How do you know the Bible isn't God's Word?

[Hydra009]

Archaeology has demonstrated conclusively that the tales of the Exodus and genocides in Canaan are lies made up by some billy goat herder priests.

Ah, but they're metaphorically true and/or parables about ...uh... freedom from bondage, which is obviously an allusion to America's independence from british rule and present day abortionists.  So you see, this supposed refutation of God's Word only strengthens it.

And far as everything else in the bible, we could sit here all day and talk about what stories have their facts wrong if you look at it in a hyper-literal, reductionist way (except the stories meant to be taken literally, those are 100% literal) but at the end of the day, the bible has a bunch of great arguments going for it:

* popularity - what better way is there to explain Christianity's meteoric rise to prominence than its inherent truth?  Imagine a middle-eastern religion springing up from nothing to millions of followers.  No, not that religion, the other one.  Nope, not that one, either.  Yeah, the cross one.  That one is special.
* conviction - who would die for a lie?  *quickly hides a picture of ISIS*
* consistency - ??? writers, one consistent message - sure, there are some parts that seem like contradictions, but a closer reading that takes into account the full context, mastery of several archaic languages (a trivial task), and consultation with the unbiased bible scholars over at thebibleistruth.com reveals that no such contradictions exist.

(btw, I'm being incredibly sarcastic here)

[Atheon]

Hello. I assume that you would say that you know that the Bible isn't the Word of God, even if you might not say that you know there isn't a God. I'm hoping that you'll tell me why you are so confident that the Bible isn't what it claims to be (i.e., the Word of God). I'm also curious if you're open to the possibility that you may be wrong about your conclusion, especially considering that you've been wrong about things that you thought you were right about before (just like every other human). Thanks in advance for your response.

The bible, like any scripture, is filled with errors and contradictions , both internally and with reality.  There is nothing in the bible or the way it was formed that is sufficient to convince a reasonable person that it is the word of some magic skydaddy.

[Baruch]

Oo! We should have a forum beauty contest.

Green guy with red anime hair ... you win ;-)

[Unbeliever]

I am definitely prettier than you ;-)

That's a very low bar under which to limbo, though!


Oh, yeah, the RCC decided that limbo doesn't actually exist.

[Unbeliever]

(btw, I'm being incredibly sarcastic here)

I'm sure glad you told us that, 'cause I'd never have guessed! ;-)

[Baruch]

That's a very low bar under which to limbo, though!


Oh, yeah, the RCC decided that limbo doesn't actually exist.

That is because the Pope never vacations in the Caribbean ;-)

[Cavebear]

Religious texts are always moronic.  I can't understand how anyone can read them and not ROTFLOL!

[Cheerful Charlie]

Religious texts are always moronic.  I can't understand how anyone can read them and not ROTFLOL!

Yes.  My point was, if there was a God, an infinitely wise and knowledgeable God who sent true and worthy revelations to us,our supposed holy books would not be collections of nonsense, lies, and ignorance.  Recent rises in Nones and non-believers suggest a lot of people just no longer believe the nonsense of Bible, Quran, Book of Mormon et al.  People are catching on.

From time to time, religion sees shifts in it's habits of thought.  Death of polytheism for example, starting about 2000 years ago.  Could it be we might see the beginnings of the death of mythology based religions?

[Cavebear]

Yes.  My point was, if there was a God, an infinitely wise and knowledgeable God who sent true and worthy revelations to us,our supposed holy books would not be collections of nonsense, lies, and ignorance.  Recent rises in Nones and non-believers suggest a lot of people just no longer believe the nonsense of Bible, Quran, Book of Mormon et al.  People are catching on.

From time to time, religion sees shifts in it's habits of thought.  Death of polytheism for example, starting about 2000 years ago.  Could it be we might see the beginnings of the death of mythology based religions?

One can only hope...

[Baruch]

Yes.  My point was, if there was a God, an infinitely wise and knowledgeable God who sent true and worthy revelations to us,our supposed holy books would not be collections of nonsense, lies, and ignorance.  Recent rises in Nones and non-believers suggest a lot of people just no longer believe the nonsense of Bible, Quran, Book of Mormon et al.  People are catching on.

From time to time, religion sees shifts in it's habits of thought.  Death of polytheism for example, starting about 2000 years ago.  Could it be we might see the beginnings of the death of mythology based religions?

Scifi religion and neb-paganism are here.  Political ideology is always available as a backup.

[Cavebear]

Scifi religion and neb-paganism are here.  Political ideology is always available as a backup.

You did note that he said "if there was a god" right?

[SGOS]

Could it be we might see the beginnings of the death of mythology based religions?

If I were to make a friendly bet on that, I'd say we will just see a new mythology spring forth. 

Yesterday's religious truths comprise today's mythology.  Jesus will take his rightful place next to Thor, and the spiritually minded will latch onto some other nonsense.

[Hydra009]

I'm sure glad you told us that, 'cause I'd never have guessed! ;-)

It was in response to a newish person who might not be be familiar with my brand of sarcasm.

[PopeyesPappy]

Oo! We should have a forum beauty contest.

I'll go first.

[Cavebear]

If I were to make a friendly bet on that, I'd say we will just see a new mythology spring forth. 

Yesterday's religious truths comprise today's mythology.  Jesus will take his rightful place next to Thor, and the spiritually minded will latch onto some other nonsense.

The ones who NEED a deity will find one.  But my hope is that they will eventually die out like flat-earthers.  And I think the analogy is valid.