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Meh. As someone who's read the Bible in its entirety, it's so full of contradictions and unclear complexities that you can make a good case for any number of in

Meh. As someone who's read the Bible in its entirety, it's so full of contradictions and unclear complexities that you can make a good case for any number of incompatible interpretations. The Bible is interesting for historical context, and has many useful stories and lessons that I still get value from, but so does the Tao Te Ching and the Quran. It's a good piece of work for a person's spirituality practice, but it is far from sufficient on its own. And on its own, it can be (and many times has been) used to justify some absolutely appalling shit.

superb-owl 4y ago
> it's so full of contradictions and unclear complexities that you can make a good case for any number of incompatible interpretations I think this is exactly what makes the Bible such a powerful and popular book! Intelligent, charismatic people can easily use the Bible (which has implicit authority as the "Word of God" in many people's minds) to convince people to move in a particular direction. This makes it a very powerful tool.
- anonporridge 4y ago
  I completely agree. The lack of clear and objective messaging means it's easy to reinterpret as the civilization changes to suit the rulers' needs, not the other way around. If it had unambiguous messaging, it probably would have been abandoned to the historical archives long ago since the rules no longer make sense. Which is exactly why it's a garbage foundation for ethical reasoning. Fine accessory. Garbage foundation. This is important to understand, because the truth of ethics is that it is not objective. It's subjective. It's a constant conversation we have with each about how we want to interact. And as soon as you elevate a holy book to be unquestionably followed by faith, you've killed the conversation. And once you've killed the conversation, the only way to resolve disagreements thereafter is violence.
- the_only_law 4y ago
  Well, we all know what power does…
beltsazar 4y ago
> As someone who's read the Bible in its entirety, it's so full of contradictions and unclear complexities that you can make a good case for any number of incompatible interpretations. As a Christian, I too have been recently thinking about the issue of multiple interpretations. Having said that, there are as many, if not more, verses that are clear enough and leaves little room for multiple contradicting interpretations. For example, these two popular (and probably the most important!) verses have very clear meanings: > For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. — John 3:16 (NIV) > “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” — Matthew 22:36–40 (NIV)
- anonporridge 4y ago
  > “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Define love and define god. Some Christians have defined loving their neighbor as forcing gay people into barbaric gay conversion therapy. Some have defined it as taking young indigenous children from their families and raising them as good, civilized westerns to get the Indian out of them. God doesn't exist, so loving god with all your heart doesn't mean anything objectively. What "loving god" looks like is entirely subjective and there have been many opinions throughout history about what that means. Some interpretations have included sacrificing children. If there actually is a god, they doesn't seem to be very good about consistently telling us what they want and how they feel loved by us. The Bible has plenty of good passages, but also tons of bad ones. It's a fine piece of literature to study and get insight for your spiritual practice. But never forget, the Bible got the question of slavery wrong. Not even the new testament condemns slavery. This is not a good book.
  - generalizations 4y ago
    > Define love and define god. The first definition is easier to find. > 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
papandada 4y ago
The Bible is a witness to The Truth, who is Jesus. People outside (or inside) the church who read it without Christ are bound to misunderstand.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
jononomo 4y ago
- acjohnson55 4y ago
  They're not the same thing. The Quran purports to be the direct revelation of God's word, as spoken by Muhammed. It's one work. The Bible is certainly more complex, as the compilation of a bunch of documents of different types and times, and it's 10x as long. I haven't read the full Quran yet, but I'm told it's much less self-contradictory. Even in just the 4 Gospels, people have debated for centuries now to reconcile them into a coherent timeline of Jesus's life. Both religions are built on a whole bunch more material, written and traditional.
  - jononomo 4y ago
    The contradictions in the Bible are over-stated and the simplicity of the Quran is a major weakness given how distasteful its ideas are. The fact that there is nothing to "contradict" the command to kill the infidels.... is not a good thing.

superb-owl 4y ago

> it's so full of contradictions and unclear complexities that you can make a good case for any number of incompatible interpretations I think this is exactly what makes the Bible such a powerful and popular book! Intelligent, charismatic people can easily use the Bible (which has implicit authority as the "Word of God" in many people's minds) to convince people to move in a particular direction. This makes it a very powerful tool.

anonporridge 4y ago
I completely agree. The lack of clear and objective messaging means it's easy to reinterpret as the civilization changes to suit the rulers' needs, not the other way around. If it had unambiguous messaging, it probably would have been abandoned to the historical archives long ago since the rules no longer make sense. Which is exactly why it's a garbage foundation for ethical reasoning. Fine accessory. Garbage foundation. This is important to understand, because the truth of ethics is that it is not objective. It's subjective. It's a constant conversation we have with each about how we want to interact. And as soon as you elevate a holy book to be unquestionably followed by faith, you've killed the conversation. And once you've killed the conversation, the only way to resolve disagreements thereafter is violence.
the_only_law 4y ago
Well, we all know what power does…

beltsazar 4y ago

> As someone who's read the Bible in its entirety, it's so full of contradictions and unclear complexities that you can make a good case for any number of incompatible interpretations. As a Christian, I too have been recently thinking about the issue of multiple interpretations. Having said that, there are as many, if not more, verses that are clear enough and leaves little room for multiple contradicting interpretations. For example, these two popular (and probably the most important!) verses have very clear meanings: > For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. — John 3:16 (NIV) > “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” — Matthew 22:36–40 (NIV)

anonporridge 4y ago
> “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Define love and define god. Some Christians have defined loving their neighbor as forcing gay people into barbaric gay conversion therapy. Some have defined it as taking young indigenous children from their families and raising them as good, civilized westerns to get the Indian out of them. God doesn't exist, so loving god with all your heart doesn't mean anything objectively. What "loving god" looks like is entirely subjective and there have been many opinions throughout history about what that means. Some interpretations have included sacrificing children. If there actually is a god, they doesn't seem to be very good about consistently telling us what they want and how they feel loved by us. The Bible has plenty of good passages, but also tons of bad ones. It's a fine piece of literature to study and get insight for your spiritual practice. But never forget, the Bible got the question of slavery wrong. Not even the new testament condemns slavery. This is not a good book.
- generalizations 4y ago
  > Define love and define god. The first definition is easier to find. > 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

papandada 4y ago

The Bible is a witness to The Truth, who is Jesus. People outside (or inside) the church who read it without Christ are bound to misunderstand.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

jononomo 4y ago

acjohnson55 4y ago
They're not the same thing. The Quran purports to be the direct revelation of God's word, as spoken by Muhammed. It's one work. The Bible is certainly more complex, as the compilation of a bunch of documents of different types and times, and it's 10x as long. I haven't read the full Quran yet, but I'm told it's much less self-contradictory. Even in just the 4 Gospels, people have debated for centuries now to reconcile them into a coherent timeline of Jesus's life. Both religions are built on a whole bunch more material, written and traditional.
- jononomo 4y ago
  The contradictions in the Bible are over-stated and the simplicity of the Quran is a major weakness given how distasteful its ideas are. The fact that there is nothing to "contradict" the command to kill the infidels.... is not a good thing.