Religious

[groovy chick]

Why is the bible important to christians?

[jno]

because it's the word of God, passed by him to the prophets, who passed them on to the public. The new testament is more a history of early Christians and the teachings of Paul, but he too counts as a prophet of sorts.

[Golden Shred]

.... and here is Saint Paul prophetically .......

[Golden Shred]

(with apologies to Tatty !!!!!)

[bracknell]

10 clarion street - take that you have read it from cover to cover to make you an expert on what is good and what is as you say crap. I hope you have the same opinion on all other religions versions of the bible - I'm sure the muslims would like to wage a Jihad on you.

[Lonnie]

The Bible, in its entirety, over time, has done more harm than good, tomorrow evening on the television there's a documentary about the Inquisition, I think all belivers and non believers should watch it, crimes by Christians against Christians and all other religions in its area, and all because people read and believed.

[Drusilla]

The Bible is important to Christians because Christians believe it is the word of God, just as Moslems believe the Koran is the word of Allah (God).
Whether this is true, or not depends on your ability to accept a faith, without proof.

[brionon]

I'm with 10 Clarion ST.

[jno]

plenty of facts in the Bible; the problem is in distinguishing what is and what isn't. Noah's flood, for instance, almost certainly happened, but didn't cover the whole earth. St Paul did write to the Ephesians (the people of Ephesus, now in Turkey). But maybe the number of the beast isn't 666. And so on.

[Clanad]

Seems this discussion raises its head regularly. Usually, I've jumped in with both barrels blazing, to which I will refrain. However, I've noticed a unusual phenomena (is there any other kind?). Many posters whom I've come to recognize by their wit, knowledge and reasoning often, when the subject at hand is discussed, lose all sense of direction. While each one is free to express their feelings on any subject and choose to believe or not, I think it's intellectually dishonest to debase the value of any writing, including Scripture, on the basis of wild, unsupportable accusations. For example, many people declare the Scriptures, both Torah and New Covenant, were changed, suppressed or otherwise altered by the Roman Catholic Church. Now comes 10ClarionSt stating that occurred during the Inquisition. So... which is it? Both are demonstrably untrue since the writings predate both occurrences and demonstrate no changes. As I've stated previously, it's the person who has had a bad experience within some organized, usually politically active institution of religion, such as the Roman church or perhaps Church of England, that is the most adamant in their condemnation. No matter pointing out all the good, humanitarian work of many "churches", no matter stating the obvious of believers in Yeshua being the first on the scene in times of disaster, or in the case of bombings in Israel, the arrival forthwith of Hasidim.

Contd.

[Clanad]

Contd.

No, the objector relies on their experience with Sister Vincent, et al... not the true love and caring expressed by Yeshua as a command to the followers. Torah is important as an historical document as well as the Word of Ha Shem and I'm not a little surprised by Lonnie's joining in, since I perceive he is a son of Abraham, until I remember that in Yisrael today, the society is largely secular. (Sha-alu shalom Yirushalayim). Noones mind can or will be changed by this forum, but statements having no factual basis only inflames the discussion and, in my opinion, raises the tenor to the point of screaming and shouting which leads to no resolution at all...

[BabsG]

What a sad world we live in when people like 10ClarionSt simply can't show a little respect for someone else's beliefs. After all if he doesn't believe in it he only has to ignore it.

[jno]

rule of thumb: atheists are always louder and ruder than believers. Their belief is that if they shout, it must be true. Quaint.

[jake-the-peg]

Athiests are louder and ruder than believers?

Gosh JNO who are these people loudly and rudely yelling their beliefs in the streets at me?

I've yet to see an athiest preaching at passers by in shopping centres.

How quaint.

Mind you just to prove that miracles can happen I must side with Clanad and point out that a comparison of the earliest known texts from places like St. Catherines monastry in Sinai show remarkable agreement with what is in the Bible today.

However mull over the point that the somebody human edited the Bible and decided which writings were "the word of God" and which writings were not.

[jno]

sorry jake, should have specified: on websites. And it was a rule of thumb, not a universal rule. But if you think I'm wrong, have a look back through this and similar AB threads: believers like Clanad generally try to explain patiently and without heat; atheists like 10CSt jeer at them and shout 'crap'. Why the rudeness? Serious question; I don't know the answer.

(Sorry groovy chick, getting a bit away from your question here.)

[jake-the-peg]

Maybe all the rude Christians hang out at shopping centres and all the rude athiests hang out on the net :c)