Quote:
Originally Posted by bnmoore
To what bible are you referring and in what language?
One person's bible may be anothers kindling.
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Man, that is EXACTLY what I was thinking. While it seems like the general themes have remained unaltered (God made you, God loves you, God wants you to love and serve Him and your fellowman as well), when you try to really dissect passages and form a more detailed and specific ideology, it makes a GREAT deal of difference what translation and version you are reading, as well as when it was translated or when the version was reworked. Think of how easily words are confused even in ENGLISH, and a dirty word in England or Australia is either nonsense or something else totally benign.
I believe that the Bible was inspired by the Spirit, but written and translated by men who, while well-intentioned, were and are imperfect. I take what I read with a grain of salt, and try to remember the historical and cultural background of the times as well (especially when reading the Law of the Old Testament).
I think a greater question for YOU, though, is......does it matter to you? Is your faith in a divine, loving God shaken if Daniel never existed or never made it out of the lion's den? If Noah and his ark were simply legends to make a previous natural catastrophe seem more relevant to the Israelites? If Methuselah's age was really just a gag, used as jokingly then as it is now? Does God still exist for you, even if the Bible really IS imperfect?