aljo1

I have met many devout Christian who believe the Bible is the word of God. And because they believe so, they take any contradiction on this issue as an insult..if you believe in evolution, they would say..that´s not written in the Bible! Many Christian become so Judgemental and believe that their faith or church(Catholics, Jehovah Witnesses, or others)is the only church or faith chosen by God.
If the Bible is the word of God, why is it so contradicting? You read in the old testament of a judgemental and jealous God, you read in the new testament of loving, forgiving and patient God. God wouldn´t contradict Himself would He?

duck

Oh, I would be a practicing Catholic without any worries if they would just admit that the bible is the work of man.

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Religion: The ultimate definition of verisimilitude

nakamichi680zx

I recommend you start here. Or read his book Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code to get a sense of how the Bible was canonized and what was left out. I think you'll soon realize that (1) there were no eye-witnesses that wrote the Bible (2) that these stories were floated around from decades to a generation+ before they were put to paper by Koptic scholars, so that what they were putting down had many many years of retelling and shifting, and finally that the books which were chosen were vetted by men who wanted a particular tone to the Bible.

If the Bible had indeed arrive "by Fax" directly from God, it would have contained no inconsistencies nor problematic anthropomorphizing of God if he is indeed infallible and without the human failings of man.

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GrassHoppah: The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences.

AB517

catholics admit this. Least the ones around me. That is one reason I am catholic.

xexon

The bible is a collection of stories about people who had divine experiences. The bible was written and translated by people who had not. It's JUST a book.

While it contains wisdom and ideas of proper living, it is unable to transmit the spiritual fire to light your own torch. The only way that happens is when you encounter a true saint.

Religion is a useful tool for shaping the mind. Little value otherwise.


x

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Destroyer of Worlds

shadowind

i agree,
and the shape the mind can take with religion could be that of caring or that of war, or a mixture of both perhaps.

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remember "for mere impulse of appetite is slavery, while obedience to a law which we prescirbe to oursleves is liberty"-rousseau: the concept of the general will "if we can not reconcile all opions, then let us endeavour to unite all hearts."-?"to be is to be perceived"-? "‘We can be as honest as we are ignorant. If we are, when asked what is beyond the horizon of the known, we must say that we do not know’-Robert G. Ingersoll

Abel

A proper study of the Bible reveals there are no real contradictions at all. Your example of a different type of God in the Old and New Testaments does not hold water.

You said the God of the O.T. was a God of judgment. He is in the N.T. also: Heb.12::23, Rev.20:11-12.

You said the God of the O.T. was a jealous God. He is in the N.T. also: 2 Cor.6:16.

You said the God of the N.T. is a loving God. He is in the O.T. also: Deut.23:5

You said the God of the N.T. is a forgiving God. He is in the O.T. also: 2 Chron.7:14.

You said the God of the N.T. is a patient God. He is in the O.T. also: Ps.86:15.

I will admit that there are things we do not comprehend, but there are no proven contradictions.

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God loves you and I'm trying.

shadowind

allknowing, allcreating, allpowerfull allbenifical and mercyfull god not contrary?

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remember "for mere impulse of appetite is slavery, while obedience to a law which we prescirbe to oursleves is liberty"-rousseau: the concept of the general will "if we can not reconcile all opions, then let us endeavour to unite all hearts."-?"to be is to be perceived"-? "‘We can be as honest as we are ignorant. If we are, when asked what is beyond the horizon of the known, we must say that we do not know’-Robert G. Ingersoll

AB517

This is like stating a hammer can only drive a nail without seeing it can help you build you a home.

Religion can help you shape your mind.

We need to be careful, like the sun, religion can blind you too.

Jodou1

I am in the midst of reading Age of Reason by Thomas Paine, and I rather like many of his views.

Aside from his pointing out the chronological errors(though I'm not sure how if those have been debated effectively in the past 200 years.) he makes a very good point about the word of god in written form.

The book is a bit wordy for my taste, I can attribute that to the era of its writing, but I recommend it.

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“Infidelity does not consist in believing or in disbelieving: it consists in professing to believe what one does not believe.”-Thomas Paine