The Bible -- fact or fiction?
Sunday, April 21, 2013 12:33
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The enormous success of “The Bible” miniseries on The History Channel has left many production houses scrambling to get more movies/shows based on Scripture in production.
The record-setting ratings give the general faith community something to cheer about after several years of disturbing trends: overall decrease in church attendance, an increase in those claiming no religious affiliation, and a perception that religious people are intolerant and out of touch with mainstream values.
In spite of the 11.7 million viewers that tuned into the series finale and the half million DVD units sold within the first week of release, the real question is: do people believe these Bible stories to be fact or fiction?
“Remember, the Bible is not just one book; it is a collection of 66 books, written by more than 40 different authors over a period of 1,600 years”
.
Are they merely mythological stories that Bronze Age people constructed to communicate their culture and beliefs, or are they historical events that actually happened?
Remember, plenty of fictional series today get massive audiences like “Iron Man” and “The Walking Dead.” Ratings alone are not enough to validate the stories told in “The Bible.”
Instead, we need to look at the evidence. I believe, and there is a great amount of supporting evidence to verify it, that the stories in the Bible are true.
Just look at the event called Easter, recently celebrated around the world by more than 2 billion people. Is the resurrection of Jesus Christ a nice story that communicates some allegorical message or is (and was) it a true historical event?
Let’s start with the most logical piece of historical evidence: 2,000 years ago a man named Jesus actually lived. Even popular Bible critic Bart Erhman concedes that Jesus indeed lived.
The four Gospels are the primary records that tell of Jesus’ words and actions. They all agree that He lived, died by crucifixion and rose again from the grave.
It was this story—a news story, not a bedtime story—that launched the Christian faith three days after Jesus’ death.
It was because people knew that dead people usually stay dead that they believed Jesus’ physical appearance just days after His death was indeed a miracle.
Ten of the 12 original followers of Christ would die the death of a martyr (not taking others lives, but being put to death for their faith) because they testified that Jesus had been raised from the dead.
If something like the resurrection can be seen as the best explanation of the empty tomb after Jesus’ death, then all the other miracle stories become plausible.
“New atheists,” such as biologist Richard Dawkins and physicist Lawrence Krauss, are quick to hurl the assertion that the Bible is a book of fairy tales, dismissing the resurrection as one of them.
As far as a fairy tale, a simple week long trip to Israel would quickly and dramatically demonstrate to the rational mind that the people and places mentioned in the Bible are real. You will find very few people living in Israel today, religious or secular, that think Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus were fictitious characters.
Overall, when you compare the Bible to other ancient documents it stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of historical accuracy and archaeological verifiability. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls showed that the content of the Bible had been transmitted faithfully throughout the centuries.
Its extraordinary impact is felt in virtually every aspect of our life and culture, from education—106 of the first 108 universities in America, like Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, were founded with a primary goal of teaching and promoting the Christian faith—to our nation’s view of helping the poor and the needy.
The countless hospitals and charities that have dramatically helped millions in their suffering and pain testify to the power of its principles and teachings. Far from religious faith being a bad thing, as Dawkins and his followers suggest, it has been a source of great hope and healing for billions.
Remember, the Bible is not just one book; it is a collection of 66 books, written by more than 40 different authors over a period of 1,600 years. The amazing consistency of its message to mankind points to the reality that it is not just a book that man wrote about God, but one that God has inspired and given to mankind as a great gift of light in the darkness.
Given the evidence, what do you think? Is the historically accurate text that our nation is built upon a book of fairy tales and myths? Or does the single, greatest book ever written, whose timeless stories brought in millions of viewers, have the benefit of being true?
You decide.
By Rice BroocksPublished April 21, 2013FoxNews.com
Rice Brooks is co-founder of the Every Nation family of churches, and the author of “God’s Not Dead: Evidence for God in an Age of Uncertainty” (Thomas Nelson, March 2013).
Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/04/21/bible-fact-or-fiction/?intcmp=features#ixzz2R7uQ4AYZ
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The buy-bull is clearly fiction.
The buy-bull has flawed science of 2000 years, is full of contradictions/errors and was clearly copied from older pagan beliefs.
Scientific errors in the bible (buy-bull):
/religion/2013/04/scientific-errors-in-the-bible-2450894.html
Pagan/mythological origins of Adam and Eve:
/religion/2013/04/paganmythological-origins-of-adam-and-eve-2450616.html
Noah’s ark exposed:
/religion/2013/04/breaking-news-noahs-ark-has-been-discovered-2450666.html
Isn’t it ironic how many truth seekers who hate the government and the NWO also hate the bible? We were taught at a young age about dinosaurs and how the Earth is BILLIONS of years old. That hit our minds with that stuff over and over again growing up. So when you get older, you believe in that and anything else is false. It’s ironic because you hate the government, yet you believe in a government funded religion. Yes I say evolution is a religion because it is a belief.
Evolution today is shown to us as if it is 100% correct from the very beginning. In all reality, we have NO clue what happened if the Earth is really that old. No documents no literature. The only scripture we have goes back to about 6000 years. Evolution worked in theory over 200 years ago. Not today. Back then, it was believed that single cells were the most basic form of life. We know now today that cells are VERY complex structures made up of membranes, ribosomes, mitochondria, ER, and all that good stuff. It isn’t simple as previously thought. Science has yet to explain how life came about. Since it is scientifically impossible for life to arise from non living material.
Yes there are different types of evolution like micro. Micro evolution does exist. We have observed it so it makes it scientific. You might say ‘oh bacteria gain immunity after so much exposure to antibiotics’. Well yes they mutate, but if you know anything about cell mutation you would know when it occurs, the cell loses info instead of gaining. Yes that bacteria might have an advantage over the other ones since it is immune, but overall, that immune bacteria is inferior. It is like a man who has no hands. He cant be handcuffed. So he has an advantage over one who has hands. But overall, the man with hands is superior.
It is said that the single cell split into another and another and another etc. Well in order to split, you need DNA. Plant cells and Animal cells split differently. How can the first single cell divide? It would need to be fully functional.
Im not saying science is false. I love science. Evolution is not science. It is a belief of how it all could have happened until us.
The Freemason owned PRESS refused to heed JFK’s call that the PRESS warn the American people of the grave danger to their freedoms posed by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy. But the Freemason PRESS did give the masses Billy (The GOAT) Graham for decades on prime time national tv.
Bible came into being at the Council of Nicea in 625 a.d. where Pharisees placed their writings with writings that are of God under one cover and said this is all God’s word. The greatest deception that all four bibles which vary in number of writings (Catholic, Orthodox, Ethiopian and Protestant) are all the word of God, when in fact there are 21 writings of Pharisees in the New Testament section of all four bibles. Only the one writing of Matthew and five writings of John are of God, as to the NT section.
/spirit/2013/04/to-hell-with-pauls-gospel-2477308.html
Let’s look at the Bible like this:
1. It’s the most popular book ever… most published.
2. It’s the most hated book ever… gov’ts have fought millenia to destroy & silence its message
3. Archaelogists have used it for decades to successfully locate ancient biblical sites.
4. Archaelogical finds support the Bible stories… have never disproven it.
Let’s look at the Bible’s Message from several viewpoints:
1. God – I love you… come home… let me protect you from corruption, pain & death…let me
help. You were made in my image, my child… you are precious and with value. Your
spirit drinks in these words because it recognizes my voice, even if you do not…
follow that voice home my child. Let me heal your wounds. Repair your life. I prepared
a daring rescue plan with my son, Jesus… to take the blame for all your sins… so, you
can come home to me… blameless, pure and welcomed… no matter what you did.
2. Jesus – You have never been to Heaven, but I have. I am God in the flesh of man. You can
believe that and let me take you home… or reject me and suffer for all eternity. I
respect your gift of freewill to accept or reject me. I was punished for all the terrible
things you did in life… now, you are 100% blameless if you come with me. I am
your big brother who can adopt you in my father’s family… if you want to come
home and reach the hidden potential in you that was never allowed to exist on
Earth. Become all you were designed & crafted to be… bloom into maturity and
spend eternity in heaven enjoying its wonders, discoveries and things the mortal
mind cannot understand.
3. Holy Spirit – I am God is spirit form. I am with you always… healing, calming and proof that
you accepted my son, Jesus to love, obey and follow home.
4. Religion – The Bible is an opportunistic medium by which to use fear, threats and selected
scriptures to mold, form and herd people to obey them and give $$ as a tax… not
out of love for others.
5. Devil – The Buy-Bull is not scientific, full of contradictions… it is full of violence, sex, raw
human savagery… so is its so-called God. Mankind is an evolutionary accident not
worthy of living but exploitation and misery inflicted on them by those who can trick,
deceive and maneuver the masses to slave away serving their earthly masters as
toads. And when they die… more torture and misery await them for all eternity
because NOBODY loves them… least of all… God.
6. The Fool – There is no God.
“Remember, the Bible is not just one book; it is a collection of 66 books, written by more than 40 different authors over a period of 1,600 years”
That’s not true. Christianity is 1’600 years old. The oldest stories in the OT bible originate from ancient Sumeria/Babylon creation epic, Genesis. When the Israelites were taken captive by Babylon is where they picked them up. Their laws and early history was given to them by God. The living God King Cyrus the Great of Persia, when he freed them and allowed them to go back to where they came from. All kings were considered living gods, but with Cyrus the title was given a capital G because he invented basic human rights. Cyrus was a very rare animal, a humane king who respected other peoples right to freedom from slavery. Hence the excellent quality of writing of the OT. It was not Israeli (ex Egyptian slaves) in origin.
It’s 99% fiction.
@ Pix
… so the 1% of it that is truth according to you, foretells +-1500 years of the human experience here on earth accurately? The rise and fall of the world empires. Babylon. Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome with the deviding of Europe into 10 and the fact that the European union can’t seem to get its act together. THEY SHALL NOT CLEAVE ONE TO ANOTHER… Go read Daniel 2!
2 Tim 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2: For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3: Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4: Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
The Holy Bible is without a doubt the best preserved, accurate and most important piece of literature we have today. Please allow me to state clearly that I am not saying this, only because I am a Bible believing Christian.., or because it speaks about times past, but rather because it contains the necessary keys to what is to come in future. This is a Divinely inspired book and that means that it comes from an Entity not constrained by time and space. Thus, by the Creator of time, space and everything that goes along with it.
The alternative to this (BIBLE BASED CHRISTIANITY) is evolution and that makes us out to be animals that evolved from a rock millions and millions of.., Oh no wait.., billions and billions of years ago. We are “supposed” to be the apex of evolution and yet.., we manage to destroy our own habitat in a couple of centuries.
Really?..
Anton Levay, the author of the satanic bible, also makes humans out as animals… ISN’T THAT STRANGE?..
The majority of the Bible is fiction. If “Christians” actually read their own book, instead of blindly accepting lies they would know that their god “Jehovah” is actually Satan in disguise, commanding humans to kill, murder, and RAPE YOUNG VIRGINS.
JUDGES 21:10-12 (Jehovah commanding) So they sent twelve thousand warriors to Jabesh-gilead with orders to kill everyone there, including women and children. “This is what you are to do,” they said. “Completely destroy all the males and every woman who is not a virgin.” Among the residents of Jabesh-gilead they found four hundred young virgins who had never slept with a man, and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
Now, I am willing to bet, within hours, they were no longer little virgins.
Some people will still be deceived, but anyway Here is CONCRETE PROOF that the Lord God Jehovah of the Old Testament is also called the Devil in the New Testament.
(Old Testament) 2nd CHRONICLES; 36:23 Thus saith Cyrus, King of Persia; ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE EARTH hath the LORD GOD JEHOVAH of heaven given me.
(New Testament) MATTHEW; 4:8 Again, the DEVIL taketh Jesus up into an exceeding high mountain and sheweth him ALL THE KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
2nd SAMUEL; 24:1 And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he
moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
1st CHRONICLES; 21:1 And SATAN stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
(This is in billions of bibles across the world! One time they call him the LORD and one time they call him SATAN!)
There are plenty of clues like these that were left in the Bible for those who actually read it. Yes dear Christians, you have all been worshiping the wrong guy. (BTW there is no right religion to follow. Islam, Hinduism Buddhism, etc… they all are based on the ancient Sumerian and Babylon stories and they all seek to control through wars, fear, etc…) However there is a real god and it demands no worship or sacrifice. It is the Sun that created this planet and allows human beings to continue to exist here and even animates the entire solar system.
The truth about Jesus’ real message to humanity, planet earth, the sun, and human beings (for those who can handle the truth) revealed at
http://suddenreality.com/truth
http://suddenreality.com/Lashes.pdf
http://www.suddenreality.com/Thunder.pdf
Isn’t that a subtle point you make? Being a Christian is not going out to buy that little silver fish and put it on your car…
3AM “… so the 1% of it that is truth according to you, foretells +-1500 years of the human experience here on earth accurately? ”
Depends when you think it was written. Typically it is written after the fact as history and then claimed to predate it. What exactly do you think is accurate about an end of the world prophesy involving extinct countries using medieval warfare technology?
The only book in the bible with a 1% chance of the truth is Exodus. It’s not all the truth, you’d have to read up on the Jewish accounts where their own history tells of how at Mount Sinai they held a competition between their deities. (The Jews don’t have a problem admitting their belief system began as a pantheon). Where El won the competition and being such a good sport, ordered all his followers to massacre the followers of all their other deities. They obeyed and butchered half their own people.
The survivors went on to take over and claim Jerusalem as their so called ‘promised land’ about 1’000BCE.
@ Pix
Are you talking about Elijah on Mt Carmel?
@ Pix
“What exactly do you think is accurate about an end of the world prophesy involving extinct countries using medieval warfare technology?”
1500 YEARS!!! The book of Daniel was written while the Jews were exiled in Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar who reigned from 605 – 562 BC, himself wrote one of the chapters in Daniel. The order in which world empires came into being and fell, details like how many battles it took to conquer one of them, the means by which Babylon came to an end, the leaders that led the battles, their preferred type of metal used as armourment etc.
In 1947 one of the most amazing discoveries of modern times were made concerning the Old Testament of the Bible. About 2000 years ago, in the location surrounding the Dead Sea of ancient Palestine, a group/community of Jewish believers who separated themselves for reasons unknown, “hid” or stored parchments/scrolls of literature in caves in the area. They are today known as the Qumranic community.
In Matthew 24:15, Jesus referred to Daniel the profit which places Daniel before the time of Christ.
John Dunn ” 3 days ago
Some people think it is likely that there is an incalculably intelligent, stupendously magical Being, and that this Being:
- Existed for >9,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999 x 10^infinity years before creating the angels, then X more years before creating the universe;
- Created >250,000,000,000 galaxies, each galaxy containing >150,000,000,000 suns, each sun having on average >1 planet;
- That this Being has seen, and remembers, each and every event on each and every one of these planets, suns, and galaxies for the last 13,700,000,000 years;
- That this Being waited 187,000 years after our species appeared on this planet before announcing Its existence 3,000 years ago to one of the minor civilizations of the time;
- That these appearances were only to a few members of this mostly illiterate nomadic bronze age tribe, that this Being imparted all of Its instructions to these few people, then never made a verifiable appearance on Earth again for the last 2,000 years.
Have I got that right?
It’s more than likely…
The Bible is pure astronomy! I go only into its scientific values as these ones: Jacob/Israel-zodiac,has 12 sons- houses of zodiac. But his 7th child is daughter Dinah(Judgement). She is the 13th house of zodiac(Maya 13th layer of heavens),symbolising the Black Hole,the female yonic stargate,leading to the Galactic Double centre-the ‘cosmic’ WOMB, where ascends the souls of deceased human beings for purification and rebirth-resurrection…Jacob/Israel has 13 children with 4 women(2 are his wives),making the Lunar cycle of 52 years, but indicate also the gematria value of IHVH,26 in Hebrew gematria. Of course,there other Hebrew gematria values of each word in the Pentateuch…
The Protestant Bible applies to the West and Judgement of the world,America symbolise. The Old Testament symbolise the Equinoxes,and with the New Testament, the whole of Protestant Bible is the Summer and Winter solstice,but only on small year of 365.24 days…There is the Great Year,Anno Magnus, where the Equinoxes isn’t of the same values,neither the solstices…Winter solstice marks the end of the Great Year.