quote:I think that even for a "non-churchy" person, the Bible can still be thought of as a fascinating read. The oldest book in the Bible is understood to be about 4000 years old, with the new testament starting obviously just after the time of Jesus. What an incredible glimpse in the past that is!!! 4000 years!!! Sure, some of the genealogies and stuff can bog you down, but while recently going through the OT, it's amazing the number of references to kings that you can now Google: Hezekiah, Solomon, Xerxes, Artaxerxes, Ahab, etc. There are artifacts of these people found, so it becomes pretty clear that the Bible is a historical reference as much as it is a spiritual reference.
Originally posted by EdistodanielThese talks are actually interesting to read from a non-churchy person. GC and i disagree on about 90% of things, but I have to respect his scholarly knowledge of the Bible.
I think what is also fascinating is how Islam ties in. The Bible (which was completed about 500 years before Mohammed lived - and the Koran was written) speaks about false prophets, and those people who would pervert the contents of the Bible for their own gain. Then comes a new “religion” some 500 years later that borrows a LOT of the Old Testament (and twists it) oh, and was basically dictated by ONE mortal person. I didn’t even realize until a few months ago that Islam actually teaches that Jesus is a prophet. That’s right. Even Muslims believe that Jesus was real and acknowledge that he performed miracles. But their message is that he was NOT the son of God. They even went to the point of building a mosque on top of the ruins of the original Temple of God in Jerusalem (“Dome of the Rock”) with the inscription that basically denies Jesus as the Son of God. Of all the inscriptions they could have written, why wa