I'm not understanding the Bible at this point

[joecoolfrog]

I have no problem with people questioning or disagreeing with the Bible, but here is the thing. The Bible is one of the most outlawed books around the world. If it were just a bunch of stories, why would you outlaw it? There are many fairytales, and they are not outlawed. There must be a reason that you would outlaw a simple book, if that were all it is. Here is the reason. The Bible is not just a book, not just a bunch of stories. The reason why it is illegal in so many countries is that it is powerful. It is changing lives. It is one of the most disputed books as to wether or not it is true, yet we have more ancient manuscripts for it then any other book of comparable age. Why is its authenticity questioned so much? Because no one wants it to be true, because if it were true, it would change their life, and they like their life how it is. The Bible is a powerful book, and no simple book could be this powerful, so it must not just be a book. So, I have concluded that it must be what is says it is, which is the word of God himself.

So can we assume the same of all the books that get banned yearly in the USA , are you all scared of Communism because its the obvious truth , Why are creationists so scared of Science that they destroy the education of their children ?

[MeDeFe]

Add the fact that the gospels were oral tradition for an unknown period before they were recorded then copied by hand for centuries, the fact that they are even remotely close is impressive I say. I have never found anything personally that seems like it contradicts the others if you look at them as seperate accounts.

I recently read somewhere that Judaism may in fact have been a scriptural from the start and that no (or hardly any) part of the Torah or the OT is based on some oral tradition. (It's possible I was even linked to it from CC, but I'm not sure.) One indicator was the "name of god"-thing, in writing it makes sense not to spell out god's name completely because it is so holy, but in an oral tradition that is impossible, once you say it it's out.
Another was the overall style of most parts, there are hardly any of the devices that are typical of oral traditions. There's too little rhythm to the language used, too few easily remembered expressions, in short: too much prose and too little poetry iirc.

I think there were more points, but I can't recall those right now.

[hahaha3hahaha]

-deleted-

[PLAYER57832]

I have no problem with people questioning or disagreeing with the Bible, but here is the thing. The Bible is one of the most outlawed books around the world. If it were just a bunch of stories, why would you outlaw it? There are many fairytales, and they are not outlawed. There must be a reason that you would outlaw a simple book, if that were all it is. Here is the reason. The Bible is not just a book, not just a bunch of stories. The reason why it is illegal in so many countries is that it is powerful. It is changing lives. It is one of the most disputed books as to wether or not it is true, yet we have more ancient manuscripts for it then any other book of comparable age. Why is its authenticity questioned so much? Because no one wants it to be true, because if it were true, it would change their life, and they like their life how it is. The Bible is a powerful book, and no simple book could be this powerful, so it must not just be a book. So, I have concluded that it must be what is says it is, which is the word of God himself.

Anddddddddddddddd this doesn't explain how all the other Holy Books from the other religions are still in existence, cause if only the Bible were true, why would all these other books exist?

Both of you are making logical errors.

If you look at a list of banned books, you DO find various "fairy tales" and non-fiction books, including Huck Finn, etc. I believe certain Nazis things are banned still in Germany (might be incorrect on that) and, as was mentioned by someone else, even if not technically banned, reading certain "communist" books could have gotten you in serious trouble here in the US during the McCarthy era.

Second, that the Bible represents truth does not mean all other ideas will simply disappear. For one thing, much of it just cannot be proven. It is a matter of belief. For another, not everyone wants to believe what is truth. We still have people who think the Earth is flat, after all.

[BigBallinStalin]

I have no problem with people questioning or disagreeing with the Bible, but here is the thing. The Bible is one of the most outlawed books around the world. If it were just a bunch of stories, why would you outlaw it? There are many fairytales, and they are not outlawed. There must be a reason that you would outlaw a simple book, if that were all it is. Here is the reason. The Bible is not just a book, not just a bunch of stories. The reason why it is illegal in so many countries is that it is powerful. It is changing lives. It is one of the most disputed books as to wether or not it is true, yet we have more ancient manuscripts for it then any other book of comparable age. Why is its authenticity questioned so much? Because no one wants it to be true, because if it were true, it would change their life, and they like their life how it is. The Bible is a powerful book, and no simple book could be this powerful, so it must not just be a book. So, I have concluded that it must be what is says it is, which is the word of God himself.

Anddddddddddddddd this doesn't explain how all the other Holy Books from the other religions are still in existence, cause if only the Bible were true, why would all these other books exist?

Both of you are making logical errors.

If you look at a list of banned books, you DO find various "fairy tales" and non-fiction books, including Huck Finn, etc. I believe certain Nazis things are banned still in Germany (might be incorrect on that) and, as was mentioned by someone else, even if not technically banned, reading certain "communist" books could have gotten you in serious trouble here in the US during the McCarthy era.

Second, that the Bible represents truth does not mean all other ideas will simply disappear. For one thing, much of it just cannot be proven. It is a matter of belief. For another, not everyone wants to believe what is truth. We still have people who think the Earth is flat, after all.

And it is flat. Prepare yourself to be overwhelmed by mass amounts of evidence.

And more evidence from this artistic interpretation of the accounts of many sailors.

[PLAYER57832]

And more evidence from this artistic interpretation of the accounts of many sailors.

Obviously direct observations!

[jesterhawk]

I have no problem with people questioning or disagreeing with the Bible, but here is the thing. The Bible is one of the most outlawed books around the world. If it were just a bunch of stories, why would you outlaw it? There are many fairytales, and they are not outlawed. There must be a reason that you would outlaw a simple book, if that were all it is. Here is the reason. The Bible is not just a book, not just a bunch of stories. The reason why it is illegal in so many countries is that it is powerful. It is changing lives. It is one of the most disputed books as to wether or not it is true, yet we have more ancient manuscripts for it then any other book of comparable age. Why is its authenticity questioned so much? Because no one wants it to be true, because if it were true, it would change their life, and they like their life how it is. The Bible is a powerful book, and no simple book could be this powerful, so it must not just be a book. So, I have concluded that it must be what is says it is, which is the word of God himself.

Anddddddddddddddd this doesn't explain how all the other Holy Books from the other religions are still in existence, cause if only the Bible were true, why would all these other books exist?

Both of you are making logical errors.

If you look at a list of banned books, you DO find various "fairy tales" and non-fiction books, including Huck Finn, etc. I believe certain Nazis things are banned still in Germany (might be incorrect on that) and, as was mentioned by someone else, even if not technically banned, reading certain "communist" books could have gotten you in serious trouble here in the US during the McCarthy era.

Second, that the Bible represents truth does not mean all other ideas will simply disappear. For one thing, much of it just cannot be proven. It is a matter of belief. For another, not everyone wants to believe what is truth. We still have people who think the Earth is flat, after all.

I think the original point was that the Bible is the "MOST" banned book on the planet. And to be honest, while I have heard that many times, I have never checked it out myself to know if that is true or not.

I do, however, agree that the simple fact that it is banned does not illuminate that it's divine inspired at all.

JH

[Frigidus]

Add the fact that the gospels were oral tradition for an unknown period before they were recorded then copied by hand for centuries, the fact that they are even remotely close is impressive I say. I have never found anything personally that seems like it contradicts the others if you look at them as seperate accounts.

I recently read somewhere that Judaism may in fact have been a scriptural from the start and that no (or hardly any) part of the Torah or the OT is based on some oral tradition. (It's possible I was even linked to it from CC, but I'm not sure.) One indicator was the "name of god"-thing, in writing it makes sense not to spell out god's name completely because it is so holy, but in an oral tradition that is impossible, once you say it it's out.
Another was the overall style of most parts, there are hardly any of the devices that are typical of oral traditions. There's too little rhythm to the language used, too few easily remembered expressions, in short: too much prose and too little poetry iirc.

I think there were more points, but I can't recall those right now.

http://yhwhy.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-why ... ating.html

You're probably referring to this. It's a bit tl;dr to people that aren't interested in the composition of the Bible though.

[Snorri1234]

I think the original point was that the Bible is the "MOST" banned book on the planet. And to be honest, while I have heard that many times, I have never checked it out myself to know if that is true or not.

I do, however, agree that the simple fact that it is banned does not illuminate that it's divine inspired at all.

JH

Can't find any facts about whether teh Bible is the most banned book anywhere.

[Ducttapers4JC]

I have no problem with people questioning or disagreeing with the Bible, but here is the thing. The Bible is one of the most outlawed books around the world. If it were just a bunch of stories, why would you outlaw it? There are many fairytales, and they are not outlawed. There must be a reason that you would outlaw a simple book, if that were all it is. Here is the reason. The Bible is not just a book, not just a bunch of stories. The reason why it is illegal in so many countries is that it is powerful. It is changing lives. It is one of the most disputed books as to wether or not it is true, yet we have more ancient manuscripts for it then any other book of comparable age. Why is its authenticity questioned so much? Because no one wants it to be true, because if it were true, it would change their life, and they like their life how it is. The Bible is a powerful book, and no simple book could be this powerful, so it must not just be a book. So, I have concluded that it must be what is says it is, which is the word of God himself.

Anddddddddddddddd this doesn't explain how all the other Holy Books from the other religions are still in existence, cause if only the Bible were true, why would all these other books exist?

well, obviously they're wrong because the Bible says so.

I told you that I have no problem with people questioning the Bible, I am just telling you my opinion. And Skittles, you still didn't come up with a reason as to why Christianity is one of the most persecuted religions. Why would so many people die for a lie?

[neanderpaul14]

[Ray Rider]

I have no problem with people questioning or disagreeing with the Bible, but here is the thing. The Bible is one of the most outlawed books around the world. If it were just a bunch of stories, why would you outlaw it? There are many fairytales, and they are not outlawed. There must be a reason that you would outlaw a simple book, if that were all it is. Here is the reason. The Bible is not just a book, not just a bunch of stories. The reason why it is illegal in so many countries is that it is powerful. It is changing lives. It is one of the most disputed books as to wether or not it is true, yet we have more ancient manuscripts for it then any other book of comparable age. Why is its authenticity questioned so much? Because no one wants it to be true, because if it were true, it would change their life, and they like their life how it is. The Bible is a powerful book, and no simple book could be this powerful, so it must not just be a book. So, I have concluded that it must be what is says it is, which is the word of God himself.

Anddddddddddddddd this doesn't explain how all the other Holy Books from the other religions are still in existence, cause if only the Bible were true, why would all these other books exist?

well, obviously they're wrong because the Bible says so.

I told you that I have no problem with people questioning the Bible, I am just telling you my opinion. And Skittles, you still didn't come up with a reason as to why Christianity is one of the most persecuted religions. Why would so many people die for a lie?

A thing is not necessarily true because a person dies for it; his sacrifice simply shows the depth of his belief (think of the suicide bombers). A better question would be (based on the assumption a person believes the New Testament to be true), why did the disciples of Jesus, who had abandoned Him when He was arrested and returned to their old ways of life after the crucifixion, suddenly become devoted followers of Him a few days after He was in the tomb? Eleven of the twelve apostles suffered brutal deaths because they refused to renounce their belief in Jesus, and the only one who died of old age (John) had been nearly boiled to death at one point. Why, if they had simply stolen the body, would they all be willing to die for such a stupid hoax?

[Snorri1234]

. And Skittles, you still didn't come up with a reason as to why Christianity is one of the most persecuted religions.

Yeah Skittles! You didn't come up with an answer to my unsupported position!

[notyou2]

There's that white northern european look again.

Why doesn't he look Jewish?

[neanderpaul14]

There's that white northern european look again.

Why doesn't he look Jewish?

He must have used his "magical powers".

[PLAYER57832]

A thing is not necessarily true because a person dies for it; his sacrifice simply shows the depth of his belief (think of the suicide bombers).

True

A better question would be (based on the assumption a person believes the New Testament to be true), why did the disciples of Jesus, who had abandoned Him when He was arrested and returned to their old ways of life after the crucifixion, suddenly become devoted followers of Him a few days after He was in the tomb? Eleven of the twelve apostles suffered brutal deaths because they refused to renounce their belief in Jesus, and the only one who died of old age (John) had been nearly boiled to death at one point. Why, if they had simply stolen the body, would they all be willing to die for such a stupid hoax?

There are many reasons secular scholars have, beginning with "it just did not happen that way".

But the real truth is the veracity of the Bible is not to be found in secular scholarship. It is a matter of faith.

[PLAYER57832]

Belittlement, as always the sign of someone with nothing significant to add..

[Ducttapers4JC]

Thank you Ray Rider, I was thinking of the early Christians, including the disciples, but I wasn't very clear . Also, the reason that I wrote "one of the most banned books" is that I don't know for sure if it is the most banned book, and I thought it was better to write it like that then to lie.

[neanderpaul14]

[joecoolfrog]

Thank you Ray Rider, I was thinking of the early Christians, including the disciples, but I wasn't very clear . Also, the reason that I wrote "one of the most banned books" is that I don't know for sure if it is the most banned book, and I thought it was better to write it like that then to lie.

Your logic simply does not add up , by your reasoning all the heretics ( those Christians whose views differed from the Church line ) who were persecuted must have been right as well.

[jay_a2j]

[MeDeFe]

You're not getting away with this.

It should be "then there truly is no justice."

[jonesthecurl]

...and "it must be O.K."

-but then, fir atheists there are no rules, so he can write however he likes.

[BigBallinStalin]

Go get 'em jay...

[jay_a2j]