What Parts of the Bible are Truthful?

In another post, Christiandom has come under blanket attack, because it’s clear our premises for belief are heterogeneous. I’d like to have a topical discussion about this, because blanket statements and incompatible cross-talk don’t do any good.

Christianity’s crucial (pun…intended ;) work is The Bible, so I would like limit our discussion to just the book. Christiandom is too far varied, nuanced, and dynamic a topic for discussion, so I’d like to stick to what’s written, because it makes for more civil discourse.

I don’t wish for my own views to speak for the tenor of this site, so please read these assertions as if you were entering into an open discussion. I’m not going to cite each assertion. Simply comment or start Googling, if you wish to know why I might believe such heresies. I may very well change my opinion, if better evidence is brought to bear.

My view of The Bible:

Authenticity

  1. The Bible is a collection of different books, written by different authors, each having different theologies.
  2. The Bible does represent what the fourth century church found appropriate for belief; however, it does not represent a cohesive work and should not be thought of as simply The Bible when considering a moral topic addressed within its pages — even though I do this a lot, it is still wrong of me.
  3. Certain parts of the Bible may be regarded as historically sound inasmuch as any antique work is historically sound where they are impartial and/or aligned with contemporary sources.
  4. The Bible contains contradictory statements. Acknowledgement of this fact (unfortunately) brings me to opposition to not all but most American Christian beliefs.
  5. I personally regard most of the Bible as having been tampered with. Because the extent of tampering is unknown, it is best to treat most of the New Testament as good advice from some dude, but not as authentic, divine, or inerrant, any more than the sayings of Confucius or Emperor Aurelius. No, Bart Ehrman is not my only influence on this topic.
  6. In The New Testament, many pivotal books are composites of multiple and erratic sources. This wiki article is a good primer to why I would believe this — as with any wiki article, please research for yourself.

Prophesy

  1. Biblical prophesies clearly refer to events contemporary to authorship to make a contemporary impact.

Theology and Metaphysics

  1. Simply because a person calls himself a Christian, doesn’t mean he is to be held personally responsible for any crusade, inquisition, genocide, or Sarah Palin.
  2. The nature of God changes with each author of each book of The Bible.
  3. Many superstitious beliefs and practices were popularized orally and literally through external works. What talk of Heaven, Hell, angels, etc. there is in the Bible is about as good fiction as what J.R.R.Tolkien or C.S.Lewis would write; therefore, I’m into it, in the way I’m into Tolkien. There may indeed be seraphim, cherubim, arc-angels, powers, principalities, and darkness out there, but it’s not likely.
  4. Miracles still happen, even though I can’t figure out why.
  5. The theology of Christianity is incompatible with the theology of Moses, Samuel, or Elijah.
  6. Jesus considered The Son of Man to be someone other than himself.
  7. Jesus never expected to die for his religious leadership.
  8. The oldest codified copy Mark does not include human witness of Jesus’ resurrection. Worth reading for yourself.

Morality

  1. Mosaic law was likely borrowed from the Egyptians and is barbaric in a modern context; however, taken contemporaneously, Mosaic law was advanced and reasonable for the survival and advancement of a nomadic tribe.
  2. The morality of Christianity is incompatible with the morality of Moses, Joshua, or David.
  3. In the first century, the teachings of Jesus and Paul, and therefore Christianity, were radically feminist — yes, this is a good thing.
  4. In the first century, the teachings of Christianity were radically pacifist — also a good thing, unless you’re Roman, and you conquer the known world, because you’re a badass from a badass military culture.

I sincerely hope this does not offend anyone. If one of the above beliefs disagrees with your own beliefs, I want to know why you believe what you do, because it is important to me to know the truth about one of the most pivotal books in American culture.