Have you read the Bible?

[\\Coroner//]

interesting read but i am not gonna comment

i think my tag states my opinion

:wacko:

[aem4162]

talking to a bible thumper is just like talking to a rock, except that the rock is more interesting and reasonable

[DsnBehind]

talking to a bible thumper is just like talking to a rock, except that the rock is more interesting and reasonable

True. :happy:

[Eggitha23]

you're all so kind!!

[Krest]

No Krest... 3000 years of the region history , u obviously never read the bible

Oh, I thought you said "human history". Or did you? :) Edited November 18, 2003 by Krest

[macf13nd]

this thread can never cease. Because those who are christians will already know that a reasonable amount of science totally negates their beliefs but they dont care! ;) therefore, no matter how much we argue over dino's or whatever there is going to no definitive answer... i realise this is discussion, but lets talk about flogging dead horses instead... :whistle:

*ducks*

[cyansky]

Aren't we all to the point in time that we should stop making fun of people for what religion they follow? What does it matter what another person believes? Are we so scared that Christianity, or some other religion, from somebody we know might influence us to a point where we actually rethink the way that we live that you will belittle them? Believe what you want to believe in, but realize this. We all fallow a religion, whether it is God, a god/gods, yourself, or "nothing at all". All of these are religions, so nobody can believe in "nothing". Is it so hard for us to start respecting each others beliefs that we should instead pick on people to the point that we hope they start believing what "I" believe because we don't want them to influence us?

And don't even start on the scientific views on it. Ask yourself, if the world has been around for 10 billion plus years, how do we know for sure how fast ancient bacteria decays? We've only been around to actually monitor it for less then 100. We have yet to see a true missing link other then the ones related to people(wonder why that is) where there is a few pieces of skull and lots of fill in playdough to complete the artwork skull. Carbon dating is fouled and if you only read books that support your views, how will you ever open your mind to something different? Ever thought that the ones who taught you all you're life could have been wrong! We wouldn't want to think about that, look at all the wasted time we would have spent during our lives believing in the wrong thing. It couldn't happen! What I know now must be right because I'm to lazy to research the entire subject without a previous bias.

Lets grow up here people. If the only reason you want to put yourself into a theological discussion is to have the chance to make fun of some "poor stupid Christian" you really do need to find a better life. I don't go around forcing my ideas into everyone's heads and then berating him or her when they don't understand or listen. And nobody better do the same to me unless I ask. Religion may have been forced on someone when they were a child and in some places may be forced to believe something they don't believe. The truth is we all have a choice to make friends. Man, Woman, and child. And we will all be put to the test at the end of our lives. Then is the only point when we will surely know if how we chose to live our lives was correct or not. Until that point of death everyone, we should be happy for the people we do know in our lives and stop trying to out-do the other person.

For all of you that want to continue this petty bickering and keep throwing insults at the "religious" people, have fun cuz I won't nor can I stop you. That's your choice to make. I know I have better things to do in my life and I hope that you would to. We are suppose to be getting smarter, more open-minded, nicer, dare I say better people. Lets start acting that way.

Edited November 18, 2003 by cyansky

[macf13nd]

Aren't we all to the point in time that we should stop making fun of people for what religion they follow? What does it matter what another person believes? Are we so scared that Christianity, or some other religion, from somebody we know might influence us to a point where we actually rethink the way that we live, that you will belittle them? Believe what you want to believe in, but realize this. We all fallow a religion, whether it is God, a god/gods, yourself, or "nothing at all". All of these are religions, so nobody can believe in "nothing". Is it so hard for us to start respecting each others beliefs that we should instead pick on people to the point that we hope they start believing what "I" believe we don't want them to influence us?

And don't even start on the scientific views on it. Ask yourself, if the world has been around for 10 billion plus years, how do we know for sure how fast ancient bacteria decays? We've only been around to actually monitor it for less then 100. Carbon dating is fouled and if you only read books that support your views, how will you ever open your mind to something different? Ever thought that the ones who taught you all you're life could have been wrong! We wouldn't want to think about that, look at all the wasted time we would have spent during our lives believing in the wrong think. It couldn't happen! What I know now must be right because I'm to lazy to research the entire subject without a previous bias.

Lets grow up here people. If the only reason you want to put yourself into a theological discussion is to have the chance to make fun of some "poor stupid Christian" you really do need to find a better life. I don't go around forcing my ideas into everyone's heads and then berating him or her when they don't understand or listen. And nobody better do the same to me unless I ask. Religion may have been forced on someone when they were a child and in some places may be forced to believe something they don't believe. The truth is we all have a choice to make friends. Man, Woman, and child. And we will all be put to the test at the end of our lives. Then is the only point when we will surely know if how we chose to live our lives was correct or not. Until that point of death everyone, we should be happy for the people we do know in our lives and stop trying to out-do the other person.

For all of you that want to continue this petty bickering and keep throwing insults at the "religious" people, have fun cuz I won't nor can I stop you. That's your choice to make. I know I have better things to do in my life and I hope that you would to. We are suppose to be getting smarter, more open-minded, nicer, dare I say better people. Lets start acting that way.

neopwi </rant> ;)

[SweetRiverBaynes]

I do not believe in religion, so no I haven't.

[sdkaneda]

I do not believe in religion, so no I haven't.

what, you afraid the book's gonna bite you in the ass when you open it? whether you believe i nreligion or not, the bible is certainly not the worst book in the world to read sometime.

note: i'm not a very religious person myself, but i do enjoy studying religions.

[Apollo]

i read about 50 or so pages of it and it was cool and boring at times :D

[schwarz2]

in my opinion, Vii said everything best... leave everyone to their own thoughts.. you can believe whatever you want to believe as long as it doesn't harm others. There's no way to change people's minds about things they feel so strongly about.

this thread can go on forever, because we base argument upon faith.. peoples beliefs.. no matter what science has to say you can't take that away from people.  it's what they live for, in essence their holy grail.

there is no right or wrong religion... and if someone wants to believe whatever the hell they want, they are entitiled to that.  it's thier right as a human being.

there is no one religion that has proven what happens after death, and no one can tell you what happens after death because there is no way to factualize it.  and you can't factualize it, because religion is BASED off faith.  so you have yourself a catch-22 and you start over again.

I believe in a God, yes.  Something greater that started everything.  Or at least pushed the first ball in the domino effect of scientific related happenings leading to our existence.  However I have not, nor will not tend to believe what is written in any of the tens of books given to each religion to follow from.  People know the difference between right and wrong.  If you choose wrong, good luck.  If you choose right... well.. good luck.

Vii

[dreamz Veteran]

That is so not pre bible... although the bible was only finally composed during the 15th century the stories are far older , for instance Abraham is presumed to live around 2500BC-3000BC , way before Greece had anything of value

neopwi there is no proof that what is "documented" is fact. if anything, on the basis of rational skepticism, one should approach the "literature" as a piece of fiction, or at least a priori unproved writing.

and you can always have historical details that may be unrelated. stories can be made up, as hard as that may be to believe. they may have been interpreted ex post and then later incorporated. this is called eisegesis, and is precisely the opposite of what any rational reader would do in the hermeneutic practice. and there were certainly philosophies before christianity. consider the eastern philosophies of taoism nad pre-taoist philosophies. numerous taoist philosophies arose more than a millennium before christ. it's egocentric, anthropocentric, ethnocentric, rash, and arrogant to think that 1) the world was created for humans, 2) that humans are somehow the most important things in the universe, 3) that only western, judeo-christians are the true or fundamental religion, and that 4) that tradition is somehow superior to other religions or philosophies.

in fact, an interesting point to note is this: lao tzu (one of the earliest taoist writers) hesitated to write taoist literature precisely because, he said, human language and rationality itself are much too frail and easily abused. he therefore did not put any trust in literature, the opposite of which is clearly emphasized in some western traditions.

in any case, threetonesun is right. much of classical literature alludes to the bible. in fact, a great portion of that literature alludes to scripture in order to refute it.

Edited November 18, 2003 by dreamz

[threetonesun]

That's a bit self-centered. Unless you want to give some examples, that claim sounds stupid.

neopwi Self-centered? Anyway, here's a fairly extreme example then. The Catcher in the Rye. It's pretty much a standard high school reading requirement, I don't know of anyone who is in college who hasn't read it. It makes NO sense if you haven't read the Bible. Holden is based on Jesus, and it hits on a large number of religious ideas (including the clergy and homosexuality, actually).

I'd argue none of Faulkner or Hemingways books make much sense without a comprehension of Biblical stories. Nothing pre-enlightenment does, very few of the works from the Renaisance don't draw from the Bible. As I said, an enourmous number of important works in art and literature (and to a lesser extent, music) draw from the stories found in the Bible.

Basically, the foundation of Western story telling comes from the Bible, or Greek myths (including Homer), and then the later sources of Shakespeare and fairy tales. There's basically nothing you can find that's not related to one of those four things.

[aem4162]

Self-centered? Anyway, here's a fairly extreme example then. The Catcher in the Rye. It's pretty much a standard high school reading requirement, I don't know of anyone who is in college who hasn't read it. It makes NO sense if you haven't read the Bible. Holden is based on Jesus, and it hits on a large number of religious ideas (including the clergy and homosexuality, actually).

neopwi Catcher in the Rye has got to be the stupidest piece of "writing" that I've ever read.

[JohnsonBox]

Poind, threetonesun and Beast_4thHM's idea representatively reflect the relationship between the Bible and English language learning.

Esp.threetonesun's, in which he repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Bible for studying classic English works. :)

English language experts in China indicate that the question of learning English language is not only a question of learning a language, but more importantly, it is a question of learning another culture. While the Bible is indecomposable with English culture, that is why it is inevitable for a professional English learner to learn the Bible.

BTW, this thread is about the relationship between the Bible and Learning English language professionally, not about the relationship between the Bible and the Science or other religions. Please abide by On-Topic, or I have to request mod to close it. Thanks. :)

[ZiUL]

How does that fit with the hard scientific evidence that humans evolved from neanderthals who evolved from apes?

If so, why the rest of the apes did not evolved?? :huh: Humm... nevermind... you got your opnion.

Peace :)

Edited November 18, 2003 by ZiUL

[dreamz Veteran]

both humans and other primates evolved from common ancestors. our paths have split and we are now the ends (that's a misnomer. i mean, the current manifestations) of the evolutionary journey. we (and they) may be evolving without our knowing it.

[Argonaut]

Johnsonbox, what I was trying to tell you (and other people here too) is that the linkage between the bible and english learning is crap.

THe reason of why you are being insisted upon on the topic is probably because those who are teaching you english are simultaneously missionaries. They also do it the other way around (check the "Summer Institute of Linguistics" for example... sounds like a solely language stuff.. yes they compile grammars and dictionaries for every fricking single language... in order to then translate the bible and convert the speakers of those languages.

[abaxion]

mmm...if really I don't know...in general I am russian and of course christian..but I've read bible..dunno!!!! :rolleyes:

[JohnsonBox]

Johnsonbox, what I was trying to tell you (and other people here too) is that the linkage between the bible and english learning is crap.

THe reason of why you are being insisted upon on the topic is probably because those who are teaching you english are simultaneously missionaries. They also do it the other way around (check the "Summer Institute of Linguistics" for example... sounds like a solely language stuff.. yes they compile grammars and dictionaries for every fricking single language... in order to then translate the bible and convert the speakers of those languages.

neopwi

What I have said didn't mean learning the language format of the Bible, but mean to understand what the Bible has said. Any professional English learner has to know this (doesn't mean to believe in anything introduced by the Bible), or else, they would be stuck by too many classic English works. Also see threetonesun's post. :)

[kairon]

No, I'm an athiest.

[JohnsonBox]

No, I'm an athiest.

Studying the Bible doesn't mean you have to convert your belief from atheist's to Christ-follower's. :)

[Inertia]

No, I'm an athiest.

me too :D

[lieb39]

Oh man, don't even get me started on this. I am a athiest, and in school we have to study the bible, all I can do is sit there and think how it can't make sense. I think its stupid that we have to study it, because in a sense they are forcing you to do this. Anyways, I just think it's bull.

Sorry to anyone who got offended by this, just my small lil 2 cents hehe.

-lieb39