How do you guys decide which bible to use?

historical events are fascinating...Though the further back we go.

Indeed they are, Serge.. If we go back as far as the a few hundred thousand years to Mesopotamian records, it is soon discovered that many of the stories in the Old Testament are simply a re-telling of the history of the "gods" of Babylon and Ur and well before the bible was even thought about...Indeed in those records you will read of the story of Sharrukin/ Sargon ( Moses in the OT) Ziusudra/ Atrahasis (Noah in the OT) to name just a few.

I had to go through 12 years of muslim education along with regular 12 years of education. Apparently, teaching islam in regular school is supposed to make people better muslims. But those 12 years turned out to be a great disappointment for them and for me. I was praying to Allah for bullies to stop bullying me, but it didnt happen. thats when I realized Allah either isnt real or he has no interest in helping me, so I became polytheist and atheist at times, until I became full polytheist.

Have you found a god that will protect you?

I have a list of 300 Gods now which protect me, and people who bullied me all died from painful diseases, or suffer from painful or bad health conditions or family issues. So yeah, life does get better eventually and God does miracles.

You have become a believer over time. Good for you.

That's an interesting suggestion. Do you mean like someone rising from the dead or not?

Well "rising from the dead" is a dramatic exaggeration, and we know that a truly dead organism cannot rise...Though we do know that a seemingly dead organism can revitalise or recover...And of course, we know that some events are designed to purposefully deceive, and also that biblical interpretations are likely to be reinterpreted with more than an ounce of subjective bias...Therefore, to assume that modern bibles are in any way factually accurate is more than a tad short sighted.

The fact is that we have absolutely no way of knowing what actually went on in downtown Roman Judean society 2000 or so years ago. But one thing we can be certain of is that there were far more people kicking about than the handful of characters mentioned in later adaptations of biblical folk tales.

 biblical interpretations are likely to be reinterpreted with more than an ounce of subjective bias.

10/10

Why would care what the jews thought of the old testament when you have the earliest christians and apostles to compare to? The apostles used the orthodox Bible and even the new testament makes reference to citations in that collection. Plus the orthodox Bible includes Jewish history in the 500 years prior to jesus whereas your Bible omits that 500 years.

It's an interesting thing to consider: Exaggeration. What is it? Sometimes it's quite clear - but at other times, it goes over our heads. A little like sarcasm and hyperbole.

It's also a little like "common sense". Common sense is not common so much as it's very subjective. We like to assume that everyone knows what common sense is - the five senses give us some notion of it - but when it comes to matters of emotion - then things that seem reasonable to one person don't seem reasonable to another. Take the ideas of love or hate or jealousy. They're all part of our live - but there is no common consensus on what they mean.

Jesus rising from the dead might be an exaggeration in one person's mind, but for others it's absolutely true. The evidence that they consider valid and reasonable has convinced them, even if it doesn't convince others. Take evolution. Many people just believe it is true - even though most people have only read about it in books and have not personally done the experiments. The same applies to theology. And Economics and political theory. People believe what they want to believe.

My view is simple. God exists. I don't have to prove God exists. It's fundamentally true beyond question. The alternative is more difficult to believe. I would have to have blind faith to believe God doesn't exist. Every now and then I try to conceive of what the world would be like if God didn't exist. It just doesn't make sense. Hence, I see what some see as common as unreasonable and I acknowledge that what I see when I look at everything - that other's might see things differently.

I can't in good conscience begin anywhere except with the view that God is the creator and sustainer of this universe and everything in it. Yes, it does create lots of issues - difficulties that are really hard to address and sometimes contradictory, but there is no alternative view that is perfect and without difficulties or contradictions. For me, the Creator God of the universe is the best fit. And nothing else comes anywhere near it.

Well, I wouldn't argue with your opening sentiments.

But I would contend that all explanations for material existence fall short of the mark and that GOD of the Bible like all other explanations has no reasonable beginning...Though for me it's far easier to accept that matter exists without a cause, rather than a Magic Man existed without a cause.

What is feasible though is the idea of a Universal Super-Intelligence, evolved of matter just like us, that seeds Planets with living potential...A GOD if you like...Though I doubt that such an intelligence would see much value in the fanciful Middle Eastern analogical hypothesis that evolved and became a variety of warring faiths, other than as a necessary phase of intellectual and material evolution.

And yep, "evolution" is simply what it is, a gradual process of development, which conforms with all ideas of creation and GOD principle...I think that the idea that a GOD popped up a few thousand years ago and made everything just as we know it, is just plain daft.

So, looking ahead and given what we currently know, it's fair to propose that the evolutionary mantle will not remain wholly upon the shoulders of fragile intellectual primates...And from that one can reasonably infer that if a GOD or Universal Super-Intelligence did/does exist, then it also did/does not wholly consist of a fragile intellectual primate...Or reptile even...For as we know, material and consequent species evolution on this planet was affected by a variety of Universal influences...To that I end I will conclude by saying that to blatantly ignore the intellectual outcomes of scientific study, is simply to bury ones head in the sands of the Arabian deserts.

HI and thanks for your response.

I'm not entirely sure why you opted for the material world. What is that exactly?

It seems like - and I might be incorrect- that you reject the notion that any kind of Middle Eastern hypothesis might be reasonable in our discussion. I'm not sure why you discount this as a possibility. It's rather arrogant as a suggestion.

Evolution - of course, is a potential explanation = but only for some. For others, it is far more fanciful than the Genesis version. God as a concept - has always existed. I don't know of any culture that hasn't considered God. The Secular position is more nuanced, but no one within it's pyche would reject the notion of God.

Your last paragraph - although purporting to be clever is actually not. It's not fair to propose that evolution is a mantle let alone correct. It simply hasn't done the work required. the thing you're missing is PURPOSE. Things don't happen without a purpose. You need to explore that a little bit more.

Hi Trade.

Well, I am still of the mind that there are two options, either chance or purpose...Though a purpose can be as simple as a recurrent process of material regeneration, evolution and decline...Which as ever, falls short of a beginning....Though for sure a GOD principle nonetheless.

And I think it fair to suggest that it is most likely that thinking and intellectually evolving primates would look to a greater thinking and intellectually superior primate for answers...Which was/is a global solution...I just refer to the Middle East in respect of the Man-God that you promote.

The "World" is an agglomeration of matter, just as we are, just as is everything that facilitates event and duration within the confines of space and time...Evolution is simply the process of material development...Don't get too bogged down in the Darwinian concept of species evolution, where the latter is just a phase of the former.

In terms of "arrogance", well you did somewhat overlook the Man/Lizard God hypothesis that I put forwards...An hypothesis that sits quite well with Middle Eastern and other similar interventionist analogies....Still falls short of a beginning though.

As for evolution...Well, evolution is ongoing, demonstrable and undeniable...Here we are 2000, 4000 or whatever years later, a highly technological and digitized species...Something that the omniscient God of your bible never was...As it is, we have out-evolved your God and are now superior to it...Which isn't to say that we have out-evolved other Universal super intelligences....Which though, isn't to say with any certainty that we are not alone.

So the onus for further material development, AKA evolution, still falls firmly on the shoulders of Earth based intelligence, in what ever form Earth based intelligence should itself evolve into...Which once again raises the issue of how Universal intelligence and the purpose thereof will continue to evolve a billion years or more into the future...GOD principle indeed...Though not sure how well a berobed, sandal wearing semi-desert dwelling primate and his dad fit into the bigger picture...Nonetheless, still all falls short of a knowable beginning...No, I'm imagining that a Universal super-intelligence dresses more like Mr Spock...Though why would a super-intelligence bother with clothes at all...I thinking that nudity is a human quirk...Though we did migrate north and south into colder climes.

Over to you Trade.

A well read and informed person has an edge over the lesser informed. That applies to scriptures too.

People write and read, and there are numerous narratives to get stuck into.

Religious stuff per se, does not enlighten the modern progressive mind...Which isn't to say that religious hypotheses were not at one time the cutting edge of progress...But we've come a long way since then, in terms of material development and knowledge.

Progressive minds are rare and the result of species evolution...Why?...We don't know is the simple answer.

So some people like to get there heads stuck into old narratives, and rarer minds develop AI, and I guess that AI will continue to move things forwards into the technological age.

And the masses come and go, and like to argue, fight, kill, knock balls about and do all sorts of other mundane stuff to placate their need for mental stimulation.

So read "scripture"...It's one of many options...And yes, it's obviously true that the more you read something the more you will remember what is written.

If the choice was between scriptures and Elon Musk. The majority would choose the Bible. SpaceX stocks have dropped drastically.

For sure, too many explosions.

Though what the majority are addictively investing in is smart technology.

Such is the new brainwashing.

The search for higher intelligence led to God. Humanity is on the same path again.

Magic-man hypothesis was perhaps inevitable considering primate dominance, though the hypothesis led nowhere other than up the wrong path to a dead end.

So cleverer primates slowly constructed new paths towards the new techno-god.

God always existed. It is just taking time for all humans to accept that.

For sure, the basis of everything is a creative event followed by a very very lengthy period of material evolution...Which relative to thinking primate and it's language can be referred to as GOD...Could be BOB, DAVE or SID, but GODFREY will suffice.

Though GODFREY the magic man didn't emerge from thinking primates brain until billions of years after the initial event, when some bright primate had a thought.

So there's GOD... And then there was GOD, who has existed in thought for what seems to us a very long time...When in fact, in universal terms has only been around for a nanosecond.

God was the generic name for God. But today we have Jesus as God and 2 thousand years have passed since the Bible introduced Jesus to the masses. We have over 2 billion Christian’s today who believe and accept Jesus as God.

Yep, generational data transfer relative to theo-political oppression relative to the fallibility of the human brain, dictates that people can easily be programmed.

And GOD the word, is an English adaptation, that has latterly come to represent any deity.

And if Jesus the bloke was in fact a real character, then that is what he was...Just another easily deluded brain...Just like you Debs.

Jesus brought salvation to the world. He added purpose to the meaning of God.

For sure, GOD principle suggests purpose.

Though Jesus is a character from Archaic Middle Eastern tribal folk tales, who never even had the nous to save himself.

Put them together and you end up with a contradiction.

Jesus’s death was prophesied. He fulfilled his mission and ascended to heaven.setting the path to salvation.

Yes, you have perfectly exemplified mythological fantasy components...Well done.

Semi-realistic componentry suggests that Jesus was perhaps a bloke and perhaps the son of a loose woman named Mary, and the step-son of a bloke named Joseph. They were semi nomadic and used a donkey for transport, Joseph being an itinerant carpenter of sorts.

Later on...Jesus and his gang tended to make a nuisance of themselves and he was told on many occasions that his behaviour would eventually get him into trouble...And it did...Big time.

And as far as my brief research informs me, there isn't a town anywhere named salvation...Either in the Middle East or farther afield...I expect that he was buried in the semi-desert somewhere near Nazareth.

I doubt very much that they took him to Ascension Island, as no one knew that it existed until 1501.

You go5 the Jesus story right but left out the part where God announced him as his son at his baptism. Thus began the journey to salvation.

Like I stated, there is nowhere named salvation within a reasonable distance of Nazareth, suitable for a three-up donkey ride...And that's not even thinking about luggage.

And yes. do we have a recording of God's announcement...Me thinks not...I'm guessing that Jesus and his gay friends got a bit squiffy whilst play fighting in the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus’s main message was salvation. I am the light of the world. John 8:12.