What do you find the purpose of the bible to be?

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

The story of the Adamic Peoples.

 

The purpose of the new testament seems to evangelize/spread the word about Jesus.

 

Part of polish culture

 

i've been told it makes good rolling paper.

 

It's like a pocket knife - different people use it for different things.
Example:
"Hey, let's put together a collection of stories. Stories that have promises of paradise after death (to get people's interest); stories of death and punishment (to keep them from wanting to become uninterested); stories that justify certain things at certain times, yet condemn them under different circumstances (so we can be excused for doing things that bring us pleasure, that we don't want others to do because it might take away from our pleasure); stories of misogyny, pillaging, homophoboa, etc... (so we can abuse, exploit, condemn, etc..) ; and words of forgiveness (so we can tell people we are sorry and won't do it all again - also so some don't give up and follow another religion because they are already doomed for a mistake.

Enough rambling. Does anyone have a bible? I need to get the barbecue pit lit.

 

I had read the bible when I was 16, and I was quite fascinated by Jesus's sweetness and character though I could make no coherent sense out of the bible or Christianity.

Later on,decades later as I made a deep study of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sufism , Taoism and other traditions, I surprisingly found that when I read the bible this time around, I could make a lot of sense out of it.

So I would say that Jesus/Yeshua and the bible can be a source of wisdom and insights for those who are entrenched in the eastern philosophical teachings, as in seeing the same teachings from a different angle or perspective, which can help in better spiritual understanding.

I personally view Jesus as an enlightened master who possibly created a synthesis of Judaism and HIndu-Buddhist-Jain teachings.

Just as the Ebionites insisted strictly on a vegetarian diet, the early Christian gnostic sects as well as Origen also taught about the concept of reincarnation.

It is quite possible that reincarnation as a teaching was there in the early christian scriptures which were edited out by the romans in the councils of Nicea and Constantinople as it conflicted with their own ideas and sensibilities about spirituality. St. Jerome had criticized Origen's views on reincarnation in his writings.

It has been speculated by many that Jesus spent many years in the east which would account for the absence of his youthful years in the bible from the time he spend arguing as a 12 year old child with the rabbis, to the time he began his ministry at age 30.

He could have easily hitched a ride among the numerous merchant wagons going and returning across the ancient Silk Route which connected Israel and India and arrived at the other side in a few months, offering his services as a carpenter. Just like the many western spiritual seekers at present like Barry Long, Dr. Jean Klein, Mooji, Gangaji, Madhukar, Gilbert Schultz, Sailor Bob Adamson who came to Asia seeking wisdom and enlightenment and became spiritual masters in their own right.

The Ahmediya sect of Islam, which is noted for its emphasis on scholarship and denunciation of violent Jihad, also holds as one of its fundamental beliefs that Jesus had lived in India.

As stated earlier, the christian scriptures can be incoherent for someone who is venturing into spirituality for the first time, but can be a useful tool for those who are well entrenched in the dharmic traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism as well as Taoism and Sufism, to view the same teachings from a different perspective, which can strengthen understanding.

The tampering and editing of the christian scriptures by the romans to suit their ideas and sensibilities of spirituality and obedience to the roman state, when they finally adopted Christianity after centuries of brutal persecution of christians, could be the reason for the incoherence of Christian scriptures as viewed at present.

 

^
Imagine the importance of 20th century finds like at Nag Hammadi!

 

There are many versions . The Septuigent or Greek version being my choice. A Christian being one who believes in Jesus the Christ. This broad define leaves the door open to many sects.

 

Maybe it's just a big old wind-up, the writers of the bible just never foresaw that so many people would take what they wrote so darn seriously!

 

It is serious. So serious that from the edomite to modern day opposition ; the war on Christianity rages on.

 

This is such an interesting perspective. Good post, I enjoyed reading it

 

You do realize I pointed this out because its originally a foreign influence, right?

 

The purpose of the Bible in my opinion was to create Fairy Tales for gullible (no offence meant to anyone meant) people to believe all the far fetched Christianity stories in it, and believe in God and his Son Jesus.

Following on from that they can be controlled.

I could spend days taking the hiss out of all the supposed events told in The Bible, but I have a life to lead thank you very much.

There are all the below religions from all around the world who no doubt have their little Fairy Tale books so as to keep the subservient population in check, and carry out atrocities in the name of that particular religion:

According to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions in the world. The word religion is sometimes used interchangeably with "faith" or "belief system", but religion differs from private belief in that it has a public aspect.

What are the 12 major religions?

There are twelve classical world religions—those religions most often included in history of world religion surveys and studied in world religions classes: Baha'i, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Shinto, Sikhism, Taoism, and Zoroastrianism
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As far as I am concerned The Bible and all religion is a curse and along with Land, has been the major force for War and evil in the world.
I rest my case.

PS.
Parua.
Good post there by you.
I agree with every word.

 

At least half of the bible is older than christianity

 

it was good for shit - i mean telling people without running water to wipe their asses with their unused hand. woe to you if you were left handed

 

Quite a bit more than that, really. The Christian Testament is relatively short compared to the Hebrew.

 

it is the same as the book of any religion mostly.
and yes they are used as excuses for people to tell each other to hate logic.

it gives people the excuse to tell each other two major lies, first is to deny that goodness and the desire to be feared, are exact, absolute, binary opposites,
and second, that everything else that exists is a stage for the machinations of humans and that the human species is the center and reason for its existence.

both of which, are far more likely for humans to have pulled out of their own ass, then to be the will of any god.

yes christ, moses, abraham and noah, and many others before, and several since, may have been chosen by a god to channel its message and will,
but christianity threw its christ under the bus in all but name, when the second mycean council cannonized saul of tarsus,
who may very well have been their own anit-christ.

and thus it is just as 'satanic' as the verses of any other religious belief.

human suffering is not caused by invisible people living under the ground, nor any other unseen thing, unless in the sense that a statistical concensus is an unseen thing,
it is causes by human hatred of logic, consideration, honesty and imagination. by the statistical consensus of the result of priorities, motivated by those perspectives.

and while a god may be able to forgive, anything, such forgiveness does not reverse the harm, the reaping, of what has been sowed.

 

That's why I said at least

 

To control people..