How old is the world?
Did man evolve?
Can a sea split in two?
Can a bush catch fire, yet not burn?
Can a ship float with millions of species of organisms, while holding the necessary elements for keeping them alive, including fresh water, while the rest of the world drown for over a month?
Can a man rise from the dead?
Can cutting your hair take away your strength?
Can one young boys meal feed thousands?
Can water be turned to wine?
The answers have always been debated, especially between theist and non-theist, but I ask you to take a very close look at the bible and make a judgement. Is it meant to be taken literally?
Personally, I'm a non-theist. But don't jump to conclusions saying I'm all down and out against religion and can't possible contribute to a theist perspective. That would be immoral to pass such judgement on me. The bible says so.
To help my case I will let you know something: I have read the entire bible, Old and New Testaments, as well as studied the other texts of the time which were not included in the final editing of the bible (if you aren't aware the bible is actually a big collection of sections of other "books", hence why the bible is divided as it is, which also explains why huge chunks of time are missing from the story and it only breezes through some portions). I respect your right to disagree with my reasoning or my beliefs, but I ask that you return the favor by not discrediting my research just because you don't agree with everything I say.
The issue I feel the need to deal with today is the right for a group of people to stop other people from being presented a viewpoint because it contradicts the bible. My patience has grown thinner every time I hear of another group of people saying the the discovery of fossils that are millions of years old along with other evidence suggesting the age of the earth being more like billions of years old is impossible because the bible says the contrary. I am tired of people saying homosexuality is wrong for everyone because a story in the bible condemns it. And I certainly don't want to hear the closed minded people of the world saying that evolution is impossible and creationism is a "science" worthy of being taught in a science classroom simply because the bible supposedly says Adam and Eve were man and woman exactly as we have men and women today.
I realize that you have a belief system based on the bible, and I am not going to tell you you're wrong for that. Like I said, I've read the book and my personal thoughts are that the stories are, for the most part, rubbish. It isn't that any of the claims in the bible are impossible, I believe nothing is impossible, just not proven or commonly plausible. What I do have trouble with is the literal translation of the book.
The bible has thousands of translations. Each translation, even different English translations, differ from little minor details to huge facts. This is a stem as to why even most theists can't agree on the meaning of the bible.
My opinion is that the bible is a good moral guideline. If you need help figuring out what morals are good for you to follow (for clarification: what morals are good for you, not your neighbor, not the guy who passes on the street, for you and your alone) then the bible is a great place to start. Those bible stories that children read teach good lessons. I remember learning the concepts of pure love, giving, caring, being a good samaritan, helping others, etc etc from such bible stories. They are wonderful lessons. When I become a mother I may very well tell my child stories from the bible to teach those same lessons that were so useful for me. But, I will not teach my child to believe everything literally.
Fact is, most stories is the bible can't be verified, then again they can't necessarily be disproven. But when evidence does arrive, please don't attempt to sheild others or hurt you own cause of morality by denying facts and truths just because they don't perfectly match up with your beliefs. Take the bible in the abstract concept, a collection of moral stories in place to teach valuable lessons that make humanity better, rather than a book of facts that must not be disputed.
When we find a billion year old fossil, don't discount the evidence. When we connect the genes with bone records suggesting connections between two seemingly unrelated species, don't cry out against evolution. When a non-traditional couple wants to be married, don't judge and say they will go to hell (according to one translation of the bible, the people who say "You are going to hell" are passing judgement, and right given only to the christian god, and are condemned to hell for attempting to act in place of god... never thought of that did you?)
All I ask is that you keep your faith, share your faith, but don't deny others a different faith. No two people believe the exact same thing, faith is a very personal thing. The seperation of church and state is there for a reason. You have your right to your faith, and I have my right to mine. Don't keep me from mine and I won't deny you yours. Simple enough?
"Take the bible in the abstract concept, a collection of moral stories in place to teach valuable lessons that make humanity better, rather than a book of facts that must not be disputed."
It seems to me your telling everyone what to do with the book as much as 'they' are. *rubs chin* Just a thought
I take the Bible literally in part, not in whole. I believe in the possibility to fuse the ideas of creationism and evolution (they are only mutually exclusive if you take both viewpoints to the extreme). I do believe the earth is probably as old as scientists say it is. I believe dinosaurs existed. I also believe that there was a Red Sea that was parted. I also believe that several men have risen from the dead.
"When we find a billion year old fossil, don't discount the evidence. When we connect the genes with bone records suggesting connections between two seemingly unrelated species, don't cry out against evolution."
I think maybe you should have used "if" instead of "when". I just think it sounds better.
Thank you for your comment. I didn't mean to sound like I was telling anyone how interpret the bible, though I realize it might sound that way in that sentence. That is how believe the bible was meant to be taken, but a good point.
As for the second point, I just when instead of if because such evidence have been found. I was refering stories I have already heard.
Thanks again for all the comments everyone!
~BLee
I appreciate that in spite of you being a non-theist that you have read the Bible thoroughly and appreciate the morals, at leasr. :) That's more than I can say for myself- and I'm a Christian! I have not read the Bible completely and I honestly don't read very much of it. Thank you for being so open-minded. :)
"I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people."
-Van Gogh
The Bible is not to be taken literally. If in fact we took the Bible literally it would mean a reinstitution of slavery; if children hit or cussed at their parent(s) they'd be executed; women who are on their periods would be "unclean" and anything they touched would be unclean; the deformed, mentally ill, blind, sick, couldn't become priests; and women would have no rigths, and men would be free to sell their daughters into slavery or sexual bondage. The Bible is supposed to be a guide...you can read the stories and appreciate the morals of the stories, you can see that some of the stories contradict each other, and you can believe that the Bible is literally the word of God or you can believe that Bible is a compilation of stories written by people who had faith and were given inspiration, and wrote these stories to help people understand Christianity, but to take the words literally is to stay confused...it condemns violence and yet it promotes violence.
The people who wrote the stories in the Bible wrote the stories so that we could have help understanding the spiritual truth of Christianity, not so it would be a scientific or historical factual accounting--but a spiritual truth.
Spiritual truths are left up to the individual. What I believe does not have to be the same as what you believe. We do not have to agree. We can agree to disagree, but what we can't do is take away the rights of people just because we disagree with them or how they live their lives or what they do or what they believe.
If in fact we took the Bible literally it would mean a reinstitution of slavery
The Bible allows slavery. It does not require it. Therefore, it would not mean a reinstitution of slavery. In fact, those laws were in reference to humane treatment of Israeli slaves.
women who are on their periods would be "unclean" and anything they touched would be unclean
We're talking about spiritual purity here, not actual cleanliness. And again, this only applied to Israeli women, thus it would have no effect on most people today. Furthermore, there still are women who practice this particular law, and it's said to bring more closeness between a woman and her husband because they can't have sex or touch for 12 days at a time.
the deformed, mentally ill, blind, sick, couldn't become priests
Jewish priests, and they cannot. In fact, you have to be born into a certain family to become a Jewish priest anyway, so it wouldn't apply to much of anyone anyway.
women would have no rigths
Women in Israel had more rights then than their non-Israeli counterparts. In fact, they had more rights than women in the US did up until a couple hundred years ago (such as it being prohibited from beating your wife and it was her right to refuse sex, something that was not recognized in the US [and still might not be... I can't remember]).
Besides, according to most Christian beliefs, these are null and void anyway. I don't think these were the exact intent of the blog though, but rather if stories about Sampson and Noah and Adam and Eve and King David were all actually true (thus proving the veracity of the Bible).
I personally believe that they do. No, I don't have any evidence, and no, I don't expect anyone to have the same beliefs as me. But I do believe everything is true (up to a point.. I'm reexamining my feelings about the New Testament). I do not want laws based on the Bible in any shape or form, and have my own morals when it comes to the legal code in the US (I don't entirely agree with abortion, but I don't think there should be laws banning it, for example).
~C
Visit my blog.
As a Christian, I still don't take the entire Bible literally. I don't think it was written to be taken literally all the time. You have to keep in mind that time changes, and with time, custom changes. :) The examples you gave were common during times of the Old Testament but with the coming of Christ, things changed. I haven't read the entire Bible and I shouldn't argue for it when I haven't even read much of it as it is. I just think that most people don't draw that distinction between the Old and New Testaments. The contradictions come from people wanting to melt them together.
I like to think of myself as very tolerant of other people when it comes to their respectful beliefs or non-beliefs. :) In fact, my very best friend is an atheist... but our differences in religious matters have made our friendship stronger, it seems to me.
I have forgotten what else I was going to say! :P Anyway...
"I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people."
-Van Gogh