Why do people believe biblical stories?

[Twalli]

As any self-respecting historian can tell you, almost all the biblical stories are not true. No flood, no rebirth of Jesus (who was a criminal by law), no massive Jewish enslavement by Egypt, etc. Almost all of those have been proven false. The Egyptians and Romans kept very good records. It's impossible for those stories to be true with NO RECORD of it happening. So what makes you believe these stories without similar false stories regarding events such as the Revolutionary War, signing of the Declaration of Independence, English Civil War, American Civil War, The Great War, World War II, etc?

[aided_]

well for me, its tradition pretty much
i mean i do believe the stories
i dont need proof, i still believe there's an element of truth to every one
and id personally disagree that there was no floodi can't list sources cause i dont remember where i read it but from somebody whom i do trust to have done his proper researchandheisjewishsohemaybebiasedbutstillhe claims that because of how nearly every religion has a story of a great flood that many historians do believe there was some form of a "great flood"as for exodusi am jewish but im not totally sure on the existence of moses or of the enslavement of Israelites what i have heard of though is a massive immigration from egypt to the area around israel im sure there's something you can find for any of the stories to give a basis what i think we can all agree on however is the value in the messageswellmaybe you dontbut i think there's a lot of value in the messages

[Twalli]

I'm not saying the messages in the bible are not valuable, I'm just saying the history is generally proven false by specific artifacts.

[aided_]

yes i knoww
i didn't mean to imply you were saying the messages aren't value, sorry
but still i dont totally agree with you, i dont believe them literally
and i accept some scientific theories as much as my parents would behead me for it
i still think though that there's a bit of truth somewhere, something that inspired it
but i do fully get your points

[Secret6620]

It's more than likely what they were raised to believe in. The stories are fictional but are the foundations for Christian ideals. Similar to mythology stories that other religions believe in. If you were raised to think and believe in certain things then you probably won't question those beliefs until you encounter something that directly contradicts what you believe in.

This is a good question. It got me thinking but ultimately I have no clue. Aside from being raised to believe in them.

[Secret6620]

Yay! Most helpful girl ✨️

[Birdlegs]

Humans naturally flock to things that answer questions for them to resolve dissonance in their head. Being told all these things about the past and future gives them peace of mind and brings them back to consonance. So they believe wholeheartedly what’s in the Bible despite the fact that it’s lowkey just a glorified short story book with a compilation of stories that have existed back before the Bible even says the universe began.

[HighValue]

There actually is historical evidence of the world being flooded. Rock formations show water erosion from a much higher sea level in the past. There have been artifacts discovered, along with old writings (carved in stone) discovered, including a special the history channel did about the Hittites discoveries.

[Twalli]

Not a flood that encompassed the whole world killing most people. A higher sea level which could be a warmer time in history, just like we had miniature Ice Ages. Also that could have been caused with meltage after a miniature Ice Age. The Andes and Rocky Mountains were created by glaciers.

[John_Doesnt]

Because most people will believe anything. Think about how stupid the average person is, then realize half the population is dumber than that.

[Guy13]

You obviously do not know secular Roman history, secular archaeology, religious documented histories concerning the subject at hand. Idiocy and raging uninformed opinion is the only answer in this case.

[mysterio101]

Well, if you weren't so ignorant, you could have saved yourself a few minutes and google searched your question, because judging by quotes such as, 'As any self-respecting historian can tell you' your an arrogant numpty. Here ill help you out with some links: Flood :
Hebrew enslavement:

At the end of the day, humans know next to nothing about what happened in the past, i assume 95% of historical documents have been lost over time, but that's just an estimate, i could be wrong.

[Twalli]

Actually it's over 99%, but we make assumptions based on the evidence we do have. We have no records of religious enslavement by the Egyptians. We have evidence that there were Hebrews enslaved by them, but not based on religion. They had slaves of multiple other religions too. The Romans were known for keeping impeccable records, and there are clear records of Jesus being crucified for his crimes, but none of him coming back to life, which they would have recorded, if it happened.

[mysterio101]

The bible clearly mentions that the romans didn't believe he rose from the dead, which most people wouldn't unless they saw him with their own eyes like the apostles. Its probably better to read the bible itself rather than bible stories.

[Twalli]

The Romans had nothing to prove he rose from the dead. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable today and was even more unreliable back then. All proof we have was that he was crucified for his crimes.

[mysterio101]

Well, funnily enough, most historical records we have of the romans and egyptians are eye witness records written down by so called 'historians'. there's no difference, all of history is eye witness accounts, in fact several of the major battles of world history such as thermopylae we have no proof of a battle e. g. no archaeological evidence. So to me it seems like you just wanna do whatever you can to convince yourself the bible is false, if thats the case, no one can help you.

[Twalli]

Some parts are true. There was an Exodus from Egypt. It was over a land bridge on a sea. It was not the Red Sea, rather the Reed Sea (which no longer exists). The religious slavery and the plagues are not.

[mysterio101]

How can you be so ignorant and blatantly say that something is not true? You your self said over 99% of history has been lost, dont you see, your contradicting yourself man

[Twalli]

No. I am saying 99% hasn't been found. Some have been lost, but others haven't been found. We used to not know hieroglyphs, since we found the Rosetta Stone we do.

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

You're wrong. I believe the Bible because I believe the testimony of the Holy Spirit who is responsible for leading the men to pen down what happened throughout history.

[Twalli]

And those who copied the writings of others were perfect and never added anything?

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

Not the Bible. God promised to preserve His word unto all generations. God is all powerful and has the ability to do that through humans through His Holy Spirit.

Psalm 12:6-7

The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.

You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever.

[Twalli]

Let us say that God exists. Frim what I understand we know his word through the bible. Yet man is fallible and man wrote the bible.

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

Man indeed wrote the Bible physically, but it was God's Holy Spirit directing them what to write and record of what God said through His prophets and things people said and did wheather good or evil.

2 Peter 1:19-21

And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

[Birdlegs]

I’m not hating on your faith or anything but the Bible was written by hella people with hella intentions. Some were good and want to teach morals some were very bad and wanted people to pay them in order to “absolve their sins” and considering there are unicorns and the fact this is a line “No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God” I have my suspicions

[Twalli]

The bible is good. It has a moral code, I disagree with parts of it's moral code, but it gives a baseline. So we can use it to form a basic moral code

[MrTaboo]

Ha, funny. Most if not all the stories have been proven true. Yes even the flood.

[Twalli]

Where are you getting that from?

[BCRanger10]

Who are some of these self-respecting historians?

[Twalli]

Pretty much every single historian that posses a PhD. Since it is impossible to measure a divine instrument, we must disregard it.

[BCRanger10]

Can you name any of them?

[Twalli]

Like those that wrote books, or those that teach at universities? There's a lot.

[Twalli]

Just go to the faculty directory for the history department at any traditional university (not online universities).