Is the Bible 100% truth?

[elder999]

[/b]
I think the "enough said" part brings in the "by faith" thing, of which the whole thing (Christianity), is based on.

Which brings us back to the 68 degree rule, again, as I posted here, on page 10 of this very thread, five years ago. :lol:

At John 18:37, 38 we find this interchange of words between Jesus and Pontius Pilate (which started when Jesus was on trial):
Pilate: ‘You aren’t a king, are you?’
Jesus: ‘You are saying that I’m a king. This is why I was born and why I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is on the side of truth listens to my voice.’
Pilate: ‘What is truth?’


What is truth?

I’m in a room at 68 degrees Fahrenheit-that’s a fact.

I say “It’s cold in here,” which, for me, is the truth.

My co worker gets up from his chair sweating, walks right over to the thermostat, turns it down even more and says, “It’s too hot in here,” which, for him, is the truth.

And there we have it: one fact, two truths, all valid.

I’ve found-as a former Christian- former seminarian, son, grandson and great- grandson of ministers who has studied most of the world’s greater religious scriptures, and several different versions of the Bible-and I’m a person with a deep love and respect for the teachings of the rabbi Yeshua, “faith” (or lack thereof) notwithstanding--that all the religious scriptures of the world contain much beauty and truth,

Facts, however, are…..well, up for discussion, if not often dubious.

Errors-in translation, interpretation and intent, are everywhere.

Starting with Genesis-the literal interpretation of the creation myth contained therein is pretty much a dark ages phenomena-early Hebrew commentary, and even some early Christian commentary (ala Augustine) pretty much make it apparent that prior to 1200 A.D. or so, the creation myth of Genesis was seen as allegory-thusly doing away with any scientific inconsistencies it contains, like, where Cain’s wife came from, or how long the days were before the sun was created, or how plants managed to survive before the sun was created-it’s simply someone’s way of explaining the universe’s existence, man’s place in it and his evolving relationship with the Creator.

While some of the events and people of the Old Testament can be found to have some basis in factual event and people, the relationship of the stories to facts is open to debate. Thus, we have a city called Jericho that archaelogical evidence points to having fallen after a long siege, but no support at all for its demise as the target of supernatural sonic weaponry. Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen that way, and it doesn’t mean it did. And, while we can be pretty sure that there was a great flood, and that at some point, somebody was on a boat with some animals, the story’s been told and retold in so many versions in the region that we can be fairly certain that his name didn’t become “Noah” until the Hebrews got a hold of the tale, and that the boat probably just had some livestock on it, and not two of every kind of beast on earth-in fact, since “the world” at the time was pretty much as far as one could walk in a couple of days, for most of the people of that region, at any rate, and since we know that the flood was pretty much confined to that region, the phrase “two of each kind of beast” takes on a radically different meaning to the literal interpretation so often imposed on the tale.

I’m not even going to get into the whole New Testament thing in this kind of detail (several different potential debates there,starting with, say, Nazareth) except to point out that most accepted Biblical scholarship-and by that I mean academics in the field of religion, and not necessarily of the faith-have pretty thoroughly discredited every account or mention of Jesus ever held to be contemporaneous with the Gospels. Josephus’ mention of him is generally accepted as a later addition by translators. The Gospels themselves-well, they’re full of beauty and truth, for those who can see it, but they’re also full of a lot of other stuff, and a lot of it is simply not historically reliable, but, speaking as a scientist, I’ve pretty clearly demonstrated that just because something’s not a fact, doesn’t mean it’s not true, and vice versa.

 

[seasoned]

Which brings us back to the 68 degree rule, again, as I posted here, on page 10 of this very thread, five years ago. :lol:

Amen.

 

[Bruno@MT]

To have faith, is to beleive in things not seen.

It is one thing to believe in things not seen.
It is quite another to believe in something one can see, and which are clearly different from what one believes. Like the age of the universe, whether moses had horns or not, etc.

To tie this back to the 68 degree rule: I agree that we can argue about what something means.
However, there are things in the bible which -when taken literally- go against things we know to be true.
Therefore you cannot take the bible as literal truth without also denying the things we know to be true. That is like closing your eyes and ears and pretending those uncomfortable realities do not exist.

There is truth and beaty in the bible, but not in the literal sense.
Just like there is in the Koran, the Torah, etc.

 

[seasoned]

I think I will focus on the "68 degree rule", I like that.

 

[fangjian]

Hot and cold are subjective concepts used by our brains. The fact that it's about 68 degrees F, though, is NOT debatable.

 

[seasoned]

Very correct, but discernment is important. Is the 68 degrees coming from the thermostat or a fire burning in the corner. Truth is they are both lets say "68 degrees, but, discernment points us to a certain pertinent action.

 

[seasoned]

Side note, horns are not pertinent to discernment.

 

[elder999]

Hot and cold are subjective concepts used by our brains. The fact that it's about 68 degrees F, though, is NOT debatable.

Facts are objective and, generally, indisputable.

Truth is subjective, and often disputable.

Facts are true, but truths aren't necessarily facts.

 

[seasoned]

Facts are objective and, generally, indisputable.

Truth is subjective, and often disputable.

Facts are true, but truths aren't necessarily facts.

:asian:

 

[Indie12]

This is kind of a 'sensitive' topic isn't?

 

[elder999]

This is kind of a 'sensitive' topic isn't?

So?

Believe what you want to, or don't believe-other people's opinions should have no more effect on this than facts have ever been shown to.

Merry Christmas!

Numbers 24:17
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but now near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.

Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

Luke 1:35
And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy-- the Son of God".


Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Micah 5:2
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.

Matthew 2:2-3
The Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

Luke 2:13-14
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, (14) "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

 

[Makalakumu]

I believe in the 69 rule. Apparently, the temperature increases exponentially in the one degree interval from 68.

 

[Xue Sheng]

:hmm: this post appears to have been resurrected….. ironic isn’t it

 

[Indie12]

So?

Believe what you want to, or don't believe-other people's opinions should have no more effect on this than facts have ever been shown to.

Merry Christmas!

Numbers 24:17
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but now near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.

Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

Luke 1:35
And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy-- the Son of God".


Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Micah 5:2
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.

Matthew 2:2-3
The Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

Luke 2:13-14
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, (14) "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

True! I just was questioning if it would offend some of the more fundamental extreme christians as to rather or not the bible was real?

 

[Indie12]

:hmm: this post appears to have been resurrected….. ironic isn’t it

2012 is coming up! Well need all the "truth" we can get!!

 

[Xue Sheng]

2012 is coming up! Well need all the "truth" we can get!!

Nope...we just need to find a Mayan to make a new calender

and now it appears we have roopled back the stone on this post

 

[clfsean]

We just did a Mayan Calendar last night & seem to be ok. One calendar ended & a new one started.

BTW... There are plenty of Mayan descended peeps on the Yucatan & Southward. Trick is... Do they know the base20 math like the guys who did the calendar.

Sent from my Thunderbolt on Tapatalk. Excuse the auto-correct spelling errors.

 

[seasoned]

We've all heard that saying ... "Either it all applies or none of it applies."

What say you?

IMHO there is always an element of discernment where the Bible is concerned.
At face value it could tend to contradict itself in many places. I feel it is one of those books that needs to be read many times over to begin to reach an understanding of how it pertains to the readers individual life. Just my thoughts................

 

[Yondanchris]

We've all heard that saying ... "Either it all applies or none of it applies."

What say you?

I have a more pertinent question... "it's either religion or a relationship"
and by religion (which I hold as a dirty word) is "Man's attempts to please or reach God"

I believe in the inerrant verbal-plenary inspiration of scripture
(in everyday language we would say "every word is authoritative")
that it is composed of 66 books written by over 40 authors over
thousands of years and it is a tool by which God has chosen to
communicate with mankind for thousands of years.

Disclaimer: all highlights, underlines, Italics, and (brackets)
are my own and are not in the original text.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV
"All Scripture is God-breathed (also translated inspired) and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness
so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work"

2 Peter 1:20-21 NIV
"Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about
by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy
never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human,
spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

Romans 15:4 NIV (Written by Saul/Paul of Tarsus a learned man)
"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us,
so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the
encouragement they provide we might have hope"

Matthew 5:18 NIV (Jesus as recorded by his disciples)
"For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter,
not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law
until everything is accomplished"

for more information here are some great websites:

www.blueletterbible.com

www.gotquestions.org

www.hopeandreason.org

Feel free to message me or post with any questions...it is my "job" after all!

Chris

 

[arnisador]

Matthew 5:18 NIV (Jesus as recorded by his disciples)
"For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter,
not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law
until everything is accomplished"

So we're still supposed to be stoning women who aren't virgins and men who work on the Sabbath?