humans are a pretentious race. i dont have the answers but i know they arent in the bible. i actually have read and studied it. there are lessons and morals to be learned, some good some idiotic, but its a fairytale.

there are too many people these days who try to back up their arguments with the bible or religion. the bible should never be used to prove a point in a debate because not everyone accepts it as true. .

Early man simply had no other way to explain the aspects and processes of our cosmos and our physical acts of existence. However, once religion was displaced as a "science", it was seen as indisputable spiritualistic fact. And it was only after this development, when it began to be used to control and influence large masses of people. .

Only the fool would say in there heart there is no God, if that is your belief I truly feel sorry for you and I want you to know I am praying for you. John 3:16.

I have studied the Bible and read it all of the way through. And I can quote scripture with the best of them. I certainly can list your verse verbatim and without even flexing my mental muscles to recapture it. The Bible needs a revision.

Apparently, god seems to have a slight memory problem, because he can't keep his story straight for a full chapter. http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/abs/long.htm (1115 mistakes found by the non-omniscient eye).

Unlike the Constitution which is debated on its ability to be a living document, the Bible is sometimes held, verbatim as the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth. The Bible holds so many outdated views on life that it is dangerous to be used as the word of God. Maybe that's what the men of the past thought, but our common sense should tell us that these things cannot be. Maybe we could use it as a religious version of Aesop's Fables, but we can't use this book any longer to teach us when so much of the text is no longer viable. Do we just tear out the pages that look ridiculous to us?. You need to take it in its entirety or not at all. And it is not adaptable to a culture 2000 + years later. The writers weren't able to see a world that far in the future.

For those who are regenerated, they know that the Word of God requires the engagement of our spirit to gain the divine truths, the letter kills, but the spirit gives life...if you use your spirit, you have the gaining of the divine life in your being.

The Bible is a flawed interpretation of what the writer thought was correct at the time. The men that wrote these books were filtering it through their own bias and putting it to the page. On top of that, the Bible had to go through translation before it ended up in our current form. Again, the translator will read it in the way that makes the most sense to culture and background AND with what can be literally translated. How did we get this book anyway? Some guy in Rome decided he liked these particular books in the bible and commissioned a bunch of them to be made. That doesn't instill confidence in their holy nature; just a good way to make a buck.

New Version of an Old Story

The current version of the Bible is merely an adaptation of a document proven to have been written around 3000 BC.

The Bible is full of parables with great principles to apply, but most Christians take those stories literally. Example: the Virgin Mary--was she really a virgin, or was that a parable for her purity? Either way, the Bible is for principles, not fact.

To understand any religious document, you must know the reason for it's existence. The origin of ALL religions can be traced back to the beginning days of kingdoms and empires.

Agreed!

As those who thought it necessary to rule masses of people discovered the magnitude of the job before them, they began to figure ways to allow the populace to govern themselves. This was accomplished by creating a religion.

By presenting rules to abide by, and making the consequences of not following those rules very serious, a ruler could now expect the general populace to govern themselves.

Using this method of control, the Ruler could now use his Army to expand his reign. The Crusades is one of the better known operations which took advantage of this method.

If you look at any Religion, you will see that it follows the basic "Reward vs Consequence" format. Those who abide by the rules are promised greatly desired luxuries and positions. Those who don't are promised dire consequences.

There is the mention of reward and punishment in the New Testament, but not the mention of luxuries as the reward, that would be the human thought, not the divine revelation. Slaves do not have luxuries, are you a slave of Christ? Then you are rich.

It was the duty of the Ruler's "Court", ie: The Magician, The Joker, The Jester, and others to convince the populace that both the Rewards and the Consequences were genuine. They did this using secret codes, only they knew, to stage events in public.

The Magician was the most powerful person in the Ruler's (or King, if you prefer) Court. He masterminded the codes and the exhibitions, and controlled who was privy to that information. Then, as now, information RULED. .

Using their preconceived codes, the Court could stage public demonstrations which appeared to legitimize the Rewards and Consequences of the Ruler's Edict. Witnesses conveyed these results to their families and friends, who then accepted it as truth.

Such is the origin of every Religion on Earth today. Investigation will prove these facts to be true. Observe the basics of ANY Religion, and you will discover it adheres to these commonalities. They differ in the context of Rewards and Consequences.

Do not take these points as a non-belief in God. Nothing could be further from the truth. These points are merely an explanation of the origins of "Religions".

The existence of God (attach any moniker you desire) should be unquestioned by those who are at all in touch with reality. Those who disbelieve should attempt to explain the precision of the Universe to me. That is my challenge to you.

Proof negates belief, belief is the acceptance of the validity of something in the absence of proof.

Years ago a Comparitive Religion course required me to read works ranging from the Old Testament to Ayn Rand's "The Virtue of Selfishness." All of the works provided direction and moral fiber but using them as a foundation for "worship" is wrong.

The bible was designed to be a guide to living a good life, not a manual on how to live. It's a shame some religious sects try to put a "spin" on it. It should be treated as a fable, not factual information. Definitely outdated, and probably improperly translated many times over centuries.

The bible is the most read book in the world. it is not going anywhere

Seriously, it says it right here in 1 Timothy Chapter 2:

"9In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;

10But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.

11Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.

12But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence."

If that doesn't prove this book is outdated, and not relevant today, as the original poster stated, ... well, there are plenty more absurdities as well.

Truly we are in a wonderful time. We have more access to so much more than any other time in history. We don't have to rely on story telling. We can hop a plane and see it for ourselves. We can read books by the libraries full, we can call, text, email, anything virtually anywhere. Our boundaries are almost completely gone compared to earlier times in the history of the world. Which also makes it much easier to evalute history and the folklores, politics, cultures, and reasonings along with history like never before as well.

If you haven't ever read the very well done books by Christoper Knight and Richard Lomas, you are missing out on 2 men spending years studying history and sharing with you the facts that surround the bible and so much of the history of some common threads of religion. VERY good stuff, and factual. Open up and read, this is a wonderful time of information, why not learn from it, instead of living from hand-me-down ideals. Gain your own from learning.

The Bible was put together by a committee (Council of Nicea). Christian writings that did not meet the vote were rejected.

In other words, the whole thing was a fabrication and a way for men to gain and hold power and control over people. Yes, the Bible has some good moral lessons, and yes the Bible has some relatively accurate historical information, but that's it. The rest is nothing but a power grab.

It is also a way to self-deceive. People are naturally afraid of things they can't explain, such as death. In previous times, that also included things like an eclipse, chemistry, movements of stars, etc. So when the moon becomes "black as sackcloth", the rivers become "red as blood", and three wise men followed a star to Jesus, we know that those are wrong.

We know that those are wrong because we have evolved and adapted, and most important -- learned. The more we learn, the less we need religion.

Love your neighbor.

Do onto others as you would do onto yourself.

Nuff said. All the other BS just gets in the way.

I think that reading should never be restricted to just one subject. Everyone, Christians included, should read the books on mythology and religion by Joseph Campbell.

I also think that everyone should be voracious readers of everything they can get their hands on, and then make their own decisions. I for one don't take the bible seriously as "THE Word of God". Neither does anyone else in my household. But this is because we've all made our own decisions about it. We've all read the bible, but have also opened our minds up to other philosophies, too. We also follow a good moral code:

1) Always be honest and faithful.

2) Never kill anyone.

3) Do your best to not break local society's laws.

Anyway, my bible opinion - Outdated.

The Bible is a great piece of mythology and legend. That's about it.

What people and religious institutions have made of and made with the Bible is pathetic and terrifying.

The Catholic Church has driven millions to enslavement within its rites and rituals and ideals. The Southern Baptist Church has become so bigoted and prejudiced that being of any belief other than Southern Baptist is pretty much Satanic.

See also:

The DaVinci Code

Stigmata (Film)

and a few others...

The Bible is of immense importance as a work of literature chronicling (in, as is to be expected, an extraordinarily biased way) the history and culture of the Hebrew people. Though, like most literary works in its class, it references many people, places, and events with proven historicity, the majority of the Bible could best be categorized as historical fiction of a religious nature. How the Bible came to be viewed as verbum Dei by people all over the world was a process dominated by imperial decrees and imperialistic conquest. The Bible does not serve as a valid metaphysical or ethical reference for the majority of the world's people, and with good reason.

The basic premise behind literature such the Bible, among numerous other examples which could be given, is that it is just that--literature. It was written by people, not deities; deities such as God, Zeus, and Shiva, no matter how fastidiously they might be revered by millions of devotees, have never been anything other than literary characters. They have been given special impetus by the belief placed in them by cultures and civilizations, but no amount of such impetus could wish them forth into reality.

I am continually astounded by both the poverty and persistence of the argument for the verity of the Bible which goes something like this: "If you'd REALLY read it, you'd BELIEVE it!" Such assertions are frighteningly common and mind-numbingly asinine. Such an argument basically takes the form: "If you believed as I do, then you'd believe as I do!" Imagine applying such ludicrous reasoning to a novel like Jane Eyre or an epic poem like the Aenid. I'm afraid it doesn't work out very well.

Everyone has the right to believe as he or she sees fit, so far as those beliefs do not infringe on the liberties of others. So, then, it must be admitted that, just as with many other things in life, the choice to believe in the Bible with any degree of literality is just that: a personal choice, probably influenced by family, peers, community, or even television, but certainly not owing to any special qualities of the Bible in and of itself. There really are none. I, for one, choose to value the Bible for its literary worth, historical value, and beauty--qualities owed to its entirely human authors. I suppose that condemns me to hell. I'm cold-natured, anyway.

The problem, the one that you may not see, is not what your religion says, in particular -- although most likely, you believe in some pretty horrible things, like stoning adulterers or killing the children of your enemies or hating homosexuals or jews or not touching menstruating women or having as many babies as possible. And if you don't it's probably only because you've decided which parts of God's word are good enough for you, and which parts aren't to be taken seriously, since they bother you personally, and that they can therefore be considered to have been mistakes on His part.

The problem is not what your religion tells you to believe, but how it tells you to believe -- that is, it tells you that you can -- no must believe in the absence of the type of evidence that you're used to demanding out of life. In fact, your salvation depends on believing without evidence -- skepticism will actually damn you to hell for all eternity.