Why Do You Believe The 'Holy Bible' Needs Splanin'...

[mibn2cweus]

...for those who believe there is any?

If 'God' sought communication with his 'creation', why a book? Why does this book require countless revision, reinterpretation, and translation? Why wouldn't you expect more from an alleged 'creator of the universe', a direct means of communication for those who seek to do so?
Anticipating (based on undeviating past experience) what will follow in this thread, God's apparent need for a middle man to facilitate, translate, interpret and explain His communications leaves much to be desired. But never mind all that, splain away.

[nailit]

Theland, Ive been really harsh in my posts about you at times, forgive me. But they have been born out of frustration at not been able to have a reasonable give and take debate.

Many Evangelicals that I know are the most wonderful and kind people in my life, but they are that way NOT because of their beliefs, but because thats who they are as humans.
Their religious beliefs are Crackpot, bordering on insane,(to my way of thinking) but lovely people nevertheless.

[nailit]

Ive known a fair few JWs in my time and they only seem to quote from Watchtower publications. No mind of their own, sad. Very sad!

[Peter Pedant]

good starting point
why do you need to splain a starting point?

Bruce Metzger NY - where does it coem from and where does it go to?
is much better than random comment
The Canon of the New Testament Its Origin, Development and Significance
Bruce M Metzger (06 Mar 1997)

we dig dig dig and ( in Egypt ) dig up a papyrus ( er "thingy wiv writing on it" for Abers) - and fink ( wonder ) why did it make some one write it down - what didit mean to him and what does ( if anything ) does it mean to us ?

this is called Text Crit - and you can do it for anything Latin poetry if you like
ELEGIACS BY GALLUS FROM QASR IBRIM *. By R. D. ANDERSON, P. J. PARSONS AND R. G. M. NISBET. (Plates IV-VI). I. THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL .
is about a love lorn Latin poet none of whose poetry survives ( hey er how did they know ....)

I mean if it means the difference between the floods of comment on AB - some of which really can be described as one word clag- [foo! stupid man, righto! stupid post] spring to mind
or reading text crit - I wd go for the last one.

oops sozza my dictionary calls .....

[Peter Pedant]

comeo on Nails
be fair
the JW on here says he writes it himself.

I have asked for more apposite quotes - I mean Jesus it is not as tho the Holy Bible is a short story

[andy-hughes]

goodlife - // Say what you like you're the loser not me. //

Spoken with all the love and compassion of a true Christian!!

[Theland]

Correction - JWs are not Christians. They are JWs.

[Theland]

Matthew 24 addresses the times we are experiencing.
Months ago, at the beginning of lockdown, folk on here SPL!e of, '' when things get back to normal.''

I said then, and repeat it now, we won't get back to the way things were. Not only nationally, but internationally.

The bible predicts all of this, and denial is burying heads in sand.

[vulcan42]

\\ The bible predicts all of this,//
Theland, is it possible for you to show where in the bible this is predicted, thus proving you know what you're talking about?

[Peter Pedant]

// Matthew 24 addresses the times we are experiencing.
Months ago, at the beginning of lockdown, folk on here SPL!e of, '' when things get back to normal.''//

"Matthew 24 addresses the times we are experiencing."
er OK.....


"Months ago, at the beginning of lockdown, folk on here SPL!e of, '' when things get back to normal.'' " is not a somewhat odd translation of Mt 24 - just in case as I was - you are expecting one. Mt 24is slightly more obviously apocalyptic - "see the Temple it will be torn down etc "

and the disciples ask when it will happen
clearly they think it is soon
whereas as it hasnt ( er happened) it is taken as metaphysical

[Peter Pedant]

Vulcan Maff 24
just I have just read it ....

or.... book of the apocalypse ( all of)

[archibaldy]

// If 'God' sought communication with his 'creation', why a book? //

For the same reasons that he created Adam from dust, created Eve from a rib and created Jesus by impregnating a virgin - likes to move in mysterious ways innit.

[archibaldy]

// The bible predicts all of this //

Lets be realistic the Bible's predictions are nowhere near as accurate as more modern books that the predict the wars, pestilence and natural disasters that happen. Raise the bar a little!

As the OP says, in order to make the Bible' prophecies anywhere near as specific requires some 'splainin by humans, so why didn't God just make the Bible's propecies more specific in the first place, so all of us could marvel at how accurate they are rather than arguing about it?

[eve1974]

Over time (3,400yr from parts of OT)original manuscripts have been lost. “Copies of copies of copies” were made and as meticulous as the scribes tried to be no one is perfect.
Scholars think that majority of these differences are spelling (eg USA Neighbor vs U.K neighbour), inverted words (eg “Christ Jesus” while another says “Jesus Christ”)
I guess tho that whatever any historian (Christian or secular) finds the bottom line is people will believe it’s the word of God ... or they won’t. That’s the joy of having been created with free will and an enquiring mind etc

[archibaldy]

Eve, you essentially said that the words were generated - sometimes wrongly - by humans, and in the next sentence that it's the word of God. I don't see how it can be both.

[Theland]

Nailit @ 18:55 - Of course I forgive you.
After all, this is Answer bank, and as Peter Pedant would say, ''Sheesh - foo an all in Greek, (dats Sockorateez to youz innit), ¶π÷∆√|`~^°¢ nay lad as ter der targit on me back an all an shoot yer fiery darts to thine contentment.

[Theland]

Archibaldy - God didn't dictate the Bible word for word, only the Koran claims that.
The authors of the Bible were inspired to write what they did, not programmed to record like a dictophone.

[Mozz71]

//Say what you like you're the loser not me//

Isn't it strange that while it's the atheists here who are regularly accused of picking on the holy, the first stone (well, insult) is cast by someone whose fiction of choice clearly tells him no to do that?

[Theland]

Mozz - He's a JW not a Christian.

[youngmafbog]

I dont believe it needs explaing, well not more than the "Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales".

[Peter Pedant]

// If 'God' sought communication with his 'creation', why a book? //
um yeah no actually
Genesis isnt an attempt of God esq to communicate
you know like dring Dring -
God ( for it is he) hello am I ringing HUMan 0001 ? [ cute old dialling numbaz see)
Eve - using a phone either candlestick or one of those German ones of naked leddies kneeling and you speak into .....
"hellooo this is Human 0002 - Adam is busy right now - can you hold ?"

No sir - Genesis is NOT like that - oh no

the first person to realise that was thingey 1890
"The documentary hypothesis posited that the Pentateuch is a compilation of four originally independent documents: the Jahwist (J), Elohist (E), Deuteronomist (D), and Priestly (P) sources. ... Finally, P was generally dated to the time of Ezra in the 5th century BCE."

erm we can have a sensible converstaion about the Bible or must we go back to the 13 y old class room stuff of - - "science has disproved God!"