The Bible Isn't Stupid, We Are

There has been loads of discussions debating the pros and cons of Christianity vs atheism. Personally, I pay attention to these exchanges...why? Because I believe that understanding where this universe comes from, who created it, and how it constructed our reality, will reveal our place in the grand scheme.

I want to know how to direct my life in the most satisfying manner possible.

And so I have read many controversial pieces, from the Bible, to the Emerald Tablets and the Keys of Enoch, to the Ra Material and the Conversation with God series. I have looked at a lot of ridiculous viewpoints, and I have taken everything into consideration. I have filtered and discarded, I have filed and bookmarked. And I have come to the realization that if we could reconcile the Bible with science, perhaps we could eliminate half of the wars in the world.

Is that not a worthy objective?

Now, the first thing I want to show you (and remember, I am taking these quotes directly from the Holy Bible) is this:

Psalm 78:2 I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old

To understand a proverb, and a figure, The words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
- Proverbs 1:6

According to these lines, the Bible is full of "dark sayings" and "parables", otherwise known as riddles or secrets. Nothing was ever told in a straightforward manner, even if stated clearly, because their dialect differs so much from ours. But what we can take away from this, is that the Bible isn't black and white, so to speak. It's full of layers and clues, hints intended to be understood when the moment was right.

Having said that, I want to make it clear that this does not support the Bible in its modern interpretation. Mankind has not been ready to know the truth for ages, and it is only just beginning to come into the light. What we think are its secrets, are only the double meanings of the obvious phrases. We have yet to discover the deep wisdom within it.

And no, I am not a religious zealot. I am a polycredic, as I have stated multiple times, which means I am willing to logically dissect various sciences and faiths and create a sort of Frankenstein from the pieces. I am in favor of science just as much as I am in favor of spirituality. But I think they we are simply looking at the same thing from two different lights.

The name Jesus means "God is Salvation". Okay, good. We have something to work with here. Especially taking into consideration this line:

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us (1 Jn. 4:8-12, NIV).

God is love. This is stated clearly. Therefore, when one says "Jesus's name is the way to heaven," perhaps they are pointing to this quote? Perhaps they are saying that Jesus points to God, and by extension, love?

Is the way to heaven, in reality, simple love?

Chances are, you're asking, "Why on earth would they make it so difficult to understand?" Well, one...because it's difficult to explain. And in those times, we obviously didn't know much about science, let alone how emotion can affect the physical reality of the world, nor how emotion can affect bodily energy.

This pretty much says it all:

I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? 4For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men?

Corinthians 3:2, King James version

Take this how you will...but I think it is the most sensible part of the Bible. It's the most sense I've gotten out of it, anyway. Besides the Tree of Polarity, at least...but that's a story for another time. So, what if the Bible is actually a riddle book telling the truth in a roundabout way, and we're just too thick to comprehend it?

Does that make the Bible a tome of lies, or us a race of wooly headed sheep?

I just thought I'd get this perspective out there.

why is it the word of this book is taken over any other person's word when they are one and the same..
both drawn from experience.

the writers of the bible had their experiences just like we have ours in this time, which differ completely.
but the medium through which we express ourselves never changed.
the movies of today portray our moral limits in the same light that the bible would have for an average person back then...

The bible has a ton of contradictions. You'll never get anywhere with it unless you learn the original language the bible was translated from. Latin and Greek, Leo Tolstoy did it.

Originally posted by yourmaker
why is it the word of this book is taken over any other person's word when they are one and the same..
both drawn from experience.

the writers of the bible had their experiences just like we have ours in this time, which differ completely.
but the medium through which we express ourselves never changed.
the movies of today portray our moral limits in the same light that the bible would have for an average person back then...

I am not arguing the validity of the Bible. I am arguing that even if it's history is not correct, maybe it has still pointed us down the correct path from the beginning. I can completely misrepresent or inaccurately detail the Revolutionary War and still make some very good points about honor, bravery, and free will.

Originally posted by xxThexGreatxEscapexx
The bible has a ton of contradictions. You'll never get anywhere with it unless you learn the original language the bible was translated from. Latin and Greek, Leo Tolstoy did it.

The original languages were Hebrew Aramaic and Greek ... not Latin.

Well, The Bible certainly doesn't burn very good, and it's mostly because it's usually made of very thin pieces of paper all pressed together tightly around a leather cover. You need oxygen for good combustion, and the pages don't let a lot of oxygen in.

who WROTE the "Bible"?

what version are we talking about here?- KING James? New World??

who decided whether the "Book of Daniel" (and others) was part of the Bible or not???

Hi op

yes i agree
as a teenager i always believed 1 thing about the bible

it was the basic building blocks to live peacefully and morally
not to forget rome was everywhere and the bible was a salvation at the time
people needed hope and it was given through this book.
i personally dont believe in religion, but do believe in a creator

Originally posted by Starchild23
Does that make the Bible a tome of lies, or us a race of wooly headed sheep?
I just thought I'd get this perspective out there.

Here's the deal. If you had what you considered to be the most important message of all time, and you wanted to give it to everybody and make sure they understood it, how would you present it? As a puzzle? As a riddle? As the opposite of what you really wanted to say?

Of course not. You would make it as clear and unambigious and accessible as you possibly could. And that's the reason you have to take The Bible for what it is. Men trying to fool other men.

Originally posted by Starchild23

Originally posted by yourmaker
why is it the word of this book is taken over any other person's word when they are one and the same..
both drawn from experience.

the writers of the bible had their experiences just like we have ours in this time, which differ completely.
but the medium through which we express ourselves never changed.
the movies of today portray our moral limits in the same light that the bible would have for an average person back then...

I am not arguing the validity of the Bible. I am arguing that even if it's history is not correct, maybe it has still pointed us down the correct path from the beginning. I can completely misrepresent or inaccurately detail the Revolutionary War and still make some very good points about honor, bravery, and free will.

but it hasn't, there is no way the bible has helped us, it has failed in more then one way.
people have based their lives around it. sure there are good things that come of it, but it's such a division/diversion tactic that the negatives outweight any possible benefits, which are mostly short term.

Originally posted by yourmaker

Originally posted by Starchild23

Originally posted by yourmaker
why is it the word of this book is taken over any other person's word when they are one and the same..
both drawn from experience.

the writers of the bible had their experiences just like we have ours in this time, which differ completely.
but the medium through which we express ourselves never changed.
the movies of today portray our moral limits in the same light that the bible would have for an average person back then...

I am not arguing the validity of the Bible. I am arguing that even if it's history is not correct, maybe it has still pointed us down the correct path from the beginning. I can completely misrepresent or inaccurately detail the Revolutionary War and still make some very good points about honor, bravery, and free will.

but it hasn't, there is no way the bible has helped us, it has failed in more then one way.
people have based their lives around it. sure there are good things that come of it, but it's such a division/diversion tactic that the negatives outweight any possible benefits, which are mostly short term.

Has it occurred to you that the Bible didn't fail...we did?

Has it occurred to you that our inability to read things as metaphor and intelligently decipher the meaning of the scriptures instead of blowing everyone up because of their beliefs has resulted in our destruction, whereas the Bible has survived hundreds of years?

The division comes from the fact that no one wants to agree to disagree. Also, it comes from everyone wanting to be right. And some people are just going to prefer to do bad things. There are a lot of reasons we have failed, but it's largely due to our lack of understanding. Is that our fault, or the Bible's?

Remember, it made perfect sense to people living back then, because they were stupid enough to not question it. But now, we're just stupid enough to reject it instead of examining it.

Originally posted by xxThexGreatxEscapexx
The bible has a ton of contradictions. You'll never get anywhere with it unless you learn the original language the bible was translated from. Latin and Greek, Leo Tolstoy did it.

It has zero contradictions, and if you find contradictions you don't get what you're reading. You don't need to buy books, or attend Bible college, or attend seminary and become a doctor at this, to know how to study the Bible. If you start reading, God will teach you along the way on how to study the numbers, colors, language structure, prophecy, what Scripture calls similitude that is Bible typology, and symbols; He will teach you these things. How to compare spiritual things with spiritual things; how to see something here and to compare it to there. The one rule on how to study Scripture is to open the Bible and start reading.

The Bible has been translated from Hebrew, Greek and a little bit of Aramaic in Daniel to English. The OT and NT are the most common ancient texts throughout the world, no one can deny that. To claim it has been changed through the centuries is simply false, because we would be able to identify where and when it was changed due to the massive number of copies.

Originally posted by BiggerPicture
who WROTE the "Bible"?

what version are we talking about here?- KING James? New World??

who decided whether the "Book of Daniel" (and others) was part of the Bible or not???

Many people. And that's why I would advise that you read an original version converted to modern language, as closely translated as possible.

Originally posted by Blue Shift

Originally posted by Starchild23
Does that make the Bible a tome of lies, or us a race of wooly headed sheep?
I just thought I'd get this perspective out there.

Here's the deal. If you had what you considered to be the most important message of all time, and you wanted to give it to everybody and make sure they understood it, how would you present it? As a puzzle? As a riddle? As the opposite of what you really wanted to say?

Of course not. You would make it as clear and unambigious and accessible as you possibly could. And that's the reason you have to take The Bible for what it is. Men trying to fool other men.

While it may be true that much of the bible is a puzzle to most people... the main message is quite clear...

"Love thy neighbour" could not be more clear actually...

Originally posted by Starchild23

Originally posted by yourmaker

Originally posted by Starchild23

Originally posted by yourmaker
why is it the word of this book is taken over any other person's word when they are one and the same..
both drawn from experience.

the writers of the bible had their experiences just like we have ours in this time, which differ completely.
but the medium through which we express ourselves never changed.
the movies of today portray our moral limits in the same light that the bible would have for an average person back then...

I am not arguing the validity of the Bible. I am arguing that even if it's history is not correct, maybe it has still pointed us down the correct path from the beginning. I can completely misrepresent or inaccurately detail the Revolutionary War and still make some very good points about honor, bravery, and free will.

but it hasn't, there is no way the bible has helped us, it has failed in more then one way.
people have based their lives around it. sure there are good things that come of it, but it's such a division/diversion tactic that the negatives outweight any possible benefits, which are mostly short term.

Has it occurred to you that the Bible didn't fail...we did?

Has it occurred to you that our inability to read things as metaphor and intelligently decipher the meaning of the scriptures instead of blowing everyone up because of their beliefs has resulted in our destruction, whereas the Bible has survived hundreds of years?

The division comes from the fact that no one wants to agree to disagree. Also, it comes from everyone wanting to be right. And some people are just going to prefer to do bad things. There are a lot of reasons we have failed, but it's largely due to our lack of understanding. Is that our fault, or the Bible's?

Remember, it made perfect sense to people living back then, because they were stupid enough to not question it. But now, we're just stupid enough to reject it instead of examining it.

no that wasn't clear to me lol, star for you child.
indeed you are correct, it is people's interpretation of the book and not the book itself, silly me.

reply to post by netgamer7k

It has zero contradictions, and if you find contradictions you don't get what you're reading.

IF i were you i would reconsider this statement...

IF you can't find contradictions, you're not looking hard enough...

Originally posted by Akragon

Originally posted by Blue Shift

Originally posted by Starchild23
Does that make the Bible a tome of lies, or us a race of wooly headed sheep?
I just thought I'd get this perspective out there.

Here's the deal. If you had what you considered to be the most important message of all time, and you wanted to give it to everybody and make sure they understood it, how would you present it? As a puzzle? As a riddle? As the opposite of what you really wanted to say?

Of course not. You would make it as clear and unambigious and accessible as you possibly could. And that's the reason you have to take The Bible for what it is. Men trying to fool other men.

While it may be true that much of the bible is a puzzle to most people... the main message is quite clear...

"Love thy neighbour" could not be more clear actually...

Then that's the only part anyone needs to worry about.

Originally posted by Blue Shift

Originally posted by Akragon

Originally posted by Blue Shift

Originally posted by Starchild23
Does that make the Bible a tome of lies, or us a race of wooly headed sheep?
I just thought I'd get this perspective out there.

Here's the deal. If you had what you considered to be the most important message of all time, and you wanted to give it to everybody and make sure they understood it, how would you present it? As a puzzle? As a riddle? As the opposite of what you really wanted to say?

Of course not. You would make it as clear and unambigious and accessible as you possibly could. And that's the reason you have to take The Bible for what it is. Men trying to fool other men.

While it may be true that much of the bible is a puzzle to most people... the main message is quite clear...

"Love thy neighbour" could not be more clear actually...

Then that's the only part anyone needs to worry about.

That ties in with the rest of life... And is all inclusive within the two main commandments...

By loving your neighbour... you are in fact showing love to Gods creations... even God himself.

Love God... Love thy neighbour as yourself...

They are all that matter within said book... most don't see it though...

reply to post by Starchild23


Reading more into the text than is actually there is one of the ways that superstition and prophecy manage to survive. I mean look at Nostradamus's stuff, obscenely vague poetic verses that have managed to survive based on people's natural tendency to look for patterns and find connections even where none exist.

Are there hidden meanings and morals in Bible stories, yep some of them. Are there ways to read way too much into the Bible to find meanings that aren't necessarily there? Yep.

For example towards the end of my attempts to remain a Christian I took a very New Age tact in regards to Jesus and the Gospels. It started with a reinterpretation of the act of Holy Communion. I had racked my brain trying to figure out why on Earth Jesus wanted his followers to act out mock cannibalism, seems grotesque and weird for a ritual.

So I came up the idea that this was all a metaphor and that Jesus wanted his disciples to follow their own inner Christ. My idea extended even further. When Jesus said "I am the way the truth and the life" he wasn't saying, "I, Jesus Christ, am the way" he was saying I am the way, as in each human being was responsible for their own Salvation. The idea was that Jesus removed the middle-men, the Pharisees and Saducees and elders, to let people form a direct link with God and forge their own Salvation rather than waiting around for Messiah's and Priests.

In my version Jesus didn't need to be Resurrected, in fact none of the miracles actually had to have happened, instead of sacrificing himself to take on the sins of the world Jesus came to teach folks to deal with their own sins and not cast stones at others. This seemed to jive better with the idea of not judging others and of paying attention to the log in your own eye before pointing out the speck in someone else's, both ideas which spoke more of personal responsibility than of shirking your responsibility to throw your sins on an innocent man (Jesus).

In the end though the Bible IS full of contradictions and my own interpretation was just one of many many many others all claiming to be correct. There are 30,000 denominations not because people are too stupid to get the Bible but because the Bible itself does not present a clear message. It shows us an incompetent and vengeful deity who then is directly equated with love and yet condones slavery and commits genocide and yet is willing to sacrifice himself?

Get what bits and pieces of wisdom you can out of it but in my opinion both we and the Bible are stupid, after all it;s humans that wrote the books of the Bible anyway.

reply to post by Starchild23


I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? 4For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men?

Corinthians 3:2, King James version

Many things come to mind when i read this passage.
Love unites, divide and conquer, united we stand, divided we fall.
Jesus said the biggest comandment of all is Love.
star for you, not sure how to flagg yet
You have said what i been thinkin. We are hard headed and our ego blinds the truth.