who couldn't have a child so his wife let him essentially rape her servant and the servant tried to leave and because of that her son is cursed. It's disgusting. And then on a whim God is like, Okay Sarai, you can have children now after I ruined the life of this servant and cursed her son. WTF?!

[Kyuuketsuki]

Yeah ... I've been posting this piece for a few years:

Has Satan Been Given A Fair Chance?
When debating Christians we are so often told by them that the ills of the world are the work of Satan, that he works constantly to undermined God and that he is subtle in his actions so that things we might normally think are rational (science for example) are all being used by Satan to guide us away from God's infinite mercy and love.

However, when you start to think about it, it rapidly becomes apparent just how one-sided it all is and I am not at all sure that Satan has been given a fair chance.

Looking at it objectively ... the only evidence we have for the Christian God is the Christian bible. So if we accept that as valid evidence (I don't but for the sake of argument I will) then the Christian God created the world. He threw out Lucifer to become Satan, created us, sent his son down to take upon him all the sins of humanity and inspired his disciples to document it for us (for which we are, I know, immensely grateful).

This is all very fine except for one itty-bitty little smidgen of a doubt that I have ... we actually only have this God person's word for it (via his bible and followers). I don't know about you but I can't actually think of a single thing that this Satan person's actually done that's bad in the world (let alone to me personally). Oh I know that there are those who'll claim that Satan is responsible for disease and war & famine and all that but they don't have any hard evidence or anything like that do they? It's just another unsupportable assertion, something these religious types are oh-so-good at.

What's more we DO have evidence of atrocities carried out by the God person such as the flood, genocide of the Canaanites, rape, murder, slavery and much more ... all by direct action or at the behest of this God character!

So, looking at it objectively, it would seem that the person known as Satan is taking the higher moral stance in that he is staying well clear of this particular argument ... most of us know that the better action is, if possible, to remain aloof and "above it all".

Perhaps, despite the Christian God's publications (or propaganda), Satan is just a nice bloke who just wants a quiet life?

Kyu

[fr0d0]

Wrong religion.. that's Islam. (Muslims regard the Bible as the actual words of God, Christians regard the Bible as interpretation by people and therefore potentially errant)

Um, no. At least if you are like the majority of christians. Tell a christian that the bible isn't the word of god, and watch them get upset, angry but otherwise distressed because they can't back up their claim.

If that's your view of the bible, it's very liberal and would have many christians trying to 'excommunicate' you from the church.

Like I said, I used to be one of them, so I know what they think.

You haven't refuted my point. Please show me evidence to back up your claim.

[athoughtfulman]

Ok then, since christianity unfortunately has so many denominations and can hardly be called one religion but rather a network of small religions, we might need (or at least I might need) to know a little bit about what you actually believe as a christian.

The way I see it, if you look at the bible as potentially errant, at what point do you draw the line? If one thing is wrong, then maybe jesus didn't really rise. If jesus didn't die, then the whole religion crumbles. I understand what you're trying to say, but honestly, almost all christians (or at least conservative, fundamentalist ones) hold that the bible is the inerrant word of god.

If you don't believe agree, that's fine. It's just that you're not the same type of christian I thought you were. Hence the denominations

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Oh and just found this:

More than three-quarters of Americans believe the Bible is literally the word of God or inspired by the word of God

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007...815-7952r/

[chatpilot]

Its like trying to argue about the validity of a product using the product manufacturers own source materials.

Wrong religion.. that's Islam. (Muslims regard the Bible as the actual words of God, Christians regard the Bible as interpretation by people and therefore potentially errant)


Just watch yourselves that nothing "miraculous" happens k? </joke>

That depends on which christians you are referring to.The fundamentalists do view the bible as the word of God and interpret most of its texts literally.

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The way I see it,christianity being open to man and his own interpretations explains why there are so many sects.There is the literal,metaphorical,and so many other ways to interpret scriptures that no one knows when to use which method.Christians cant even agree on their own beliefs and they are all reading the same book.

[Eilonnwy]

So as promised, I have begun the first in my series of Bible Study quotes and here is the first post: http://candycolouredfrown.blogspot.com/2...nd-16.html

[Atheismo]

I'm like 8 pages in. Nearing the story of Sodom and Gomorah. I actually find the reading not to be too bad since I'm reading the NIV version. I skim over parts where lineage is just being doled out. So far it's not as bad as I thought it was. I know most of these stories as it was told to me in religion class and in church and reading it myself without the teacher telling me what I should I think about these stories I realize how horrorific these stories are.

Haha, this is one of my all-time favorite bible stories!
Such a cruel monster to level Sodom and Gomorrah, killing every man, woman and child therein, sparing only Lot and his family; on one seemingly simple condition, that is. [(sucks for Lot's wife!)]
But never fear Lot, you still have a couple of daughters

I hope you are enjoying the fantastic book of Genesis, as it is one of the most exciting! (I believe God gets most of his kills in this book)

[Overmars]

I've only read the Genesis and the Apocalypse 1 or 2 years ago, i found the Bible pretty boring

[Kyuuketsuki]

I hope you are enjoying the fantastic book of Genesis, as it is one of the most exciting! (I believe God gets most of his kills in this book)

What a way to evaluate it (on kill count)? Love it!!!

Welcome to the forum BTW.

Kyu