Cloud Hobbit
2018-01-10 20:40:48 UTC
Many people believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God, but, for that to be true, it must stand up to critical analysis as a factual history. Any deviation from this ideal would mean that any other portions of the Bible, even the otherwise believable stories, would be suspect for their veracity. Most Biblical stories cannot be proven true or false, but, as an example, the following ten can be considered false beyond a reasonable doubt:
Garden of Eden- current science has long surpassed this amateurish explanation of our origins
Noah Flood- there is no evidence of a worldwide flood or that the vessel described could have completed this mission
Census in the gospels- the Romans took great care in documenting their censuses- there was no census at the time of Jesus’ birth, and there never was a requirement for people to travel to their birth cities to be counted
Passover prisoner release- the Romans never released a prisoner at the Passover
He who is without sin- the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery was added to the scriptures almost 400 years after the fact, and was copied from a previous religious tradition
Hebrew enslavement in Egypt- absolutely no evidence from any source including Egyptian historical records
Camel archaeology- camels were discussed in the Old Testament before any camels existed there
Zombies after Jesus death- Matthew’s account of people rising from their graves, walking around the city, and conversing with people is false based on its intrinsic absurdity
Elisha calling down a curse of boys who were mocking him resulting in two bears emerging from the woods and mauling 42 children- false by reason of absurdity
The Tower of Babel- linguistic studies reveal this explanation for different languages to be farcical
Jonah and the whale – a fantastical story borrowed from ancient traditions and with no basis in reality.
Joshua 10:13 – the sun stood still for over a day- consistent with the then-assumed earth-centered universe, but now understood that this would have caused an epic catastrophe over the whole earth.
Cain acquiring a wife out of thin air in Genesis 4:17 when only Adam, Eve, and Cain were supposedly alive at the time
These are just some of many examples, but they are sufficient to show that the Bible contains a lot of fiction and the extent to which it pervades the book is unknown. It calls into question every story presented in the Bible as being potentially fictional or otherwise exaggerated.
(62) Text remains, practice changes
Because of societal pressure and scientific advancements, Christian practices and dogma have changed over the centuries. However, the text of the Bible has remained static, resulting in a disconnect that becomes more glaring as time goes on. The best way to explain this point further is to quote Mark Twain:
The Christian’s Bible is a drug store. Its contents remain the same; but the medical practice changes…The world has corrected the Bible. The church never corrects it; and also never fails to drop in at the tail of the procession- and take the credit of the correction. During many ages there were witches. The Bible said so. the Bible commanded that they should not be allowed to live. Therefore the Church, after eight hundred years, gathered up its halters, thumb-screws, and firebrands, and set about its holy work in earnest. She worked hard at it night and day during nine centuries and imprisoned, tortured, hanged, and burned whole hordes and armies of witches, and washed the Christian world clean with their foul blood.
Then it was discovered that there was no such thing as witches, and never had been. One does not know whether to laugh or to cry…..There are no witches. The witch text remains; only the practice has changed. Hell fire is gone, but the text remains. Infant damnation is gone, but the text remains. More than two hundred death penalties are gone from the law books, but the texts that authorized them remain.
The conclusion that should be drawn from this point is that a religion and holy book inspired or authored by a supernatural deity should not have multiple issues that have to be abandoned because of future advancement of society. Rather, it should be predictive of such changes.
http://www.kyroot.com/?p=8#61
Garden of Eden- current science has long surpassed this amateurish explanation of our origins
Noah Flood- there is no evidence of a worldwide flood or that the vessel described could have completed this mission
Census in the gospels- the Romans took great care in documenting their censuses- there was no census at the time of Jesus’ birth, and there never was a requirement for people to travel to their birth cities to be counted
Passover prisoner release- the Romans never released a prisoner at the Passover
He who is without sin- the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery was added to the scriptures almost 400 years after the fact, and was copied from a previous religious tradition
Hebrew enslavement in Egypt- absolutely no evidence from any source including Egyptian historical records
Camel archaeology- camels were discussed in the Old Testament before any camels existed there
Zombies after Jesus death- Matthew’s account of people rising from their graves, walking around the city, and conversing with people is false based on its intrinsic absurdity
Elisha calling down a curse of boys who were mocking him resulting in two bears emerging from the woods and mauling 42 children- false by reason of absurdity
The Tower of Babel- linguistic studies reveal this explanation for different languages to be farcical
Jonah and the whale – a fantastical story borrowed from ancient traditions and with no basis in reality.
Joshua 10:13 – the sun stood still for over a day- consistent with the then-assumed earth-centered universe, but now understood that this would have caused an epic catastrophe over the whole earth.
Cain acquiring a wife out of thin air in Genesis 4:17 when only Adam, Eve, and Cain were supposedly alive at the time
These are just some of many examples, but they are sufficient to show that the Bible contains a lot of fiction and the extent to which it pervades the book is unknown. It calls into question every story presented in the Bible as being potentially fictional or otherwise exaggerated.
(62) Text remains, practice changes
Because of societal pressure and scientific advancements, Christian practices and dogma have changed over the centuries. However, the text of the Bible has remained static, resulting in a disconnect that becomes more glaring as time goes on. The best way to explain this point further is to quote Mark Twain:
The Christian’s Bible is a drug store. Its contents remain the same; but the medical practice changes…The world has corrected the Bible. The church never corrects it; and also never fails to drop in at the tail of the procession- and take the credit of the correction. During many ages there were witches. The Bible said so. the Bible commanded that they should not be allowed to live. Therefore the Church, after eight hundred years, gathered up its halters, thumb-screws, and firebrands, and set about its holy work in earnest. She worked hard at it night and day during nine centuries and imprisoned, tortured, hanged, and burned whole hordes and armies of witches, and washed the Christian world clean with their foul blood.
Then it was discovered that there was no such thing as witches, and never had been. One does not know whether to laugh or to cry…..There are no witches. The witch text remains; only the practice has changed. Hell fire is gone, but the text remains. Infant damnation is gone, but the text remains. More than two hundred death penalties are gone from the law books, but the texts that authorized them remain.
The conclusion that should be drawn from this point is that a religion and holy book inspired or authored by a supernatural deity should not have multiple issues that have to be abandoned because of future advancement of society. Rather, it should be predictive of such changes.
http://www.kyroot.com/?p=8#61