SoulPancake / Conversations / Is the Bible trustworthy?

CallmeHeath

- 3 years ago

Feature
0
Like
Follow

Is the Bible trustworthy?

I have been taught that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the New Testament written in Greek. If the Bible is the word of God, then how much has been lost in translation over the centuries? Why does God feel it necessary to teach us through a vehicle as unreliable as language? Couldn't he have created us knowing the text by heart? Finally, the Bible is the best selling book of all time--that indicates a lot of human influence over it, doesn't it?

Recent Discussed Liked

First level responses second level responses

Nope. Copied and recopied by monks, one by one over the centuries. Just as a story retold and passed down it changed. The answer in reading the Bible is that the words are not the truth but a guild post to the truth. Look beyond the written, go into the silence and you will find the truth and the word.

I think you should examine what it is you want from the Bible. I don't think you can call it a literal history, or even an exact path of behavior to find God. It is a chronicle of one pathway that has been passed along for so long that I find it impossible to think it has not been altered. I have to wonder about the books that were removed, or the stories that were shifted towards a particular ideology of the time. I think that any form of bibliomancy can render you an answer. It is how you choose to interpret the words revealed. I feel it is a way of getting outside of yourself to examine things from another point of view. Ultimately, it is your sense of self that renders the answers you find. I love the saying that even the Devil can quote the scripture to suit his purpose. Open your heart with love, and you will find love, in any thing you encounter.

The Bible is a tool with draw backs like any other tool. It's great in conjunction with Interfaith fellowship, cooking & sharing food with friends and strangers alike, and following your good nature.

With reference to computers, the saying is "garbage in, garbage out." My point is that any source material, from the Bible to instructions on how to put together a bicycle, is only as trustworthy as the person reading the material. If a person reads the Bible and fails to get the messages between the lines, then that person's interpretation of what the Bible means is untrustworthy. We DO have a text which is without words--our inner relationship with God as we understand him or her. :)

the bible was not compiled by jesus, but by various writings and letter and acts of his disciples. as with anything that is translated and passed on in physical writing (not like digitally like in this age), things can get lost, distorted and changed. also, different churches have added and taken off their own things to and from the bible. as for the question of "why does[n't] god.... create us knowing the text by heart?" well then what would be the purpose of our free will and ability to aquire knowledge? thats like entering cheat codes on a video game to beat it. or buying yourself a gold medal. it does nothing for you; it does not advance your soul. we all need to try and understand things for ourselves so that we are not just spoonfed children who cant do anything themselves. best selling book of all time? i thought that was harry potter?? haha just kidding... yeah definitely a lot of human influence. when the bible was first being assembled, the people with the power over the religion established the canon (basically, what among the many scriptures, letters, etc they had is in and what is out). there alone is the possiblity for important things getting left out and non-divine things getting in. and obviously god did not physically write the bible. god is not physical. when someone writes something holy, assuming they are actually being divinely inspired, god can work through them, or give them some inspiration, or "talk" to them, but the human is still doing the writing

When I was about 14, I had a conversation with my mother in which she insisted God wrote the Bible. I insisted men wearing dresses wrote the Bible. I'm pretty sure that was the last conversation about religion we ever had. Also, my mother regularly reads the Bible, and is possibly the most negative and fearful person I ever met. I am truly ignorant of the Bible, but periodically I used to open it to a random page or two, to see what would pop up. One day I landed on something that said women who are menstruating should be exiled or stoned or forced to watch golf or something, which sounds like what a 2,000-year-old man wearing a dress would come up with. That was the last time I felt the urge to open "The Good Book".

no. people take the stories and lessons within it too literally. that misconception does exactly the opposite of what the bible claims to preach; it causes violence instead of promoting love and peace. Becuase people are shallow minded and ignorant and interprut the bible wrong, no, the bible is not trustworthy

If you believe in destiny and God to be all knowing of the past, present and future, then the Bible, in any form was made as a part of the road that you will take into our "final destination." Where ever we are ment to end up, we will. If the bible is along the way, then we must go through it. Now to answer a question of yours. "Couldn't he have created us knowing the text by heart?" Whether it be text or actual audio, video, experience, taste. "God" created us the way he/she wanted to. God could have created us with all of the answers, at the finish line, with no pain, no disire, no suffering. He/she could have created us like the grass, living and dying with total peace of mind. It takes the fun out of living though doesn't it. Personally, I see the bible as a guide, not the rules. There are a few loopholes in the bible. I also think that you should never believe fully in something unless you are willing to die over it.

(Binary/Image)

If I ask myself, "Is the Bible trustworthy" I have to also ask myself, "Am I responsible"? I cannot bring myself to say that the (christian) Bible is a text that must be read literally. I see contradictions in the text, I see ethical systems that I cannot support (genocide, sexism, racism, etc) and, most importantly, a people that are trying to figure out who they are in the world and what they are supposed to do with what they understand to be the divine. I like to think of the (christian) Bible as a conversation partner, not as an absolute. Each individual book was written in a time and place that I cannot and will not ever understand and moreover I will approach each text with my own cultural baggage. Because of this I need to be responsible with the (christian) Bible and use it in a means that does no harm, hopefully. It's a struggle as what I consider to not be harmful, such as seeking for full inclusion of LGBT persons in the United Methodist Church, the church that I am a part of, is harmful to the faith of others insofar as their faith comes from a different understanding of what the Bible is and what it does for us. But I agree with LisaJSmith, I shouldn't get started on this, at least not more of a start than I've already presented myself with...

I think that for most of it's life the Bible has been Divinely guided to reach the state it's at now. Yet, I think interesting topics here would be the Council of Nicea, continuious exegesis from the Jews before Christ, and various other moments in History where the Bible has been changed from previous versions.

SoulPancake

CallmeHeath

Is the Bible trustworthy?

srimayadeva

Geo

KaiLavatai

The Bible is a tool with draw backs like any other tool. It's great in conjunction with Interfaith fellowship, cooking & sharing food with friends and strangers alike, and following your good nature.

BlueCrayon

princeofsaiyans99

SharonM

emmie34

The_oppomist

Osgood

(Binary/Image)

whimsey_nimsey

travispinn

LisaJSmith

ohhhh please dont get me started! :)

Is the Bible trustworthy?

The Bible is a tool with draw backs like any other tool. It's great in conjunction with Interfaith fellowship, cooking & sharing food with friends and strangers alike, and following your good nature.

(Binary/Image)

ohhhh please dont get me started! :)

What's Next?