Some Critical Analysis of the Bible
One of a multitude of Bible flaws that cannot be explained
The Bible is a book like any other ancient book.
It is written by people that saw the universe as was common in
ancient times. Through Science people have found the universe
to be quite different than the biblical description of it.
As in any ancient document, one may find some useful
information in the Bible. By viewing the Bible (also the Koran and other
"Holy" books) as an ancient man-made book that presents ancient ideas
prevalent at the time one can enjoy and appreciate it more. These "Holy"
books may even have been progressive for the time in which they were written.
My examination of the Bible shows that modern Christians' beliefs do not
agree with much of the Bible as it is. Most Christians today are good people
in spite of the bible. They are smarter than Jesus. They are nicer than the God
of the Bible. Many of them have risen above the brutalities of Christianity to
become good, caring people because they (like I) possess a respect for
human values. (Similarly, this also applies to people in other religions who have
become good, caring people because they possess a respect for human values
and that have risen above the restrictions of their religion.) Ethically and
scientifically,
the bible is deficient. I would not recommend it as a guidebook or a source of
science or ethics. For the topic of ethics in the bible see the links below.
You would think that if an Almighty God wanted to communicate an urgent message
in a book, such as the Bible, to all of mankind, this God would
have done it in
absolutely clear text, understandable to everyone, without flaws, with no doubt
about its meaning, without possible controversy about its meaning; and it would
have been given to all of mankind at the beginning of humanity. This does not
describe the bible (or the Koran or the Mormon books). If there are errors and
ethical evils in the Bible (or other 'Holy Books') it could not be divine -- it must
then be man-made, which I am confirming here.
The good news is that: the assumption that the bible is divine is not necessary.
Who told you it was divine other than the bible itself? If you do not believe the
bible is divine then you do not assume the existence of Sin, you do not assume
the fall of mankind, you do not assume the wrath of God and divine judgment,
you do not assume Christ's sacrificial atonement means anything -- it doesn't if you
don't assume all the above. (When I was a born-again, dedicated Christian, I
believed all these assumptions to be reality.) You are then free of all this and can
begin to live a happy, free, fun and ethical life; a life with real meaning.
I have critically analyzed the Bible to confirm that it could not be divine;
and specific people found in the Bible, one being Jesus, are no more divine
than anyone else, living or dead. For that matter, in my Bible Study, I confirmed
-- that the God of the Bible could not be the same as the God of the Universe.
The evidence I used is in the Bible itself and in the evidence of science.
In a similar fashion others have shown all other organized religion's "Holy
Books"
are not divine and that the God they present is not the same as the
God of the Universe. For instance, the Koran
is not divine
and Allah is not the same as the God of the Universe. That the Mormon books
are flawed and not divine.
My analysis of the Bible has involved over 60 topics so far, some of which I
have
included in this web site. Surveys show that 75% of Canadians believe in the divinity of
Jesus -- in the US the % is even higher. The overwhelming majority of people in
our society believe in some book as being divine or some person as being supernatural.
This popularity of belief makes it somewhat difficult to be an
unbeliever --
there is intense peer pressure to conform to the majority belief.
Jesus says every word of the Old Testament is to be believed
and taken as truth.
If a person is a Jesus-worshiper then that person must believe all the Bible is inerrant
-- that person must take it literally -- it seems to me that most Christians don't take
every part of the Bible as inerrant -- they pick and choose; I think a reasonable
approach for any ancient book.
An excellent book showing the Bible, Book of Mormon
and the Koran are not inerrant books is:
"The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy" by C. Dennis McKinsey
ISBN 0-87975-926-7 from Prometheus Books
-- see Prometheus Books website link below -- look under references.
A good source of books is Prometheus
Books.
Also Biblical Errancy articles by
Dennis McKinsey
A Ten minute Summary of Christianity
An interesting document entitled: Prophecies Imaginary and Unfulfilled
by Farrell Till by clicking here
An interesting book for recommended reading is
"Farewell To God, My reason for
rejecting the Christian Faith"
by Charles Templeton, a former evangelist and friend of
Billy Graham. ISBN: 0-7710-8422-6
Another interesting Site by another former minister and missionary Dan Barker.
On the topic of ethics in
the bible I recommend chapter 50
"Is The Bible A Good moral Guide?"
in his book "Losing Faith in Faith"
ISBN: 1-877733-07-5. by clicking here
A must read, humorous book called
"The Born Again Skeptic's Guide to
the Bible"
by Ruth Hurmance Green. Originally published by
Freedom From Religion Foundation, P.O. Box 750,
Madison, Wisconsin 53701
An excellent source of Biblical Errancy articles by Dennis McKinsey
The
Jesus Puzzle. Did Christianity begin with a mythical Christ?
Earl Doherty