The bible is NOT the same print that it was 2,000 years ago. It was written in Aramaic, then Hebrew, then translated (faintly) into several languages. Then was edited by King James... THAT is what we read today.
The translation argument is often used as the bible being inaccurate - but in reality that's not the case. The discovery of the dead sea scrolls proved a while back that the translations are actually uncannily accurate for being translated so many times, not the opposite. And as pointed out above, very few people still use the King James version these days, it's most definitely not what everyone uses. My personal favourite is the ESV - very accurate and lots of notes. Brilliant study Bible.
I didn't read the article. Just the title.
In that case it may give you a bit more background to what people are talking about if you read the article!
Not only that, the Bible has been tailered to many particular writer's fancy.
Evidence of this? Yes the different books are written in different styles, but that doesn't mean they've been tailored to whatever particular writers want to say - they're just put across from different perspectives. It doesn't make any one of them wrong.
And you have to be off your rocker to take all the stories literally. It's a book of parables.
A parable is a brief, succinct story, in prose or verse, that illustrates a moral or religious lesson.
Come one man, that is even said in the Bible.
The latter definition perhaps, but if you can find me the bit in the bible that says "you're off your rocker if you're taking all these stories literally" please let me know!
According to Bible thumpers, the Earth was made 12,000 years ago. How do they come by this figure? They basically add up the ages of all the people in the Bible and figure it out from there... Dinosaurs were just a joke from God then right? To test our faith?
Kind of on topic, you might want to read
this. Brings some very interesting points to light and answers your question about dinosaurs!
Here's another Bible story, Cain and Able, Cain kills Able. Cain is forced to walk around the Earth in shame with a mark on his forehead so no one would kill him... Oh wait, Adam and Even are the only people. Except Cain's hundred some brothers and sisters from Eve. That makes sense.
If you factor in the average age at that point in the bible, it makes a lot more sense. You're only looking at half the story there!
Not to mention that a very similar tale is in mythology... So it was used to teach a lesson there as well. It's not meant to be taken literally.
What similar tale? How similar? Where in mythology did it come from? You're branding a lot of loose statements around here without any specifics - makes it very difficult to verify what you're saying.
And lastly:
God flooded the Earth... Was it fresh water? That would kill all Ocean life. Was it Salt Water? That would kill all plant life on the earth, and not allow any to grow to this day. And where would it all go afterwards?
Another example where if you take the Bible literally your point falls down. A bit of Googling will soon bring up answers to those questions and many more,
this article is a fine example.
Contrary to what you're saying, if you actually study the bible diligently you'll find that a lot more adds up than you seem to think at the moment. No, I'm not saying we should take everything in the Bible literally without questioning it at all - but the reasons you've shown for not taking things literally have been completely flawed!
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