No speculation please.  Only the bible may be used as a reference source.\n\nNo shouting, either thanks.  And, before you click "send", ask yourself, "am I SURE about this."  "does it ACTUALLY say that in the bible"?
122242
Given the terrain (Eden is placed more or less in Iraq by its description) the most likely candidate, if we're assuming the tree of knowledge of good and evil is a plant analogous to a modern extant species, would have been a date, fig or a pomegranate. :-)
422641
It's entirely possible. The bible (both OT and NT) borrow liberally from other religions and mythology.
262263
If everybody could approach the Bible as rationally as you do, then there would be no need to point out contradictions. But so many millions of people do take the Bible as the infallible word of God and to be interpreted completely literally. Using a flawed book as the sole code by which you live is dangerous, and Atheists feel obliged to point this outto them.
560166
Actually there is the book of enoch out there.  It's just an apocryphal book.  Enoch was a very famous prophet and is referred to many times within the New testament.  Matter of fact some verses in the N.T. are direct quotations from this book.\n\nPersonally I would LOVE to get my hands on a copy.  I have always considered it very interesting.  It also contains details of the virgin birth of Jesus p.b.u.h.\n\nUnfortunately it didn't make the final cut at the council of nicea.  It says some things that apparently don't agree with christianity.  However, ask yourself why the apostles would directly quote in their teaching if it was a false book??  Makes you think doesn't it.\n\nWell that's my two cents.  Have a good one.
204709
Joshua.  People like you crack me up.  Really!  You argue about biblical-specific entries and events as if they were factual and undeniable.  "written 4000 years ago"  On what?  Notebook paper?  Do you have some copies of those 4000 year old writings?  Do you have some secret text that nobody else has ever seen?  Are you on heroin or acid?  What's your trip?  None of the authors of the NT witnessed the alleged resurrection.  No matter how you stretch it, there are no actual accounts of it.  Most of the NT was created and written in 320AD under the direction of Constantine the Great, and its puirpose was NOT for historic accuracy.  Its purpose was to create a doctrine at the Council of Nicea that all factions of religious doctrine could agree upon and pull everyone together.  Why does it appear that there only a few people that post here regularly who actually know this?  Is your only source of "history" the Bible itself?  Are you crazy enough to use the Bible to prove the Bible?  Talk about illogic!\n\nThe original poster is correct -- if the notion of god portrayed in the bible is accurate, then there is no need for "free will" -- God already knows how things turn out.  He already knows who chooses free will and who doesn't choose free will, how they act, and who the sinners are and who goes to hell.  He already knows the choices people made in the past and what they'll make in the future.  He already knows how things will turn.  Already been there.  Outside of the time line?  Fine, state it however you wish.  It's still the same.  He's all knowing.  He knows how the "souls" will turn out. There's no need for a test on earth.\n\nThe question is not flawed at all.  Your assumption that the Bible is incontrovertible is flawed, and your statements of biblical myths as assertion are ridiculous.  It is one of hundreds of unprovable myths on this whole planet, full of fatal flaws, like the one this question raises.
255092
The bible should never be considered anything but a work of fiction.\nEdit: I'd also like to point something else out. A lot of people are making the statement that God threatening with the possibility of hell is like a parent warning a child against a blazing fire. For one, the act of burning a child, though perhaps practical, is very cruel and sadistic. Kind loving parents would take a more practical and less cruel approach: simply do all that is necessary to keep the child away from the fire. There are numerous other logical fallacies in this analogy, but I would hope that they are painfully obvious to anyone intelligent enough to consider religion critically.
419302
The Bible is very reliable and the message has not been changed with new translations.\n\nThere is contradictions in the Bible but I would like you to ask specific contradiction so we would be able to help ou to understand.\n\nThere is very big change that the Bible will not make any sense to you if you do not let Holy Spirit in your heart to guide you.\n\nThe Bible is written by men but inspired by God.Feel free to contact me personally....and if you ask specific contradiction questions here, you will get great answers.\n\nGod bless.
533763
I'm not gonna look it up but we do know the Bible was penned by men, translated by men and retranslated by men,  is it not a miracle that though all that the message with regards to how you should behave (which is the message) is never corupted.  God does not ever give us the idea that those who penned the Bible were infallible buyt that they were inspired.  This is no doubt a trivial mistake or different battles, or different view points like two people who see the same accident.  What does it matter.  The Bible talks of evil people so they no doubt exist and some of them were no doubt scribs.  I know of two other inconsequencial errors but as I watch movies who do not have even 1/10 th script and many more editing tools I always see mistakes in continuity like these you ask about, so what these things do is make it all the more real.\n\ntry reading a court trial transcript one time and see what kind of continuity you get in there,  and those trials do not take 10000 years worth of testimony.
318877
yes, that part is true.  The whole conspiracy thing is nonsense though.  The bible has been edited, translated and twisted many times.  There is still a huge debate between christians.  Some believe you should take the bible litteraly (i call these people retarded), others think it is symbolic.  I think it is all a bunch of crap either way you look at it.
660768
Yeah , maybe we should tell then to read something else, anything else.\n\n"How do I know, the Bible tells me so." It has nice stories and its ok to believe whatever you do. I wish people would be more open to finding out what is really true and what isn't. Would you believe every word of the "Weekly World News"? "The New York Times.?Nazis?\nAny one source?
335361
Sparky First let me say I appreciate the 10 pts. I don't know what I did to piss you off though. I told you to look up the work "Qumran" because it is one of the best documented archaeological finds in the world and I knew that there would be plenty of info online (which would be convenient for you). Would you rather me refer you to the dozens of books that I know of offhand or to an infinite # of archaeological reports that are incredibly boring to read? I studied Qumran under Jodi Magness at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and she is the foremost American Archaeologist in the world concerning the "holyland." In particular, she is definitely the foremost authority on Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  In case you don't know, archaeology is SCIENCE, not religion, and archaeological reports and finds are scientific and are not at all connected to the Church or any religion.  \n\nNothing in my answer to you dealt with religious dogma, I simply tried to answer your question as to why SOME Christians see a threat in the DaVinci code. Now, as for your claim that the bible was written 200 years after Christ, well that's true for some of the later NT books, but not of the Gospels. Some of the gnostic texts were much later than the gospels, which is part of the reason they were rejected by the church. \n\nAnd lastly, you claim that the bible has changed so many times that it's all crap. What do you have to support this? Go see the Dead Sea Scrolls some time, which were written between 2500-2000 yrs ago (as I visited a DSS exhibit about a month ago in Charlotte, NC). And then compare that to the KJV or the American Standard Bible.  The Old Testament found in the 1950s in the Caves near Qumran is nearly word for word with what we have today.  It is amazing that in 2000 or more years the Jewish text has changed so little!  This means that we should all reexamine the amount of credit we have granted the Jewish oral tradition that was so important to the early Christian Church.  IT IS ACCURATE, whether you want to admit it or not. SCIENCE and HISTORY support that.\n\nAgain, I answered your question rather well... Let me try one more time in FIVE SIMPLE SENTENCES that will be very easy for you to comprehend this time:\n\n1.  It wouldn't be so bad if Jesus was married.\n\n2.  Christians are NOT offended or threatened by the possibility that Jesus could have been married.\n\n3.  It's simply not historically true or believable, from the bible and from the writings of two Roman historians Tacitus and Josephus.\n\n4.  However, Some Christians ARE offended by the notion that Christ was not Divine; and the "The DaVinci Code" claims his having a child is proof that Jesus was NOT divine.\n\n5.  Such a claim can be damaging to the mission field because people like you believe anything and everything you read in a novel or see on TV and are therefore hostile toward Christianity.\n\nSo, that's why some Christians are offended by the DaVinci Code and by the notion that Christ might have been married to and had a child with Mary Magdalene.  Because of the hostility towards Christianity that such false belief creates.  People like you work directly against anyone trying to bring people to Christ.  \n\nPS.. the whole "MM was a whore" lost in translation thing.. do your history research man, you don't know what you are talking about at all.  You speak fiction and pass it off as truth. \n\nAnd you wonder why people would be offended?  maybe some people just like the truth?\n\nLet me ask you a question.  Why are you so offended by Christianity?  What are YOU afraid of?  The Truth?
320334
You answered your own question.  God would never contradict Himself, therefore, the book could not have come from Him.\n\nIt is a good rule to compare things said to be of God with the Bible.  If they don't agree 100% with the Bible, then they are not from God.
608275
In the grand scheme of things, those aren't important.\n\nThe Bible is a guide on how to live your life and how to walk according to God's wishes.  I'm not as good in my Bible as I should be so I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense.\n\nAnd I do believe they reference dinosaurs in Genesis vaguely - someting about monsters of the deep - during the flood story.
67220
I think the question becomes: "Is the creation story as written in the Old Testament to be taken literally or figuratively"?\n\nRemember, in the New Testament, Jesus often used parables to illustrate a point.  My opinion is that the writer of Genisis did the same thing and used a story to make the point that God created the universe.  I don't believe that it was intended to be an historical record.
504932
In Protestant (liberal) theology there are several "middle grounds."  There is the notion that the Bible "contains God's word" and also that is can "become God's words."  These are of course nuanced meanings of how Scripture communicates God's message through a supposedly imperfect text.
463796
haha, maybe that bible has some DIRECTION as to where to find downloads. \n\nOh wait, downloads aren't in the bible so they must not EXIST!
549657
The best way you can find out what the bible says in "real terms" is to read it in Hebrew. That is the original language  it was written in. I find it useful when reading to have The Exhaustive concorance of the Bible near by.