The Bible is a wonderful anthology with many interesting stories. It contains the message of God. Man has tried vainly to describe the indescribable. To make meaning of that which cannot be understood.
The writers of Sacred Scripture were caught up in their own bias, their limited understanding of the world and universe around them. They also had to communicate with an audience who thought disease was caused by demons and the world was flat, covered by a blue dome separating Man’s home from God’s home. That God sat on a raised throne like the worldly kings of old.
Dr. Manfred Barthel evaluated the Bible as a detailed, literal account. He brings up some interesting facts.
The Bible is an anthology of songs, chronicles, fables, proverbs, and revelations … Written between 1200 BC and 150 AD … The old testament especially is recordings of stories told around the campfire of tribesmen, embellished and transmitted by word of mouth for hundreds of years until written down … Even then, today’s bible is not a constant. There are over 200 translations from many languages, cultures and perspectives.
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It is thought by many Bible scholars today that everything in Genesis from Creation to the Tower of Babel is simply a parable through which the writers were trying to explain the unexplainable workings of God.
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The first two chapters of Genesis give contradictory accounts of creation. Each chapter reflects a very different literary style.
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George Smith, an Assyriologist and assistant curator of the Assyrian collection in the British Museum discovered 12 clay tablets in Northern Iraq, near the ruins of Ninevah. Tablet 11 describes “The Epic of Gilgamesh”. This epic describes a flood almost exactly as it was in the Bible. These tablets were written about 2500 BC, long before the biblical account.
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The Earth’s axis has shifted many times. The last was about 8,000 to 15,000 years ago. This shift resulted in a huge climactic change. As the ice caps melted and the crust cracked, there were huge floods, volcanoes, terrible storms, and much more.
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Moses’ mother set him afloat on the Nile to save him from the Egyptians … Sargon of Akkad was set upon the river Euphrates a thousand years before to escape … Many more narrow escapes by infants spared by God for greater things are recorded. Romulus and Remus, Hercules, and Jesus are but a few.
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The council of Laodicea, under Pope Liberius settled on four Gospels. Originally there were many more.
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The early texts were difficult to translate. Not only were there problems of interpretation as Scripture went from one language to another, but: MANYWORDSWEREABREVIATEDSPAELLINGWASALITTLESLOPPYANDTHEWRITINGWASINALLCAPITALSWITHOUTSPACES
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Sacred Scripture can help us as we strive to understand a rich Judeo-Christian tradition. The Bible chronicles the Judeo-Christian concept of God. But, we must separate theological truth from pre-scientific myths. We must see this wonderful message of God in a way that is consistent with our understanding of reality.