Belief in the Bible

[Joe Republic]

No; I'm not religious.

[jacob_101]

I am SHOCKED by the results of this poll!  Just kidding of course, I knew this forum was not representative of most of American's beliefs regarding religion and morals, but I didn't think the yes answer would be this low....

[PADem]

I am SHOCKED by the results of this poll! Just kidding of course, I knew this forum was not representative of most of American's beliefs regarding religion and morals, but I didn't think the yes answer would be this low....

Remember you said LITERALLY true...  That word literally generally conjures up pictures of extremist/fundamentalists...

[A18]

Yes, in the sense that any literate person should be able to get a general idea of what it's talking about.

[BobOMac2k2]

I believe in God, but I don't take the bible litterally.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Yes and no

Yes, I do believe that the Bible speaks the truth

No, I do not believe in the ultra-literal world-was-created-in-six-days interpretation of the Bible

[J. J.]

I believe the Bible was inspired by God.  I do not believe that, in all its details, it is a perfectly accurate record of history.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

"Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed...Go and tell this people: Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.  Make the heart of this people calloused;  make their ears dull and close their eyes.  Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."  (Isaiah)

[Bono]

Personally, if you want my take on the Bible as someone who's religious, but not a Christian, I think the Bible is an excellent piece of literature that is filled to the brim with good messages and lessons with regards to life.  I believe that there's more metaphorical things in the Bible than what the strict literalists give it credit, and I don't believe that something occurring in the Bible is meant to immediately convey the thought that we should do that in our daily lives (e.g., the massive amounts of executions ordered and/or carried out in Leviticus).  A lot of the Bible is very likely to be historical in nature; some of it may not be, although I really think it's irrelevant on the whole whether the things actually happened.

Personally, I favor a common sense approach to the Bible: take from it what makes sense to you, follow the parts that seem to be a good example for life, and if something sounds completely absurd to you, it probably is either a metaphor for something else or is simply stating a historical fact, and either way, it probably wasn't meant as something for you to literally do.

As for whether the Bible was written by God or not, I really don't see how it matters: the Bible is what it is, regardless of who wrote it.

Christians aren't bound by the old Jewish law.

[J.R. Brown]

Why does it have to be? I do not know whether I believe it or not.

fair enough.  I didn't mean to press you on it.  I can see disputing various stories told but what about the 10 commandments and other commandments throughout the Bible?  Why would anyone obey them unless they believe they are from God?  Those are either true or false.
No in-betweens.

You can honor your father and mother and not murder people without believing in God. Of course the first commandment would be ignored and the one about keeping the Sabbath Day holy. So, basically you would not obey some of the commandments that have to do with God or his superiority if you were a non-believer.

[Gabu]

Personally, if you want my take on the Bible as someone who's religious, but not a Christian, I think the Bible is an excellent piece of literature that is filled to the brim with good messages and lessons with regards to life.  I believe that there's more metaphorical things in the Bible than what the strict literalists give it credit, and I don't believe that something occurring in the Bible is meant to immediately convey the thought that we should do that in our daily lives (e.g., the massive amounts of executions ordered and/or carried out in Leviticus).  A lot of the Bible is very likely to be historical in nature; some of it may not be, although I really think it's irrelevant on the whole whether the things actually happened.

Personally, I favor a common sense approach to the Bible: take from it what makes sense to you, follow the parts that seem to be a good example for life, and if something sounds completely absurd to you, it probably is either a metaphor for something else or is simply stating a historical fact, and either way, it probably wasn't meant as something for you to literally do.

As for whether the Bible was written by God or not, I really don't see how it matters: the Bible is what it is, regardless of who wrote it.

Christians aren't bound by the old Jewish law.

I know that, but I've seen tons of people who say that it's in the Bible, therefore we should do it, regardless of its context, its place in the Bible, or anything else, which is what I was talking about.  The number of times that one single verse from Leviticus has been quoted as justification for being against homosexuality is staggering.

[Shira]

The bible is an exceptional book.
It is the best seller of all times. It was written by hundreds of people over a period of 1000 years approximately.
To me it is clear that many of the verses there apply to some of the participants in this forum.


Psalm (94-8)
Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise?
This verse very well could apply to David S or to Richius


Proverbs 26:4
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
This one is good for “Governor Andrew” and “ LT. GOV StateRight”


Proverbs 17:28
Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise:
and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
Special for the over talking   child “A18”

Psalm (82:5)
They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness.
The most accurate description of the “Religious Right”


In December 2000 the Supreme Court majority gave the presidency to G.W.Bush.
When I saw on TV the wild applauds by Bush supporters, the following verse immediately came into my mind.
Psalm (94:3)
LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?

Finally all of us should remember:

Ecclesiastes (1:9)
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done, and there is no new thing under the sun

And   Ecclesiastes (1, 2)
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity

[John Dibble]

The bible is an exceptional book.
It is the best seller of all times. It was written by hundreds of people over a period of 1000 years approximately.
To me it is clear that many of the verses there apply to some of the participants in this forum.


Psalm (94-8)
Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise?
This verse very well could apply to David S or to Richius


Proverbs 26:4
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
This one is good for “Governor Andrew” and “ LT. GOV StateRight”


Proverbs 17:28
Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise:
and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
Special for the over talking   child “A18”

Psalm (82:5)
They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness.
The most accurate description of the “Religious Right”

You might want to consider this one, Shira.

"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye" (Matthew 7:3-5).

[A18]

This verse reminds me of someone

Revelation 9:3
Shira is a bumbling idiot

[Shira]

This verse reminds me of someone

Revelation 9:3
Shira is a bumbling idiot

You have just justified my assertion

[A18]

You justify mine on a regular basis, so I guess we're even.

[opebo]

This is so depressing.  I shall probably die of old age before any of these people is eaten by a lion.

[MissCatholic]

Conservatives have been arguing for years that the religious right is simply misunderstood. These vilified godly folks don't want to impose their beliefs on anybody else, we're told. They simply want to defend their traditional beliefs and practices against the aggressive impositions of a secular culture. Therefore any suggestion to the contrary is liberal hysteria or, worse, discrimination against "people of faith."

So how do conservatives explain what's been going on at the Air Force Academy?

As a number of newspapers have documented, the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., has essentially established evangelical Christianity as its official religion.

The examples are legion. Last season, the football coach hung a banner in the locker room laying out a "Competitor's Creed," including the lines "I am a Christian first and last" and "I am a member of Team Jesus Christ."

And here are other examples among those noted in an April report by the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State: Campus chaplains have encouraged proselytizing among the students, and younger cadets who skipped out on prayer services have been forced by their seniors to march back to their dorms in a ritual called "heathen flight." On one occasion, every seat in the dining hall was covered with a flier advertising a showing of "The Passion of the Christ," including the tagline, "This is an officially sponsored USAFA event."

Whether the bible is literally true or not is hypothetical. Its use is whats more damaging.

[Shira]

Apparently, I'm the only "no" brave enough to come forward about it.

We are not talking about the old stories on Adam & Eve for example but rather about a verse like this:
"All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full"
Ecclesiastes (1, 7)
Full of wisdom.
There is no any real linkage between the Bible Belt and the Bible.
Do you think BTW that Jesus would have supported the death penalty?

[A18]

Yes, duh

[Joe Republic]

OK, explain that position then.

[A18]

What's there to explain? The death penalty is mandated no less than a hundred times in the Bible.

[Beet]

yeoh

[Joe Republic]

What's there to explain? The death penalty is mandated no less than a hundred times in the Bible.

By Jesus himself?

[A18]

By God