[quote=chaw;#391026;1396461836]I don't get how you say you're a Christian but you just believe in the "idea" of God. I think it's either you believe there is a God or you believe there isn't. And that's fine if you're either black and white. The grays are hard to figure out. Christianity isn't about the idea that there is a god. Idk what religion that is.[/quote] Can I not say I'm a christian just because [imgview=http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/1253/srs.gif][b]jesus rocks[/b][/imgview], an overall awesome dude, full of love and compassion and all? I don't believe in the story of virgin birth and all other magic magic bullshit. The last time I checked bible there's no exact definition of what a christian is. [quote=chaw;#391126;1396521038]@bramzero no what im saying is who would spend all of their life writing things like that if it was just an idea? Hahahaha. One can't be inspired that much because a single idea[/quote] Yes one can, because a new idea is the most powerful force in nature. See through the history and everywhere around you, you should realize the power of a new idea and its ability to change not only people but also the world. And fyi, its 66 books because the founders/leaders of the christian group you're in decided to remove some parts deemed "unfit" to their doctrines. Older bible, like the eastern orthodox version has more books (78). Pretty much nowadays people with lotsa money and strong backing can dissect and copy-paste bible and/or other ancient scriptures, start their own sect of christianity and build their own churches. [quote=bubblegum;#391123;1396520277]Oh and you're prolly gonna say, Man wrote the bible. Man make mistakes so the bible is subject to mistakes. Actually, the people who wrote the bible was empowered by the Holy Spirit that not a single prophecy contradicted with another. Not even the old one from the new one. So why did God used man to write the bible? Well, because animals cant write. Duh.[/quote] "the people who wrote the bible was empowered by the Holy Spirit" sounds implausible to me. How is it justified that the bible is really "from god/holy spirit/etc" if it's humans who chose the books/stories, based on their own beliefs? You know, the biblical canonization. Protestants, Catholic, Orthodox, etc. have their own biblical canon. Years ago I learned that many stories in bible esp. in the old testaments are based on the older scriptures from sumeria/mesopotamia civilization. It's based on oral tradition from thousands of years ago, passed through word of mouth, until it was recorded and reproduced. For instance you'll also find similar flood myth / noah ark's in epic of gilgamesh, which is one of the earliest works of literature. Actually I saw many contradictions between books, between the old and new. Not necessarily the prophecies but things in general. Like, I want to know what to do to my enemies and then I read bible. Somewhere in old testament says "kill and destroy them", new testament says "love and be kind to them". You can't even use bible as a solid moral guidance.