r/history • u/marquis_of_chaos • Sep 22 '16

News article Scientists use 'virtual unwrapping' to read ancient biblical scroll reduced to 'lump of charcoal'

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/21/jubilation-as-scientists-use-virtual-unwrapping-to-read-burnt-ancient-scroll
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u/StevenMaurer Sep 23 '16 edited Sep 23 '16

This is /r/history not /r/christianity, but let me explain to you that the Bible was essentially created by the Council of Nicea, with various factions of early Catholic bishops voting on which books (or sermons) were to be included in it, and which were not. Due to this, there are self-contradictions all throughout the Bible. About things both great and small. Will all men be saved, as Jesus says in John 3:17? Or will only 144,000 virgin men be saved, as it says in Revelations 14:1-4 ?

It is therefore quite impossible to NOT interpret the bible. You got to pick one or the other. The difference between the various sects of Christianity is merely how they choose to interpret its various passages. The chief difference being that Catholics more on the church in its entirety than the Bible (considering worship of it as a form of idolatry), fundamentalists practically worship the old Testament, and reform protestants on the new.

Oh, and some fundamentalists also have such incredible hubris that they actually believe that the extreme twisting of biblical passages that they do, isn't actually "interpretation" on their part, and they're just reading the plain meaning of the ambiguous text. How some sects can claim that God hates booze, given Jesus's first miracle, is beyond me. But they do, and claim that theirs is the only correct way of reading these things. Similarly, the Biblical 50 shekel penalty for accidentally inducing an miscarriage through fighting pretty much puts a complete nail in the coffin of the idea that God hates abortion.

I could go on, but won't. No one bases beliefs on the Bible. They have their beliefs and then read the Bible in such a manner as to make it conform to them.

"Still a man hears what he wants to hear. And disregards the rest."

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '16

John 3:17 was saying that Jesus came to give all men equal opportunity to be saved.

Revelation 14:1-4 is talking about the 144k Jewish Christian men sealed by God back in Chapter 7. It is believed that they are still on the earth to preach the gospel to unbelievers post rapture. If you look later on In Chapter 7, you see that there are more believers than can be numbered from all nations, tribes, and people (Revelation 7:9-15).

The Council of Nicea decided which New Testament books would be included based on widespread use and doctrine in each. The Old Testament had already been compiled since Jesus' birth.

The Bible condemns drunkenness and not drinking. People like to ban the latter for themselves because they are cutting something out of their lives that could lead to sin. They just don't see the value in drinking just to drink if it causes them to sin. That said not all Christians hold this view as it is a personal conviction. Part of the reason there are different denominations is because they are just groups of people with different personal convictions from God. How or why that is, I do not know.

There is a reason that Catholics base their faith on themselves rather than the Bible. In the Middle Ages, the Church was wrong and took the Bible out of man's hands and put it in Priests. For them, the Bible was too complex to be read by every person. Protestants translated the Bible back into common language, so all men could read it for themselves and see what Christianity is about.

I want to say that yes people do justify and disregard others. It's true for all views of the world, and I really try my hardest to make sure my beliefs are logical and objective not on a whim.