The Bible?, historical acocunt or a political agenda Options

[sadolakced acid]

we all know this book. we've at least seen it in hotel rooms. this is the book with tissue-thin pages, the book that was first printed. this is a book that people rally to.

and it is a political agenda.

in the early years of christianity, there were many, many sects that called themselves chistian. one sect decided they were the real christians, and condemned the rest as false sects.

this sect evolved into the church. In order to make all other sects wrong, they edited the bible. they threw out the parts they didn't like, added parts they liked. The bible is a manual for how to live your life- so, why not add in a bit about who you should give money to?

over the years, the bible evolved as it's editors saw fit. It was changed, in the case of the king james bible, to help conquer ireland.

It was rewritten to support values the political leaders wanted supported.

want a reason to allow slavery? put in a bit about cain and able.

want to be able to get precious farmlands in the middle east? put in a bit about that being the holy land.

the bible, it seems, is nothing more than a written propoganda tool; too far edited from it's original text to be considered anything more than a pamplet that's designed, not to ensure truth of history, and that all sides are protrayed, but to get the godless heathens to convert to christianity.


now; you can either flame me and tell me how i couldn't understand, and cite bible quotes and give me something to laugh at,
or you can prove me wrong with a bit of rational debate.

i'd enjoy it emmensly more if you'd pick the first one, although the second is nice.

have a nice day!

[_suzie_]

some of you are makin it out to sound like the murderer of 10 people gets into heaven for repenting...well, if u read teachings throughout the bible you'll find that people are still punished for what they've done, even though they've repented.

I was brought up a Catholic. i live in northern ireland, where protestants and catholics have murdered each other simply because of their faith. sounds stupid seeing as theyre both christian...but anyways.

i believe in God and Christ. many would say i am therefore a Christian. in obvious ways i am...but i dont believe in what the Church has been practising for thousands of years...cuz many of thier actions have been to suppress the people. the christian churches of the world are among the richest institutions that have ever existed.

in other words, the christian church and the ''catechism of the catholic church'' have stood between me and God. i personally believe that God is the same god for all (monotheistic) religions - for example, the Koran itself praises the birth of Jesus to Mary...however does not recognise him as a messiah.

religious institutions and scriptures are run and were written by by man = fact. this is why i cant take everything any holy book says as TOTALLY true. i can only take what i can from it, in my own interpretation.

heres a nice quote i found ages ago:

''Did not I, who brought Israel out of Egypt, bring
the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Aramaeans from Kir?'' Amos 9:7

yahweh, god, allah, whatever u wana call him/her. he apparently saved many races, makin covenants with them. hence different religions and methods of worship...
christianity, islam and judaism are closely linked when you think about it. it really boils down to different ppl at different times in the past who interpreted their faiths and passed them on. things change.

just hope sometime wars over religion end, n ppl can chill the f**k out with each other. :)
sorry this is so long :S

[*suddenly she*]

some of you are makin it out to sound like the murderer of 10 people gets into heaven for repenting...well, if u read teachings throughout the bible you'll find that people are still punished for what they've done, even though they've repented.

in other words, the christian church and the ''catechism of the catholic church'' have stood between me and God. i personally believe that God is the same god for all (monotheistic) religions - for example, the Koran itself praises the birth of Jesus to Mary...however does not recognise him as a messiah.

religious institutions and scriptures are run and were written by  by man = fact. this is why i cant take everything any holy book says as TOTALLY true. i can only take what i can from it, in my own interpretation.

heres a nice quote i found ages ago:

    ''Did not I, who brought Israel out of Egypt, bring
    the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Aramaeans from Kir?'' Amos 9:7

yahweh, god, allah, whatever u wana call him/her. he apparently saved many races, makin covenants with them. hence different religions and methods of worship...
christianity, islam and judaism are closely linked when you think about it. it really boils down to different ppl at different times in the past who interpreted their faiths and passed them on. things change.

just hope sometime wars over religion end, n ppl can chill the f**k out with each other. :)
sorry this is so long  :S

when you find a verse on that (being punished for their deeds, even with repentance), post it up and include the version. it would be interesting to compare versions.

definition of holy, from dictionary.com
1. Belonging to, derived from, or associated with a divine power; sacred.
2. Regarded with or worthy of worship or veneration; revered: a holy book.
3. Living according to a strict or highly moral religious or spiritual system; saintly: a holy person.
4. Specified or set apart for a religious purpose: a holy place.
5. Solemnly undertaken; sacrosanct: a holy pledge.
6. Regarded as deserving special respect or reverence: The pursuit of peace is our holiest quest.
7. Informal. Used as an intensive: raised holy hell over the mischief their children did.

the christian's holy book is the bible. book is a word we all know, but holy, in definition 1/2 means sacred, or worthy of worship. the bible was written by man with much of it inspired by God, such as the pentateuch/first five books of the old testament, especially genesis.

for those who don't know, genesis tells the story of creation.

the bible is sacred and completely true, but for years, people have mutilated the meaning to fit their purpose, as others have stated in the thread. even in one church, a verse can be interpreted many different ways.

for example...


Amos 9:7 (The Message)
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
Souce: Biblegateway.com
7"Do you Israelites think you're any better than the far-off Cushites?" GOD's Decree.
"Am I not involved with all nations? Didn't I bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, the Arameans from Qir?

what that says to me is God is involved in everyone, and the fact that he is, does not mean he is the God everyone worships. Before he brought out those separate people from those areas, they most likely did not worship him. Their bringing out would increase their faith in a different god.

Hm. Well, I have a headache again, partly from this, and partly from wondering why I'm capitalizing words correctly.