- Sep 8, 2008
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There are some people on this board who think that the Bible is always literally true and inerrant throughout. According to at least one of them, I am a Scripture Denying, Christ Denying, Liberal Goofball, who is so entrenched in my humanist religion, that I would actually call God a liar to preserve my idolatry. Well, you have been warned.
Now, I actually rate the Bible quite highly, and I think there is a lot of good stuff in it. But there is also a lot of bad stuff. And I think you have to read the thing intelligently, with insight, and in the context of the times in which it was written, to get the most out of it. This is not denying scripture, but interpreting it. There is a difference.
So, is the Bible inerrant? I think it can be proved that it isn't. The Bible contains contradictions. A contradiction is where it says one thing about some topic in one place, and another thing somewhere else. Since both things cannot simultaneously be true, we need to choose one thing or the other as the truth of the matter, and consider the remaining thing false. If there is something false in the Bible, it cannot be inerrant.
Therefore, we need to think about what we are reading, rather than just accept whatever scripture says. We need, in other words, to read the Bible critically. I know this might come as a shock to some of you, to criticise scripture, but if you are to get the most out of your faith, that is what is required.
By the way, here is a list of (some of) the contradictions to be found in the Bible.
I rest the case for the prosecution, m'lud.
Best wishes, 2RM.
Now, I actually rate the Bible quite highly, and I think there is a lot of good stuff in it. But there is also a lot of bad stuff. And I think you have to read the thing intelligently, with insight, and in the context of the times in which it was written, to get the most out of it. This is not denying scripture, but interpreting it. There is a difference.
So, is the Bible inerrant? I think it can be proved that it isn't. The Bible contains contradictions. A contradiction is where it says one thing about some topic in one place, and another thing somewhere else. Since both things cannot simultaneously be true, we need to choose one thing or the other as the truth of the matter, and consider the remaining thing false. If there is something false in the Bible, it cannot be inerrant.
Therefore, we need to think about what we are reading, rather than just accept whatever scripture says. We need, in other words, to read the Bible critically. I know this might come as a shock to some of you, to criticise scripture, but if you are to get the most out of your faith, that is what is required.
By the way, here is a list of (some of) the contradictions to be found in the Bible.
I rest the case for the prosecution, m'lud.
Best wishes, 2RM.
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