I've been thinking the Bible isn't legitimate--long indoor mat-rant

by sd-7 56 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Finkelstein

  Re: I've been thinking the Bible isn't legitimate

  Its legitimate only in the sense that most of the writings were imaginary expressions of a certain people who trying to create a sense of relevance to the

  god of which they were worshiping (YHWH) . Other civilizations prior to the ancient Judeans had told stories of their gods as well and they were

  equally just as embellished. With that acceptance in mind, one should appropriately only use it as a historical reference as a documented part of human

  history.
• 

  jam

  Correct me if Iam wrong on this. Where were the Jews

  doing the early civilizations. We know that early civilization

  arose first in lower Mesopotamia (3500 BCE), followed by

  Egyptian civilization along the nile (3300BCE). They developed

  a central government, complex economy and social structure,

  religions and cultures. Doing this time the Jews enter the picture

  with their Monotheism God. We have a people (desert dwellers)

  integrating into this complex society. What do we bring to the table.

  Monotheism, one God above your sun, moon, earth, sky and sea God.

  You build great cities, our God divide the sea, he can stop the sun.

  They introduce a God with such outrageous claims, one would think

  WOW who could come up with sh---t like that, it must be true or they

  are all nuts.
• 

  Apognophos

  It might not have been so out-of-the-blue of a concept. It's been suggested that it started with the concept of one God being raised up above other gods in the pantheon (like Marduk and Aten). The Jews might have liked this idea and taken it even further, reducing the minor gods to angels. Note how, although it's mostly not in the "canonical" Bible, the Jews had many names for angels, who each had their own attributes. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_angelic_hierarchy.
• 

  LisaRose

  Belief that the Bible is God's word is like a house of cards. To become a JW, you must first accept that the Bible is God's word. Once you accept that, your belief is constantly reinforced by meetings, reading the literature, association with other believers, etc. When a thought come up that something in the Bible might not be right, those thoughts are easily dismissed, because of your past experience as a JW.

  But once you allow a thought like this to actually develop, once you stop and sit with that thought, once you do the unthinkable, use critical judgement, the whole belief system crashes like a deck of cards. If any part of the Bible is not true, and could not be God's word, then none if it is. You realize it is all just something written down by different people many years ago. It contains some wisdom, some history, some errors and some stupidity. It is just a book, or rather a series of books.
• 

  Apognophos

  In one of my high school math classes, the teacher was fond of a certain expression. He would talk about how solving an equation requires finding the right place to start -- once you pull on that thread, "the whole thing unravels like a cheap sweater". This happens with the Bible for many ex-Witnesses because the Witnesses have such a tightly-fitted, puzzle-like reading of the Bible. A more feel-good religion that dips into the Bible casually for nice Sunday sermon moral lessons doesn't have this issue, but what careful thinker would accept the Bible as God's Word with that kind of limp-wristed approach? No, we were in a religion founded by self-made Bible scholars who believed in micro-analyzing the word of God because every letter had to have inspired meaning and every verse was corroborated (often figuratively) by another verse somewhere else.

  Every good Witness was expected to adopt the same attitude of careful, letter-by-letter analysis (except that we were expected to do this by reading their literature first, and reverse-solving their interpretations back into the Bible). Their theories sounded plausible for a while in the 1800s, but have not withstood the test of time. So the very attitude of taking a scholarly approach, which we inherited in a second-hand, regurgitated-bird-food kind of way, turned back around on the teachings as we began to allow ourselves to explore our doubts, integrate modern scientific knowledge, and develop our thinking skills further. And in the end, it really was a house of cards, as LisaRose says.
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  Apognophos

  Or look at it this way, sd-7. The Genesis account is a Jewish creation narrative. What about the actual Christian part of the Bible? We can't be Christian if we don't believe that Jesus was the Christ. We're told he fulfilled lots of prophecies, but what independent confirmation do we have? Apparently he healed half the people within a 200-mile radius and fed hundreds but no one bothered to record this happening except MML&J. Is this like how Witnesses know the Bible is inspired of God because it says so in 2 Tim. 3:16, QED?
• 

  RayPublisher

  SD-7 hello. I totally respect your evolution and your arc as you follow it to completion. I just would like to give another view if that's okay!

  My feeling is that once we wake up and come out of the WT many of us (most of us?) tend to question and rebel against EVERYTHING we have ever learned or been taught. I think that is normal and natural because we are tired of being force fed "truth" and of being told what to believe. I say this to establish the point that many feel the Bible is not to blame, and spirituality is not to blame for what the lying liars of the GB and WT Corp have done to us and our loved ones. There is no other book like the Bible, and I feel that it is still a divinely inspired work that contains the thoughts of God in it.

  It may not be perfectly translated in every single word and character, but IMO to say it is simply a Jewish fairytale or a book of legends is a gross oversimplification and not one that holds up under the scrutiny of investigation. It may be easy for us to tell ourselves that is all it is...and that is a person's choice to do so.

  Regardless, I am DONE telling others what they should believe. All I would like to say is please entertain the possibility that the Bible still has sublime poetry, fascinating narrative, and the best advice in the words of Jesus that you could ever get anywhere. Wise men still seek Him, and still study and read this amazing collection of "little books". If God can make the universe he can author a book...and that book is called the Bible. He can also allow it to be distorted or compiled and translated a little differently depending on language, the century, etc. Perhaps that too is part of his plan- how could we really ever know for sure if we are not open-minded to the possibility?

  I respect the other viewpoints on this thread. Those that feel differently, and don't think the Bible is worth the paper it's printed on are not gonna burn in hell. It's okay to not believe and we can all coexist without bashing each other or disrespecting the other person's core values and viewpoints. I just really felt that I had to put in my two cents. This is an important one IMO. God loves you bro, and so do many here as well.

  Sincerely,

  Eric aka RP