Posted by Dena on August 9, 2005, at 9:11:27
In reply to Re: Religious friends and my unease » Dena, posted by Deneb on August 9, 2005, at 7:54:58
Yes, Deneb... the Bible is a collection of many books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, etc. in the Old Testament - "Testament" means covenant, or agreement between God and mankind - and Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, etc. in the New Testament).
Many different people were involved in writing the books... but all of them have a common theme: How God interacted with human beings (& this planet) over the centuries.
How He created the world and the universe, how He chose a particular group of people to be an example of relationship with Him (the Jews), how He wanted people to live their lives (so that they'd be most blessed, and be a blessing to the rest of the world).
How He influenced people through the ages, and how some of them disobeyed Him and rebelled against Him (which we're prone to do, thinking we don't need Him).
How He provided a plan that would allow people to be intimately close to Him, to truly know Him, and to live with Him forever.
So, yes, the Bible has stories - some good and some bad. And the Bible has advice for how to live, guidelines for living. And it has prophecy (fortelling of future events), and songs of praise to God (the Psalms), and philosophy (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes), and erotic love poetry (Song of Solomon), and the accounts of Jesus (the Gospels), and history, and parables (stories that teach lessons)...
What's uncanny about it, remarkable about it, is how it spans thousands of years, three continents, many diverse civilizations, three languages, and countless individuals, and yet it has a cohesive message: God loves us, wants a relationship with us, and reaches out to us, wanting us to return that love and know Him.
A rather lengthy response to your short question - I DO tend to go on... hopefully it was helpful. If not, try again.
Shalom, Dena
poster:Dena
thread:538674
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20050510/msgs/539528.html