What do you know about the Bible? Take the test to find out.

Started by Jagella, October 18, 2020, 12:33:31 PM

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Blackleaf

Quote from: Mike Cl on October 20, 2020, 11:06:06 PM
Answering trivia questions about a subject does NOT demonstrate mastery of any subject.  Do you wish to talk about who the writers of the bible was; the history of the bible; was jesus fictional or not; high criticism; low criticism--or anything else of substance.  I'm up for a discussion, if you are.

It drives me crazy that people see a name on a book and assume that's the name of the author. Only one of the four Gospels says who wrote it, and that book wasn't written by one of Jesus' disciples. Neither were the other three.
"Oh, wearisome condition of humanity,
Born under one law, to another bound;
Vainly begot, and yet forbidden vanity,
Created sick, commanded to be sound."
--Fulke Greville--

SGOS

I let a Jehovah Witness in one time, which started a month long series of visitations of Bible thumpers.  This was in the last days of my quest to find God, and apparently the Witnesses wanted me bad.  Actually, I already knew where I stood on the issue, but it was like giving Christianity one more shot. 

This member and that member would stop by to give me their pitch.  One time they sent a woman my age who showed up in a new Cadillac.  My question was always the same, "How do we know God exists?"  That's really the only question that matters.  If he doesn't, then the whole religion thing is a waste of energy.  If he does, then it may or may not be worth the trouble to dig deeper, but until then, it's pointless.  This woman brought her Bible and was ready for me.  My main question, and every related question was met with a flutter, more like a flurry, of Bible pages, and each Earth shattering claim began with naming chapter and verse.  She had 50 to 100 little bookmarks to aid her.  Just keeping track of the bookmarks, was an impressive feat in itself.  Collectively, the verses made the case for God and the Bible.  One verse showed why the Bible was true, and another showed why the 1st verse was true because the Bible was true.  Of course my question could not be answered without the circular reasoning, and necessary apologetics.  Throw out logic and it may have meant something to someone, specifically to this woman because she seemed to think it all made perfect sense.


Mike Cl

Quote from: Blackleaf on October 21, 2020, 02:56:28 AM
It drives me crazy that people see a name on a book and assume that's the name of the author. Only one of the four Gospels says who wrote it, and that book wasn't written by one of Jesus' disciples. Neither were the other three.
I have the same reaction myself.  As I remember it, the only author of any of the bible (both old and new) books is Paul.  I think traditionally he is credited with writing 13.  Now it seems most think he wrote 6 (with most of those a blend of more than one writing) and 6 by pseudo-Paul writers, and Hebrews who just about everybody agrees he did not write. 

Something else that drives me nuts is the most christians think the order of the NT books is in chronological order.  If one were to read the NT in chronological order, Paul's works would come first.  And if read in that order, it gives a totally different 'feel' to the NT, as opposed to reading it as it is now.  I see this as a masterful work of propaganda.
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?<br />Then he is not omnipotent,<br />Is he able but not willing?<br />Then whence cometh evil?<br />Is he neither able or willing?<br />Then why call him god?

Cassia

Quote from: SGOS on October 21, 2020, 08:34:18 AM
I let a Jehovah Witness in one time, which started a month long series of visitations of Bible thumpers.  This was in the last days of my quest to find God, and apparently the Witnesses wanted me bad.  Actually, I already knew where I stood on the issue, but it was like giving Christianity one more shot. 

This member and that member would stop by to give me their pitch.  One time they sent a woman my age who showed up in a new Cadillac.  .......

That reminds me of story a drummer in my band told me. An older JW lady knocked on his door the morning after a huge party. He was so hungover, he let her in and she had to step over passed out partyers to make it to the couch. As she prepared her presentation he went in his bedroom and passed out. He has no idea how long she hung in there.

SGOS

Quote from: Cassia on October 21, 2020, 09:31:04 AM
That reminds me of story a drummer in my band told me. An older JW lady knocked on his door the morning after a huge party. He was so hungover, he let her in and she had to step over passed out partyers to make it to the couch. As she prepared her presentation he went in his bedroom and passed out. He has no idea how long she hung in there.
That could be part of a movie.

trdsf

Quote from: Jagella on October 20, 2020, 07:46:53 PM
Again, if you want to argue Christian beliefs, then it's very useful to know what those beliefs are and where they came from.

Sheesh--it looks like I underestimated the popularity of ignorance.
As it happens, I was raised Catholic, went to Catholic grade- and high school, and a Presbyterian college.  I have read the bible, both the Catholic and Protestant versions, as well as various non-canonical books -- to say nothing of bits of the Quran, the Book of Mormon, the Tripiá¹­aka, the Bardo Thodol, some of the Vedas, and even the Principia Discordia.  I have studied various strains of Christian and non-Christian beliefs.

I am not obliged to have memorized the entire book in order to know what I'm talking about.

Don't bring a pea shooter to a nuclear exchange.  You won't like the tan you get.
"My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total, and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution." -- Barbara Jordan

Baruch

Quote from: SGOS on October 21, 2020, 08:34:18 AM
I let a Jehovah Witness in one time, which started a month long series of visitations of Bible thumpers.  This was in the last days of my quest to find God, and apparently the Witnesses wanted me bad.  Actually, I already knew where I stood on the issue, but it was like giving Christianity one more shot. 

This member and that member would stop by to give me their pitch.  One time they sent a woman my age who showed up in a new Cadillac.  My question was always the same, "How do we know God exists?"  That's really the only question that matters.  If he doesn't, then the whole religion thing is a waste of energy.  If he does, then it may or may not be worth the trouble to dig deeper, but until then, it's pointless.  This woman brought her Bible and was ready for me.  My main question, and every related question was met with a flutter, more like a flurry, of Bible pages, and each Earth shattering claim began with naming chapter and verse.  She had 50 to 100 little bookmarks to aid her.  Just keeping track of the bookmarks, was an impressive feat in itself.  Collectively, the verses made the case for God and the Bible.  One verse showed why the Bible was true, and another showed why the 1st verse was true because the Bible was true.  Of course my question could not be answered without the circular reasoning, and necessary apologetics.  Throw out logic and it may have meant something to someone, specifically to this woman because she seemed to think it all made perfect sense.

Everyone thinks their own POV is reasonable, this is part of their virtue signaling.  In actual fact, almost all the words people use, they don't knew what they mean (hence endless recursion of semantics by philosophers).  Usage is informal.  Even in mathematics usually mathematicians use informal argumentation (with people they respect) not formal proof.  This is why some accepted theorems turn out to be false (you can't square root a negative number!).  Of course almost none of us are philosophers or mathematicians, and if they don't know what a word means, nobody does.

Self estimated intelligence is very optimistic, but jump the shark among intellectuals.  What happens in self communication or mutual communication, is we are triggering memories (mostly false) of past experiences (semaphoring aka the information is not in the message itself, we are just passing booleans).  If I say to you what X is like, and you have no experiential hook, then the words I use are gibberish (just as you sound to your baby).  Of course one can talk gibberish to oneself, and we often do that too.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Baruch

Quote from: Mike Cl on October 21, 2020, 09:15:08 AM
I have the same reaction myself.  As I remember it, the only author of any of the bible (both old and new) books is Paul.  I think traditionally he is credited with writing 13.  Now it seems most think he wrote 6 (with most of those a blend of more than one writing) and 6 by pseudo-Paul writers, and Hebrews who just about everybody agrees he did not write. 

Something else that drives me nuts is the most christians think the order of the NT books is in chronological order.  If one were to read the NT in chronological order, Paul's works would come first.  And if read in that order, it gives a totally different 'feel' to the NT, as opposed to reading it as it is now.  I see this as a masterful work of propaganda.

It is propaganda.  The OT is rearranged at the end, to better support the Gospels, than the Jewish order.

"There is a god shaped hole, and it's been filled by chaos." ... exactly, former Christians have taken out one bearded Jew and put a different one in.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.