Originally posted by: Tinkerhell
Originally posted by: conjur
Oh, very much so!
I have about a dozen books yet to read and then I'll pick up those. Ehrman's seems the most intriguing. Listening to him explain how the Bible was pieced together and that the Gospels were not written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, nor John but, rather, attributed to them makes one realize the Bible was written by men. It was not "the word of God". It was men's interpretations of events and teachings.
I feel the Bible was definitely written by man, but we'll never know. I know many religious people including a Rabbi that believes the Bible was written by men. Its a big storybook. Whether thats a bad or a good thing, is up to you.
Bingo!
It's the teachings elicited by the Bible that are meant to be the word of God...not the words and the details therein.
Jesus was nothing more than a mere preacher. He was a man as much as I am. There was no "immaculate conception"...that's just a mistranslation from ancient texts mentioning Mary was a young maiden.