SURVEY: IS the BIBLE RELIABLE?

Is the bible reliable? Smile

Is the Pope Jewish?

reliable as what? ok I'll bite

1. before anyone can answer, you have to define what you mean by the word 'god'

2. authors usually say what they want to say so Yes

3. see 1. above

4. see 3. above

5. what is a piece of inspired writing? As a matter of fact the bible as you know it was cobbled together from a wide range of sources, deliberately leaving out many more. e.g. gospel according to Thomas.

6, No

7. Why does this matter?

8. I dont know, can you? Why you asking me?

9. Yes particularly where they are in conflict

10. I sincerely hope you do not take the old testament God as your role model. This is what Prof Richard Dawkins said recently in his book The God Delusion

Quote:

The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant characterr in all fiction: jealous and proud of it: a petty, unjust unforgiving control freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomanical, sado masochistic, capriciously malevolent bully. Those of us schooled from infancy in his ways can become desensitized to their horror. A naif blessed with the perspective of innocence ha a clearer perception. Winston Churchill's son Randolph somehow contrived to remain ignorant of scripture until Evelyn Waugh and a brother officer, in a vain attempt to keep Churchill quiet when they were posted togetehr during the war, bet him he couldnt read the entire Bible in a fortnight: "Unhappily it has not had the result we hoped. He has never read any of it before and is hideously excited; keeps reading quotations aloud "I say I bet you didn't know this came in the Bible..." or merely slapping his side and chortling "God, isnt God a ****!"
Thomas Jefferson - better read - was of a similar opinion: 'The Christian God is a being of terrific character - cruel, vindictive, capricious and unjust'

I am male and university educated...thats all

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some of your questions are flawed, they deal with doubt, yet you want definite aswers (Y/N), not the best situation

1) How do we know the bible really came from god?
we don't
2) Didn't the authors just say whatever they wanted to say? (Yes/No)
quite possibly
3) Did god inspire every word or just the ideas? (Y/N)
quite possible we will never know
4) How do we know that we have all of God's truth in the bible?
see answer above
5a) How do we know we have all the inspired writings?
see answer above
5b) Were some lost? (Y/N)
probably
6) Were the bible writers stenographers who wrote down what god told them? (Y/N)
not primarily
7) With so many translations, how do we know what the bible says?
it says what it says, the different interpretations suit the users needs
8) Can I get help in understanding what the bible says? (Y/N)
certainly you can, but peoples perceptions of truths can be very different
9) Is everyone's individual interpretation of the bible equally true, or reliable? (Y/N)
see answer above
10) If we are going to rely on god's word as the authority in our lives, should we have answers to questions like these? (Y/N)
IF, we are going to rely, then yes

43, male, high school graduate

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1) How do we know the bible really came from god?

We do not know such a thing. I do think it is highly unlikely.

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2) Didn't the authors just say whatever they wanted to say? (Yes/No)

Yes.

Two different authors created two different stories of creation, Genesis chapters 1 and 2, which vary quite distinctly, and this certainly points toward the conclusion that the authors were making up things.

There is also a gap of 40+ years between the time Jesus supposedly was crucified, 30 A.D., and the time Mark wrote the first gospel, sometime after 70 A.D. The information given about this time comes from Paul. However, nobody told Paul about Bethlehem, Mary, Joseph, Herod, the ministry of Jesus, the miracles, and the only things he did know about the story was the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension and he never places those on Earth—Paul never considered Jesus to be a person like ourselves and the events he spoke of all happened in a mythical realm. If Paul is the source of Mark’s information, then where did the story of Bethlehem, Mary, Joseph, etc. come from? This also points to the conclusion that the authors were making up things.

Now, take into consideration the culture of the time the New Testament was written. The culture had many allegorical stories, such as the so-called wisdom texts. The Gnostics were a competing religion during these times and they had many of the same kind of stories as we have in Christianity, and they thought it all allegory. It is quite possible the story was filled in to bring the allegories down to Earth so it were more applicable to their peoples’ daily lives. There is also the fact that Hercules was one of the most recent deities of the culture and he was the first deity to be considered god and man at the same time. As soon as Hercules started to lose favor with the people, a deity very familiar to him showed up. The culture of the time points to the conclusion that the authors wrote whatever they wanted to.

The story of the Ark of Noah certainly points to the conclusion that the authors wrote whatever they wanted to. This subject has been discussed rigorously on these forums and the information is still there. As such, I shall not both writing about it.

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3) Did god inspire every word or just the ideas? (Y/N)

This is a false dichotomy. It prevents the person from saying a god character had nothing to do with it.

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4) How do we know that we have all of God's truth in the bible?

You do not know such a thing.

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5a) How do we know we have all the inspired writings?

You do not know such a thing. The first and second books of Adam and Eve, for example, are not included. I suppose the reasoning behind this decision was that it portrayed god as someone who was not forgiving.

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5b) Were some lost? (Y/N)

Yes, but not enough of them.

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6) Were the bible writers stenographers who wrote down what god told them? (Y/N)

No.

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7) With so many translations, how do we know what the bible says?

Most people do not have the slightest idea of what the Bible says. For example, the word Hell is translated from four distinct languages from two distinct cultures at two distinct times: Sheol, Gehenna, Hades, and Tartarus. Sheol referred to graves, pits, and the general idea of death but it is translated as Hell many times. Gehenna was a pit of fire along the south side of Jerusalem where Pagans sacrificed children during the Old Testament times and where Israel’s Supreme Court (Sanhedrin) executed criminals. Hades is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Sheol, and refers to the same things: graves, pits, and the general idea of death. Tartarus is used only one time in the Bible and refers to the dark and cold prison for angels, and nothing about humans is said. Thus, the Bible does not support the notion of an afterlife of eternal punishment for unrepentant sinners. How many Christians actually understand this? It is doubtful whether anybody has an accurate idea of what the Bible actually says.

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8) Can I get help in understanding what the bible says? (Y/N)

I suppose so… the Internet is available to you, isn’t it?

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9) Is everyone's individual interpretation of the bible equally true, or reliable? (Y/N)

No.

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10) If we are going to rely on god's word as the authority in our lives, should we have answers to questions like these? (Y/N)

If there is a god then you probably can rely on its words. However, the Bible is, from all the available evidence, not the words of any god.

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AGE (18 above only)
SEX
MARITAL STATUS
EDUCATION (Up to High school/ Bachelor's degree/ Master's degree/Ph. d, or none)

21, Male, Single, high school with two years of college.

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Re: SURVEY: IS the BIBLE RELIABLE?
1) How do we know the bible really came from god?
We don't
2) Didn't the authors just say whatever they wanted to say? (Yes/No)
Yes.
3) Did god inspire every word or just the ideas? (Y/N)
Neither.
4) How do we know that we have all of God's truth in the bible?
We don't.
5a) How do we know we have all the inspired writings?
None of them are "inspired" if by that you mean dictated by a god.
5b) Were some lost? (Y/N)
I'm sure things have been lost in the many versions of it and numerous translations.
6) Were the bible writers stenographers who wrote down what god told them? (Y/N)
No.
7) With so many translations, how do we know what the bible says?
We don't.
8) Can I get help in understanding what the bible says? (Y/N)
???
Does this mean can you get someone to tell you what "god" was saying in the bible? No to that. Or does it mean, can you find people who can explain the history of it, the disagreements on translations, the theories about the background of it, etc? Then yes to that.
9) Is everyone's individual interpretation of the bible equally true, or reliable? (Y/N)
No.
10) If we are going to rely on god's word as the authority in our lives, should we have answers to questions like these? (Y/N)
Yes, IF, but I certainly disagree with using a human conception of "god" as an authority.

AGE (18 above only) 26
SEX yes please <hahahahaha> female
MARITAL STATUS married
EDUCATION (Up to High school/ Bachelor's degree/ Master's degree/Ph. d, or none) AA, Bachelor's in progress...

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The list of questions may be pared down somewhat by considering Paul's words at 2Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is inspired of God. . ."

I'm an old married geezer with a masters' degree.

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neologist wrote:

The list of questions may be pared down somewhat by considering Paul's words at 2Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is inspired of God. . ."

But that brings up questions 3, and 2.

3) Did god inspire every word or just the ideas?

2) Didn't the authors just say whatever they wanted to say?

38 (Hell, 39 in a couple of weeks.)
male
single
BA

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"My turn!!"

AGE 31
SEX M
MARITAL STATUS S
EDUCATION GED

1) How do we know the bible really came from god? [unanswerable]
2) Didn't the authors just say whatever they wanted to say? Probably.
3) Did god inspire every word or just the ideas? [trick question]
4) How do we know that we have all of God's truth in the bible? N/A
5a) How do we know we have all the inspired writings? We don't.
5b) Were some lost? Yes.
6) Were the bible writers stenographers who wrote down what god told them? No.
7) With so many translations, how do we know what the bible says? [pass]
8) Can I get help in understanding what the bible says? Probably.
9) Is everyone's individual interpretation of the bible equally true, or reliable? No.
10) If we are going to rely on god's word as the authority in our lives, should we have answers to questions like these? If we had answers to questions like these, we wouldn't rely on God's word for anything.

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Re: SURVEY: IS the BIBLE RELIABLE?
1) How do we know the bible really came from god?
That presupposes there be a god. Now, while that is a point to which some may stipulate, never has it been demonstrated.

2) Didn't the authors just say whatever they wanted to say? (Yes/No)
If you want a straight yes/no, then the answer would have yto be "Yes"; ine must assume they wrote as they did because what they wrote is what they wanted to say.

3) Did god inspire every word or just the ideas? (Y/N)
We're right back to that undemonstrated first premise - what god?

4) How do we know that we have all of God's truth in the bible?
Now you're just going in circles.

5a) How do we know we have all the inspired writings?
5b) Were some lost? (Y/N)

To conclude that no scriptural writings were "lost" is absurd ... in fact, it is beyond highly likely that some words and/or phrases that had existed even in one or another formal canon have been "lost" - thats just the way that stuff goes. We know from references in other ancient works that we don't have all of Homer's writings, and we don't even know who wrote Beowulf.

6) Were the bible writers stenographers who wrote down what god told them? (Y/N)
And we come 'round the circle once more - what god?

7) With so many translations, how do we know what the bible says?
Actually, thats both a good point and a not-so-good point. The Qumran texts, for example, indicate the Septuagint of today may be at least in part very like the Septuagint of 2 millenia ago - but that's all they indicate. There are differences, major ones, and when one includes Masoretic texts, even more differences glare at the critical examiner. The one thing we have for certain is uncertainty.

8) Can I get help in understanding what the bible says? (Y/N)
Why might I suspect you are just the person to see for help in understanding your version of whatever translation of whichever canon of the bible you endorse?

9) Is everyone's individual interpretation of the bible equally true, or reliable? (Y/N)
Going back to that undemonstrated first premise, and taking into account the myriad canons, translations, and traditions from whence derive today's various bibles, the answer to this one has to be "Yes, all individual interpretations of the bible are equally true and reliable" - which is to say, "neither necessarilly true nor reliable" with reference to anything but themselves

10) If we are going to rely on god's word as the authority in our lives, should we have answers to questions like these? (Y/N)
And we come once more around that undemonstrated first premise circle - what god? Adding to that, what authority? And going further, by what criteria may it be demonstrated "we" need rely on any "word as authority in our lives"? Society, and its child, Civilization, are but developments of the pack order instinct - what's good for the pack is good for the individual who partakes of the pack's benefits and thrives well enough to pass genes to succeeding generations. The notion that morality proceeds from religion is absurd; religion expropriated morality, twisting it as convenient to whatever agenda any given religion at any given time sought to press. If humankind's inherrent nature were selfich, avaricious, bloodthirsty, and driven by lust and gluttony, not even the forerunners of clans would have arisen ... and the odds humankind would have progressed from the savannahs to this point are exceedingly slim.

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AGE - Over 60
SEX - Male - with some recollection of sex
MARITAL STATUS Very - and from what I understand, she sorta recalls sex, too.
EDUCATION Some Post Graduate Arts & Sciences, some advanced technical training, civilian and military - and plenty of hard knocks.