The Bible

[fr0d0]

The Bible has always been open to wide interpretation and that's only right. It isn't so widely interpreted that it's brains fall out ...even for Jews there was the Yolk system to keep Rabbi's in check. There is some stuff that's beyond question which is the truth bit about God's nature. It has to be open to interpretation to make it relevant today.

The revelation is fresh and alive for every generation. Whether or not it's hearsay is irrelevant - that it's smack on true is the important bit.

[chatpilot]

The bible is full of myths and when some of its statements or even elements within its tales are compared to known scientific facts the bible falls short on truth.Now moral truths are a different matter altogether.But you dont need God for moral truths since morals are learned and taught within the society and community in which you are born and raised in.For instance some tribal communities practiced cannibalism which to a modern man would be horrific and in todays culture is considered taboo.But to those tribes it was completely natural and normal.

In my view the bible is full of some good nuggets of moral truths but as I stated above you dont need God to teach us what is moral or not that we pick up as we go along.In fact the authors of the bible whoever they were knew this and were just obsevant and made sure to write these things down.The bible being hearsay is very relevant since it takes away the "inspired by God" factor and places its teachings where they truly belong,in the hands of humans.

[Kyuuketsuki]

So it's true about god's nature is it?

"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully." Dawkins.

No doubt I have missed the point?

Kyu

[Edwardo Piet]

I want one of those T shirts. As well as the atheist A one.

I want them a lot.

I also want Orbital T shirts :p - dunno which I'll get first

[fr0d0]

The bible is full of myths and when some of its statements or even elements within its tales are compared to known scientific facts the bible falls short on truth.

The Bible never addresses scientific truth, so I disagree.

Now moral truths are a different matter altogether.But you dont need God for moral truths since morals are learned and taught within the society and community in which you are born and raised in.For instance some tribal communities practiced cannibalism which to a modern man would be horrific and in todays culture is considered taboo.But to those tribes it was completely natural and normal.

You need to aspire to an ideal, as with the Christian precept that people are fundamentally bad, no human standard can be good enough. The Bible stands as a solid moral guide. Society doesn't. At best society follows similar steps. I'd say that modern society bases its moral positions on inherited Christian ones. Conveniently modern society mirrors quite well Christian morals, but not quite.

In my view the bible is full of some good nuggets of moral truths but as I stated above you dont need God to teach us what is moral or not that we pick up as we go along.In fact the authors of the bible whoever they were knew this and were just obsevant and made sure to write these things down.The bible being hearsay is very relevant since it takes away the "inspired by God" factor and places its teachings where they truly belong,in the hands of humans.

That just makes you Humanist. I happen to think that human evolution favours correct morals. I see perfection in moral standards in Christianity. It's when dealing with children that moral guidance becomes most clear.

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully." Dawkins.

No doubt I have missed the point?

That would make a terrific T shirt.I'd buy it. ( and my tightarsedness is legendary in my family)

[chatpilot]

Kyu and padraic I totally agree with you both regarding Dawkins quote on the God of the Old Testament.I often compared him to Hitler and believe that Hitler got some of his ideas from the God of the bible.God was indeed a monstrous tyrant with a blood lust.But you must admit amongst all that blood and gore there are some nice little quotes in the bible about love and so many other things.Now,I too will take one of those t-shirts lol.

---

Frodo apparently you must be sticking to the New Testament here because the bible is chock full of blood and unjust murders committed either directly by God or commanded by him according to the authors of the books of the OT.The Old Testament does touch on some scientific principles but they are usually wrong.For instance the flat Earth theory comes from an interpretation of scripture.The Earth was also considered the center of the universe where everything revolved around it instead of the sun being in the center and the planets revolving around the sun.

Not to mention some of the things they say Jesus did he would definately have not gotten away with.If he would have really run on the steps of the temple and turned over all those vendors tables I can guarantee that he would have got his holy ass kicked that was the place where those people sold their wares and it was perfectly legal to do so.And the so called words of Christ in the bible are entirely based on hearsay and oral traditions none of the so called authors of the New Testament ever even met Jesus.

[fr0d0]

Of course as a Christian chatpilot I read the Bible as the New Testament fulfilling the old. Flat Earth theory WASN'T Christian, and neither was the idea that the Universe revolved around the earth. The Bible touches on NO scientific principles.

You don't agree that the Jewish use of the temple was anti God then, like Jesus did? You are trying to say that the bible is literal where it isn't IMO.

[Kyuuketsuki]

The Bible touches on NO scientific principles.

Of course it does ... it attempts to explain the universe from the POV of a technologically more primitive people ... if I were really cynical I might suggest it does much the same today. As Dawkins says, to postulate that a god created the universe is a hypothesis, it's an unsupported one and therefore (probably) wrong but it's a hypothesis all the same.

Kyu

[fr0d0]

If you want to believe that then fine. I find it a far fetched understanding of the text.