Be honest: when you read the bible what makes you think it is of divine origin? [Spirituality & Religion]

There was a time in my life where i really wanted to believe and i tried hard to have faith and asked with all my heart that god reveal himself to me. But predictably he did not. And the more i read, the more it became obvious to me that the bible was the work of men.
So base and petty and violent. This was not the work of an enlightened being.

So what makes you feel that the bible is of divine origin?

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JP1119 · 36-40, M

Did you at least read a study Bible? You see, the Bible was written thousands of years ago, and there weren’t very many English-speakers back then, so it was written in Aramaic (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament). If you take the Bible out of its proper historical and literary context, of course it’s not going to make a lot of sense.

Pikachu

@JP1119

I've read the bible and prayed about it. I've discussed it at length. I've listened to both theists and atheists speak about it.

The ideas expressed therein seem to me to be profoundly human in origin and scope. Nothing divine about it.

JP1119 · 36-40, M

@Pikachu Have you studied it in a college class? The Bible made so much more sense and seemed so much more moral and right after I took college classes like Intro to the Bible, World Religions, and The Writings of Paul at a small, liberal arts college. Do you live in a red state? I do, and even though I grew up in the most modernist church in town, they still fed me a lot of right wing bullshit that I found out was wrong after putting it in historical and literary context.

Pikachu

@JP1119

Well i did study it in college as part of philosophy and medieval history but definitely not as a class on it.

But like i said, i've spent a lot of time on it and listened to a lot of people speak and debate about it.

I don't see anything divine about it.

JP1119 · 36-40, M

@Pikachu A lot of people are just wrong though. And I feel like a lot of times when they have a theist debate an atheist they pick some holy roller traditionalist that believes the gospels were the first books to be written in the New Testament (even though the best historians have concluded that the writings of Paul are older, the gospels were not written when Jesus' twelve disciples were still alive) and that everyone who doesn't believe like he does will burn in hell to be the theist.

Well this time the good news is I believe you're going to Heaven when you die anyway, whether you believe or not. I no longer believe in the existence of hell. So if it helps you, study the Bible some more. If not, do whatever works for you.

suzie1960 · 61-69, F

@JP1119 As a christian, I studied the bible with others who completely believed, as I did, that the bible was "the word of god". Nevertheless, I was still able to see it for what it really is, just a collection of myths and superstitions taken from older belief systems.

Carazaa · F

Matt 24- Jesus said that people will fall away from the faith right before he comes back. He was right.@suzie1960

suzie1960 · 61-69, F

@Carazaa LOL! You are funny sometimes. :)

Carazaa · F

He also said that in the last days people will mock God.

suzie1960 · 61-69, F

@Carazaa The writer probably knew what Abraham Lincoln later said - [b]"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."[/b]

Carazaa · F

The whole world is fooled by Satan and they don't even know it!

suzie1960 · 61-69, F

@Carazaa I don't believe in Satan either of course but one could equally well say "The whole world is fooled by 'God' and they don't even know it!"

Carazaa · F

See... how can you beat an enemy if you don't know he is trying to kill you?

Carazaa · F

well, we can solve all the other world problems tomorrow, Goodnight!

CookieLuvsBunny · 31-35, F

@Carazaa Do you ever ask yourself why God would make a world in order for it to be fooled by its adversary? And why did God make its adversary to begin with? And don't drag out that old, worn free will crap to explain it