What Is "Will Power"?

Why on earth would quotes from the bible make you less believable, if said quotes are relevant / valid? Religions have long pondered the question of willpower, whether or not they know it.

I'm often amazed as the 'there's no proof for God, therefore everything in the bible is superstition' nonsense. Not a single person can substantiate that attitude, if they dig far enough...yet that is what they accuse Christians of (being unable to substantiate God).

It is no wonder people want to discredit the bible and most other religious documents. The ambiguity, contradiction, bigotry and exclusivity are contrary to what "God" really is to me. In my old age I have needed to leave much of the bible behind myself. When I was young, naive and idealistic I believed but as I live more I wonder if religio0n is the root of all evil. All the love for money in the world cannot compare to the evil perpetrated by religion and the bible. I know I lose religious friends when I say stuff like this but I feel compelled to out of a good conscience.

Oh my comment wasn't that the bible doesn't contain many contradictions, and can be manipulated by power hungry people - it does and can...you will need to read my comments in context of what it was in reply.

As you get older still, you will also realise that the Bible isn't the root of much evil (though it has many accounts of evil) - people's fear, and peoples desire for power and dominance take care of that...sadly it's not love, nor money that make the world go round, but power.

If you go and read the accounts of Jesus, without reading the accounts of any other person or part of the bible - it's an interesting read, purely because it's so different from the rest of the bible...almost Buddhist / Eastern mystic like.

Yes, the interpretations of what I consider to be the more sophisticated religious scholars describe Jesus very like (1) an ethical genius somewhat like Dostoyevski's Prince Myshkin (in The Idiot) and (2) a mystic. He certainly was not a magician as most of our fundamentalist pseudo Christians would have it

My last post was not actually directed at you. It was sort of a blanket statement.
I am in agreement with you up until the point that hidden within even the Jesus accounts is a type of occult messaging and is this really honesty and "truth"?

"I am the way, the TRUTH and the life..."

Why can't people just say what they mean, why hide a secret meaning in these deeds as if common people are too stupid to understand. Parables and allegories will never compare to plain and simple truth. After such manipulation is the will actually free and is not the power of the will deceived and defeated by deception? All so the, err, "chosen few" can have their jollies. It is harder and yet more honorable to speak the truth than to tell a manipulative lie.