Is there a god?

[Darc Requiem]

PlagueOfLocust said:

Darc Requiem said:

PlagueOfLocust said:
Christian here, non-denominational. Yes, I believe in God.

@Darc Requiem - Don't buy into the load that the Bible is flawed from multiple translations. There are no different interpretations snuck into the text between translations; the only thing lost/added in translation is connotations. Going back to the Greek translation for some words can help shed light on certain ideas, but nothing is altered to trick anyone. In fact, the Bible, compared to other historical documents we accept without a second thought, is more historically valid than any other historical text (based on how accurate it has shown itself to be with the events catalogued within, and how soon after the events the texts were written.) But you won't hear that from your friendly neighborhood college professor.

If you believe something is out there (and why not, that strange feeling seems to be imprinted on our souls), the Bible is really the most compelling description of what it may be. Faith is the key word here, though; assuming that the only truth we can really rely on is that which we can see is such a modern, short sighted idea. Science is not the be-all and end-all of our world, or else we'd have no use for philosophy or any other fields of study.

That defies logic. I can write something down right now. I could line up 100 people having each person recopy it and pass it down. By the time it gets to last person it will barely resemble my original thoughts. Not to mention that a good deal of the Bible was written down after the fact. Things weren't written as they occurred. In some cases it was decades after.

I disagree with your assertions about Christianity, MrStickball. While the progenitors of the religion were peaceful its followers have not been for the most part. Using your logic, I'd say 90% or more of Christians aren't really Christians. Although the same could be said for virtually all religions. Religions start off meaning well but they are more about controlling people than spreading beliefs contained in which ever holy tome is its source. People may not fear secular law but threaten them with eternal damnation and they are a lot easier to manipulate.

You seem to reference the Crusades in your post. The Crusades were a huge unnecessary blood bath started by Christians in Europe. Unfortunately the Christians and Jews of Jersusalem, who had nothing do with the Crusades, ended up being slaughtered and left without homes because of it. Christianity was spread largely by missionaries taking advantage of the "savage" peoples that were conquered and subjugated during Imperialism. When your land is being taken, your people killed, the offer of "salvation" would be quite tempting.

 

You could line up 100 what to get that result, monkeys? Anyone with half a brain can copy down something word for word. Your analogy only works when the message is passed on verbally. And if you think the Bible had an entirely different message at first and got warped through the translation of careless people, what the hell are the chances that the Bible would still be as coherent as it is? There would be no defending the Bible at all if it was as flawed as you're suggesting it is due to translation. Would so many people be so moved by an incoherent text?

Again, notice that I'd never have to argue that the message of any other book translated between languages got warped beyond its original meaning. No other book seems to scare people based solely on its message the way the Bible does, which is funny since it's a message of peace and love. That's because, if the Bible is true, it changes everything - and for some reason it's frighteningly difficult to disprove.

And the Crusades (and other violence done by "Christians") is a paper-thin argument against Christianity; you can't point out the actions of certain Christians that don't follow the lessons of the Bible and then suggest that the Bible causes war. And if religion causes war, maybe that's because knowing the true meaning of life is just that important. (I would suggest that having a different religion, just like having a different skin tone or different anything, is another excuse for one group to hate another. That doesn't make religion bad; it makes prejudice bad, and prejudice is not a Bible-lesson.)

Lastly, don't get mad at people trying to share the Bible with you. Gee, what assholes; they care about your soul.

Edit - Oh, and you mention that a good deal of the Bible was written down after the fact. Uh... duh? What, if it's not a journal someone wrote in every night you don't accept it? Most historical texts are written after the fact; the Bible is written more closely following the events within it than most other historical texts, so if anything it's more reliable.

First of all I was not arguing against Christianity. I simply stating, factually, that Christianity isn't immune to violence as well. Its not the peaceful religion, in practice, that MrStickBall as making it out to be. The Crusades was just a commonly known example which is why I choose it. Are you contending that the Crusades weren't started by European Christians? A lot things work in theory but not in practice. Religion is just one of those things. People defend their religion with a fervor not seen on many other issues. Religious leaders use that loyalty to in their best interests. Not in the interest of the religions followers. I'm not even going to go into the different factions of Christianity that were formed for inane reasons or because of simple disagreements.

As for the accuracy of the Bible, you know what I'm wrong in all the thousands of years of reprinting and retranslation the Bible is exactly the way it was when first copied down. You are right. Besides we all know people live their lives by a random persons personal journal. I mean people die over personal journals everyday right? They fight over the meaning of the passage "It took a while for me to go to the store today" in a personal journal.  I mean even if I wrote my journal discussing my summer vaction from my junior year of High School last week, people would fly of the handle and get offended at the idea that it wasn't word for word accurate despite being written 11 years after the fact.