Does the Bible contain any true information?

Well, it was to "physical evidence" that i was referring. It is important to realize that this is, as is the case with almost all history, an open question. Most scholars questioned the existence of Pontius Pilate until quite recently. In 1961, Israeli archaeologists working at the site of Caesarea Maritima, the capital of the Roman prefecture of Iudaea (Judea), which was a subdivision of the province of Syria--these archaeologists found a monumental inscription by Pontius Pilate dedicated an arena to the Emperor Tiberius. As i say, many reputable scholars doubted that Pilate had existed because of a lack of corroborating evidence. But it's kind of hard to ignore evidence which is, literally, carved in stone.

I'll do that, thanks. I've just spent the last three weeks studying and getting pissed off at the obvious anti-Semitic manipulations in Matthew. Talk about someone with an agenda!!!

If one believes the bible and all the miracles that were performed during that period, then any notion of questioning the bible is moot. However, if we understand mythology, history, anthropology, geology, and the cessation of miracles after the bible was written, we can assume "logically" that the entire bible is a fiction.

Just because the concept of healer/miracle worker was not unusual 2,000 years ago, that doesn't tell us they were rational in terms of contemporary understanding of religions and science.

There are still some cultures of this world that practices some forms of religious rituals that are based on healer/miracle workers. Do you still believe them?

That's a good point, JPB. Paul and the evangelists were interested in converting the Hellenistic world, and the "Jewishness" of the sect was a problem for them. Paul began to erode the original nature of what was essentially a Jewish sect when he was able to convince church fathers to drop the circumcision requirement. It is really rather bizarre to see how much people who revere a Jew are willing to despise Jews in general.

No, but I don't subscribe to the all of nothing viewpoint either. I don't "believe the bible and all the miracles", nor do I think the "entire bible is fiction". I don't think any of the conversations are accurate recordings, for instance, but I do think that the bible serves as a valuable historical novel.

The "valuable historical novel" includes so many contradictions, errors, and omissions, I'm not sure I can rationalize all those problems as a guidebook for living.

Very insightful. And good reason to revive this thread, if even for my own purpose.

Uh dumbass? EVERYTHING in the Bible is true. God spoke to them and He is not crazy is He?

Good for you mate, here's some real crazy stuff..-

"Love one another, feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the destitute, tend the sick, visit the prisoners, look after the poor"- Jesus of Nazareth (Mark 12:30, John 13:34, Matt 25: 37-40)

you forgot about "kill the fig tree if it doesn't bear fruit when you are walking by"

"Smoting aint so bad if youre all powerful"

Jesus trashed the fig tree himself in annoyance, he wasn't ordering anybody else to do it!
It's an intriguing passage on several counts-
1- Jesus got angry which makes him seem as human as the rest of us.
2- The passage was never edited out of the Bible to try to make him look more holy.
3- It shows he had the power to bend the laws of physics in this illusion or dream which we call "reality", and he did it 37 more times to produce what people called "miracles".

Fig tree incident-
"Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry.
Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.
Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done" (Matt 21:18-21)