Why is it that Christians think the Bible is truth but that other cultures creation stories are Myths?
409245
I recommend that you look into the folklore literature which will demonstrate how similar the bible and its themes are to other mythologies. Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung are excellent authors to start with. Christians basically believe what every other faith believes. Their way is the only TRUE path to God. In my opinion (as a Christian) that's incredibly narrow-minded. If you've read the Chronicles of Narnia (and if you haven't you should) the last chapter of book 7 "The last Battle" has a scene where Aslan (Christ) allows a young man who was a follower of Tash (another god/demon) into the real Narnia (Heaven) because his actions were congruent with the Aslan's teachings even though the young man didn't realize it. Basically I believe that those who are following Christ's spirit or philosophy even if they're not doing so in name have as much if not more truth than most christians.
1140689
That is a very intelligent rant there. Good for you. And, thank you for being the christian you are.\n\nNow, for all the laughable responses you got.\nThe bible is not historically accurate. It has been PROVEN many biblical stories were in fact translations of ancient roman, african, and greek stories. NOT the word of god. Also, nothing in the bible is able to be verified. Therefore it cannot be classified as anything but Fiction.\n\nAs for God having the power to make sure his words were conveyed correctly. That is also highly incorrect. It has been discovered much of the bible was not even close to interpreted correctly from it's original form. It has many completely made up parts and was written by christians with alterior motives and an agenda.
2300
The Bible is a record of a specific group of people and their beliefs.  It does not mention the Chinese, but we do know that they existed at the same time as the ancient Hebrews.  If we look at the creation story in the eyes of the people that recorded it, we will find that in different sources, there are different, shall we say, interpretations of the story.  We know, because Christ said such, that he taught only in parables.  As the Son of God, we must accept that, as deity, he would not change.  He clearly states that he was the God of the Old Testament. Since he is unchangable, he must have taught by parable.  Until one accepts that much of the Old Testament contains many accounts that are symbolic in their meaning, such as the Book of Job, we must either see them as irrational explanations of the world (myths)or fairy tales.  Since many of us reject these explanations, we must decide that there is a rational reason for the way the things are told.  When we see the symbolic, hidden meanings within the story, then understanding and personal revelation, through prayer and deep contemplation can reach us.\nWhen we look at the story of Genesis, we are not looking at a detailed description of the entire act of creation, merely a summary as explained to Moses.  However, the chronology of the events do, in fact, reflect the modern scientific explanation in a simple and to an ancient inhabitant, understandable manner of the creation of the earth.\nThere are millions of animals, plants, and other things that are not mentioned in Genesis, but that does not mean that they did not exist.  But it does show that the planet had to be created before life could be.  Plant life proceeds animal life , which proceeds human existence.  In this, there is no disagreement with science.\nAnother thing we must accept, when we carefully study the Bible is that much of it has been altered, lost or mistranslated.  this can lead to serious misunderstandings.
375977
Don't you have that backwards? I've met many people who believe every word in the bible even if you can prove that it is a miss translation, or against known facts. The bible can be used to "prove" anything you like if you take it out of context and add your own spin.
885962
Christians use the creation story from the Jewish Bible -- Genesis.  The main difference is that Jews do not believe in "original sin."  We believe that all humans are created as a blank slate -- we become good/evil according to our choices and actions.\n.
305049
Catholics believe that the bible teaches truth about God but is not necessarily historically accurate.
958533
True, if you think about it, 2000 years or so ago, there were no scientists to prove or disprove anything, so it became a moralistic way of life that got way out of control (forming of religions). The bible is a conglomeration of stories that were told after the fact, which means that they were highly embellished (if they happened at all).
1082446
The bible is 99% pure, however there still exist copyist errors which you most definitely have pointed out.  The first is a numbering copyist error and the second, one of the daughters is actually Merab.  However the christian faith does not rest on tiny pieces of data like these examples.  All of the questionable material of the bible has absolutely no impact on the doctrine of Christianity--they are all very minute details such as the ones you have pointed out.  The other 'supposed' contradictions out there commit several logical fallacies such as quoting out of context and juxtaposition, and do not look at hebrew or greek colloquialisms
809124
Well done for starting to think like a human.\n\nIt is pretty obvious that the bible is not true. It is a packaged product designed to create a religious truth with which to bind (and blind) people. \n\nBind in that you believe in 'God' and you have to take the bible wholesale (imperfections, contradications and everything). Blind int hat you have to ignore the real evidence of history in order to 'believe' and be saved.\n\nArcheologists do not tend to use the bible as source material because so much of it is false. There is no historical reference to Jesus outside of a few books in the bible. \n\nIn the ancient world myths were not seen as untrue in quite the way we see them today. Myths were a way of spreading a spritual idea or 'truth' through the telling of an allegorical tale that could work on many levels. \n\nThe Egyptians, for example, were prodigious record keepers. We have found written accounts for the tiniest minutea of their daily lives, and records for nobles and royal families stretching back many thousands of years. We even know the names of those kings that that they tried to have 'erased' from history. \nYet nowhere in any of these records is a high nobleman called 'Moses' recorded. And there is no mention anywhere of the Jews being held captive in Egypt, or of thousands of Jewish 'slaves' suddenly up and leaving via the red sea. \n\nRead the bible, by all means. But do not take it literally!
275460
The bible is a book of stories passed down thro generations. Don't take it seriously
1033550
The entire bible?  No.  In fact, there is proof that parts of the bible are inaccurate (like Genesis), and there is proof that parts of the bible really happened (we know many hisotrical leaders and occurances actually happened).\n\n- We've found Herod's palace, and it implies he was as carefree as the bible portrays him as.  One point for bible\n\n- We've found egyptian records that range from acheivements to embarassments.  They were quite meticulous at their historical records...yet no mention of Moses, losing their slaves, losing their first borns, plagues, etc.  One point against.\n\n- We've found evidence of a mass flood, one point for\n\n- It would be impossible for all species alive today to fit on the boat, not to mention carry enough food, deal with waste, etc.  One point against.\n\nSo you see, the bible is much like Greek or Egyptian mythology.  It is what was thought to have been known at the time...some of it was correct, some based on false rumor.
973575
It's very simple, they didn't believe in them, nor know about them.\n\nThe beginning of "Christianity" in the Torah, aka Old testament, was just 6,000 years old.\n\nWay after the dinosaurs were extinct.\n\nThe reason why they don't mention a lot of animals like the kangaroo, toucan and so on; is that the "Religion" was a localized one to the Middle East, around present day Israel and mentioned events that happened there.\n\nThe Great Flood was perhaps a localized event that happened due to glacial melting and the shift of the earths axis.\n\nMost things in the Torah would be full of inaccuracies.\n\nI think you shouldn't take things literally, like the 7 days story; because it's evident that there was no one around to make that "Testament".\n\nChristianity is, really, more based upon the Charisma of Christ. It's greatness lies in the fact that Christ taught us to seek the Truth and not be blinded by lies.
1054219
We're made in the spiritual image of God, but that doesn't mean we ARE God; we make mistakes.  The Bible does have some internal inconsistancies, but it's also about 4000 years old.  You can't expect a story to be reproduced perfectly all throughout that time.  And I don't think it really matters anyway, since the creation story is more meant to be a parable than a factual history.  The message is more important than the individual details.
1018526
I believe in God just not the bible, how dare anyone claim to know what God thinks, I have more respect for God, there are hundreds of archaeological finds proving that the bible that exists was put into place by church hierarchy that had ulterior motives for including and not including what THEY wanted in the bible, only someone who had ALL the original texts and could read them in the original language that they were written in would have a good understanding of what the ancient religious leaders had in mind, and who's to say they were God inspired, insane asylums are full of people who hear God
328966
O.k. before I begin I'm also Christian, but not your average Christian due to the fact I believe in all religions.\n\nFirst Off I'm not exactly saying the Bible is a full of lies, I' just telling you my opinion on it (listen carefully)\n\nAfterwards I will answer your question about the virgin Mary.\n\nFirst off the Bible was written by man, not God. Man is not perfect.  Some of the things might be a little bit different then it actually was.  I mean think about it when the apostles were stranded on the boat and Jesus walked on water towards them who was writting down everything that was happening? No, it had to be written down later.\nCan you recall everything perfectly that happened to you yesturday, can you recite word for word what somebody told you?\n\nThis is the true reason why the Bible contradicts itself.  Because man wrote it.  Here is another intristing fact; Some kings in ancient times thought the Bible was boring, so they had someone spice it up a bit.  According to research it has been corrected, but with all these things how can anybody say it's 100% fact.  It even contradicts itself, Eye for an eye; if someone slaps your left cheeck.\n\nThe truth about the Bible is that it is based on truth, but it itself is nothing more then a tall tale. Kinda of like Santa Clause. There actually was a Saint Nick. He gave toys to girls and boys, but the stories have been altered and created a Santa Clause.  There is truth in there, but there are also embelishments, and so forth.  The Bible should be red for it's message, not the stories.  I mean think about it; which apostle was there when the soldiers were whipping Jesus, saying all kinds of nasty things.  Yes, it probably did happen, but it could not have been written down like it was in the Bible unless the person writting it was right there writting things down word for word.\n\nWith all these things combined the Bible is not exactly right, but if you were to talk about your days living with your parents you could easily discribe what happened, even though it might not exactly be 100%.  The message will live on, even though the stories might not be 100% accuarate.\n\nNow as for why some people might say Mary was no Virgin.  The truth is they use to say Jesus never exsisted, but now science and history has confirmed his exsistance. No they have not confirmed he is the Son of God or a lot of the other miricles, but they have confirmed his exsistance. So the people who don't want to believe in him need to find another way to doubt him.  They have chosen that Mary was not a Virgin.  This will be extremely difficult for anybody to prove or disprove don't you think?
174179
They believe what they are told; also the stories have a creative way of teaching how, as humans, we should co-exist and the consequences if we don't. Why do you think the islamic world is in an uproar over a few silly cartoons? They are brainwashed into blindly accepting what others say is right or wrong, instead of learning to create, to explore and even to question what others believe and why.   The simple truth is that the vast majority are just too lazy to analyze what's right and wrong; when the easy answer is - that if you accept the bible as the word of god, then you only have to read it, live it and profess that I do it because the bible tells me so.
943241
True Christians must believe that the whole Bible, the full gospel, is the inerrant, unchanging and eternal word of God.  Christians reject certain miracles in the Bible because they lack the faith to believe those miracles.  If God has created the heavens and the earth and everything in it what are the problems with those little miracles?  Christians must be consistent and full of faith..