BarneyFife
Well-Known Member
Concerning the story of the Hebrews in Egypt:
Concerning the story of the Exodus:
So the idea that the book of Genesis existed in some form in or around 2700 BCE is pure hogwash.
There’s plenty more where that came from. But you can prove to yourself just how worthless the Bible is as a source of historical fact by comparing the two different genealogies given for Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3 with the genealogies given in the Old Testament. If you line them up side-by-side you will discover the following:
The books of the Bible-- both Old and New Testaments-- are unreliable and don’t even align with each other, let alone with anything else from the ancient world.
- According to Matthew, Joseph’s father was Jacob while Luke says his father was Heli
- Matthew says the father of Salathiel was Jechoniah, while Luke says his father was Neri
- Matthew says there were 27 generations between King David and Jesus, but Luke ways there were 42 generations-- a difference of 36%
- The only two persons between King David and Joseph who match up in the Matthew and Luke genealogies are Salathiel/Shealtiel and Zerubbabel
- Both of the genealogies diverge from the genealogies of the Old Testament
- And most amusingly both Matthew and Luke trace the lineage of Jesus through Joseph, who ostensibly wasn’t his biological father!!!
But some people have assumed that everything in the Bible is the word of God and is therefore absolutely true. Such persons are fools.
Aside from the "2700" nonsense (huge difference between 2700BC and 2700 years ago), there are several explanations related to your observations and objections that have sufficed to satisfy some great and well-adjusted minds that could not very likely be chargeable with foolishness.I was responding to your claim that biblical texts existed in 2700 BCE. I didn't interpret that as a spiritual statement-- I interpreted it as a claim of historical fact. So I responded with evidence from the historical record to show that it is just pure baloney.
But to turn to spiritual matters, what exactly is the great spiritual truth that we're supposed to glean from the Bible? Most of the Christians who have commented on this forum claim that the core message is that faith in Jesus is absolutely essential to earn an eternal life in paradise. I say that's an extremely bigoted idea since it would mean that the billions of people who have lived on this planet without ever once having had knowledge or awareness of either Jesus or Yahweh or the Bible will be punished by God for failing to make the right choice-- even though they had no possible means of doing so. If that's what the great spiritual message of the Bible is, I want no part of it.
Over the course of his lifetime Albert Ellis, the great REBT psychoanalyst of the mid-20th century went from viewing religion as indistinguishable from emotional instability to finally claiming that the Bible is a great sel-help book that has effected more mental health cure than the whole of all practicing therapists combined.
The typical cynic/skeptic from the "new atheism" school of thought is likely to find an overwhelming tide of scientific data deuging the ill-conceived, sand castles of intellectual elitist propaganda emanating from the "horsemen." The "God Delusion" will, in all likelihood, shortly be met with the "God Deluge."
And, speaking of inconsistencies, while your assessment of the Bible's historic value is very likely affected by exactly what you're looking to "discover," some of your expressions seem widely inconsistent with the "Reverent" part of your chosen username.
Perhaps it was typically chosen in much the same way as "The 'Friendly' Atheist," but I can't help wondering if your appearance here is motivated largely by a desire for amusement.
Surely you couldn't suppose you would be able to 'win friends and influence people' by stating matters the way you are.
Hopefully, I am misreading your intentions.
In any case, welcome to CyB.