Have you ever read the bible ?

Have you ever read the Bible ? If so what did you think of it ?
If not , do you think it likely you may one day read it ?
It seems everyone have an opinion on the Bible and I would like to hear yours .

I ask this question having not mentioned religion , or asking for anyones religious views . I would simply like to hear your thoughts on the book it's self , assuming that you have read it .

reply to post by Max_TO


You say you didn't mention religion. Based on that, could you tell us which bible you are referring to then? Also, if you are talking about the holy bible, can we include the books left out?

reply to post by Max_TO


No. I have never been able to. I fell like I come down with a sever case of dyslexia whenever I try to read biblical verses. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

I don't really forsee any time that I will give it a good solid effort. Maybe on my death bed if I don't feel comfortable with death yet, but I doubt it. I feel that there is truth in the bible but it has been changed and diluted over the years that I have a hard time believing it is the gospel.

Hopefully I will find my own way in the meantime.

I have read some of the bible...Mostly king james version....And i have to say that in my opinion that it is about as accurate as Aesops fables or a stephen king book. It is only a book full of stories, although the morals of the stories in the bible are relatively better they still boil down to the same thing, it is a book full of stories written by men. It is nothing more and nothing less. I still don't know how people can worship ideals in a book that has been translated so many times. And we all know what happens when you translate things into languages with words whose meanings are so different. There most likely is a higher being out there but to stick to a book full of stories that is so old is rediculous. We might as well worship homer or herodotus' texts as well, they are older and have been proven in most instances to be much more accurate than the bible. So ask me this question in another thousand years when we are worshiping the doctrin of one fish two fish red fish blue fish by Dr Suess.

Yes I am referring to the Holy Bible , thanks for pointing that out so all are on the same page . I'm wondering if you have read it and what you thought about it . One does not need to have a religious belief of the book to have read it , there are numerous people & scholars alike that have read it and studied it that don't have a religious view of it .
If you would like to add a thought on one or more of the various Gnostic books , sure feal free to share .

[edit on 29-6-2008 by Max_TO]

reply to post by Stumpy1


You just might enjoy reading a book called , Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman .

reply to post by Max_TO



I am working on it right now. Been reading the bibel for some time. It dose take time

Hove did i start! Well at first i was taking a major in history,and found out that all ouer history is about religion in some form. Ouer religion is also about conspiracy about true and false. Good end evil.

I read the bibel that everyone els dose . That means the one given to us By THE COUNCIL OF LAODICEA IN PHRYGIA PACATIANA 364 A.D.

What i finde important to do is to question Man s words and teaching against the word of God. That meaning the Bibel. And you can clearly see that Man has done a lot off damage.

Yes, I've read the bible. And I think it is a very interesting book of stories.
I believe it, some don't. But thats my prerogative.. Without a religious view point then there is nothing more to be said.

I have read the old testament a handful of times, each time was a different edition/version, for certain I have read the King James and Good News ones. I really love the old testament, lots of really big characters

As for the new testament I have never got the urge to read it all, I have read a good deal of it but that was mostly with school and was mostly the Good News Bible. Not sure why I never really got the urge, I have been busy reading things that I have a greater interest in I suppose.

My point of view on it, that's a toughie, the only thing I will say is that it contains some good advise and what could be considered human truths. I think it also contains some things of questionable content. I will also say it is definitely not the only book that contains both these things, most do.

Yep, I did, so I did Koran and few others when I was around 11, was not impressed much, I found Sidhartha at that time much more interesting and profound literature as well as Carlos Castaneda series (Khalil Gibran comes to mind too). Bible always rated for me on the scale 1 to 10 number 2, very low and not worth taking it seriously (wisdom wise).

As if Tolstoy wrote very big collection of long and boring fairy tales...

reply to post by LiquidCrystalz


I . like you have read it and believe the Bible to be more then just a book , however what the book might mean to one person or another and what they might believe the Bible to be is something all together different . Take all the various denominations of Christianity as an example and they all use the same Bible . I would be willing to bet that many that follow any of the various denomination have most likely not read the Bible but still have a strong opinion of the book . As such I don't want to turn this into a back and forth religious debate that has been had over and over .

As for not being able to address the Bible on any matter other then religion I would , respectably disagree . For example looking at the text for its historical value , for the stories , some even would even appreciate the wisdom one might gain from having read the book . Some might dislike the book and question how the book was put together , the validity of the various books that make up the Bible or its likeness to earlier religions texts predating the Bible .

reply to post by Max_TO
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I agree that each individual may have a different aspect of the book, its meaning, what it represents, whether it be spiritual or historical.
But, can one say that it only holds true on the historical standpoint but then discredit the spiritual part about it? It's like wanting your cake and eating it to.
I don't believe in denominations myself. Man has branched so far off with all these so-called denominations that it has only caused division among the religion. Im no expert on religion, no claim here but to me the word

interpretation is mans way of saying "this is what we think it means"
But then here we go, this debate can go on. Each has there own right to their belief, thank god we have that .

reply to post by Max_TO


Hello. I have read the bible. I was a bible thumper when I was a kid and am glad that I was (though i am sorry I attacked peoples faiths), because it bit me really bad later on in life and it showed me what an A$$hole I was to everyone. Needless to say, this was after I fled my roots as a good little christain boy and got messed up in heavy drugs. It was about my 6th year into the "bad stuff". I challenged another person to some information about their beliefs and agreed that I would review their info. It was a Jehovah's Witness. Now, I loved proving ESPECIALLY THEM WRONG although I had not been practicing in 10 or so years due to being on the "bad". I had told my challenger. I would review there stuff. I was a Calvery Chapel Christian and I had major belief issues with what they said the truth is and still do, but..."thank you spirit of truth"...the new testament that they use, is in Greek with direct word for word translation. I had never seen this before and was intrigued, believing the "King James" was the only version in the world. I began reading it "knowing" most of the stuff by heart, but this time I got knocked out, by my ignorance, and the word began correcting me and led me to [link]http://www.scripture4all.org[/link]. They have pdf or you can download for free a bible in the original hebrew to english or greek to english or both. I had so much to learn, and truly we all do who say they "know" the written word and have never learned the history of the canon or in the original language. Then on top of that only half read it with the pastor and not for personal archiving. They don't know the word and I didn't either, but pride kept me back for a long time. After my world got "Cracked open", it turned me on my face and showed me who the Lord is. It truthfully is inspired, from my feeding on it. I can tell you that it is not even close to the same bible versions KJ, NIV, NIB, YLT is preaching. I can tell you It also showed me that all texts of the worlds religions are good, for the same spirit indwells all. This came from him himself to me. He loves all, he favors those who do his will which is to "be fruitful and Multiply" and to love one another as yourself, for in this is the first law contained, You shall serve the lord your You(el), in whose image you are made with all your heart, soul, body and mind. He cannot deny himself..."The know it all he demolishes, and the humble he raises, I am witness to this. Peace and may the Holy One guide you in your search to his truth inside of you. You are the bible.

[edit on 29-6-2008 by letthereaderunderstand]

As a student of Donald Cambell who specialied in cross cultural myth hero comparison I can see the bible is for a large part a recycling of earlier myths and legends including jesus who is a recycle of mithra,horus,budda and apollo etc earlier sun god examples; as such it is SSR or same stuff recycled-not the word of God.

reply to post by letthereaderunderstand


Thanks for posting the link !

Yes I have read the bible, several of them in fact. KJV, Catholic, Apocrypha, Quran, Mormon (and the book of Mormon, D&C, Pearls of Great Price), JW, and some others. I have read the old testament and the new testament several time.

I guess I would sum it like this...

If you make it through the historical books after them is isn't so hard to read. It's like a combination of Stephen King meets the Miracle Worker.

It has murder, mystery, incest, magic, demons, love, disaster, horror, ghosts, cops (Romans) and robbers. Not any cowboys though. A few of the characters can be like vampires and are quite scary people. There is ghosts, angels, talking donkeys, walking on water, kings, queens, and a God that will strike you dead if you make the wrong move. So all in all it can be a good read, if you keep and open mind. At one point in a couple of the books (i.e. The Book of Luke, etc... ) in this book the murderer (Barnabas) gets off scot free, which is not to much unlike today's court system.

Zaimless, "The White Tygress", gives it a 4 star out of a 5 star grading. You have to be a reader to enjoy it because the plot is not quite stable and the book is quite lengthy, and you really don't have a firm ending where you know what happens.

i've read the bible 4 or so times. as a book it's better than any star wars book i've read. it's very real and fun at times. the book itself, writen by many has a flavor like no other. I enjoyed reading the stories. I particularly enjoyed reading the new testament and the story of jesus. his story fascinates me. This one guy, get's all these people to write about him. even the government goes after him. I mean, this is better than a james bond movie. for the the bible is an adventure. as a religious book, it's great, but that can get boring if you only read the teachings. I enjoy the history behind it and the stories.

yup, I have read it several times over and its still not enough...

I tried to once, but then figured that i had a hundred better books i could be reading instead of something that made certain parts of my brain go all mushy because it was trying to re-affirm the belief of christianity into my brain without me knowing.

I have read many Bibles and Holy Scribes, while doing this I always kept in mind what GOD had said about all the religions on the Earth were corrupt.

To see what I got out of my readings check out the thread I created a week ago here. www.abovetopsecret.com...