In your opinion the Bible

Warrigal said:
No worries, Uncontrolable.

I have a good brain and I love stimulating discussions but when it comes to theology and questions that are largely unanswerable I tire easily these days. If you have read Fowler's Stages of Faith you will understand when I say that my faith has developed to the second last stage - Simplifying Faith. Note simplifying faith does not equate to simplistic faith. It means that I am ready to drop a lot of things that I spent time on in my younger days and concentrate on a core or simple matters. I don't bother with the Book of Revelations now. I am content to concentrate on the teachings of Jesus.

Everyone has faith in something and everyone's faith develops over time. As with stages of cognitive or moral development, not everyone attains the higher levels. There is no reason to look down on someone who seems to be operating at an lower level than we do because it is not a lower level - it is just an earlier stage of growth.
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You give me another task. I love it. Have you read the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous? My hunch is not. You have no reason. You would likely have to read the first 164 pages. The Big Book was written by the first 100 alcoholics who came to AA. These men were in the last stages of the disease. One of them committed suicide. It was not uncommon for some of these men to have sudden and profound spiritual experiences. I have had such experiences myself. Most of the book was actually written by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob. Their faith became profound and simple. Men who have achieved this level have a difference in their countenance. When they speak with someone their countenance seems to change the person they talk to. Their faith becomes absolute.

When they talk to their sponsees they discount the rapid and profound spiritual experience. Their advice is that spiritual growth is better if it is slow growth. I agree with that and have done the steps of AA multiple times. There is a spiritual energy that inhabits AA. The people in their various stages of growth contribute high vibrations to the group. The meetings often have as their subject the most spiritual of the steps. Step 3 is where they turn over their will and life to God. If they can do that step their life will change in unusual ways. I have sometimes used the analogy of the Wedding Song by Peter, Paul and Mary. "Where two or more people are gathered in his name there is love."

I ramble on. I wish you love, happiness, peace, and serenity.
 

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Dragonlady said:
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The original bible was put together by the Constantine priests at Nicaea, to give power over the masses to the church. There is more scriptures not in the bible than in it. The priests eliminated all scriptures having anything to do with women's power. Then Martin Luther came up with the Protestant version of the bible to PROTEST the Catholic church's power over the masses. He took out about six books from the Catholic version. But there are still many scriptures left out called the apocrypha. The book of Enoch is one such scripture. He was so close to God, he was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot like Elijah. Why would they leave such important information out of the bible? Because they wanted the church to have the power, not God.
 
Sometimes "fake news" is more acceptable than the real truth. The 1611 King James was translated from the latin Vulgate. The Latin Vulgate was produced by Jerome close to 400 AD. The veracity of all Bible versions comes from the resolve of the Jewish people who guarded the manuscripts. Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek are the original languages. Most of today's Bible versions are translated from the ancient texts for accuracy. Yes, some english Bibles have taken liberty with the message. That does not delude the original writing.

I can accept the position that many people today hope the Bible is full of errors and cannot be trusted. If so, then what do they trust? I think all people would rather be told the truth rather than lies. How many friends do we keep when we find they tell us lies always?
 
There is wisdom to be found in the Bible, but much of it I don't believe can be taken literally as historic truth. It is comprised of a hodgepodge of writings over many centuries by many individuals, probably by some with their own personal agendas, and by some trying to record the history of a nation from stories passed on from generation to generation.
 
SpicyTweed said:
There is wisdom to be found in the Bible, but much of it I don't believe can be taken literally as historic truth. It is comprised of a hodgepodge of writings over many centuries by many individuals, probably by some with their own personal agendas, and by some trying to record the history of a nation from stories passed on from generation to generation.
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It's a must to understand the history of the bible. It was first put together by Constantine's priests at Nicaea. They took all the scriptures and decided which ones would be allowed in the bible. They did this to give power over the masses to the Church. The Catholic church ruled the world for 1500 years, until the Protestants came along and threw out another six scriptures from the Catholic bible. Before the Protestants, no one was allowed to read the bible but the priests of the Catholic church. The priests told the masses what they had to believe. Anyone that didn't capitulate was burned at the stake as a heretic. Millions of Muslims and Jews were burned at the stake or beheaded.

There is more scriptures not in the bible than are in the bible.
 
terry123 said:
I have always believed its the inspired word of God.
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Those that wrote the scriptures were inspired to write what they wrote.....it's just that ancient people didn't understand what they were witnessing. For instance, when John wrote Revelations, he was taken to the hall of records, where everything that has ever happened, or ever will happen is already written down...so when he saw Armageddon, he didn't know what to call tanks and fighter jets and nuclear bombs. So he explained it as he was able to understand it.

And reading Revelations, it jumps around in time, showing that time isn't linear.

Many of the disciples were confused a lot about things Jesus spoke of.
 
Perhaps he was referring to the Roman Emperor Nero who was indeed repressing them and causing them to pay taxes (have a number)? Many biblical historians have concluded that this is the case.
 

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