Bible ...

[joko]

There are many who take the word of this book literally and believe every word, but there are numerous examples of things supposedly said in it, that are so utterly ingrained in our world, that we would be shocked to discover that they were never actually said in it!

having never actually read the bible, i cannot swear to this but i have heard there are many - such as the apple - apparently there is no apple mentioned in the bible - yet, the world in general thinks it is

also i read somewhere yeasterday that there is no mention of '3 wise men' in the bible... we have apparently cooked that up in nativity plays and its stuck.

so, can anyone verify these, and can anyone give me any more examples?
i imagine there are many more.


i find it interesting, and its a perfect example of how people can become so mislead and so convinced by the words of other people, people have basically made stuff up, and others have blindly believed something that they never check.

its kind of like chinese whispers.

thanks

[Mattk]

The modern day Bible has actually been edited over the years by many people to leave only the sections they wanted to remain.

[naomi24]

What you’ve said is right. The apple is ‘fruit’, the wise men aren’t numbered - and off the top of my head, Jonah wasn’t swallowed by a whale, and a stable didn’t house baby Jesus.

[WaldoMcFroog]

Angels don't have two wings. The Seraphim, who do have wings, have three pairs.

Cherubs, far from being babies, are firghtening four-headed entities that included the faces of a man, an eagle and a lion (Ezekiel 10:14).

Harps come from Milton in Paradise Lost rather than the Bible.

Although we all know he's red, got a forked tail, horns and a pitchfork, Satan is never described.

Beyond the fact that it's mentioned he uses a cup at the Last Supper, the Holy Grail never appears in the Bible, but derives from Arthurian legend.

The anti-Christ is mentioned, but not as a specific person or entity. The anti-Christ is anyone that doesn't believe in Christ. (Hey; I'm the Anti-Christ!) Even when it was mentioned as a specific entity, it was as a monster. He finally becomes a humanoid in the Middle Ages.

[modeller]

I was recently accosted by a religious nutter who believed every word in the bible. Nothing new in that but what did surprise me he described the Pope as the Anti-Christ.

[naomi24]

Modeller, did you take a leaflet?

http://www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?ArtKey=antichrist_intro

[Old_Geezer]

Surely it is obvious that the fruit wasn't an apple, nor anything else to eat... er well maybe it is.

All very prudish it seems, these religious types.

[modeller]

Naomi . No there wasn't one offered but he was quite vehement in his hatred of the Pope. He didn't give any reasons that made sense. His 'logic' was so flawed that I didn't push it. I met him once before when he was proving the power of prayer . He said his wife had been very ill and after his prayers she had recovered, then one year later she was taken ill again and he prayed for her recovery but she died , which he claimed had answered his prayers because we are all pilgrims and she had now reached her goal by being with Jesus in heaven.
I then pointed out if that was the correct answer on the second occassion then the first one had not been answered, when she recovered. With that he said he could tell from my eyes that I was spiritually dead and stormed off. W

[naomi24]

Modeller, If being 'spiritually alive' is what he is, thank Zeus you're 'spiritually dead'. ;o)

[goodlife]

Yes everything a joke to you, Why do people humiliate one another?

[atalanta]

The " apple" was "the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil". The "wise men" were never given a number. What I find really bizarre is that they were supposed to have said they were from the East, ( imagine, say, Ancient Persia) and had seen the star in the East, and had followed it. In that case, they would have gone in exactly the wrong direction ( eastwards of Persia, towards India, instead of West, towards Bethlehem) and would have had to go right round the world before they reached Judaea.
If you go to Bethlehem today, you will be shown the birthplace in a cave, which could never have been reached by animals, as humans have to go down steep and difficult steps to get there.
Also, it is now known that the slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt ( together with the plagues, the Exodus, Passover and the opening of the Red Sea ) , never happened. Archaeologists have found stone inscriptions from that time which describe the Canaanites/Hebrews/Jews as being in Canaan, not Egypt, during that period. Sorry, Moses, but you're a myth.

[Wharton]

Ye cannae ca' yersel' a real baptist unless ye've been papped intae the waatter roon aboot the Sound o' Jura - it's in the scruptures somewhere, Ah cannae mind where

[naomi24]

Goodlife, //Yes everything a joke to you//

You're mistaken. There's nothing funny about the dangerous nonsense you spread.

Perhaps you'll tell us who - or more appropriately what - you think the Anti-Christ is? ;o)

[goodlife]

Naomi, I found this one for you ..

17: I have something from the Lord to tell you. I warn you: Don’t continue living like those who don’t believe. Their thoughts are worth nothing. 18 They have no understanding, and they know nothing because they refuse to listen. So they cannot have the life that God gives. (Eph. 4:17-18)

[WaldoMcFroog]

The fact that you find it necessary to aim that at Naomi would suggest you've failed to comprehend what it's telling *you* to do, dear boy.

[Davethedog]

Goodlife can you explain this? In the quote you posted it starts "I have something from the Lord to tell you" so this is the word of a man, not god, a man. So as such it is no more valid than the word of any other man.

How can you therefore hold this up as validation of...well anything. Not only can you prove it came from god, you can't prove that its not the words of an idiot. Can you?

[goodlife]

Ok, Man said this,........ One syndicated columnist reaches to a higher source for help: “It is impossible to have a moral community or nation without faith in God, because everything rapidly comes down to ‘me,’ and ‘me’ alone is meaningless.” When the Russian dissident was asked to identify the problem of the 20th century, he said: “Men have forgotten God. . . . The entire twentieth century is being sucked into the vortex of atheism and self-destruction.”

[joko]

when poeple nowadays claim to literally speak to god - we lock them up ad nutters or dangerous cult leaders - or idiots believe, follow them ... and join their cult and end up dead or brainwashed or abused or broke etc.

we never, ever, as a nation, take their word for it, and believe them totally and celebrate their words as the true word of god - do we?

so why, goodlife, do you believe the words of the bible?
why do you believe and accept the human who wrote it was genuinely writing the words of god?
why dont you think he may very well have just been another nutter ... or dangerous manuipulative, and charismatic cult leader?

why was it ok then ... but not now?

[goodlife]

joko-Why do I believe the Bible? Because it was not a man made book. Why do I accept it? - because the writers were not men who took followers for themselves. They wrote through inspiration and recorded the facts. If they were nutters, manipulative or charismatic cult leaders they would have had followers in their own right. But they always directed their praise and referred people to God.

Cult leaders and manipulative leaders do not do that. They want people to follow them either through fear, mind control and by isolating them from families, friends and their fellow man. They trick people into joining and then coerce them into staying.

[naomi24]

Goodlife, //“It is impossible to have a moral community or nation without faith in God, because everything rapidly comes down to ‘me,’ and ‘me’ alone is meaningless.”//

You insult every single person on this earth who cares for his fellow man but just happens not to believe in your God. If anything rapidly comes down to ‘me’ it is a religion that promises a way to cheat death. Ultimately that futile hope for personal salvation is the only thing that keeps you clinging to your vindictive God. You’re a self-obsessed coward.

[joggerjayne]

The Bible was not a man made book ????