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

It's just the retelling of several myths going around the region at the time such a great flood or man born to a virgin since he is of god. The book is an attempt to make them all fit with the new cult sweeping the region in Christianity.

Most of what Jesus actuly said had been lost in translation and politics. Most people can not read or write so it's an oral tradition only.

 

The New Testament is widely considered the most modern religious text of the world's most popular religions, which along with it compatibility with capitalism, may account for the popularity of Christianity. Formal logic and the modern sciences were first organized around the same time the New Testament was written, and integrated into the text. The popularity of both Christianity and Islam can very well be attributed to them both incorporating formal western logic now used in all the sciences, and having both been adapted to the sciences significantly. Modern day Christianity is so far removed from the original it might as well be another animal altogether, while Christians burned William Henley at the stake for daring to make his Bible more beautiful and translating it into English.

The purpose of the text is supporting the modern military industrial complex, while providing an alternative way to organize should it become overwhelmingly corrupt. Religions traditionally serve the purpose of providing a way for the peasants to organize and barter with the wealthy establishment for support during times of need, such as drought and famine. Islam is better for such things, explaining why it is more popular in the third world.

 

It seemed to inspire the printing press. So big props to Jesus on that one.

 

Marten Luther King you mean!

 

To stand on so that I am tall enough to kiss the girl under the mistletoe now that they have stopped printing the Yellow Pages.

 

Religious fundamentalists and evangelicals say that its purpose is to reveal God and His Plan to us. Four-fifths of Americans think it's the inspired word of God. Others think the Bible has almost as many purposes as it has authors. It was written at different times, over many centuries, by different people with different agendas, to different audiences, redacted at least twice, and selected and compiled into canons. I think it's the inspired words of people seeking God--inspired at least in the minimal sense that the authors were mentally stimulated to produce creative ideas that they thought were coming from God.

Hebrew Bible (Tanakh); "Old Testament":
Purpose of Torah (Law), together with the Book of Joshua: to cement a common identity among the Israelites, grounded in their covenant with God, and to make clear that this is contingent on worship of Him and keeping His commandments. At a more speculative level, we might follow the documentary hypothesis in distinguishing the purposes of the various authors or schools of scribes that the redactors wove together: J, to present biblical history from a Judean perspective; E, to present biblical history from the perspective of the northern kingdom; D, to advance a theocratic message stressing faithfulness to Yahweh and His covenant and avoidance of foreign influence, and P, concerned with priestly matters, ritual and keeping Israel pure and holy.
Purpose of Nev'im (Prophets}: to show God as concerned with social justice, to challenge the domination system, and to warn against the wrath of Yahweh for those who abandon Him for other gods or turn their backs on the poor, widows and orphans.
Purpose of Ketuvim (the Writings): to convey wise teachings about divinity and virtue.

New Testament
Purpose of Paul's Letters: to defend his position as apostle to the Gentiles; to provide words of encouragement, advice, and correction to various Christian churches; and to espouse his trademark message of justification by faith alone.
Purpose of Peter's, Jude's and John's Letters: to exhort Christians to persevere in the face of external persecution and internal false teachers.
Purpose of Letter to Hebrews: to reaffirm to a Jewish audience that Jesus is the Messiah and that His "new covenant" is superior to the old Mosaic one.
Purpose of Mark's Gospel: to provide a lively account of the Jesus' ministry, crucifixion and resurrection following His baptism, organized around the metaphor of the "Suffering Servant:" of Isaiah.
Purpose of Matthew's Gospel: to present evidence to a Jewish audience that Jesus is the Messiah predicted by prophecy and to provide an account of His birth, ministry, crucifixion and resurrection using the metaphors of the new Adam and the new Moses.
Purpose of Luke's Gospel: to present an account of the birth, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus to a Gentile audience, emphasizing the universality of His message and concern for women, the poor and society's rejects.
Purpose of John's Gospel: to show that Jesus is the incarnated Logos who came to earth do die for our sins--and that God is Love.
Purpose of Acts: to provide a sympathetic history of the early church after the death and resurrection of Jesus, stressing continuity with His ministry and animation by the Holy Spirit;
Purpose of Revelation: to encourage perseverance of Christians in the face of persecution by contrasting the world as it is (a domination system ruled by Satan and his minions) with the world as it will be after Jesus and His Heavenly hosts return to overthow the evil order.

At least that's how I see it.

 

there is no GOD you all been conned...But if there was would he want bunch of ass kissers who get on knees pray and beg him for shit?? worship him lest one day a week?? come on it s all bunch of BS drilled into ya head from day ya born till day ya die

 

If I held your idea of what religion is all about, I might agree with you. " But you don't have to believe in God to recognize the importance of the Bible and appreciate its value.

 

Bible is interesting.. specialy way so many people can take part of it to mean so many diff. things...

 

The Bible is sharper than a 2 edge sword

 

Is that good or bad, or both?

 

Generalizations here but from my outsider perspective, I think the BIble's purposes are/were:

1. A source to attempt to provide structure in religious/moral/verging on philosophical beliefs and ideas for people living a couple thousand years ago
2. A source to garner control over people
3. Provide a convenience for existential questions

 

My lawyers advise me to plead the fifth amendment, due to a copyright dispute.

 

Further questions:

1. Is the Bible the Word of God? I think of the Bible as the words of men seeking God, and as such sometimes a source of human folly as well as wisdom. If God"wrote the Bible" or gave dictation, why didn't (S)he simply write it in our hearts and minds, or present the book to us as a finished work instead of dragging it out piecemeal over centuries?

2. Is the Bible the only source of spiritual knowledge? I think scripture is one source of knowledge, but reason and experience are others. (As a Methodist, I should add the fourth element of Wesley's "quadrilateral', tradition, but I hesitate, because it can tie us unduly to the folly of groupthink-- as in the current resistance of the Church toward ordaining or marrying LGBTQs).

3. Should the Bible be taken literally? I agree with theologian Marcus Borg that "the Bible should be taken seriously, but not literally." It's a collection of metaphors, allegories, and fables, together with quasi-historical material suitable for the periods in which it was written. It's about morality and meaning, not a science treatise.

4. Do the scriptures of other religions have anything to offer? Houston Smith thought so: "“If we take the world’s enduring religions at their best, we discover the distilled wisdom of the human race. ” I'd have to qualify that considerably. At their worst, they've contributed to some of the worst atrocities in history, and for distilled wisdom we'd probably also want to include the world's philosophies and sciences, particularly in the twenty-first century. Yet the world religions have been vehicles for extending reciprocal altruism and empathy to strangers. All or most of them have some form of the golden rule, encourage subordinating self interest to benefit of others, and provide a sense of place in the universe. And as Smith says, religion is not primarily a matter of facts; it is a matter of meanings." ( World Religions, 1961, p. 10) By setting forth the rationale for the various faiths in writing, scriptures allow us to compare and learn from each of them, and gain perspective on our own beliefs. Although I'm a Christian, I've found that study of other religions and atheism gives me a deeper understanding of my Christian faith.

 

The bible keeps humans in fear over the unknown and allows us to conform to our submissive DNA traits. Religion has always been a tool for our makers to use against us, so it shrouds our minds over our origins and keeps us in fear so we do not rebel against the origins we have forgotten about.

 

"Conform our submissive DNA traits"? What does that mean? Evolutionary biologist E.O. Wilson thinks that somewhere in the process of human evolution we developed specialized mental modules for our selfish impulses and the social ones necessary for the species' survival. Is that what you mean? I'd agree. Religion and the Bible help in promoting the social ones: controlling anti-social impulses and promoting altruistic ones. "Our makers"? Who are you talking about? The Bible is multi-functional, and can be put to good ends as well as bad. The good would include charities and hospitals. The bad would include witch hunts and crusades. It gives televangelists and politicians something to thump, but also has inspired saintly types to work for human betterment.

 

She means that our makers were extraterrestrial aliens, not God(s). And that the Bible is supposed to keep us in check or in the dark about the truth of our origin (slave species for said 'gods'). Which is interesting, because there's a huge time gap between the bible and the supposed forging of our species. So if its real purpose is as Irms hints at.... who of the writers and/or compilers knew of that purpose and how.
Nobody? It's subliminal.. or ingrained in our subconsciousness (or dna itself)? Seems like the statement that it is indirectly (the) Gods word holds indeed some merit then Just a very misleading word.
That or GBs given purposes are more accurate. Which could still mean we're a slave species forged by aliens It's just not the bible's main or initial purpose to cover that up.

 

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I see. That never would have occurred to me. Thanks for clearing that up. Is that Scientology, Raelians, or are we talking Sitchim's Anunnaki from planet Nibiru here? I think weird hair guy on the history channel gets into this, but I never watch it. Who made the aliens?