Is the Bible really inerrant?

by greendawn 23 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Darth Yhwh
    Darth Yhwh

    I suppose that the answer to this question depends largely on whether or not you feel the bible is the divinely inspired word of God. I personally do not, therefore I would not consider the bible any more inerrant than any other published work.

  • googlemagoogle
    googlemagoogle

    luke left out some commas and paul got all confused writing his long sentences so i'm sure there are several syntax errors in there.

  • funkyderek
    funkyderek

    greendawn:

    I personally think that a great deal in the Bible is false but still the basic ideas are correct.

    Which "basic ideas" do you think are correct?

  • jwfacts
    jwfacts

    It is interesting to find out when the bible was written. This shows that the 'amazing' prophecies are not prophecies. The rest are sometimes correct and sometimes incorrect. Apart from prophecy there really is nothing in the bible that signifies inspiration.
    I do however feel that the major religions do have holy books that have a valuable spiritual message, and they hold to a central similarity in what they ultimately say.
    A book by Aldous Huxley called "The Perennial Philosophy" is interesting in its examination of the common theme of major religions, and their break down of humans into a soul, spirit and body (as also stated in the bible).
    A proper examination of the bible shows it is not inerrant. It would be sad if it was, because that would lead to the shocking belief that only Christians are acceptable to God. A narrow minded view considering that over half of people living will never even hear of Jesus or the bible.

  • Inquisitor
    Inquisitor

    I went to the site listed in jstalin's post:
    http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/by_name.html

    The so-called biblical contradictions mentioned there aren't very useful. They're not quite the silver bullets i was hoping for. More like plastic duds. For e.g. "Who was Achan's father?" "Carmi"? "Zerah"? Fact is he is son of Carmi and descendent of Zerah (thus a son in Zerah's lineage). See Joshua 7:1
    It annoys me to see people do shoddy work like this. Just flip through a few pages and conclude that "Oh yeah, there's a problem there". I mean it's attitudes like that that convinces Witnesses nobody knows the Bible better than they do. If you're gonna throw a punch at least wear some knuckle duster's and AIM right! Sheesh!
    Of course i'm venting my spleen at the authors of the site, not you jstalin.
    Unless you are the author, jstalin, in which case i shall just bury my head in the sand.
    INQ
  • googlemagoogle
    googlemagoogle

    not all contradictions mentioned by the SAB are huge bummers. but there are lots of interesting ones. like, how long does god's anger last? are we held accountable for the sins of others? and especially the comparisons between samuel/kings and chronicles.

    also have a look at the "(failed) prophecy" section.

    there might be many better sites on special topics out there, but the SAB is a good place to start and is a good collection of contradictions and problems in the bible. personally i didn't care much about the naming "contradictions" either... but the rest :-)

  • Frogleg
    Frogleg

    Why do I get the feeling we're all a bunch of people stumbling around an elephant? The question is, I assume, asking for an opinion, in which case, everybody is right. They are your opinions. However, I am curious as to how an admittedly imperfect, short-lived entity would be able to assess the inerrancy of anything?

  • daystar
    daystar
    However, I am curious as to how an admittedly imperfect, short-lived entity would be able to assess the inerrancy of anything?

    This line of reasoning is less than impressive, not very useful, and castrates us as living beings. It presumes that there is anything other than imperfect, short-lived entities.

  • Frogleg
    Frogleg

    daystar,

    You are incorrect. It presumes nothing. It simply states that any entity with as extremely limited a range of knowledge and experience as we mere mortals can no more decide the errancy of something they they can the inerrancy of something. Remember that really brainy guy named Albert Einstein? He stated, unequivocably, that light was the fastest speed attainable in this universe.

    http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/generalscience/faster_than_c_000719.html

    ooops.

  • daystar
    daystar

    You know what? I completely misunderstood your other comment. I think we agree.

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