Why does it seem like religious people worship the Bible more than God?

[SmokinAces2000]

I believe in God but I don’t believe in the Bible because god never wrote the Bible and no one alive has seen who wrote the Bible so for all we know everything in the Bible can be lies written by somebody that just wanted to mess with people so I find it ridiculous that wars have been fought, people killed, and relationships torn apart over a book that was written thousands of years ago and probably rewritten a million more times. I thought religion was supposed to be about worshiping a God not worshiping a book.

[BCRanger10]

Probably because many of them do. Though I think it's more likely that many of them worship themselves via the Bible. This is one reason why there are currently around 40,000 different Christian churches - give or take a few hundred (in 2006, it was closer to 30,000) - all of which claim to follow Jesus Christ and the Bible. Obviously, they can't all be right, or else there wouldn't be 40,000. And counting.

That said, it's worth noting that the Catholic Church has consistently taught that God is in fact the principal author of the Bible, which, by itself, is not a book, but rather a collection of books. These various books were written with the assistance of many various human authors over the millennia prior to the coming of Christ and, in the case of the New Testament, after His birth and until the death of Saint John the Apostle. The Biblical canon which we know today was then solemnly defined by the Catholic Church in the Fourth Century AD (either Third or Fourth, but I'm pretty sure it's the Fourth).

As for the lies and trickery? With all due respect, nonsense. If my understanding is correct, the Bible was defined so that man would know of his descent into sin, God's promise of salvation, and the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. If there were lies and trickery in the Bible, certainly the Early Church Fathers would have noticed it. St. Jerome of all people, who spent well over 20 years translating the Bible into Latin, would definitely have caught it. As would Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Augustine, Saints Thomas Aquinas, Francis de Sales, and the many other Saints and Doctors of the Church, many, if not all of whom had the Bible perfectly committed to memory.

[OnTheLevel]

I've always struggled with the concept of being a "good Catholic" vs being a "good Christian". I'm at a point in my life where I believe in God but feel organized religion is people manipulating others for profit by claiming to know and understand the will of God and coercing others to do their will.

[SmokinAces2000]

Thank you that’s exactly what I think too my parents always told me that you can worship God on your own time my parents both believe in God but we never went to church every Sunday or anything like that and I’m actually grateful for that because I was raised to believe in god but not to worship a random book

[OnTheLevel]

It has always bothered me that the clergy acts as if they have some divine insight into the will of God when they are simple men like the rest of us.

[SmokinAces2000]

Exactly

[BCRanger10]

Catholics are Christians.

[OnTheLevel]

@BCRanger10 I'm fully aware that Catholics are Christians. My point was that too often their focus is on the Catholic minutia of going to mass every week, confession, and tithing and not on adhering to Christian values. The show seems more important than the substance.

[BCRanger10]

Many people say that the Church needs to "get with the times". Do you agree or disagree?

[SmokinAces2000]

Agree

[OnTheLevel]

@BCRanger10 My feeling is that the church is no more of an authority on discerning the will of God than I am. It's not about getting with the times.

[BCRanger10]

Discerning the will of God. How do you mean? In regards to and compared to what?

Also, very important, what are you defining as "Christian values"?

[BlacklightShade]

Depends on where they’re from and when. You may see a lot of people worshiping the Bible because you live in Christian-centric country. There are thousands of different gods to worship besides the Bible’s. But is is true that Christianity is the world’s most practiced religion.

[DaveToo]

If you believe in a God, what was it that steered you toward him/her/it?

The bible is a collection of interpretive writings from, primarily, the Middle Ages. I say interpretive because each time a new generation of religious fanatics tried to interpret the ancient writings, they applied their own beliefs to what was said.

The Jewish Bible, the Old Testament is based on it, was written to control the Jews of the time, with the promise of a Savior, a Deliverer from the oppressive regimes they were suffering under. If you promise them a land of milk and honey, the basic interpretation is goats and bees.

If you believe in Christianity, then must believe in the Christ, Jesus. If you believe in Jesus, then you have to have been drawn to him by something. Identify your religious belief and that way you find your way to your God.

If you believe in Islam, which came after Christianity, it has a different path to Allah, through Mohammed. In any case, the core value of any religion is simply to seek peace, both within yourself and with those around you.

[SmokinAces2000]

I’m not religious whatsoever I’m not part of any religion. my parents believed in god but weren’t religious as well. When I was old enough to look at different religions I just found it ridiculous how people have been killed in gods name, every religion feels like theirs is the best one, and how people who claim to be so righteous treat certain people like shit. I guess you can say I’m religiously homeless, if I ever were to join a religion it would probably be Muslim, maybe Christian but I don’t see me joining any religion anytime soon

[SmokinAces2000]

I guess I didn’t necessarily answer your question lol but Nothing really steered me to god i just had two non religious parents who believed in god and I’ve always believed in god too but I’ve never been part of a religion

[DaveToo]

There are many that feel as you do. "I'm not religious but I believe there is a God". We all follow in our parent's footsteps somewhat. You don't have to join a religion to believe your soul is part of the eternal. God resides in your mind, and that makes him/her/it part of your eternal soul.

[SmokinAces2000]

I mean yeah I went to church a couple times with my aunt when I was younger but I never really felt like I learned anything that would help me personally succeed in life or benefit me in any way, no offense to your believes.

[DaveToo]

No offense was taken. I have studied other religions, not just Christianity. To learn is to understand, and to understand is to form an opinion.

[SoWhAt249]

I'd actually argue they worship the lies they are tols by their preachers, local parishes or whatever kind of spiritual leader they are lostening to. If Christians actually followed what the Bible was saying, our countries would be quite similar to the Muslim countries, because the Bible and the Quran preach the same lifestyle. According to the Bible, there is so much wrong with the life of today and so many of the things about it that we take for granted because "God is all forgiving" and "God is Love". God hates homosexuals. God hates tattoos. God hates a woman showing off too much of her body. God hates pork. God hates a lot of things that you do every day without ever realizing they are forbidden or doscouraged, and you still claim to be a good believer.

[Anonymous]

Protestants (what Americans love to call 'Christians') hold the bible as the ultimate authority of what is right and wrong, so in a lose way you could say they worship it. But only in the sense that jews worship moses or muslims worship muhammad - that is, you might not see the distinction, but they definitely do and will tell you that you're wrong.

[jshm2]

You're getting it, kiddo.

Just keep on that chain of thought and maybe you'll understand further.

[SmokinAces2000]

Wdym

[Ms_Vanderquack]

And they do it without ever actually having read the bible witch is the most impressive part.

[BlacklightShade]

Because there's a danger in reading the bible - they might stop believing in it.

[Ms_Vanderquack]

@BlacklightShade All the more reason everyone should read that shit.