Is The Bible The First Work Of Science Fiction?

[Dead*Mule]

I find it odd how Christians constantly refer to the bible as evidence of what is contained within it, and of evidence of God.

It's a just a book written by men, whose agendas we can only guess at, and written at time periods that may have been hundreds of years after the supposed events took place.

The events seem more like Aesop's fables; works of fiction written to illustrate what is right and what is not right, sometimes invoking fantastic events for dramatic effect.

Further, the books have been translated, retranslated, patched together, torn apart, and patched together again, with whatever did not suit the agenda of those writing the latest version, discarded and lost.

It's the Readers Digest version of a Readers Digest version of a Readers Digest version gone mad.

Finally, by the time of Gutenberg's Printing Press, all that is left is a shadow of the originals scroll that may have been its origin, many of which must have been in direct contradiction to each other.

In the end it's just a story book that can no more be used as evidence of God or creation or anything else, anymore than Faery Tales can be used as evidence that elves and faeries and witches and goblins are real.

[Guest]

In the end it's just a story book that can no more be used as evidence of God or creation or anything else, anymore than Faery Tales can be used as evidence that elves and faeries and witches and goblins are real.

If faeries, witches and goblins hate the same things I hate then they are real, otherwise their teachings are just allegorical and can be ignored.

[Dead*Mule]

The imaginary enemies of my imaginary enemies are my imaginary friends.

[Bonam]

It's more fantasy than sci fi.

[Pateris]

And no, it wouldn't be the first. The Epic of Gilgamesh predates it, from cuneiform tablets found in Mesopotamia. The Rig Veda also predates it, but we don't actually have documentary evidence of it's age - but there are various circumstantial pieces that would place it well before the Hebrew Torah. Finally, the Egyptian Book of the Dead reads very much like Fantasy or Science Fiction, and it is also extremely ancient.

[betsy]

On 7/28/2016 at 1:31 AM, Dead*Mule said:

I find it odd how Christians constantly refer to the bible as evidence of what is contained within it, and of evidence of God.

It's a just a book written by men, whose agendas we can only guess at, and written at time periods that may have been hundreds of years after the supposed events took place.

 

 

Nevertheless,

modern science came thousands of years later.....and modern technology had only recently started confirming some of the descriptions in the Bible (that were written by "unsophisticated" and some uneducated men), to be scientifically true.

 

Digest that. 

Edited April 1, 2017 by betsy

[Michael Hardner]

"some of"

That isn't really surprising is it?

[betsy]

5 hours ago, Michael Hardner said:

"some of"

That isn't really surprising is it?

 

"Some of" is a whole lot better than..........none!

 

Furthermore, is there another book that's similar to the Bible?  A compilation of written works by so many authors from various walks of life, who lived in various timelines and yet maintained a consistency from beginning to end.  Not to mention the numerous prophecies, and its relevancy even today, surviving and enduring all this time.

Name one.

 

Edited April 1, 2017 by betsy

[JamesHackerMP]

The qur'an.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, JamesHackerMP said:

The qur'an.

Certainly a work of fiction. Not sure about the science.