The Bible is a Book of Fairy Tales

Bart Ehrman is a NT scholar and professor. What you say is meaningless without evidence or other credible sources, no different than me. I dont care what your background is. I care what you say and provide verifiable sources for.

Biblical contradictions are obvious. I don't need to be a bible scholar to point them out. You either accept the truth or just ignore it, but questioning my qualifications is just dodging. If you truly believe there are no contradictions, you have either not read the bible or just read with rose colored glasses.

 

You're forgetting one important thing, Chief. I have not expressed any belief, disbelief or theological position in any direction. I'm amazed that I need a NT scholar to tell me that I need evidence or credibility to ask simple questions. It's the most unprecedented position I've ever heard or read about.

My background is irrelevant unless I'm stating a belief one way or another. What I've said is that you might not understand the Bible and that is based upon the fact that you cannot engage in civil discourse with me due to the fact that you think a question is a statement. I've not told you what I believe or disbelieve. You're attacking me for asking questions. I'm not attacking you.

The harshest thing I've said to you is based upon personal observation that does not call into any supposed facts you believe in. I'm trying to determine if you're capable of understanding what you read. And, if you don't understand that questions are not attacks, I'm not confident that you can show me contradictions in the Bible. I don't even know what they might be - and the other side of the coin is, maybe some people do not fully comprehend what they read relative to the Bible. Do you think your interpretation of the Bible is the only interpretation and the only explanation for all scriptures?

 

And you can ask the Flying Spaghetti Monster to help you believe in himself.

Again, it is strange that the very disciples that travelled with him doubted him on numerous occations, supposedly after numerous miracles. It's nothing but fairytales.

 

You don't need qualifications to see the contradictions, errors and exaggerations in the Bible. All you need is study. Some of the errors/exaggerations are a joke if you know the background. To say that Israel could raise 800,000 soldiers to fight Judah's 500,000 is ridiculous. That would put the population of Hebrew Palestine at the very least 4m. That doesn't include Palestinians still there. Palestine of the time would have struggled to support a million inhabitants.
2.5m - 3.5m Hebrews are supposed to have exited Egypt. That's over half the estimated population of the time - and no mention in Egyptian history of the devastation that would have caused to the Egyptian economy.
Christians would be better looking beyond their Bible and study the real Bible, with its background, culture, history of the time.

 

It's great that you could speak up for someone on the ropes.

Actually, I never studied demographics nor have a I seen anything thus far except opinions.

Did anyone keep a census during that time period? Where did those numbers of people come from? Are there any records to refute the biblical account? OR are we back to what people believe as differentiated from what we can prove?

 

According to the Jewish Babylonian Talmud in Gittin 58a it says that there were 400 synagogues in the city of Bethar. Each of those synagogues had 400 teachers. And each of those teachers had 400 students. Well guess what? The Roman soldiers swept in and wrapped those 64,000,000 Jewish children up in scrolls and burned them alive. http://come-and-hear.com/gittin/gittin_58.html

And in Gittin 57b it says that the Roman soldiers killed 4,000,000,000 people in the city of Bethar.
http://www.halakhah.com/gittin/gittin_57.html

And remember, Egypt was all of the land in the Levant that extended to the Tigris River. So the Isralites didn't necessarily leave Egypt; Egypt left the Israelites.

 

It would appear to me your real issue is with the Jewish Babylonian Talmud.

Are you beginning to see that my questions are based upon a different interpretation? Could that account for some of the disconnect here?

 

Do you remember that million man army from Ethiopia that invaded Judea?

 

Only one on the ropes is the one dodging the purpose of this thread. I've stated I believe the bible is fairytales. I can back this up by discrediting the bible as not being divinely inspired due to absurdities and contradictions. You appear to want to focus on the messengers and not the evidence presented.

Here's a start:



Does an "all loving God" sanction slavery? The biblical God does.

Exodus 21:20-21
20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.

Leviticus 25:44-46New International Version (NIV)
44 “‘Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45 You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46 You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.


Would an "all loving God" be racist? The biblical God is. Notice above that Jews are treated differently. And, why would an "all loving God" have a chosen race?

Is it ok for a father to sell his daughter into slavery? Biblically, yes.

Exodus 21:7
7 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do.

Does a rape victim have to marry her rapist? Biblically, yes.


Deuteronomy 22:28-29New International Version (NIV)
28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay her father fifty shekels[a] of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.



I will be adding scriptures to back up these issues. I can go on and on.

Now, let's see you be an adult and debate the evidence.

 

If such records exist, do you have any information that would lead to a conclusion either way?

 

I'm not trying to debate evidence. I see things being taken out of context.

Can we talk about right and wrong? In societal's norm, homosexuality is fine. Under biblical law, it is a sin, punishable by death. It seems to me that you cannot prove the rightness or wrong of homosexuality without introducing someone's morality. And then, there is context.

Let me give you an example:

Some years ago a man broke into my home. He took everything I owned of any value: guitars, guns, coins, electronics, camping gear, even my old dog tags from when I was in the service.

Insurance only covered up to 40 percent of SOME items. So, bear in mind, our laws allow the insurance company to steal from me. But, that is an acceptable practice. The insurance company screwed me out of the 40 percent and got away with paying 22 percent. But, that is what we tolerate as a society.

Then you have to consider on what I owned I had to work a job. Then I had to do a little research on the stuff I bought. I had to travel to buy it in most cases and do comparison shopping. It all cost time. So, if I could catch this guy, you have to bear in mind, I'm not only out my money, but time... time that NOBODY can replace. So, how come I cannot shoot the guy if I catch him and take away some of his time off this earth? If thieves were killed for their acts - acts that not only deprive you of the goods they steal, but the time you spent earning the money to buy them and the time spent shopping for them, they may not have an incentive to steal?

Now, using your non-religious philosophy, tell me the right and the wrong of what I think, under purely human laws, we could do.

 

You don't need a census to prove anything. You just need to know the history, the nature of the land, and archaeology. Put these together and you have a very good idea of numbers. Agricultural methods of the day, (ox ploughs, lack of modern chemicals, fertilisers), figures from archaeological digs, figures from ancient records of battles give us a good clue. Palestine could not support a large population. Neither could it raise such armies. Neither Babylon or Assyrian Empires could raise a tenth of this number between them, let alone 2 small Hebrew states. Can you imagine a million man army marching 1000 miles to face Asa - who had just 40,000 men - and being beaten. The logistics even today would be almost impossible. As the Germans found out at El Alamein.
We read about walled cities, but these were - in modern terms - towns. Most towns were villages.

The real truth is out there, if you look for it.

 

Dude, for real? You need to argue from context.

I know people that have been slaves all their lives. They work for employment agencies that charge employers a fee. They work in companies and the employment agency makes money off their labor. Then a corrupt government takes from their paltry checks (averaging $10 or so an hour) and give it to overpaid bureaucrats and lazy pieces of scatalogical waste that don't want to work. So, slavery is a part of life. You tolerate now. Hell, you even support it by doing business with companies that use slaves.

 

I'm hearing your interpretation - which does not translate into evidence. My brother, who is good in physics can prove, mathematically, it is impossible for a bumblebee to fly. Yet they do.

 

If you want to discuss right and wrong and insurance policies, start a thread and I'll answer this. Here, we are discussing the bible's validity.

 

Go read the whole chapters. It does not matter how much you dodge, the biblical God sanctions slavery. He treats Jews differently, he is misogynistic towards women, period. The scriptures are clear on this.

 

I asked questions and you didn't want to answer. Now, you're presuming to tell what I can post? Do you think YOU might have a God complex?

If we are to question God's validity, we must establish yours.

 

Jews? Are you in reference to Edomites?

 

Are you calling the Bible a liar? Shame.

 

You are either trolling or are too inept to debate this thread.

 

Please yourself. Just a pity you don't take the effort to study for yourself. If you want to believe fairy stories I've no objection. I did once, then I grew up.

 

See the problem with your example is that if you are a true Christian and the guy knocked on your door and asked for all of your stuff you would have gladly given it to him. But since you seem to lack the attributes of a true Christian he was sent as an evil angel to show you the error of your ways. But you still haven't seen them. Instead of becoming charitable you have become angry and vindictive to the point where you would gladly kill the person. That's just being evil and goes against the written biblical doctrine of Christanity. You will never get into the golden cube unless you change your attitude.

When I was younger I was burglarized twice, once in one State and the other time in another State. Both times I was highly upset because I lost stuff that was important to me. And then two times I was the victim of attempted burglaries. Not once did I call the cops or the insurance company. The cops did catch one of the burglars because he got busted for other ones and then he showed them where he had burglarized my house.

Now I hate burglars, mainly because they invade my personal space. But if the guy knocked on my door and politely asked for my tv or furniture or other stuff I would gladly give it to him. It would help me declutter my house. And then I could buy some new stuff just like I did before.

http://www.bricktestament.com/the_teachings_of_jesus/on_giving/mt05_41.html 4 Pictures

 

Thank you for admitting that your bible is a book of fairy tales!

 

Learn to read, and more importantly learn to think. Nowhere did I write that or even imply it.

 

Because you are moving Yabber's goalposts. He put them up and if you want to move them then you need to deal with him, not me!