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I would be interested in hearing peoples views on the inconsistancy that seems to be EVERYWHERE through the bible!

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Question - (15 July 2007) 27 Answers - (Newest, 20 August 2007)
A female United Kingdom age 30-35, *hoconut writes:

This question is not so much about relationships but I am studying religious studies in college and I'm finding it fascinating! My friend is part of a pentacostal church and it's ridiculous. If anyone has seen that church scene in Borat it is just like that! Religion often = IGNORANCE! I've often thought about God etc. and I just don't know what I believe, not sure what I'm asking but I would be interested in hearing peoples views on the inconsistancy that seems to be EVERYWHERE through the bible! I just can't see how it can be taken seriously as a literal book! Hope I haven't offended anyone :S

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A female reader, anonymous, writes (20 August 2007):

Yeah I know what you mean. I find fundamentalist religous groups offensive. Like I have mad respect for the old testament (top secret of mine) and no one who knows me has any idea about this just because I am too embarrassed to talk about this cause religious nuts give the bible such a negative connotation. It's embarrassing. I think its disgraceful.

The irony is that I feel like the message is about peace and love and unity being self righteous and standing up for what you believe. But many take it to mean just the opposite. And like how dumb could you be to really believe a lot of those stories in the bible.

Like this is a book that is thousands of years old and has been translated and re-translated several dozens of times even by monks in the middle of the night with just candles. You know how much could be lost in translation?

And what's even weirder is that Jesus was a jew. And if I know jews (which I do) they are VERY solid about their religion. You will NEVER hear of a jew converting to another religion. Once a jew, always a jew. Believe me, Jesus would turn over in his grave if he knew that his memory lived on as a christian. And especially if he knew that those who claim to stand for him perpetrated the extinction of six million of his closest relatives.

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A male reader, eddie Canada +, writes (18 August 2007):

eddie agony auntThe concept of religion is interesting. Unfortunately the world seems to be full of hypocrisy. Many people latch on to religion and use it as a crutch. I believe anytime a person becomes a fundamentalist in any belief system, they tend to have tunnel vision. It's really crazy to spend your life trying to prove that a particular belief is "the one" and the others are wrong.

My wife's cousin spent about 20 years as a nun. She left her home country and was working in an impoverished place. I'm sure she was doing good work, under the flag of the catholic church though. Today, she's no longer a nun and she's living with a man she met while living abroad. That means that everything she lived by for all those years, added up to nothing. All the important aspects of what she was supposed to stand for were thrown away. I don't think she's wrong or bad either. I just imagine that if you had asked her if she ever saw herself doing these things, she would have gasped.

The concept of religion is good, almost any religion. I find it strange though to have a discussion with someone who is a totally rational person in every way but buys into something on blind faith. Something that can not be demonstrated. I can prove a person is good or kind based on how they behave today. I can not prove though, that all of the things written in the bible are true. Nobody can. But based on biblical beliefs, the kind, generous person of today will not go to heaven if they're not believers. Personally, I'd rather surround myself with great people who are not necessarily believers over a room full of hard core zealots.

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A male reader, Straightshooter Australia +, writes (13 August 2007):

Choconut,

The Bible is indeed extremely inconsistant in it's writings. The Old Testament is essentially a vague history of the Jews along with what is in essence a bronze age rationalisation of how the universe and world was created. Add to this the dogma that has been created over time and it's fair to say that organised religions are a joke.

You need to understand that before the Council of Nicea (see below) there was no such thing as The Bible, each bishop (church leader) had their own version of what Christianity was and they were at loggerheads over all sorts of things, including the divinity of Jesus Christ.

By 325 AD things had got so bad that the Roman Emperor Constantine called a meeting of the various Christian leaders. The meeting was held at Nicea (now part of Turkey) and the agenda included the creation of a single version of Chrisitanity for the Roman Empire and dealing with the problem of God and Jesus's divinity. To cut a long story short the Church of Rome put up the best argueent for their version of Christianity and it was made in to the sole official version of the life and times of Christ and so on. The Church of Rome was also charged with producing the required handbook as it were, which we know know as the Bible. In particular the New Testament contents were chosen to reflect the Church of Romes views and all other gospels were made reduntant. From this point on it's a matter of straight history to follow the evolution of thought of the various Christian denominations.

It should be remembered that the very core of Christianity is the Ten Commandments, which are for all practical purposes the same as the core values in both Islam and Buddhism. Furthermore Christianity, Judaism and Islam all worship the same God, something that is often forgotten by adherents of these faiths.

Science scares a lot of Chrstians, Muslims and Jews as it seeks to explain the universe and our world in quantative was, by observation, measurement and mathematics which lead to a Theory being developed which can then be tested and accepted or rejected as further evidence is gathered. It is interesting to note that science has no actual stance on God, whom may or may not exist.

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A reader, anonymous, writes (13 August 2007):

I am not entirely sure, but I understand that none of the books of the bible were written down until 50-60 years after Jesus died. Afterwards, they were written and translated by Hellenistic (Greek) writers 300 years later. That was a totally different society than the Roman civilization that Jesus would have lived in. Women would have been land owners and had rights, in Hellenistic society, women were chattel and sequestered, the property of their husbands and fathers. That alone changed much of the bible, I wonder if women would be ordained as priests in the Catholic church if it had been written earlier? We have developed much of our laws an our ideas about "family" and "faith" from the bible, but how different would it be if it had been written down by the society that Jesus actually grew up in which influenced his ideals and his quest for teaching? I think that the search for the truth is never a bad thing. I think it's brilliant that people are studying campfire sites in the middle-east to trace the journey of Abraham's tribes. We are fortunate to be able to have the chance to delve, other religions consider the books they study to be "divine and the direct word of god", so it is sacrilegious to study them in historical context. Considering they were penned by man, it seems improbable and that we will miss many important truths by NOT studying them. I don't wish a fatwah on myself, so I am penning anonymously. I read somewhere that most people who have developed a deep sense of faith have to have it instilled by the age of 13, which is when my family left the church - I am probably best described as agnostic, which I don't think is such a bad thing. The group that were called the Agnostics were educated people who questioned everything and only believed in what they had proof of.

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A reader, anonymous, writes (12 August 2007):

I have to say, there is a peaceful calm between Yos and Dr. Pete. As if they are two very sleepy people, whom randomly bumped into each other in a library, and then happened to be looking at a poster on a wall and commented... No, rather, I'm sleepy and has gotten delusional now.

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A reader, anonymous, writes (10 August 2007):

That's not what I'm talking about, I know what the definition of science is :)

I'm talking about how the average people comprehends a belief system. Most people accept science on faith and in that regard it is little different than someone who accepts religion on faith.

What you are talking about are polar opposites, but the way people comprehend a belief system is very much the same.

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A male reader, Yos Netherlands +, writes (10 August 2007):

Yos agony auntNot so sure about that Pete ;)

The objective of science is to look for, find, and then eradicate those inconsistencies.

Religion on the other hand tells us to accept those inconsistencies 'on faith'.

Polar opposites if you ask me.

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A reader, anonymous, writes (10 August 2007):

Is it really so important that the bible has inconsistencies in it though?

I mean science claims to be an objective truth but scientific "fact" is regularly disproved; modified and superseded all the time.

Science or Religion; they are both belief systems that 99% percent of the population follow using their faith alone so if you reject religion based on its inconsistencies then rather than be a hypocrite you should reject science too.

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A male reader, Yos Netherlands +, writes (10 August 2007):

Yos agony auntAbsolutely there must be more. But the chance that it takes the form outlined in the Bible or the Koran is, lets face it, wildly improbable.

I read a lot of science in many forms, and I find the description of the universe emerging through areas like quantum mechanics, string theory, neo-darwinism and non-linear mathematics to be far more fantastic and mind-blowing than the traditional view religion has presented. There is much more to our lives than meets the eye.

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A female reader, Choconut United Kingdom +, writes (9 August 2007):

Choconut is verified as being by the original poster of the question

Choconut agony auntHmm... this is all so interesting. My bestfriend is a pentacostal christian and talks in tongues etc. and i do feel she looks down on me, its as if she is truly ahppy and i just think i am and we just cant have converstions on this matter because she is so... warped i guess. The thing with me, i dont think i NEED to believe in something, and if i were going to it would be none of these organised religions it would be a personal belief, but to be honest i dont think i do believe. However i dont like the idea of dying and "me" just diminishing! Its a dificult thought but i guess everyone has felt like this.

and i definatly agree martini that "faith is so very blind, deaf, and senseless". and it really irritates me!

I do religious studies at school and i had the most wonderful teacher! hes american but has left my college to study as a psychologist. At first i expected him to be a bit of a religious nut but he was so inspirational, in the sense that he had spent so much of his life researching this and actually went from a fundamentalist christian, he literally believed the world was amde in 6 days by god etc, but is conservative now.

I wont try to put all religious people in a box but i do find it is the rare exception when people are sensible about their beliefs and actually have some kind of reason for believing, not just because they read it from a book, i find it so frustrating.

I gues the reason i care so much is because i dont really, but there is this little part of me that thinks there muste be more?... There is a program on TV called the sky at night, i dont know if anyone has seen it but its absolutly amasing i think. The universe is incredible! and i dont believe we are the only inteligent life ( i hope i dont sound too nutty right now!!) i just have a feeling that there must be more and i want to find out about it!

hope i havent scared u off!! :S

Thanks for all your replies though, i find them soo interesting!! x

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A reader, anonymous, writes (9 August 2007):

Exactly! You see Choconut, if only people who have faith in their own spiritual and religious ideals are more like how Eyeswideopen had said, then there wouldn't be so much of a debate, and rather a discussion of philosophy.

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A female reader, eyeswideopen United States +, writes (9 August 2007):

eyeswideopen agony auntThere is a huge difference between having faith and being in an organized religion. I truly believe that organized religions are evil but I believe in God and the Bible. The Bible has to be interpreted in the times it was written. There have been many lousy translations, the thundering diction of the King James version for one. Scofield does a much better translation. My faith is personal and only between me and God. Everybody else can go about their business.

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A reader, anonymous, writes (9 August 2007):

As to answer your other question about the after life, I have my own interpretations about that, but they are my own and I wouldn't preach them on others. I mean, Jesus supposedly died and came back to Earth and told a long winded story about what mankind needed to do to go to Heaven, or be cast down to Hell for all of eternity. Isn't it just so convenient to tell such things to an ancient weakened culture seeking a savior of sorts, where a light bulb is an absolute magical devil-made object, and a regular automobile as a chariot from hell?

I don't recall Jesus appearing in China 2000 years ago and preaching Heaven and Hell to its denizens. I don't recall Jesus appearing in Haida territory and preaching Judgment and such to the natives of this gorgeous land we now know as Canada. It's just so convenient isn't it?

To me, I'm simply an agnostic, if people have to put a term to it. I live day by the day, with goals and dreams and such. Sure, I have my own debates about religion, about philosophy, about ethics, morality, the direction of humankind, politics, and love and friendship, but the afterlife, reincarnation, heaven and hell, waking up to find ourselves in a room full of other people debating whether we should be doing this and that, believe in this and that.

Truly, Choconut, if you have a necessity to believe in something, then believe in something that someone else tells you, or if you're like me and millions of others, you can just live and come to some form of meditative conclusion you set for yourself. Many people at sad times, often question "What is my purpose in life?" A friend recently asked me that. I gave her the usual long winded answer - [ahem]... 8/

++“Have you ever wondered what your purpose is in this life?”++

To answer her question, “Never.”

I have never wondered what my purpose in life is. Instead, I have always believed that my purpose in life is to exist and serve as an influencial tool for those around me. That’s bluntly put. In a clearer alternative to that last bit, I have always believed that my purpose is to simply exist, and since I exist, I need to live through life as it comes. I have emotions, I have needs, wants, desires and goals and such. I have perks and quirks, and I have this and that. There is no room to ask “Why?”

Whatever higher spiritual power there might be, that in itself is completely separate than whatever purpose you wish to set for yourself, or for whatever purpose you believe in for yourself. Trying to seek an answer to that question is like trying to seek an answer for what came first - the chicken or the egg? It’s a paradox, and if you aren’t solid enough in your own convictions as an existing human being, then you will fall into that paradox and become a part of that paradox.

I exist to serve. Serve who? Live through life, and tell me whom you’ve served throughout. Reality check: you serve yourself. Even Mother Theresa served herself. She had goals, she had desires to help others, and she had a religion she abided to. It was her purpose. What’s mine? When I die in X amount of years, read back on these entries, dig through my thousand page diary and you tell yourself - what was his purpose in this life?

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[bows]

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A reader, anonymous, writes (9 August 2007):

Hi Choconut...

Sorry, I've been away, busy with the young uns. 83

Umm, to answer your question on if I believe in God or not. It's difficult. I neither truly believe in it, nor do I truly deny it. I mean, it's easy to read and believe something in the books - that's with everything, but something so massive by ideology, in my opinion can not and should not be so absolute.

Think about it this way: science says the Earth is round, and that we circle around the Sun roughly 365 days a year with a leap year in between. Now, if you stand on top of the tallest building in your city and look towards the horizon, the farthest land you can see will eventually cut off. That is where the earth's roundness cuts off our vision of distant objects. So we can apply what science says in books, as well as outer space photography and general geographics to that massive ideology which then makes it much more of a fact and truth than simply an ideology.

Mind you, I'm not saying all science is truth. I'm saying that science is at the very least TRYING to prove that there is truth in what is doing. Where as religion is stale. It will never grow. It doesn't teach growth. In fact, it demotes growth if you think about it. In essence, it's telling its followers to NOT be anti-god (anti-their religion). So anything artificial or anything that tries to prove what god might not be is anti-god (anti-their religion). If God (in Christianity, Islam, Roman Catholism, etc) has a purpose for us all, and that we are all to insignificant to understand that great and glorious purpose with our tiny brains, then shouldn't we all just move along and stay ancient tribal? Mathematics, medicine, research that improves and aids humankind, physics, engineering, etc, etc - all these things shouldn't even be studied and taken on as a career, if god intends us all to work in 'his' purpose.

Anyway, I can go on about that. What I believe in, if god indeed do exist is that s/he/it is not about love. If s/he/it TRULY exists, then through our limited insignificant minds, s/he/it TRULY should really be an indifferent higher being. What makes religious people think that god is all about love? Because they need an extremist to take on the symbolic deeds of humankind, thus they created God as the ultimate good (though obviously if you read through the Old Testament, that is not so) and the Devil as the ultimate evil (though I still believe it's misinterpretation of the religious), and humankind as the victims of this ongoing battle between Heaven and Hell.

I actually enjoyed the movie Constantine. Where God supposedly made a bet with Lucifer and crap happens on Earth, to see who gets the most souls in the end, etc, etc. It's the first time Reeves actually acted better than his usual roles.

It's funny how despite all that happens on Earth, the religious still follow their religions so fanatically, and refuse to listen to the heart and soul of the Earth. Faith is so very blind, deaf, and senseless... Don't you think so? [wink]

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A female reader, Choconut United Kingdom +, writes (16 July 2007):

Choconut is verified as being by the original poster of the question

Choconut agony aunti guess this is just something noone will ever agree on. I agree totally with everything you said. Do you think that there is a God though?? I mean not the one of the bible, my mum believes in God, but she doesnt take the bibal literaly.. she just always tells me "God is love" but i dont know how to take that. I would love for there to be some kind of God, or afterlife, i hate the thought of dying. Or do you not believe in anything like that??? And thanks by the way

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A reader, anonymous, writes (15 July 2007):

This was taken in one of the "God Delusion" debates on Digg:

=====

I won’t argue in the blogs, I will merely throw this out there. I have done all my own research, so please do not bother arguing if you haven’t done yours.

ACCORDING TO THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE:

* God is the only being who can create from nothing.

* God is omnipotent (i.e. exists and knows everything from the beginning to the end of time.)

Combine this with:

* God created all the angels.

* God created man.

* God created man with free will.

Now with these in mind, let’s review some of the basic Christian principles.

The bible says that Lucifer, the right hand of God, wanted to have the same power as God, and for his blaspheme he was cast out of heaven, along with the angels who sided with Lucifer. Lucifer became Satan, and is now God’s rival.

Lucifer took the form of a snake and tempted Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, which introduced sin into the world.

A couple or several millenniums later God gets an approximately 13 year old virgin pregnant, makes her and her confused husband journey to an entirely different land to give birth. She names her son Jesus.

Then after a whole lot of things happen, a then-middle-aged Jesus dies on a cross, gets put in a tomb, and 3 days later his body disappears. Now, the reason for this part: He died so that everyone else can go to heaven, because without his sacrifice, sin condemns us to hell when we die.

Ok, summary time.

1. The bible says that before Adam and Eve sin did not exist. Let’s look at that. Temptation of doing something wrong means that what IS wrong is already in place. If there was no wrong thing to eat then there would have been no temptation to begin with.

In other words, just because the volume is turned down doesn’t mean that sound doesn’t exist.

2. When have snakes ever been able to talk?

3. Why would God create an angel and make him his right hand man if he knew that he was going to attempt to usurp his power?

4. If God is the only creator, why create sin? It can be argued that life is a balance, light or dark, good or evil, that we would not know joy without misery. Arguable points, but consider that if God can do anything and is the only creator, then reality as we know it, the laws of physics, are based on his imagination. Therefore, it is possible to live in a utopia.

5. The finale. We’ve established that God is the only creator. If we, in our free will, choose NOT to accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we are condemned to spend the rest of eternity in a place of unimaginable horror; Hell. Where then is free will? It is of course not free will, but rather an ultimatum.

This being the case, you can logically, and without any downplay, come to a single conclusion, based on the Christians own bible: God created pain, misery, and suffering, he blames all of it on an angel he created, had his deified son slain at the hands of the men he created, then tells every man he created that if they don’t accept his death as atonement for the sin he created, they will burn forever in the Hell he created.

Was this the choice of a kind, loving God?

=====

I posted this up on another forum, and one of the members there claim to have an encyclopaedia amount of rebuttals and answers for every point in this argument that I posted up. With that said, with every rebuttal and answer, I'm sure I'll have a rebuttal and 'answer' as well. The cycle never ceases.

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A female reader, Choconut United Kingdom +, writes (15 July 2007):

Choconut is verified as being by the original poster of the question

Choconut agony auntI cant explain how good to hear someone talk sensibly about religion, i have been told i will burn in hell for not believing in God and because im not "saved". My bestfriend has been saved but said she knows we are never going to agree so she wont try and push it onto me. However i couldnt help thinking that if she really does believe i will burn in hell because im not saved, then why isnt she trying!! i doubt she really does believe this fully because if i thought this, i would be pleading! BEGGING!everyone to get saved! i dont want anyone i know going to hell for eternity! i think it just makes her feel better that shes done it. I think a lot of religion is just to try and ease peoples fear of te unknown. HOWEVER i want to believe in God. Im soooo scared of dieing i cant explain and id love to think that everyone goes to heaven, i just dont know if i can...

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A male reader, eddie Canada +, writes (15 July 2007):

eddie agony auntWE had this discussion last night. I have a difficult time with the bible or any other religious book. I see the goodness in all of them. They all have a common thread of goodness. The negativity begins when people start splitting hairs. There is nobody better at splitting hairs than a religious zealot.

A person bent on "you" seeing things "his" way can prove nothing. All they can do is suggest what they believe. And the argument always comes back to the same concept... " it's true because it's written in " (pick your book)

So in fact, it's not worth debating something with someone who, every time they get cornered, says "well, it's a leap of faith" What the @#$#@ is that? If someone is going to look me in the eye and tell me I'm going to burn in hell because I don't think as they do, and then back it up with "it's a leap of faith", the debate stops. I can't debate with someone who has no tangible proof.

Now the "concept" of religion is a different thing. Yes, I believe in kindness and being a good person. Or, should I say trying to be a good person. We all fail. Recognition of failure and trying again though, is respectable. I don't need a book to tell me when I'm wrong.

It's difficult to be a righteous person. Hypocrisy is everywhere, including the church. I have religious people in my family who are not fond of immigrants. I should clarify, immigrants of different origins. I've heard them referred to as #@$# people. WOW, is that a good stance to have about another child of God? Not from where I stand, and I'm a heathen.

I like people. I don't care where they come from or why they came. I see lots of migration from the third world to the west. I don't feel threatened though. Many do, and want to slam the door shut because the people that are coming have different religious views. While I can see the point and understand the fear some may have.....what comes around goes around. We in the west have enjoyed many years of prosperity. Now, we're are outnumbered and many fear this. Ironically, many native populations were wiped out when "our" forefathers set sail to distant lands, forcing our ways on them. I can't imagine how natives felt when they saw the ships on the horizon, full of disease and horny sailors. (sorry to be harsh)

The world has become smaller. We need to learn how to live in peace and understand our differences. We have a cultural festival every spring. WE celebrate all the different ethnic groups in our area, food, dance, clothing etc. It's a good event and teaches us about other people.

So yes, the tide is turning and the world will continue to change. People will go where they can make a better life. Things will change. People from poor countries will come and live in conditions that are low, by our standards, but better than where they came from. We will complain about "those" people and how they're changing our standards. Then, as their numbers grow, things will change. That doesn't' make it bad. That's just evolution, dictated by numbers and human drive. And for those who fear this, it's history repeating itself only this time the ships are arriving at our shores.

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A female reader, Choconut United Kingdom +, writes (15 July 2007):

Choconut is verified as being by the original poster of the question

Choconut agony auntOoo ive learned quite a bit about Richard Dawkins and i think ni will try and read that book. Just a point to add to some of the silly things i have heard the bible say... something about if a woman is found to not be a virgin on her wedding night she should be stoned to death!!!!! How can this be proof of a loving God???!?!?!?!? And if the answer is "oh thats the old testament" well then surley you cannot use ANY of the old testament anymore (inc. 10 commandements) because thats just picking and choosing what you want to believe and surely that undermines the authority of the bible!!! ARGH i have so much to say but i just lkjf;oigfnl;dfg!!!!!

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A male reader, Yos Netherlands +, writes (15 July 2007):

Yos agony auntI recommend a book called 'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins. It is a very interesting discussion on the reasons why people are religious. So you know, he's arguing for atheism, see it as the counter-argument book to the Bible. But, like they say, if you want to be well informed, read both sides of the story, then make your OWN mind up.

You can find some good videos online by him also. Here's a couple:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9002284641446868316

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1425990459498612186

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A female reader, Choconut United Kingdom +, writes (15 July 2007):

Choconut is verified as being by the original poster of the question

Choconut agony auntThanks, i dont believe it can be a literal book because a lot of it seems very cruel! A lot of my friends go to church and they seem scared of God which i dont think is good. I think there are sensible ways of approaching religion. My friend left her church because they said such stupid things like girls and boys cant be in a room alone together or the girl will give into temptation (like Eve) and will try and seduce the boy!! and lots of things like this, when she left they told her she was cursed and forbid anyone from in the church from talking to her!!

I know this is an acception but alsooo my friend who is a christian feels constantly guilty! she always says she must go home and repent! its really sad actually because she cant relax or do anything without feeling like its a sin.

And to "anon" how can you believe something that says "only the wicked cast aside gods word- psalm 50:16-17" Isnt God supposed to be ALL loving?? whether people believe in God or not???

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A female reader, flower girl United Kingdom +, writes (15 July 2007):

flower girl agony auntBelieve what you want to believe in, i personally think that the bible is just stories like any other book and i can't believe that it all came from god( if there actually is a god).

Take care.xx.

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A reader, anonymous, writes (15 July 2007):

Parts of the bible are not always there to be taken literally. Jesus himself taught through parables. It is meant to teach something. Yet at the same time it cannot just be cast aside as just parables. Evidence shows that the area where noah most likely lived experienced a huge flood at the time of the Ark. In his time, people may not have realized just how much there was to the world, how big it was. In their mind, the whole world was flooding and they may have taken 2 of every animal that they knew existed. Exaggerating the story is part of what cultures do. We exaggerate stories all the time, little pieces here and there, to get a point across that may have gotten lost if we told it in real detail. Just because there are inconsistencies in parts of the bible doesn't change the messages it tries to get across.

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A reader, anonymous, writes (15 July 2007):

The thing about ignorance really depends on how people use religion, and why they are a part of a religion. Were they born into it? Did they need it because of some form of emotional setback? Did they commit a crime and now seek to be 'forgiven' through religion?

I think the core basics of all the big religions on this planet have pretty much the same or similar concepts on life and such. The problem comes when people try to explain the surface material to others and their 'absolute' views clash with others in which the surface material of their own faiths differ.

You also have to remember that the Bible stretches out to many volumes, and rewritten and re-translated over and over again throughout the last thousand and so years. Of course, many things in the Bible 'contradicts' the Old Testament, as well as the odd contradictions with the book of Genesis and such but before I get tempted to start another all out religion studies group here on DC, I'll just leave it at that.

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A reader, anonymous, writes (15 July 2007):

Hi sweetie

The bible is not just another book..its gods word..and if u read it carefully u will realise this..the bible is true,wholly inspired and infallible because;

*Jesus completely blived the scripture- john 5:46-47 ; 10:34-36; matthew 9:13.

*only the wicked cast aside gods word- psalm 50:16-17

the idea that the bible is only partly inspired is false.if this was so who could judge what was and what was not inspired??the origin,value and power of the scriptures can be seen from 2timothy 3:15-17 & 2peter 1:19-21.

the bible is composed of 66 books..they were written by over 40 authors ranging from shepherds to kings.they were seperated by thousands of kilometres and they wrote over a period of 1500 years.despite these facts they all agree and harmonise perfectly,showing that it was god who moved them all to write..you will get enough and more proof that the bible is consistent if u visit the website..www.christadelphians.com..

hope i helped

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A female reader, jusd'orange United Kingdom +, writes (15 July 2007):

I became an atheist because I've found so many inconsistensies within the bible, and organized religion as a whole. The one piece of advice I give is to not feel like you have to find all of the answers to life's questions, specifically within religion. Ask yourself what makes sense to you and develop your own understanding of how the world may have come about without the pressures of society weighing in.

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A female reader, LynstHolin United States +, writes (15 July 2007):

It all makes more sense if you just think of it as mythology. The Greeks had their stories about the denizens of Mt. Olympus, and the ancient Israelites wandering the desert had their own tribal stories. The Israelites were just the first to think of writing all their myths down.

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