The Bible's knowledge, What makes it a reliable source of information? Options

[hilaryhashandcuf...]

I took a Bible as literature class last year and I have to say, I was not impressed by my teacher's going on about how good a historically accurate source the Bible was.

I myself am not a Christian, but instead consider myself Gnostic (meaning "seeking truth" )

My question is, since the bible is so religiously biased, what do you guys think on the issue of using the bible as a historical document to find information?

[NoSex]

There is alot of history in the Bible. Just because it's in story form doesn't mean it's not history.

I can't name any off the top of my head, but if you really research it there is definitely history in there.

No more history than there is in the Qur'an, the Vedas, or the Pali Canon. In either case, none of these religious texts serve as legitimate sources of historical information. They may help as starting references - forming a hypothesis in the social sciences - but they are certainly no authority in of themselves, and anyone who treats them as such is a damn fool.

Just off the top of my head (since you couldn't think of anything that definitely happened, I'll consider a few things that definitely didn't happen):

The flood, mass Roman murder of children, Israelite exodus from Egypt, men rocking out before their ancestors, the tower of babel as the foundation of variety in ethnicity and language, etc. etc.

Jesus Christ for starters. Whether divine or just purely human, he is apart of history as recorded in over 150 other books of that time.

Way to pull a number out of your ass; try one, mother f**ker. f**king one measly non-biblical record. The piece, Josephus's Antiquities , is the only non-biblical record, that appears in the first century, that even insinuates Jesus Christ and the text doesn't even directly mention a "Jesus." And, even that is argued to be an inauthentic addition.

Christ is just as much a part of history as Beowulf of the Geats is - barely, if at all.

You're not going to get alot out of the Bible if you're hearing it from a secular source. Yeah, they have their own opinions, but a Christian is the best person to hear it from. You wouldn't ask a Buddhist to tell you why Christianity is a valid religion, would you?

Kind of like how the best testimony on a murder case is delivered by the accused murderer?

If you're going to criticize the Bible, and any other religious work with out really researching it, then go burn in hell. Ignorant bastards.

I guess the same goes for anyone that's trying to substantiate and or defend the Bible, huh? You ignorant bastard who also happens to now be burning in hell.

i'm not saying i necessarily disbelieve that he existed as just a man, but i think people would be justified in that belief probably.

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