# Is the bible true/god real? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 27, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679 "2013-07-27T17:00:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/61 "2013-07-28T01:18:46Z")
> [@Buffalo\_Bilious](#): > > Why is there such a fervor to denigrate or deny a God? It’s part of the whole “fighting ignorance” thing. Part of the oath we take with membership here. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/62 "2013-07-28T01:25:12Z")
> [@Buffalo\_Bilious](#): > > For you dullard pedants, the words used in that reply were meant to be a mockery of the quote cited. > > Oh, but you knew that, ay? So, you’re just here to be a nuisance and not contribute? Since you don’t seem to know what a ‘fact’ is, I only figured you needed help with a dictionary as well. ---
**Author:** ![Buffalo\_Bilious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e99b99/32.png) [@Buffalo\_Bilious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buffalo_Bilious)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/63 "2013-07-28T01:31:41Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > It’s part of the whole “fighting ignorance” thing. Perhaps the “ignorance” these fine people are fighting against is their own. Maybe? Could be? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/64 "2013-07-28T01:36:56Z")
For specific meanings of “true”, yes. And yes. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/65 "2013-07-28T01:43:11Z")
> [@Buffalo\_Bilious](#): > > Perhaps the “ignorance” these fine people are fighting against is their own. > > Maybe? Could be? How could that even be? Serious question, a “god?”. Tell me more. ---
**Author:** ![Buffalo\_Bilious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e99b99/32.png) [@Buffalo\_Bilious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buffalo_Bilious)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/66 "2013-07-28T01:44:19Z")
> [@simster](#): > > So, you’re just here to be a nuisance and not contribute? Since you don’t seem to know what a ‘fact’ is, I only figured you needed help with a dictionary as well. Why am I a nuisance ? Because I don’t stand in lockstep with your opinion? Because my statements bug you? Are you offended? ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/67 "2013-07-28T02:25:14Z")
> [@Buffalo\_Bilious](#): > > Why am I a nuisance ? Because I don’t stand in lockstep with your opinion? Because my statements bug you? > > Are you offended? You seem to be here only to pick fights - you seem to be eager to have a confrontation - You’re a nuisance because you bring nothing new to the board and you start out with non-serious and non-sensical posts. I have not stated any opinion, nor am I easily offended. ---
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/68 "2013-07-28T04:15:14Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Till the change… Yes and yes. Funny: [**How to Live a Good Christian Life**](http://www.wikihow.com/Live-a-Good-Christian-Life) Bible’s joke in poor taste for those in fear of death – as are the rest of the Holy Books. Enjoy your fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/69 "2013-07-28T05:09:55Z")
The parts describing kings ruling when the writers were writing, kind of true. Anything else, not so much. As for God, not bloody likely. For the parts of the Bible describing God, I can just quote Mary McCarthy on Lillian Hellman = “Every word is a lie including ‘and’ and ‘the’.” ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/70 "2013-07-28T07:02:29Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > If I ever meet a talking snake, I might consider believing it. Talking is easy, I want to meet a snake that doesn’t crawl on its belly and eats dust. :dubious: CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/71 "2013-07-28T07:18:37Z")
I’ll just point out that the OP never specified WHICH god we’re talking about. There are many to discuss. Many more if you throw in goddesses, too. I suppose it could also have been meant as a broader question: do gods and goddesses exist? 🆒 Of course, if this is already designated a christians and atheists only thread, I’ll just quietly make my exit and leave y’all to it… ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/72 "2013-07-28T07:25:02Z")
> [@Buffalo\_Bilious](#): > > For you dullard pedants, the words used in that reply were meant to be a mockery of the quote cited. > > Oh, but you knew that, ay? > [@Buffalo\_Bilious](#): > > Perhaps the “ignorance” these fine people are fighting against is their own. > > Maybe? Could be? There’s a rule here that only allows name calling and use of insults in the BBQ Pit forum…so if you have any problem with any other poster on here, feel free to make a topic there. As for here, dial back the seemingly snarky posts just a little. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/73 "2013-07-28T07:44:57Z")
> [@Rocky\_Dog](#): > > I find it interesting that most belivers just replied yes and yes. The nonbelivers felt that they had to explain why Because we nonbelievers actually have explanations for our beliefs. Believers don’t need explanations, just “faith.” ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/74 "2013-07-28T12:10:13Z")
Even if God existed, I’d doubt the Bible. But He doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Razncain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@Razncain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razncain)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/75 "2013-07-28T13:52:41Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Even if God existed, I’d doubt the Bible. > > But He doesn’t. That’s the puzzling part. Of all the gods there are to pick from, many theists settled on this one that they claim they even love: “oh yeah, that’s the omni-benevolent bad ass I’ve been looking for.” ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/76 "2013-07-28T16:55:37Z")
Why yes and yes! He’s a really bad business-god too, always getting his pamphlets & missives printed at a cost that’s a million times more expensive than what he could have had them printed at if he’s had them printed in bulk. His real estate choices need work too. A cathedral? In the Middle of an 8-lane super highway in Falls Church, VA? Are you sh-ttin me? Could be why he’s perpetually broke. That god has less money than a super-model’s boyfriend. You’d think a god who could create everything could spend a few hours on 20s and 50s, but evidently one of ‘his mysterious ways’ is to suck the faithful dry like there’s a [Dyson](http://www.dysondc25.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/buy_dyson-dc25_dyson-dc39_11-e1368895477965-1024x816.jpg) shoved down their shorts (“Thou Shalt Not Lose Suction”). Could also be why “The Fool And His Money” parable was cut out of the manuscript early on: didn’t sit well with the test-markets. (…say, is it too late for me to change my answers?) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/77 "2013-07-28T22:10:40Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > . . . The thing is, we’ve got these things called “thermometers”, which can dispassionately measure temperatures. . . . If I remember correctly SDMB member **Doc Cathode** once wrote about having devised a sensor that could detect souls and spirits. If God is just the mightiest of all souls, perhaps Doc’s device could detect God. We could call it a “theometer.” > [@Buffalo\_Bilious](#): > > . . . If you’ll pardon me, I’ll just step over here and try to divide by zero. [Not the best idea in the world!](http://pogoprinciple.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/division-by-zero-as-a-metaphor-for-the-collapse-of-academic-marxism/) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/78 "2013-07-28T22:31:40Z")
> [@jaysamm15](#): > > Please dont be offended, if you are, then move on to the next post. I have my beliefs, just curious of other’s. I personally doubt it. Abrahamic religions are popular but only because their followers were good at being violent. Christianity conquered Rome by converting the emperor, which then conquered Europe, which conquered the world. Islam conquered countries in the middle east and northern africa region. If you look at Muslim and Christian nations, a lot can trace their history to being violently conquered by muslims and christians. So I doubt it. Of all the gods, religions, beliefs and ideas in history I find it doubtful that the god of the most violent/expansionist religions just happens to be the true faith(s). About half the world is christian or muslim, both of which are abrahamic faiths. So no and no. If there was a god, why didn’t he explain germ theory to us before we figured it out ourselves around 1860? We could’ve used that info. If ‘god’ exists and couldn’t be bothered to tell us that (but was more than willing to send endless numbers of prophets to preach religious doctrines) why should we care? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/79 "2013-07-28T23:06:12Z")
Parts of it are true, others are stories, or allegory, or hallucinations/dreams, or oral tradition that has mutated through generations of rebelling. I think God is a combination of anthropomorphizing nature and confusing parts of our own psychological phenomena, and a misinterpreted reasonable insight/prediction about future technologies. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679/80 "2013-07-28T23:16:39Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I personally doubt it. Abrahamic religions are popular but only because their followers were good at being violent. Christianity conquered Rome by converting the emperor, which then conquered Europe, which conquered the world. Islam conquered countries in the middle east and northern africa region. If you look at Muslim and Christian nations, a lot can trace their history to being violently conquered by muslims and christians. > > So I doubt it. Of all the gods, religions, beliefs and ideas in history I find it doubtful that the god of the most violent/expansionist religions just happens to be the true faith(s). About half the world is christian or muslim, both of which are abrahamic faiths. That’s not entirely fair. At least some of Christianity’s success can be tied to being **just syncretic enough**. Meaning it was staunch enough to not accept other peoples’ gods as valid, but just flexible enough to let them still do their silly festivals and rituals as long as they did them for God inside of whoever they did them for before. If you take a completely “live and let live” attitude, then you just get a bunch of different religions whose gods all evolve to be vaguely similar before they think that god B is just an aspect of god A and that all of these weird ideas somehow mesh together if you squint (see the whole Buddhism/Shinto thing in Japan). But if you’re too steadfast about rituals you start stomping all over their cultural tradition and people get mad and don’t convert. Certainly the Abrahamic religions being the official religions of big empires **helped** , and was probably a major factor, but I think a large part of its long term success was their history of being tolerant-but-not-too-tolerant. > [@](#): > > So no and no. If there was a god, why didn’t he explain germ theory to us before we figured it out ourselves around 1860? We could’ve used that info. If ‘god’ exists and couldn’t be bothered to tell us that (but was more than willing to send endless numbers of prophets to preach religious doctrines) why should we care? To be fair, God invented germs as a content patch in 1858, we discovered it pretty quickly all things considered. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bible-true-god-real/664679.md?page=5)