1974 Time magazine cover story on “How True is the Bible?”

[Multicolored Lemur]

The TIME Vault: December 30, 1974

Check out this page from the December 30, 1974 issue of TIME

time.com

And before you click, it might be fun to think about . . . What might be an article on this topic which really delivers on its potential promise ? ??

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My idea, have 5 famous Christians, maybe one is Billy Graham. Maybe another is the painter and writer Joni, or Joni Eareckson Tada in full. She was paralyzed in an accident and learned to paint holding a paint brush between her teeth. I'm sure her book talks about optimism, but it'd be selling her short to say it's only about optimism.

Maybe Norman Vincent Peale.

And I'm sure there are plenty of Christians who take the view, Look, if you're trying to believe Jonah and the whale* as literal truth, all you'll doing is setting yourself up to fail. Just like the New Testament has parables, the Old Testament has allegories [my view ]. In fact, parable and allegory mean very similar things.

And I don't think Jesus ever says, This is a parable. Instead, he just begins and tells the story. And the story is every much in the style of a parable.

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And then maybe 5 ordinary Christians? ??

A simple line drawing for their face. And their name given as “Roger” or “Sharon,” meaning we’re not using their real name in order to maintain privacy.

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* some persons who believe “the Bible is literal” like to point out, not a whale but rather a “great fish.” I'm not sure this really makes it all that much better.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

Fewer in U.S. Now See Bible as Literal Word of God

Coinciding with a general decline in religiosity in the U.S., a record-low 20% of Americans now say they believe the Bible is literally true.

news.gallup.com

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Fewer U.S. Adults View Bible as ‘Actual Word of God’

The number of U.S. adults who say the Bible is the “actual word of God, to be taken literally” reached an all-time low in 2022, according to a Gallup report. The number who say the Bible is an ancient book of fables reached an all-time high.

goodfaithmedia.org

July 2022 —

Please notice that the vertical axis only goes up to 60. And notice that the top green line is the position, “Inspired by God, not all to be taken literally.”

 

[AgnosticBoy]

One good point from the that Time's article is that the Bible being infallible does not mean that it is all literal.

Fewer in U.S. Now See Bible as Literal Word of God

Coinciding with a general decline in religiosity in the U.S., a record-low 20% of Americans now say they believe the Bible is literally true.

news.gallup.com

July 2022 —

Please notice that the vertical axis only goes up to 60. And notice that the top green line is the position, “Inspired by God, not all to be taken literally.”

That's a good chart! Not a surprise that the % of those who don't take the Bible as literal is going up. I'm just surprised it hasn't gone up more than where it is at.

What's really interesting is that the % of people believing that some of it is literal (the green line) has remained about the same. I fit in this category minus the belief in God part. And I think that's the most reasonable position to have. There is clearly historical and archaeological evidence to support some parts of the Bible.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

What's really interesting is that the % of people believing that some of it is literal (the green line) has remained about the same. I fit in this category minus the belief in God part. And I think that's the most reasonable position to have.

For me personally, I got all the way in. So, I needed to get all the way out.

 

[AgnosticBoy]

For me personally, I got all the way in. So, I needed to get all the way out.

Most people do leave all the way.

I guess with me i didn't view atheism as good option to go to after leaving Christianity, so for a while I was sort of stuck in the middle - even with conflicting beliefs about God's existence. Now I'm content with saying that I don't believe in God's existence but I am very much open to it and want to go about it in a rational way - including exploring many different religions. Besides that, I believe the Bible has a lot of good advice

 

[bbyrd009]

For me personally, I got all the way in. So, I needed to get all the way out.

Most people do leave all the way.

I guess with me i didn't view atheism as good option to go to after leaving Christianity, so for a while I was sort of stuck in the middle - even with conflicting beliefs about God's existence. Now I'm content with saying that I don't believe in God's existence but I am very much open to it and want to go about it in a rational way - including exploring many different religions. Besides that, I believe the Bible has a lot of good advice

I said “You are Elohim” kinda seems like a strange statement for a religious group to put in the Mouth of Yah…

 

[AgnosticBoy]

I said “You are Elohim” kinda seems like a strange statement for a religious group to put in the Mouth of Yah…

Found it in Psalm 82:6. Sounds blasphemous unless we are gods as well.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

said “You are Elohim” kinda seems like a strange statement for a religious group to put in the Mouth of Yah…

Yes, it does sound polytheistic. Or, maybe a strand of Hinduism, the idea that there's a spark of the divine in each of us?

 

[AgnosticBoy]

Yes, it does sound polytheistic. Or, maybe a strand of Hinduism, the idea that there's a spark of the divine in each of us?

I've also yet to come across an explanation for how we are created in God's image. Could be related to bbyrd's point.

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

Found it in Psalm 82:6

Bible Gateway passage: Psalm 82 - Revised Standard Version

A Plea for Justice - A Psalm of Asaph. God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?Selah Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the...

www.biblegateway.com

6 I say, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, you shall die like men,
and fall like any prince.”

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Do you have a version which says “Elohim”?