DamienHell:
STOP MAKING RELIGIOUS THREADS! They lead to flame and insults

Only because people like you get carried away.

Clairaudient:
I wrote a more articulate post on the same topic many months ago. (Might have been the original 'Why all the hate on Christianity?' thread)

Ah, I remember that thread. Good, then very, very bad times. Ah, the memories.

ANTI-SANTA:

It also says that disobedient children should be stoned to death, in the very next chapter after it says that gay love is bad.

Many components of Moses's Law were said by Jesus to be outdated. Along with the rigmarole surrounding uncleanliness, murder, the death sentence and sacrifices, these were thrown out the window with his Death & Resurrection. The Ultimate Sacrifice indicates that subsequent efforts for cleanliness and sacrifices etc. are not necessary.
Among these things Jesus said are outdated did not include avoidance and shunning of the acts of homosexuality, and (some may find rather anomalous) the sabbath.

Anarchemitis:

ANTI-SANTA:

It also says that disobedient children should be stoned to death, in the very next chapter after it says that gay love is bad.

Many components of Moses's Law were said by Jesus to be outdated. Along with the rigmarole surrounding uncleanliness, murder, the death sentence and sacrifices, these were thrown out the window with his Death & Resurrection. The Ultimate Sacrifice indicates that subsequent efforts for cleanliness and sacrifices etc. are not necessary.
Among these things Jesus said are outdated did not include avoidance and shunning of the acts of homosexuality, and (some may find rather anomalous) the sabbath.

That post was more about the fact that it says we should kill naughty children than the gay love thing.
The bible also says people who work in the Sabbath should be put to death, that it's okay to sell your daughter into slavery, and that a man should not approach a woman when she is have her period. Have you ever sat down and read the bible? Its a terrific read there are some quotable phrases and important life stories, but the character are painfully one dimensional and its a lot of reading to learn the same dam thing over and over again; god hates us all and wants to kill us unless we please him. Someone once said 'the best way to stop believing in the bible is to actually read it' and considering how most religious people haven't and no very little about religion that's a pretty solid statement. You go to ANY Christian in the streets and ask them to name all Ten Commandments, they won't be able to. They'll get the obvious ones like stealing and murder but not all of them. The truth is, the bible is not supposed to be taken literally or used as a moral guide. Sorry, but its true.

Considering that 90% of gamers are athiests, i definitely could've told you how this poll was gonna turn out.

As I'm sure others have said, the Bible is not just a book- it's a whole bunch of books written by many people over a large timespan.

Cyberius:
Considering that 90% of gamers are athiests, i definitely could've told you how this poll was gonna turn out.

How do you arrive at this conclusion/number?

Eh, the book of revelations is great if you've got a d&d or call of cthulhu game to run and need some inspiration, although a good chunk of it is more like rejected voltron plots than anything else.

PureChaos:
im not religious and have never read the bible (i tried once just to see what it was like but didn't get through the first page). to me, it is just a book. i understand that to some it is more than that and thats fine, it's just not for me!

I ain't religious but I did read the whole damn thing. Trust me - you're not missing out on much. Read See Spot Run 4 million times instead.

That`s not wwhat I meant i truly ment the stories in the book are they real?

canadian_ace:
That`s not wwhat I meant i truly ment the stories in the book are they real?

I suspect that many of them started out with a basis in fact but suffered from the "telephone" syndrome; much of Biblical text was written down after having been passed down by oral tradition for generations, or were recorded many years after the events had happened, so there's bound to be distortions in the recollection. The Bible also suffers from multiple sessons of "editing by committee" to reach a compromise document, omitting a lot of other testiments as non-canonical (in both the religious and "story bible" senses) based on the understandings of people centuries after the death of Jesus of Nazareth. And then there's the translations, from Hebrew and Aramaic and Greek dialect into Latin (or formal Greek, if you're so inclined) and then into "vulgate" versions in multiple local languages. (Including English.)

Throw in that hand-copying, the only method of publication until the moveable type got invented over a thousand years after the Christian Church settled on an approved version, and there's bound to be mistakes. Unless you're determined to claim a whack-load of miracles happened over a fifteen-hundred-year period, human nature virtually dictates that some of the texts will have been changed.

-- Steve

PS: I know some people ready to claim that there are elements in many Biblical editions highly resembling fan-fic; the same sort of hyperbole, resort to archetype, the "Mary Sue" syndrome... I wouldn't necessarily agree without digging further, but it is food for thought. (Heck, there's even some Jesus/Mary-Magdalene in the non-canon stuff for Ghu's sake.)

As an object yes, as a symbol no.

Why do we get basically the same threads popping up?

This thread leads to the question that all of these threads lead to every time they are posted:

DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD?

It's becoming a bit of a broken record.

AuntyEthel:

PureChaos:
im not religious and have never read the bible (i tried once just to see what it was like but didn't get through the first page). to me, it is just a book. i understand that to some it is more than that and thats fine, it's just not for me!

I ain't religious but I did read the whole damn thing. Trust me - you're not missing out on much. Read See Spot Run 4 million times instead.

You have to be kidding me! I am not a Christian either but I have to admit that the Bible is pretty cool. Here are some Bible quotes that are full of awesome:-

From II Kings 2:23-24

From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and maule forty-two of the youths.

That verse is particularly of interest to me because I am bald. Started loosing my hair at 19, I am now 32 and it's almost all gone. Also... WTF! Bear cavalry from god! That would have been so awesome to see!

This would also provide a solution to the chav problem in our inner cities. Groups of youths hanging about harassing people? No problem - set bears on them.

From Exodus 2:11-12

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

Holy shit! Moses is a ninja!

See, this is the thing people don't get about the Bible. It isn't like the silly leaflets you get from the sillier people knocking at the door, claiming "the lion shall lie down with the lamb". The Bible has more sex and violence in it than every GTA combined.

cuddly_tomato:

AuntyEthel:

PureChaos:
im not religious and have never read the bible (i tried once just to see what it was like but didn't get through the first page). to me, it is just a book. i understand that to some it is more than that and thats fine, it's just not for me!

I ain't religious but I did read the whole damn thing. Trust me - you're not missing out on much. Read See Spot Run 4 million times instead.

etc etc

See, this is the thing people don't get about the Bible. It isn't like the silly leaflets you get from the sillier people knocking at the door, claiming "the lion shall lie down with the lamb". The Bible has more sex and violence in it than every GTA combined.

Yeah, but I'd rather have read 6 sex n violence fuelled novels instead. Though I don't really regret reading it all as it has such a huge impact on the world's culture, that understanding is pretty essential, especially when getting into pointless debates with people over it.

It's good for a laugh, especially 'The Sword', but it's a load of rubbish. Especially the Old Testament. To me that seems like the part of Christianity that christians want to sweep under the carpet, because it's full of stupid stuff that I'm sure most Christians don't take seriously. Anyway, if you're looking for a religious read, Greek stuff is great, and makes much more sense than the bible. They admitted that their gods were a bunch of dickheads and to my knowledge didn't have any of this 'god is always nice' and 'god loves everybody' stuff.

There is a great film by John Carpenter called In The Mouth of Madness which pretty much sums up how people react to the Bible or, indeed, any book that people decide to bet thier souls on.
It's about an author who's books are so revered by the mass populous that the ideas and backdrops become fact.

The Bible is an important part of understanding the socialogy of Western Society. It does also have some solid moral demonstrations and stories within it (though some are also just bizarre). I am an atheist however being familiar with the Bible allows me a level of acclimation that makes life more predictable, in regards to the expectations and actions of christians.

anNIALLator:
They admitted that their gods were a bunch of dickheads and to my knowledge didn't have any of this 'god is always nice' and 'god loves everybody' stuff.

You can hardly accuse the Bible of being full of hippy ethics.
The banishment from Eden.
The Flood wiped out mankind.
The Plagues of Egypt and the killing of the First Born
Jesus' battle with the Devil
Jesus' crucifixion.
It's full of gore.
Revelations
Not to mention the stuff deemed to controversial. The Book of Enoch is a stunning piece of literature.

The_Deleted:

anNIALLator:
They admitted that their gods were a bunch of dickheads and to my knowledge didn't have any of this 'god is always nice' and 'god loves everybody' stuff.

You can hardly accuse the Bible of being full of hippy ethics.
The banishment from Eden.
The Flood wiped out mankind.
The Plagues of Egypt and the killing of the First Born
Jesus' battle with the Devil
Jesus' crucifixion.
It's full of gore.
Revelations
Not to mention the stuff deemed to controversial. The Book of Enoch is a stunning piece of literature.

I think what he means (and correct me if I am wrong anNIALLator) is that the Greek pantheon have flaws and weaknesses. The gods of ancient Greece are powerful and divine and all things "godly" but at the same time they are very weak and powerless, not least powerless in the face of their own hedonism and desire for power.

In other words, it's less "God decides everything and everything He decides is right." (does He frequent forums BTW?) and more "The world is fucked up? Well it should be, these tossers made it".

Christ-ian here. The Bible is very, very important, but it's not a holy artifact in and of itself. I don't suggest using it to ward off vampires or zombies, and I don't suggest you use it as a melee weapon.

WAY too much to put into context in a mere internet forum, but I'd be happy to discuss it with anyone who wanted to IM or email me.

In a nutshell:
Old Testament: Jewish history. Legacy leading up to the appearance of Christ.
New Testament: Christ shows up and says "good job, Jews, now go out and tell the whole world. I'll be back."
Overall message: Mankind cannot live without their Creator. God loves us. We need to love God and one another and live Godly lives because time will run out on this world.

C Lion:

Jamanticus:
As I'm sure others have said, the Bible is not just a book- it's a whole bunch of books written by many people over a large timespan.

Does that fact not seem the least bit suspicious to anyone else?

Nope. Think of the Bible as a library; a collection of books gathered over time, and very specific to a particular culture. The Bible as a historical source is quite accurate.

We should treat the Bible the same way we treat the Greek texts and the Roman texts - as myths and stories.

It's only a book. As other posters have said though, that's not to say that people shouldn't read it due to its content being mythology. It's still important to get an understanding of western literature, history and society. Still, people should be informed of this before they actually read it, would save a lot of hassle.

Placing it in the 'fiction' section of book stores might help.

PedroSteckecilo:
The Bible is some great mythology and understanding it is VERY important for studying and understanding Western History. The second we start discounting the cultural significance of mythology, folklore etc. is the second I stop being an atheist.

Though I strongly feel that The Bible should be taken as Folklore/Mythology and not as the infallable word of God.

EDIT: Also, every Atheist should read the bible in as much entirety as they can, it broadens understanding.

Yup (Although I'm not going to sit down and read it - RE lessons were enough for me).

I think the Bible is 'just' a book, but alot of it not taken literally would be good advice for people to live 'good' lives. Although not the stuff about no wanking and no gays. If they are actually in the bible (which I doubt)

Neosage:
The bible also says there is an invisable man in the sky who watches us wank.

And who is also not gay, at all.

C Lion:

Jamanticus:
As I'm sure others have said, the Bible is not just a book- it's a whole bunch of books written by many people over a large timespan.

Does that fact not seem the least bit suspicious to anyone else?

What about it is suspicious?

I didn't mention metaphysics or anything...

EzraPound:

No; it's a book that led to the deaths of millions of people across history.

Books don't kill people, people kill people - or should we just go around banning The Communist Manifesto, the Quran, Aristotle's writings, etc.?

This book does.

I don't believe in any religion, I like to believe that any human can be god in their own lives, or at least deside for them selves. Even though some of Bible is actually quite well told and interessting, like the book of revoulations, although I find it hard not to look wierd on people on who actually believes in it.
I sit next to this VERY pretty girl in class. Nice rack, nice bum and an adorable face, IOW, fucking hot(!), but she's christian to the bone, and fully believes in God and what he can offer. Everytime i ask her why, she says she feels sorry for me that I don't believe... I say I'm sorry for her to have to put her life and her family in someone who (possibly) don't excists.

bad rider:

EzraPound:

No; it's a book that led to the deaths of millions of people across history.

Books don't kill people, people kill people - or should we just go around banning The Communist Manifesto, the Quran, Aristotle's writings, etc.?

This book does.

Ahhhh.... good times.

OverlordSteve:

Neosage:
The bible also says there is an invisable man in the sky who watches us wank.

And who is also not gay, at all.

He must be a pedophile... I mean come on. Watching little children AT ALL TIMES. That's sick.

i know,,,right?