I say again, anyone can take bits and pieces of the Bible and make it say what ever you want.
Isn't that what every different bible following church does as well? Pick and choose the parts that they will follow. Which could be why there are so many different offshoots of christianity in itself. Not to mention all the other religions that are around....
I say again, anyone can take bits and pieces of the Bible and make it say what ever you want. That's all this video did which proves my point. The Bible must be read and taken in it's entirety to get the true meaning from it.
The Bible is read and taken in its entirety to mean many things by those who actually read it. This is not a supposition. There are thousands of churches interpreting the Bible differently, and of course millions of people who do the same thing.
This is because:
1) The Bible is filled with inconsistent and mutually exclusive passages
2) The Bible is filled with nuance and "hints" as well as some "written in stone" passages
3) All of this add up to REQUIRING the reader to INTERPRET, and that interpretation depends a great deal on the ideals and beliefs of the reader
The video is an excellent demonstration that the Bible (1) contains errors and (2) contains contradictions. Therefore it is prima-fascia NOT an infallible document. If you actually read the Bible and still BELIEVE it is the infallible word of God, you simply are ignoring what you just read.
These books were written by iron/bronze-age desert dwellers with little knowledge of physics, medicine, cosmology, geology, etc. This is clear to even little children who read it. It takes a huge suspension of disbelief to accept much of what is in the Bible, and many of us are TRAINED to do this from the time we are small children.
The Bible is read and taken in its entirety to mean many things by those who actually read it. This is not a supposition. There are thousands of churches interpreting the Bible differently, and of course millions of people who do the same thing.
This is because:
1) The Bible is filled with inconsistent and mutually exclusive passages
2) The Bible is filled with nuance and "hints" as well as some "written in stone" passages
3) All of this add up to REQUIRING the reader to INTERPRET, and that interpretation depends a great deal on the ideals and beliefs of the reader
The video is an excellent demonstration that the Bible (1) contains errors and (2) contains contradictions. Therefore it is prima-fascia NOT an infallible document. If you actually read the Bible and still BELIEVE it is the infallible word of God, you simply are ignoring what you just read.
These books were written by iron/bronze-age desert dwellers with little knowledge of physics, medicine, cosmology, geology, etc. This is clear to even little children who read it. It takes a huge suspension of disbelief to accept much of what is in the Bible, and many of us are TRAINED to do this from the time we are small children.
Soooo... what you are saying is that most all religions are teaching it wrong? Then if you were to to suggest one religion that has is down right which would it be?
How do you decipher which guy at the front of the church is teaching an overview of the bible and that will never refer back to the specifics listed within it?
I imagine that once you start spouting off the specifics then you would be bound to only take the passages and teachings that you want to hear, and not the bible in its entirety...
On a different note, isn't how you learn different lessons from a story is by taking different parts of the story that YOU as an individual relates to, then build off of that? Take the story of the three little pigs for example... you could interpret from the story the obvious point to the story, that you should take the time to build your shelter up to code for your area that will provide you the most protection from the elements around you. Then again someone could interpret the entirety of the story as HOLY CRAP they have pigs that build houses and can talk, and talking wolves that blow down those buildings to eat those scrumptious pigs! From this interpretation we should learn that pigs are liars and have been generally lazy when around humans, because they have the ability to talk and to build houses.
Maybe I have generalized a bit, because the story of three little pigs does not have bold concrete direction to kill all the children of the non-believing wolves... but I think you get the idea
Like a skydiver in freefall who, after much reasoning, thought and discussion, has dismissed the concept of the ground under him, you better hope you are right!
-Doc
That's a big fallacy right there - it's NOT your choice. Whole failies are bred into it from the earliest childhood years, brainwashed to blindly follow the religion.
ironwill... It sounds more and more like you fall under the agnostic category rather than a christian. You believe that there is something out there, but that all religious followings of today have it wrong.
You also say to follow your heart and conscience and pretty much hope for the best. If that is your stance how can you call anyone else wrong, if they are following their own heart and conscience?
I also agree with Cocked and Locked, religion is very deeply rooted in culture and the beliefs are instilled into children from a very young age. It takes a very strong willed, brave, and intelligent person to start to question the simple force fed belief system presented by religion.
Doc,
Read what I said again. I simply stated absolute facts. I do not and can not "hope" I am right about simply what is clearly true. You seem to have interpreted my post as me saying what is in Bible is not TRUE, or at least the main part about what it takes to go to heaven. That is a separate topic that I did not address.
But what I said is not subject to interpretation or contradiction. It is an absolute truth. Anyone wiho disputes this is being illogical and ignoring the simple truth of the obvious facts before them.
i
I also agree with Cocked and Locked, religion is very deeply rooted in culture and the beliefs are instilled into children from a very young age.
It takes a very strong willed, brave, and intelligent person to start to question the simple force fed belief system presented by religion.
Great to know someone is capable of determining absolute truth.
Where would be without your great all knowing intellect?
I was worried about the whole of humankind for awhile.
-Doc
It would be more enjoyable for me, and perhaps for other readers, if you actually made an effort to debate, since this is what this particular thread is about. It also may be of use to those who are on the fence regarding their particular religion.
I simply stated facts in my post. Facts are "truths" in and of themselves. If you believe what I said is not factual, please elaborate.