Is the Bible Still Relevant in the 21st Century? What If Anything Needs to be Changed?

a reply to: windword

That GOD is a different story that confuses the faithful and the faithless... The Father gave you his Mother and Son only thorough them should you understand GOD if you're a Christian.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04

originally posted by: gosseyn

originally posted by: lavatrance
a reply to: gosseyn

you have to, it's the law. Unless you wanna go kill someone be my guest

What ? Are you saying that for you killing someone has no relevance to anything ?

By "set of rules" I was talking about praying, going to church, being against sex before marriage, etc..

What relevance does "don't steal" and "don't kill" have if all we have is this life and there is no higher power?

Those 'commandments' are a product of human empathy, this is human wisdom. We don't need any book of any religion or any commandments of any god to understand that others feel the same pain as we do. No one wants to be killed thus no one should kill. It doesn't take an omnipotent omniscient never born eternal being such as a god to produce that kind of wisdom. Hatred breeds hatred, if you kill someone be prepared for a vengeance. If you don't want hell on earth don't start a fight. Etc..

originally posted by: Ghost147
The bible is about as relevant as The Lord of The Rings, at least, in according to it's use.

You can still make money off of it
You can still use it for entertainment purposes
You can still use it to teach people things (like history of religion, nothing more)
You can still use it as kindling

As for morality, biological history, medical practices, earth history, the history and origin of the universe and such, we have better education for that.

What year did science agree the universe was created?

Morality, subjective or objective?

On my phone so will check back later with more complete answers.

a reply to: gosseyn

Wow good call gosseyn, that's amazing

Just one minor issue, your daydream doesn't seem to be working anywhere in the whole world, religious or not

We don't need books, what do we need a conscience? seems like most of the world doesn't care about your opinion or what's written in any books, you have no position to stand on

You say the bible is irrelevant but suggest your opinion is, why?

We are all animals anyway, Darwin taught us that

originally posted by: Hex1an
a reply to: windword

That GOD is a different story that confuses the faithful and the faithless... The Father gave you his Mother and Son only thorough them should you understand GOD if you're a Christian.

Sounds as if God confuses you hex
God is the same, you clearly don't get it, the Father gave us the son to escape justice
God is justice, always was always will be, justice like the Old Testament is coming

The Father Son and Spirit are the same, hell is coming

a reply to: gosseyn

so you're saying the bible is a rule book? Yes, many of which are in our ciminal code. But the other rules you talk about could be thought of a "success motivational" type concepts. They make understanding how to live a good life easier for someone who's a dumb ass. But none of that matters at all. What matters mostly is this condition of pride that a lot of people wont' give up. There's part of them there concious knows they should, but the other part tries to resist humbling themselves. People have a hard time relinquishing pride, vanity, and ego. They keep people locked in preventing them from gettign to know God.

a reply to: gosseyn

You failed to show me any relevance. If we only have this one life, there is nothing more, then my goal should be to look out only for myself. There is no reason to care about someone else or their family.

Not killing others does not prevent you from being killed. Not stealing does not prevent others from stealing from you. Mao, Stalin, what was their vengeance?

You have yet to show why there is relevance to not doing these things. There is of course relevance in not getting caught.

originally posted by: Hex1an
a reply to: windword

That GOD is a different story that confuses the faithful and the faithless... The Father gave you his Mother and Son only thorough them should you understand GOD if you're a Christian.

How does the Father have a Mother? There is no confusion in the OT. What you say is actually very dangerous, and DOES lead to confusion when people have no knowledge and are led astray easily.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

If we only have this one life, there is nothing more, then my goal should be to look out only for myself.

Yes, I believe it is, and that is exactly what you're hardwired to do. Survive.

There is no reason to care about someone else or their family.

Yes, there is. Your survival depends on others. Caring about others stems from selfishness and is able to blossom into altruism because of abundance and the ability to thrive.

The Law Of Reciprocity

I believe that you can still believe in a god and think that "morals" are naturally instilled in all living things, as opposed to a scary being thundering commandments down on a people from a flying pillar of fire, demanding obedience, or else!

originally posted by: windword

Yes, there is. Your survival depends on others. Caring about others stems from selfishness and is able to blossom into altruism because of abundance and the ability to thrive.

Not everyone. There would be those I am better off looking out for and caring about and those I should take advantage of as much as possible.

If I am in another country and see a man with a bar of gold I am better off killing him and stealing it. There is nothing wrong with doing that, wrong does not exist.

The law of reciprocity would not factor into what I do to someone from a different group. In fact, it would encourage me to kill and steal to bring resources and contribute to my group.

I believe that you can still believe in a god

My reply was to someone who was saying there is no God, or other god. You can believe in a different god and have the morals that faith teaches. There is no inherent right and wrong without a higher being.

originally posted by: lavatrance
hindo and mohammeds are wrong!!!! This video proves it!!!!

That video proves nothing or at least it shows how judgemental you are and I believe your Jesus said 'not to pass judgment on others?'.

Please tell me why the Hindus and Muslims are wrong and Christianity is right, according to you.

a reply to: gosseyn

Who would get to write it?

What would it be called?

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
a reply to: gosseyn

You failed to show me any relevance. If we only have this one life, there is nothing more, then my goal should be to look out only for myself. There is no reason to care about someone else or their family.

Not killing others does not prevent you from being killed. Not stealing does not prevent others from stealing from you. Mao, Stalin, what was their vengeance?

You have yet to show why there is relevance to not doing these things. There is of course relevance in not getting caught.

Well, to start the burden of proof is of course on your side, not mine. There is no proof that god or heaven or hell exist or that there is even an afterlife so in the time being any sane mind should accept the fact that what we have talked about(don't kill, don't steal, etc..) is wisdom produced by the human mind. This fact only should answer your question. If you want to prove your point you have to prove that atheists in general are committing murder much more than those who believe in an afterlife, and then prove that there is an afterlife.

Secondly, you seem to take your case for a generality. If belief in an afterlife is the only thing that prevents you from acting like a barbarous caveman who murders everything with legs and steals everything he can, then you need help. I don't believe in an afterlife but that doesn't transform me into a murderous caveman, and I am not the only one in this situation.

And I have answered your question but you don't want to accept the answer. There were human beings and they had social relations long before the first book was written. I talked about empathy but to you it seems it's not an acceptable answer. Empathy is a biological 'device' that enables us to feel what others feel. That's one point. And the second point is the simple wisdom through observation that says that if we don't want hell on earth, we shouldn't start a fight. If we want our community to be liveable, then we should work towards that goal, starting with ourself. If you want your kids to be safe then don't go killing the neighbour's kids. We are social animals...

"Don't do unto others what you don't want others to do unto you" is human wisdom. Think for a second why humans would invent such a concept.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

My reply was to someone who was saying there is no God, or other god. You can believe in a different god and have the morals that faith teaches. There is no inherent right and wrong without a higher being.

I understand that, and I agree with that poster. I don't believe in a "god" according to biblical standards, but I can see how people could believe, if they believe in a "good" god, that it instilled a sense of right and wrong in every living being, in order for them to enjoy life and thrive. The Garden OF Eden story confirms this philosophy, as Adam and Eve DID know "good from evil" by the time they hit the pavement.

If I am in another country and see a man with a bar of gold I am better off killing him and stealing it. There is nothing wrong with doing that, wrong does not exist.

This is true, and if you look, the biblical god encourages its followers to do just that. So....there goes the "morality comes from a higher being" theory of the Old Testament God.

The law of reciprocity would not factor into what I do to someone from a different group.

Really? Are you an island, man?

what needs emphasized more...or explained better is that Jesus called himself Son-Of-Man

which is not anything like God-the-Son

prophecy needs to e decoupled from big religion... 'prophecy' is a religious label for prognostications, future trends, forecasts, projections... all those things which seers/psychics/futurists/trend readers all tell about before the situation arises in real-time...Blavatsky, Nostradamus, Cayce, Rasputin, local Shaman's....etc. all speak of things to come... things which are Not claimed to be Devine or Revelations from a holy spirit.....

the universal consciousness, collective mind, noosphere... 2nd sight,,,, these are all aspects of the survival trait humans can access called 'seeing into the future'... forecasting our future condition by running a series of computer models using factors we are not yet conscious of or knowledgeable of

were ancient pious men, as monks, caught up in temporal ecstacy or in a Divine Vision ?... I go with a completely mortal/mundane/ natural function of a brain... imparting in a person a sense of Epiphany, clear insight which is falsely called a divine inspiration

Besides the message about not harming others if they aren't harming anyone else and not judging one another, I'd say that the Bible is pretty useless. I can include those two phrases on a small pamphlet and accomplish the same goal. At least with my pamphlet, you wouldn't have to dig through hundreds of pages of myth and fantasy.

Besides I feel like Aesop's Fables presents better messages.

originally posted by: burgerbuddy
a reply to: gosseyn

Who would get to write it?

What would it be called?

People write these books all the time. Part of philosophy is debating if the contents have merit or not. There were more than one philosopher than JUST Aristotle in ancient Greece.

Why does writing such a book have to have any merit or honor bestowed upon it? Let people put their ideas to pen and the public will decide if they are sound or not. No mystical force or even government agency needs to bestow this task upon them. They just do it, because that is what drives them.

originally posted by: burgerbuddy
a reply to: gosseyn

Who would get to write it?

What would it be called?

The central government ? The Illuminatis ? And it should be called "For a Brave New World"

No but seriously, anyone can write a book. I am not talking about A BOOK TO REPLACE THEM ALL. It was just a general statement to say that instead of rewriting the same book, it's better to write something new.

a reply to: burgerbuddy

Is it 6000 years ago? I mean the observatory in Babylon needed a philosophy lesson when they couldnt explain what the celestial bodies actually were.. Or you mean the Big Bang theory, i forget the mythical creation story since there are so many of them during the last 6000 years.. But morality, was a part of the India Culture for the last 11.000 Years, does that mean its not 6.000? Subjective, well we could observe our first calender, maybe its a bit of both...

Or lets make it fun, Its Aliens i tell you!

The Native Indians, India, Aboriginals, are a far more advanced specie than we are today... They lived in the real world, where, wonders, imagination, stories, were alive..

We have destroyed everything that we should have been, cause of the human nature cause

originally posted by: kumiho
a reply to: burgerbuddy
The Native Indians, India, Aboriginals, are a far more advanced specie than we are today... They lived in the real world, where, wonders, imagination, stories, were alive..

You are saying that being advanced is being superstitious? I'm not quite sure things work out that way.