MovieChat Forums > Letters to God (2010) Discussion > The Bible is Hearsay

The Bible is Hearsay

posted 15 years ago by TheHypnotron
9 replies | jump to latest

Note i said hearsay and not heresy.

Thomas Paine a great American wrote in his essay "The Age of Reason" why he believed in God but not in any religion. You can google and find his essay online easily. In fact, most of the founding fathers were Deists just like Paine.

If you want to know God, you can study his word first hand... it's called creation and it's all around you. Scientists are the true spiritual scholars because they are studying creation and trying to understand it.

Why should someone believe in the Bible over The Book of Mormons or The Koran or the guy on the street corner who yells about Xenu and the pending invasion.

It's completely irrational to believe in any of them. It is all hearsay. If faith in religion means tossing my rationality, then I have no choice but to be faithless. If the God the Christians talk about existed, he could make himself known to all of us. Then we would all have first hand knowledge of him and would have a choice to obey or disobey.

You don't need faith to know that we are small and insignificance in the cosmic sense and that life abounds in the universe and that we are apart of an amazing reality.

[–] Bruce7 15 years ago

Paine was basically an Agnostic. Not really knowing the true personable God.
Because the Holy Bible has never been in error. Also there is a plethora of evidence, Geographical and Historical. More supporting evidence is found regularly. If you do not have faith, you can not understand.

Here read these--'Resurrection' by Hanegraaff, 'Case for the Creator, Faith and Christ', 3 book series by Strobel, a former Atheist. 'The Jesus You Can't Ignore' by MacArthur. (New) 'Why Government Can't Save You' - John MacArthur PB

Can you fly this plane?
Surely you can't be serious.
I am serious,and don't call me Shirley

[–] TheHypnotron 15 years ago

Your very first sentence is wrong.

Thomas Paine was a deist. Go read his essay "The Age of Reason" which you can find here http://www.ushistory.org/paine/reason/index.htm

You say there is a plethora of evidence and that if I don't have faith I can't understand? Evidence is evidence and not subject to faith. So what evidence are you referring to? There is a plethora of evidence that Christianity evolved from astrotheism and shamanism. There is solid fact that older religions predating Christianity had a savior figure who was born of a virgin, had 12 disciples, and was crucified on a cross. The reasons for these similarities is because the story is rooted in astrotheism - that means worship of the stars. Christianity like so many religious beliefs before it are based on the zodiac and other astrotheistic concepts.

[–] Bruce7 15 years ago

OK, deist is a general term. What was his beliefs? Second you haven't read the books have you? When you do get back with me. That should answer some or your questions unless you remain with a closed mind.

Can you fly this plane?
Surely you can't be serious.
I am serious,and don't call me Shirley

[–] TheHypnotron 15 years ago

Wrong again. A deist is not a general term. Talk about reading, did you even read the "Age of Reason?" If you did, you'd realize that a deist is someone who believes in a creator of the material universe that surrounds us and that his word is creation itself and it's available to us for understanding via our curiosity, intellect and reason.

Am I going to read all those books you cited, no. I'm not. But I have watched Strobel's documentary "The Case for Christ" and it's the flimsiest "case" ever. There is no case, just a lot of suggestions and assumptions. All of the so called "experts" are Christian theologians which is like asking a bunch of foxes to judge on the veracity of the statements made by an accused brother fox.

[–] Bruce7 15 years ago

That's your interpretation. But again, missing out on a personable God. And you will probably always find an excuse for not understanding who God really is. Bye.

Can you fly this plane?
Surely you can't be serious.
I am serious,and don't call me Shirley

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] revsolly 14 years ago

I agree. The Bible is hearsay. Back when it was written, the writers would hear what God inspired them to write down, and we've been listening to people try to say it was wrong for thousands of years.

Look! I'm not going to explain the intricacies of time travel to a man without a library card!

[–] TheHypnotron 12 years ago

The writers would HEAR what God INSPIRED? That's not hearing. You've basically constructed yourself an "out" to say that not everything in the bible is the word of God...

Second of all, do you even know who the "writers" are? I bet you have no idea. We don't know who wrote the Gospel of John, or the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

This is what it means to be hearsay... that who knows who wrote what, who said what, and who inspired what. There's zero evidence at all. God wants you to believe the bible but he doesn't want you to believe the homeless guy downtown carrying a sign that says he's the Messiah?

At least when you hear the word of the homeless Messiah it's NOT hearsay but first hand information.

[–] 12 years ago

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