• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Is the Bible still useful today?

Vee

Vee

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
The Bible is very old, and some of the things mentioned in this book are hard to relate to today. I confess that the passages about animal sacrifices in the Old Testament are not my favorite kind of literature.
But is the Bible completely outdated or can we still find good advice even today?

If we look closely, I believe so. Here are a few examples:

“He that is walking with wise persons will become wise, but he that is having dealings with the stupid ones will fare badly.” – Proverbs 13:20

“The naive person believes every word, but the shrewd one ponders each step. The wise one is cautious and turns away from evil, but the stupid one is reckless and overconfident.” – Proverbs 14: 15,16

“Do not be quick to take offense, for the taking of offense lodges in the bosom of fools.” Ecclesiastes 7:9

“These things I command you, that you love one another.” – John 15:17

“Let your love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is wicked; cling to what is good.” - Romans 12:9

“Return evil for evil to no one. Take into consideration what is fine from the viewpoint of all men. If possible, as far as it depends on you, be peaceable with all men.” - Romans 12: 17,18

“Clothe yourselves with the tender affections of compassion, kindness, lowliness of mind, mildness, and long-suffering. Continue putting up with one another and forgiving one another freely.” – Colossians 3:12,13

“Let a rotten word not come out of your mouth, but only what is good for building up as the need may be, to impart what is beneficial to the hearers.” - Ephesians 4:29

And my very favorite, the golden rule “All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must do to them” – Matthew 7:12

Of course one could say that this is all common sense. True, in an ideal world these things should come automatically to people, let's say they should be written into people's hearts. But this is not an ideal world and common sense is hard to find, so I'm glad for the reminders I find in the Bible. It motivates me to make an effort to be a better person.
 
Twilight Hue

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Vee said:
The Bible is very old, and some of the things mentioned in this book are hard to relate to today. I confess that the passages about animal sacrifices in the Old Testament are not my favorite kind of literature.
But is the Bible completely outdated or can we still find good advice even today?

If we look closely, I believe so. Here are a few examples:

“He that is walking with wise persons will become wise, but he that is having dealings with the stupid ones will fare badly.” – Proverbs 13:20

“The naive person believes every word, but the shrewd one ponders each step. The wise one is cautious and turns away from evil, but the stupid one is reckless and overconfident.” – Proverbs 14: 15,16

“Do not be quick to take offense, for the taking of offense lodges in the bosom of fools.” Ecclesiastes 7:9

“These things I command you, that you love one another.” – John 15:17

“Let your love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is wicked; cling to what is good.” - Romans 12:9

“Return evil for evil to no one. Take into consideration what is fine from the viewpoint of all men. If possible, as far as it depends on you, be peaceable with all men.” - Romans 12: 17,18

“Clothe yourselves with the tender affections of compassion, kindness, lowliness of mind, mildness, and long-suffering. Continue putting up with one another and forgiving one another freely.” – Colossians 3:12,13

“Let a rotten word not come out of your mouth, but only what is good for building up as the need may be, to impart what is beneficial to the hearers.” - Ephesians 4:29

And my very favorite, the golden rule “All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must do to them” – Matthew 7:12

Of course one could say that this is all common sense. True, in an ideal world these things should come automatically to people, let's say they should be written into people's hearts. But this is not an ideal world and common sense is hard to find, so I'm glad for the reminders I find in the Bible. It motivates me to make an effort to be a better person.
Click to expand...


It's useful as a historical literary work of fiction, and offers an interesting glimpse back in time at Jewish and Christian mythology of the day.

As a book that applies today, it's well past its expiration date, which some exception made to some common sage advice and poetic flavor that survived throughout the ages. Nice but nothing truly exceptional or unique in comparison to other religious literary works.

Of course, it clearly still has it's use for Christians.
 
Laika

Laika

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Vee said:
But is the Bible completely outdated or can we still find good advice even today?
Click to expand...

I haven't read it from cover to cover and it is probably limited given how long ago it was. However I'd doubt that all of it is out of date or that there is no good advice in there. There had to be a reason why Christianity was able to spread so far and to so many people even if it may not be wholly true. But when you get specifics, I would guess "it Depends" really. :confused:

Vee said:
Of course one could say that this is all common sense. True, in an ideal world these things should come automatically to people, let's say they should be written into people's hearts. But this is not an ideal world and common sense is hard to find, so I'm glad for the reminders I find in the Bible. It motivates me to make an effort to be a better person.
Click to expand...

I think it would be more accurate to say the Bible has became common sense because Christianity has been the dominant Religion in Europe for at least a thousand years. It was a Revolutionary Idea back in the Roman Empire when you had Polytheist and Pagan religions and so wasn't common sense then. Christianity still has a massive cultural impact even as societies have become more secular and so is often implicitly part of our inheritance when we are looking for ideals. If it is a source of inspiration and gives you the motivation to want to be a better person, its a good way to use it. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Vee
dfnj

dfnj

Well-Known Member
I'm not too fond of these verses:

No. 1:St Paul’s advice about whether women are allowed to teach men in church:

“I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.” (1 Timothy 2:12)

No. 2: In this verse, Samuel, one of the early leaders of Israel, orders genocide against a neighbouring people:

“This is what the Lord Almighty says... ‘Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” (1 Samuel 15:3)

No. 3: A command of Moses:

“Do not allow a sorceress to live.” (Exodus 22:18)

No. 4: The ending of Psalm 137, a psalm which was made into a disco calypso hit by Boney M, is often omitted from readings in church:

“Happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us – he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.” (Psalm 137:9)

No. 5: Another blood-curdling tale from the Book of Judges, where an Israelite man is trapped in a house by a hostile crowd, and sends out his concubine to placate them:

“So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight. When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, ‘Get up; let’s go.’ But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.” (Judges 19:25-28)

No. 6: St Paul condemns homosexuality in the opening chapter of the Book of Romans:

“In the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.” (Romans 1:27)

No. 7: In this story from the Book of Judges, an Israelite leader, Jephthah, makes a rash vow to God, which has to be carried out:

“And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, ‘If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, to be offered up by me as a burnt-offering.’ Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and there was his daughter coming out to meet him with timbrels and with dancing. She was his only child; he had no son or daughter except her. When he saw her, he tore his clothes, and said, ‘Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.’” (Judges 11:30-1, 34-5)

No. 8: The Lord is speaking to Abraham in this story where God commands him to sacrifice his son:

‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt-offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.’ (Genesis 22:2)

No. 9: “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:22)

No. 10: “Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel.” (1 Peter 2:18)

I think the Bible must be read as a metaphor not to be taken out of the historical context in which it was written. As with any system of thought, it is neither accurate nor complete. There is no mention of abortion or date-rape ("no" means "no).. But regardless, the essential message of the Bible that having morality is important should not be lost.
 
Kemosloby

Kemosloby

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
If you get the impression the bible wants us to sacrifice animals you must be reading it wrong.
 
Kenny

Kenny

Face to face with my Father
Premium Member
Yes, I find it very useful... Raise my 3 children with it and didn't have all the problems that I have seen most people go through.

They are raising their children the same way (with the Bible), and they are getting the same results.
 
Brickjectivity

Brickjectivity

wind and rain touch not this brain
Staff member
Premium Member
Vee said:
The Bible is very old, and some of the things mentioned in this book are hard to relate to today. I confess that the passages about animal sacrifices in the Old Testament are not my favorite kind of literature.
But is the Bible completely outdated or can we still find good advice even today?
Click to expand...
I am from the USA, and here it is treated with superstition. Scholars that actually study it are mistrusted and even demonized, because they threaten the opinions that have been passed down. Jobs depend upon resisting scholars and their opinions, too. As you say it is very old, and many of the things in it are not described in a way that reveals what is happening. That being said a typical person cannot read every scholar and every opinion, but if we begin by studying the Bible as a system of laws and the culture surrounding them then we can move away from the superstitions that are passed down or imposed and move towards a grasp of the material and an appreciation of its real and present value.

For example if we read in the gospel that Jesus talks about divorce and speaks to some Pharisees about divorce it is unclear what he is talking about unless we are familiar with the law. Many people get the impression that he is forbidding divorce. Why? It is because they have not given much thought to the laws. The laws are considered an extra feature, like an appendix for some imaginary creature who likes to read anything that is boring. That is an excuse that is convenient for many who have never tangled with marital problems, but it is unfortunate for those who are being controlled by the opinions of ignorant people around them. Divorce in the Bible is one of the most unfortunate misunderstood topics.

Here is another example. Sampson is a character in the book of Judges. He is engaged to a woman, but she is then given to another man. At the end of his life he is blinded, forced to work for and entertain a nation called the Philistines. The events in his story all seem like random plot devices unless you know the law and also the curse written in it. Knowing the law assigns meaning, establishes the theme, makes Sampson relevant.
 
Twilight Hue

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
KenS said:
Yes, I find it very useful... Raise my 3 children with it and didn't have all the problems that I have seen most people go through.

They are raising their children the same way (with the Bible), and they are getting the same results.
Click to expand...
I don't think the Bible's particularly bad as long as discernment is practiced and parents are aware of some of the Bible shortcomings so their children don't grow up overly biased, arrogant, or bigoted.

That of course goes the same for any other religious or spiritual writings as well.

I think it's really the parents teaching their children common sense and consideration towards others as well as themselves that helps a person grow up well-rounded and amicable.
 
savagewind

savagewind

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Kemosloby said:
tilling. You could raise doves on your rooftop...
Click to expand...
"'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.'"

Not tilling. LOL
 
Kenny

Kenny

Face to face with my Father
Premium Member
Nowhere Man said:
I don't think the Bible's particularly bad as long as discernment is practiced and parents are aware of some of the Bible shortcomings so their children don't grow up overly biased, arrogant, or bigoted.

That of course goes the same for any other religious or spiritual writings as well.

I think it's really the parents teaching their children common sense and consideration towards others as well as themselves that helps a person grow up well-rounded and amicable.
Click to expand...
I don't think you need a Bible or a religious book to grow up people biased, arrogant or bigoted.

Discernment is important (and understanding) concerning the Bible... not because of shortcomings but because of people's shortcomings in lack of understanding IMO

Equally, you don't need a Bible to grow up non-biased, arrogant or bigoted people.

I'm just saying that the principles in the Bible are working for me, my children and grandchildren.
 
savagewind

savagewind

Veteran Member
Premium Member
I think that most of everything can be said to be useful.

Proverbs 16:4 Jehovah has made everything work for his purpose, Even the wicked for the day of disaster.+

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful* in its time.+
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top