I have been reading many, many articles in the past weeks on joeuser and I have enjoyed it very much. It is good to find a place where discussions often run deep, where there are plenty of intelligent souls around who can both state and defend their position without getting into petty abuse in post #2.
Now, in that spirit, could some of you please answer me the following question: What makes the Bible true?
I am not a religious man, I was born in a catholic family but my parents left their children free to find their own path. Some will say I didn't, I'll say I did, it just leads down the path of rationalism, with a heavy dose of "I'll believe it when I see it" and a severe lack of blind faith. Don't feel sorry for me, I am very happy this way, although I am truly envious when I meet people who (seem to) have found internal peace thanks to their faith in a deity, be it God, Allah or Homer Simpson. Perhaps I'll be able to "cross over" on my deathbed, as at seems to be a fitting place for a calculating heathen like myself, but do yourself a favour and don't put any money on it.
Now back to why I ask my question. So often have I seen debates, on abortion, evolution, homosexuality, and most of the time, people pop up giving their views from a religious standpoint. Invariably, there are scriptures being quoted, passages from the good book, as indeniable proof, the Word of God Himself. People who came across as completely rational, intelligent and inquisitive individuals in topics without a religious edge, suddenly fall back on the Bible and reason further from there, with no questions asked about the solidity of their base. Now I'm sure many of you DID ask yourself these questions at some stage, I am very interested to learn how you came to the conclusion that the Bible is right and cannot be wrong.
To me, the bible is an excellent historybook from very ancient times, full of facts, fiction, marvels, fairytales, horror, action-adventure and best of all, opinions. Opinions of people no less. I don't believe there's an actual signature of The Good Lord himself in there, so what makes you think it is 100% correct? Did God do the final editing? I know I sound terribly cynical in this, but I can't help but wonder about the sanity of people going for the Adam & Eve story. Not only does it sound like a grat fairytale, it also was put down in the book eons later, which doesn't do much for its credibility in my eyes. I have heard plenty Christans say they take the Old Testament with a grain of salt (especially the Genesis part) but are true believers of the New Testament. To me, that makes no sense at all.
Sorry about the rambling, I didn't do very well on my first try did I? Well, I hope many of you find it worthy of an answer anyway, I am honestly interested.
