Banned Books of the Bible

[ebia]

I've never heard anyone say that was manipulating.

If you are living in any of the western secular democracies I'm certain you have. You seem very unaware of the cultural influences to which you are subject - not uncommon, but if you serious about critical thinking you need to address that.

I just got that word from my Christian mother.
(She often will claim something "Non-Christian" or "Non-Biblical" manipulating. For example, Carbon-Dating)

I cant' comment on your mother.

mhm...

Well for one Enoch is one of several different books not included in the bible.

Yes. Google estimate, I think, something like 130 million.

regaurdless.
The Bible was created by people that wanted something to fit with what they believed or saw fit.

We're doing better, but that's still not a good description. That sounds, still, like a bunch of guys with fixed ideas choosing some texts that suit from a large range arrayed on a table. The reality is nothing like that.

In turn it has been a huge manipulating force in society.

Most texts are written to influence. The problem is that the sort of influence you keep trying to assert is not the sort of influence that is born out by the texts, nor by history.

Yet the Bible was and still is used to condemn masses and authorize witch hunts and crusades.

Absolutely, it's been misused. Useful, powerful, good, things do get misued. But what you will notice is that those who misused it for, say, the crusades did so in an era when people were not exposed to the whole bible and where selected passages could easily be misused by distorting them away from the overall context. That's not unique to the bible - you can see it all the time in, say, media reporting.

Calling my arguement a "strawman" doesn't make it a strawman.
The strawman is saying "god did it".

You don't sound as though you know what a strawman is.

Who are you quoting?

No-one. It's an illustrative paraphrase of how your argument is mis-constructed.

God being almighty, omnipotent, omnipresent, omni-whatever, would not act in such a irrational way.

In what way? BTW, omni-... is a greek concept, not a biblical one.

I am flipping human and I know how to act better than the old testament God.
God taking his most closest follower and asking him to sacrifice his son (is a "pagan" ritualistic tradition) then says, "stop, I was just testing you. you passed" is not the type of God that doesn't use "evil" to form his creed.
Can you imagine the pain and torment both the father and son would have went through?

That's the point of the story. What you are asking for is a god who is limited by your own horizons.

If that happened today, Child Protective Services would've been called in a heart beat.

So? The story only works at all precisely because it recognises the problems in sacrificing your own son. It doesn't need 3000 years of social service development to know that - it depends on it.

Yes. Before the Bible was ever published they went through and hand selected what material would make it and what wouldn't.
Before the Bible there were only the complete set of documents.
Not all in the same place at the same time, but they weren't selectively put into a canon like the Bible was.

It's not clear what you are trying to say here.

I tell people that humility is needed to learn.
You have to have an inch of humility and accept your ignorance in order to learn.

Good. Our culture has taken on humility as a virtue, at least to some extent. It did so originally entirely from the New Testament and the early Christian movement; before then it was completely unknown in Europe and surrounds to see humility that way.

Because the Bible is susceptable to free interpretation I find it a very dangerous tool.

All the best tools can be misused and abused.

There is a fight against homosexuality.
In about 40-50 years we will look back and ask ourselves how the Bible was used in such a manner.

Quite possibly.

 

[Biker Angel]

Honestly this comment sounds arrogant, and I'm a Christian as well.

Really? because I didn't intend it to be. So how would you tell an X Christian that they should repent of their sin of abandoning God for Satan (back slider) and they need to get right with God again?

 

[chilehed]

So this is what first opened up my eyes to the hypocracy of the church.
They say that the Bible is inerrant and from God.
Yet there are books left out only to control free thought...

That's utter nonsense. The reason that certain books were left out of the canon is because they didn't belong there.

 

[Warren Clark]

CF rules are what they are. Take it or leave it.

Personally, I've no problem with - welcome even - thoughtful, informed, mutually respectful dialog. But that's not how you came in.

How was it not?

 

[Warren Clark]

That's utter nonsense. The reason that certain books were left out of the canon is because they didn't belong there.

According to who's authority?
Not mine or anyone elses.

It was formed by personal dogmatic belief and anything that didn't fit that belief was left out.

 

[razeontherock]

Yup; personal belief as taught by Jesus to His Disciples. And as taught in the Church. The first of which was the Temple in Jerusalem.

 

[christianmomof3]

So this is what first opened up my eyes to the hypocracy of the church.
They say that the Bible is inerrant and from God.
Yet there are books left out only to control free thought.
What makes the Bible inerrant with there being so many missing documents?
Many say that "it was meant to be" or "it is God's plan".

It is spelled "hypocricy". And there is a lot of it in all religions.
Not all Chrisitians or all groups of Christians believe that the Bible is inerrant.
All translations are subject to the translators.

No one is trying to control "free thought".
I think these guys think someone is though:

 

[ebia]

How was it not?

It was not well-informed.
It was an attack, not a opening to respectful discussion.
The subsequent engagement doesn't seem very thoughtful or respectful.

If you intended it to be all three of my criteria then you might think about changing your posting style.

 

[Noxot]

well the bible says that even satan quotes scripture.

so to think that no one is distorting what the Word of God says would be foolish, inasmuch as the bible says that the Word of God gets contorted and distorted and diluted by people. good thing that there are good beings too, that preserve the bible.

but not everyone thinks that invisible things came before physical things. and so no wonder that certain of those types of people think that evil beings do not exist. they do not believe they exist because they think it is foolish to believe in something that they assume does not exist. I.E. they think only the physical world exist and so they have to contort all of reality to what they believe is right. so those people look at effects of physical things and think that the effects are the cause.

but if unseen beings exist and reality is told as the bible describes, then we can come to an understanding that evil unseen beings will throw many many many lies out at all of us, to try to keep us from the truth. (but you have to understand that God is God and so he will say things that are hard to understand)

 

[maizer]

Really? because I didn't intend it to be. So how would you tell an X Christian that they should repent of their sin of abandoning God for Satan (back slider) and they need to get right with God again?

What you said is true, but I thought it would do nothing but tick off the OP further, given the persons current state. Probably a nicer way to say it that would be easier on the OP may calm him down.

 

[Biker Angel]

What you said is true, but I thought it would do nothing but tick off the OP further, given the persons current state. Probably a nicer way to say it that would be easier on the OP may calm him down.

Ya maybe, but if it's to easy on one and if it's candy coated too much, then that gives wiggle room for that person to escape the simple truth by bombarding it with their faulty logic.

 

[chilehed]

According to who's authority?

According to the authority of the Church, which Jesus established and gave authority to teach in His name.

People who say such things as are in that video are, at best, woefully ignorant of actual history.