A Bible poll

[KeysrSoze]

[ QUOTE ]

No archaelogical discovery has ever contradicted a Biblical reference.

The Bible was written by over 40 authors from just about every walk of life. The 66 Books were written over a 1500 year span in three languages on three continents. The Bible has one theme and no contradictions. (For those who think there are contradictions, most can be reasonably explained by studying the context and language of the orginal translations. We can discuss this in another thread if anyone is interested.)

The Bible contains hundreds of detailed prophesies which were later fulfilled to 100% accuracy.

The Bible has been persecuted for hundreds of years. Kings and dictators have made owning a copy of it illegal and made repeated attempts to destroy it completely. Yet, not only does it remain, it remains a best seller.

[/ QUOTE ]

No. I'll let others explain why.
[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[txag007]

Anyone looking for evidence regarding the writings of Moses might want to check this out:

http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/thera.html

While it's only a small bit of evidence, it basically says that scientists have been able to pinpoint a date for the fall of Jericho and the plagues that preceded the exodus.

[Georgia Avenue]

I guess I personally view the bible as creative nonfiction.

I'm only semi-kidding. Many of the events MAY have happened in some fashion, but the author(s) intention is certainly not reporting these facts. As PTB said, it's allegorical more than literal. The purpose is to enlighten the reader, to open up another facet of the divine, rather than scare people or bewitch them. So who cares if there’s any archeological evidence either way? Tolstoy made up 2/3 of War and Peace, but that book tells me more about life and war than Wellington’s journals, for sure.

Those who take every word (I assume they read Hebrew/Aramaic) literally, and who feel the need to believe its prophecies...Good Luck w/ All That.

Maybe it should be under self-help?

[usmhot]

[ QUOTE ]
No archaelogical discovery has ever contradicted a Biblical reference

[/ QUOTE ]

That's a slightly vacuous point. Its no different to my saying that no evidence has been found to contradict the existence of Leprechauns.

I certainly don't think Leprechauns exists!!! But maybe in 3000 years the people of the time will see some of the movies that have been made with Leprechauns in them and think that they must have existed because we have recorded stories about them!!! Maybe some of those future people will be tempted to think that many of our fictional movies were actually documentaries!!!

[ QUOTE ]
The Bible was written by over 40 authors from just about every walk of life. The 66 Books were written over a 1500 year span in three languages on three continents. The Bible has one theme and no contradictions.

[/ QUOTE ]

It may have one central theme - the 'One True God' theme - but it definitely has many different styles. The most glaring differences are between the grand-scale interferences by God in the Old Testament, and the somewhat more personalised and smaller 'miraculous' interactions of Jesus and God in the New Testament.
God didn't destroy anything big in the New Testament!!

Hardly all of the Bible's prophesies have proven to be true, as many of them are supposedly about some time in the future from now. How many of Nostradums' prophesies have been fulfilled??
Many prophesies have a way of being 'reworded' after the fact, so that they seem to have been fulfilled.

[ QUOTE ]
The Bible has been persecuted for hundreds of years. Kings and dictators have made owning a copy of it illegal and made repeated attempts to destroy it completely. Yet, not only does it remain, it remains a best seller.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just like 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

So, I'm guessing you actually believe that Jonah lived in the belly of a whale for years, Lot's wife was actually turned into salt, Adam and Eve were the first human's to exist and did not evolve from anything previously, Samson was a remarkably strong man who lost all his strength when his hair was cut, Moses actually casued the Red Sea to part revealing a dry path all the way across, etc. etc. ??

[txag007]

Ok. Where do I start? I'll take it point by point.

Archaelogical evidence: Perhaps I should elaborate. No evidence has been found to contradict the Bible. Some evidence has been found to confirm certain aspects. Some archaelogical evidence has been found to contradict other religions (specifically Mormonism; I'm not sure about others).

Regarding the tendency of future civilizations to regard our movies as documentaries: That's a little far fetched, don't you think? I recognize your sarcasm, but I don't think you're looking at this issue objectively.

The Bible's different styles: There are different styles, and that supports my point. There are different literary styles because different books were written by different people from different backgrounds in different periods of time. Yet, it all ties together remarkably well. This is because each word is inspired by God.

There are differences in the Old and New Testaments, but that's not to say that God wasn't personal in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, he actually spoke to humans on several occassions. As far as him destroying anything in the New Testament, read the book of Revelation. Also, pointing out the differences in the way God interacts in the two Testaments does not show a contradiction. It just shows a lack of understanding.

Regarding prophesy: Yes, there are many prophesies that remain unfulfilled. I was referring specifically to the Messianic prophesies that Jesus fulfilled. You mention that many prophesies have a way of being reworded after the fact to appear that they have been fulfilled. This is easily refuted by looking at the dates that the prophesies were made in the Old Testament (Carbon dating has been performed on the original manuscripts.) and the dates that they were fulfilled in the New Testament. Often, they are hundreds of years apart.

Also, the difference between the prophesies of Nostradamus and the prophesies in the Bible is that those of Nostradamus are vague and enematic. The prophesies in the Bible are very specific.

Regarding the other "Bible stories" you mentioned, yes I believe them. Specifically, Jonah was not in the belly of the whale for years, but only three days.

Yes, I believe them. We can't explain everything yet, but here is why I believe them: If one word of the Bible is found to be a lie, how can we believe the others are true. If one word falls, Christianity falls with it because our whole faith is based on Jesus overcoming death and rising from the dead.

[mindflayer]

i am not going to take the poll, but if you revise it to say
is the new testament fact..
i would vote yes. people were there, saw the events; put it down on paper.
As for the old testament?.. I can only believe it was inspired by God, but as for being facts? Who was there at genisis when God created light??

[ QUOTE ]
Ok. Where do I start? I'll take it point by point.

Archaelogical evidence: Perhaps I should elaborate. No evidence has been found to contradict the Bible.

[/ QUOTE ]

Please. You dont need archelogical evidence to contradict the Bible, just read it. What city was Jesus born in according to the Bible?

[djj6835]

[ QUOTE ]
No archaelogical discovery has ever contradicted a Biblical reference.



[/ QUOTE ]

If by this you mean no archeological discovery has ever varified a biblical story, then you are correct.

http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/

->

No Jews, no Jesus of Nazareth, no Nazareth, no apostles, no moses, no exodus, none of the Egyptian pharaos mentioned, etc. etc. etc.

Basically:
The entire old testament was thought up backwards to give the people in Israel some sort of backbone, because they were completely outclassed and outpowered by neighbouring nations.

Jewish historians admit there is no evidence whatsoever for the old testament, say a lot of the things were impossible, and basically admit it never happened. However!: do can explain to you how the old testament myths represent the culture and the philosophical ideas of that day.

The new testament is an utter ripoff of neighbouring cultures and myths. It's completely unoriginal; the ideas existed hundreds of years before that already.

How did Christianity spread?
http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/1000years.htm
http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/dark-age.htm

Yes, it's a lovely history they have.

So: what do 'Christians' today devout their lives to? To 2000+ year old pick 'n mix myths from places and cultures that are 180 degrees different from any of their lives today.

[sexdrugsmoney]

[ QUOTE ]
http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/

->

No Jews, no Jesus of Nazareth, no Nazareth, no apostles, no moses, no exodus, none of the Egyptian pharaos mentioned, etc. etc. etc.

Basically:
The entire old testament was thought up backwards to give the people in Israel some sort of backbone, because they were completely outclassed and outpowered by neighbouring nations.

Jewish historians admit there is no evidence whatsoever for the old testament, say a lot of the things were impossible, and basically admit it never happened. However!: do can explain to you how the old testament myths represent the culture and the philosophical ideas of that day.

The new testament is an utter ripoff of neighbouring cultures and myths. It's completely unoriginal; the ideas existed hundreds of years before that already.

How did Christianity spread?
http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/1000years.htm
http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/dark-age.htm

Yes, it's a lovely history they have.

So: what do 'Christians' today devout their lives to? To 2000+ year old pick 'n mix myths from places and cultures that are 180 degrees different from any of their lives today.

[/ QUOTE ]

*Sigh* where do I start, with the bad grammar or the concepts?

Concept:

This argument is shot to [censored] by reason, example:

Say a devil exists (just say he does) and he was cast out from God's prescence (a disgruntled ex-employee) but knew of God's upcoming 'marketing plan' to win back customers. (souls)

That ex-employee could then implement some of those strategies before God released his and thus cite precendence, because technically it's "been done before".

This happens all the time in life, somebody (usually an ex-employee or someone with inside knowledge) beats someone else to the punch and then claims it was their idea.

Now is this what happened? I don't know, I'm just putting it out there.

But to dogmatically state [censored] never happened like the site above, is a little audacious for a simple meat puppet with a domain name.

Cheers,
SDM