Religious Books

I believe that the "Bible" has a good deal of the folklore variety of history in it. I also know that a great deal of Genesis can be found in earlier sources, most notably in the Gilgamesh epic. As for the religio-philosophical content of such books, i would opine that if any of it is "true," it is likely to result much as in throwing a handful of pebbles at a bottle--some of them are bound to be "hits."

They're all elaborate series' of myths. They shouldn't be thrown out, though, they're interesting. I think most religions have some sort of tale to go along with them, yes.

I agree with both of you. After all, the folks who wrote these books knew less about the workings of the physical world than we do.

These books, which were a primitive attempt of recording history, codifying ethics, and defining social norms, were monumental works, of their time.

Although I am totally non-religious, I have a deep respect for those works, as part of our ancient treasures of humanity.

Aside from the smattering of distorted history included in some of the writings they are all fictional novels.

Actually, parts of the OT are political commentary.

The Bible being a collection of books can't always be taken literally. Different styles and voices of the various authors and the seemingly contradictions of those authors reporting different experiences and having varying ideas of Christ's teachings keep people diverging on what to actually believe. As far as miracles are concerned, I think they happened. There might be an explanation that makes a certain miracle seem more realistic, but that really doesn't take away from it being a miracle. A lady who asks for a certain amount of money to pay for something very important is tipped that exact amount in her beauty parlor the next day. She can consider that a miracle even though it happened in a coincidental manner. Even if there is no realistic explanation of any certain miracle, the fact that one believes in God is enough for that person to believe in the miracles.

As far as "an eye for an eye" and "a tooth for a tooth" is concerned, not literal. Jesus Christ preached peace, not war. I'm not sure how to fit such scripture into the teachings of Christ, which is why I say they shouldn't be taken literally. Although, throughout history, some Christians have taken such scripture seriously.

"If your brother strikes you, turn the other cheek" kind of stuff is good advice. It encourages peaceful sentiments. I'd take it literal.

The Jewish doctrine would obviously be just the Old Testament portion of the Bible. The Islamic doctrine being the Koran/Qur'an (choose any spelling you want) actually supports claims of both the Christians and the Jews and, likewise, the Bible supports claims of the Muslims. I believe Muslims are more capable of admitting that fact. Christians have a problem seeing anything beyond their religion as possibly having truth. The Jews, on the other hand, are also rather capable of admitting the connections. All that to say I look at the two doctrines in a like manner. Sometimes, they can be taken literally and other times they shouldn't. It's basic adult logic. You know better than to pluck someone's eye out, just the same as you know you should turn the other cheek. Even though you feel like doing the exact opposite.

Now, I am not aware of any particular Buddhist doctrine other than a Tipitaka, which I have not read. I'm only aware of various writings of some followers like John Blofeld who wrote The Tantric Mysticism of Tibet. So, I can't really speak for Buddhist doctrine. But, I do have this to say.

Above all this I say that all of these books were written by humans with human capabilities of error. It is discernment as adults, as opposed to brainwashed morons, that help us understand what to take literally and what not to in any doctrine of any religion.

That is so true. Some miracles or happenings could probably be explained in scientific terms or understood on some natural level. Beyond that, they really hadn't experienced much. We've seen just about everything at this point centuries later. If water rolled out of a rock, we'd start looking for the tube.