OT - Understanding "The Bible"

[Billie Walsh]

Probably going to make a few enemies here.

First. Contrary to what some people believe, the Bible was not written
by God. He did not sit down at his royal typewriter and pound it out.
The Bible is very much a work of man. Different books were chosen for
inclusion or exclusion by how certain people felt they were relevant.

Second. The Old Testament is a translation of the Tora, sort of. Some
things were left out and a few things were put in. The earliest books
were handed down word of mouth for many generations before they were
actually written down. Sometimes stories change as they are passed on.
The whole thing is basically a history of the Israelites.

Third. No part of the New Testament was written during, or immediately
after, the life of Jesus. The oldest books were written down about
eighty years after his death. Here again stories were passed down word
of mouth. None of the writers had first hand knowledge of what they were
writing. Many "stories" were chosen to not be included because certain
people felt they did not portray Jesus in as favorable a light [ within
their own belief - like the possibility that Jesus was married to Mary ]
as they should.

The Bible is written in "parables". Stories that tell something. Taking
a "verse" out of the parable destroys the meaning of the verse. The
entire parable must be read to gain the meaning of the parable.

The best way to read, and understand, the "New Testament" is in the
original Greek. Many meanings are lost in the translation to other
languages. For instance - I forget how many right the top of my head
but, Greek has/had MANY different words for "love". Each denoting the
exact relationship with the person involved [ a father for his son, a
man for his wife, a sister for her brother, etc. ]. ALL these words
basically translate into "love" in most other languages but the
relationship is lost in such a simple translation.

Virtually none of the things written in The Bible are "new". Almost
every idea held therein can be found in an earlier belief system.

A good understanding of history is very important.