Why isn't the Bible clear?

[Eric]

The reason there are so many Christian sects, so many different "interpretations" of what the Bible "really" means - and thus, what it means to be a Christian - is that the Bible can say whatever anyone who "interprets" it says it means. It is not so much a book as a compilation of the selected writings of several authors, re-written and re-translated countless times over two millennia. This its genius as well as its curse. Genius, because it can be used to justify virtually anything via "interpretation." It is thus attractive to demagogues as well as ideal for enforcing the authority of the clergy - the people who "know" the "word."

But it is a curse too in that its unclear language and obvious human authorship (and editorship) make it not credible as "the" word of god, which it clearly is not.

And yet, countless millions virulently believe it is just that - often, literally. Every word, even though those words are not the original words and no one really knows what exactly Jesus actually said since his words were not written down during his lifetime, let alone recorded in such a way as to verify their authenticity.

How anyone isn't skeptical of the Bible is absolutely beyond me. That anyone takes it as literally true is absolutely astonishing.

[dBrong]

I have a friend from Morocco, who is muslim, and has a PhD in English from the U of Essex in the UK. He did his dissertation on ancient philosphy.

He's a good guy, and likes to think. I asked him this very question.

His response was the best I've heard yet: In a nutshell, a long time ago there were no books with stories, except about Thor and other imaginary stuff. The Bible caught on because it had somewhat a plot, and represented everyday events.

To reienforce this theory, I have read (quite a while ago) translations of Greek Theorems when I did work for NASA. They were extremely stilted. After reading the entire work, I was prepared to read them again and get a better understanding.

Even in the early 1900's many engineering, cookbooks, experiments, are documented very poorly.

So it seems reasonable to me that the Bible is confusing.

I have to go now... God is speaking to me through my dog Fido. Gotta find some young.... never mind.

[Eric]

I have a friend from Morocco, who is muslim, and has a PhD in English from the U of Essex in the UK. He did his dissertation on ancient philosphy.

He's a good guy, and likes to think. I asked him this very question.

His response was the best I've heard yet: In a nutshell, a long time ago there were no books with stories, except about Thor and other imaginary stuff. The Bible caught on because it had somewhat a plot, and represented everyday events.

To reienforce this theory, I have read (quite a while ago) translations of Greek Theorems when I did work for NASA. They were extremely stilted. After reading the entire work, I was prepared to read them again and get a better understanding.

Even in the early 1900's many engineering, cookbooks, experiments, are documented very poorly.

So it seems reasonable to me that the Bible is confusing.

I have to go now... God is speaking to me through my dog Fido. Gotta find some young.... never mind.

That is a very insightful answer!

There are, though, older epic tales - Gilgamesh, for instance. The Christian Bible is much newer...

Still, for whatever reason, the Bible maintains a hold on the Masses that I find incomprehensible.

Maybe it's because I am in the clutches of Satan?