Short summary of Events.

There really were kingdoms of Israel and Judah. They had kings. They had squabbles between each other. Egypt, Assyria, the Hittites, and Babylon were superpowers at one time or the other. The Hyskos descendants from Canaanites ruled lower Egypt and were pushed out of the country by Pharaoh Ahmrose. No other large group of supposed Asiatics are shown to have been in Egypt. Egypt, the Hittites, and Assyria dominated Palestine at the supposed time of Moses and Joshua. No proof of Israelites invading the country rather they were descended as was everyone else from the wandering nomads. Jericho existed as a small city without walls at the time. Ai was already ruins when Joshua supposedly destroyed it.  David probably existed but had a very small kingdom and population. He was mentioned in inscriptions such as the Tel Dan and the Mesha Steele. Ahab was a very great king of Israel who defended his country from invasion by the Assyrians. Most likely Ahab and the other Omride kings are responsible for the greatness found in archaeological ruins. Babylon was invaded by the Persians and was not quite the bloodbath described. Israelites were relocated by Assyria though not all of them maybe 20%. Judah was invaded by Assyria and Babylon. Again many were relocated but only a percentage of the population. Jeremiah actually helps to support this.

Greeks and Persians fought. Alexander conquered the Persians. Descendants of his commanders ruled Egypt and Palestine. Eventually Rome becomes a power and Pompey and Caesar are involved. Palestine is part of the Roman Empire. Jews rebel. Jerusalem is razed to the ground. Hadrian orders a new city built in Jerusalem. Jews rebel under Kosiba who thinks he is the Star found in Numbers. Jews are exterminated.

As to the narratives in the Bible generally it is fill for the writer. So many errors to even mention. Errors of prophecy, technology, knowledge, history and science are numerous.

In a nutshell, the bible should be read like one of Homer's epics.  There are real names and places from time to time, but it is a work of fiction.

Even if some of the authors thought they were writing history, their accounts are not reliable unless they are backed up by corroborating evidence.

None of it. Even if a story is written in a historical setting, it is still fiction.

You should apply that same standard of scrutiny to the Bible that you would to, say, the Odyssey.

Rook's point is key: The people who wrote the Bible were not historians, didn't think of themselves that way and didn't intend their stories to be read that way. With much of it, I would go so far as to say that whatever historical accuracy does exist is incidental.

That said, there were apparently lizard men in the Garden of Eden; like the Sleestak in Land of the Lost.

That's pretty cool.

There can be found several plots depending on perspective.

Hebrew ver 1 = Parables/stories about how the world got here. Parables/stories what happened in our history. We are chosen by our god who is better than all others. Prophecies made for a great leader to unite the world serving the one god under our leadership.

Mythology and wishful thinking.

Hebrew ver 2 = How we got here. Our invisible god is better than yours. We have been promised a great leader that god  will send to kill all who oppose. He will rule the world through us.

This is otherwise known as mythology and a response to repression.

Catholic = Stories of how the world got here in figurative language. (Derived from ver 1 & 2) Stories of Jewish history and the god's relationship shown figuratively. A great leader is promised who will save them. The Jews don't see the savior as 'the one'. He dies for all to placate the god-himself. He will come back. The end is figuratively shown, or not.

Mythology, wishful thinking, derived fantasy and creative interpretation. This allows for evolution to be the way god did it, a view that Hell isn't a real place, and a method to be right no matter what was previously claimed.

Christian Fundie = How the Jews got here. How the Jews were evil. The Jews are punished.  A savior is promised. The savior is sent. He is a chunk of the god. The Jews reject him/kill him. All of the world is saved or damned. The god goes home but promises to return with payback.

This is derived fantasy based on  mythology and delusional rejection of reality.

Islam = How others got here. How we got here. How the Jews rejected us. Our invisible god is the one. He will kill all that reject his way.

This is mythology, derived fantasy with more mythology and fantasy mixed in later.

There are many sub plots in part 1 OT and part 2 NT of these stories/fables/myths. There are several versions of part1 OT. All claim their part 1 OT is the correct story/fable/myth.

Basically myths and fantasies were written. New writers expanded the scope of the fantasies. Even more new writers expanded the expansion. Interpretations were made of the writings and the expanded writings and the expanded expanded writings of the fantasy. New writers expand the interpretation of the multilayer expansion of the fantasies and myths.

There are of course thousands of other versions of interpretation of the perceived plot(s) depending on the group(s) underlying goal(s). There is no truth to be found here.

Result = A mess

Don't listen to them I've seen the Omen (the original) and I know its all true and his little brat is very very scary.

Got a feeling the remake was a bit of an atheist conspiracy due to it being err crap

Evvery Part of the bible is true and you should know that without question , it can never be disproven or doubted , the only people that try believe in god and are afraid to admit it , so say i the mighty archbishop!

   You are wrong.

The bible is true and false at the same time(not because it is true) but because there is no way to replicate or falsify them. Holy books, not just Christianity are not based on replication and falsification, but the false belief that because I belong to a club, and because that club feeds me, the fictional being that feeds us must be real. Egyptians once believed the sun was a thinking entity that feed them.

A naked assertion survives on the food of ignorance. Only the light of skepticism and quality control will determine the truth.

Simple answer "god took care of it". After all didn't god provide everything the hebrews needed to survive? Who knows maybe it took out the trash too HAHAHA. Remember this is the same god that thought it would be nice to see the galaxies billions of light years away when everything was created only 6500 years ago. See god thinks of everything.

Doesn't matter to me at all. You see Superman in movies flying around New York City. But because New York City is real you don't believe that humans can actually fly like that.

That would be like saying "George Washington can fart a Lamborginni out of his ass because he was a real historical figure".

It is a morally reprehensable fairy tale about an invisable fictional tyrant who throws a tantrum when he arranges his borg drones and blames them for what he started in the first place.

It is full of rape, incest, slavery, genocide and emotional blackmail. So you find some real places or real people, it still doesnt make magic real or make the book itself a good moral guide.

 ¹In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

 ²And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

 ³And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

 ⁴And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

 ⁵And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

So God created Heaven and the Earth in the beginning.  Did that happen on the first day?  No, since the first day didn't happen until God created light, which came after the beginning.  So God created Heaven and the Earth before the first day.  How long before the first day?  There's no way to us to tell, because God did not tell Moses.  Could it have been 14 billion years ago?  There's nothing in the Bible that would either support or contradict that contention.

You know that New York City exists. You know that George Washington existed. But if someone claimed that a man in a leotard could magically fly around New York city, how much credibility should you give that claim?

If someone claimed that George Washington farted a Lamborghini out of his ass, would you believe it?

The NT was written after the "supposed claim", of the centeral super hero. The writers were simply fans of the new cult and read the OT to make their superstitions match the older ones. Peppering real places and real beings into a myth doesnt make magic real, it merely means the writers adapted and out competed the older myth.

Otherwise the original Peter Pan book which mentions London would mean that faries exist.

 I couldn't agree more. The fact that most Christians don't know what the bible actually says, the fact that most of them quote things that, on investigation, can't be found, since it is a "belief" not  a fact that they did or said something. What most of them use is called a One concept fallacy.  The fact that most of them use the bible to validate what is in the bible, as if having been written into a book that has been revised over 35 times since it's original conception, makes me believe that it would have to be further researched. When the people of a certain group or tribe believed the earth was flat, we need to take into account that they weren't finding answers, they were passing on what the village wise man told someone. Before there was science there was no other explanation. The same people who swear up and down that the Christian God does exist because the bible says so, are using a book to verify their beliefs, but will not believe what a modern science book says.

Hi My name is Chris I am totally living for Christ because He died for me, and saved me from a life of heroin addiction and alcoholism. I submitted to Him and He has put a passion, a fire for Him inside me. Actually sir the whole Bible is true. It is the Infalable, unchangeable, Holy word of the only true God. It's funny that people who have never read the whole thing, or actually read the scripture in the context that it was written, and still say that it's fake and blaspheme the Lord. I love everyone here and I care about you, and I pray that God will soften your hearts so that you will allow Him to save you and give you the life you were created for. Everyone here knows that when you deny God or talk bad about Him, something inside you gets uneasy. If you are honest with yourself you know what I'm talking about. I invite you to reply to this, but please don't get nasty with me. Thanx Guys!

Possibly the people (some of which were probably made up), the trees (except the one with the forbidden fruit), animals, dirt, grass, sky, you know, the material things.

      King Ahab and his murderous wife Jezebel were very bad for Israel,when Elijah was brought to the king he was asked "why do you hate Israel " Elijah did not hate Israel,he disliked the King and Queen of Israel,he thought that they were bad for Israel,they were power happy and wanted the south of Israel for their kingdom.And to this day Jewish people leave a seat open for Elijah at passover . Elijah criticized King Ahab,so then in the kings mind he must hate Israel .

The one factual page of the bible http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrbill/3355282096/ If you want my advice, read that and skip the rest. If you really want to read an old story read the Illiad and the Odessey or Beowulf. Those stories are a lot better and more realistic.

I warn against falling for "history" arguments.

"This person existed or that place existed" Is a distraction away from the fantastic claims made of magic and "poof" logic, the believer ultimately wants you to swallow. My response is, so what? You can successfully argue that some people may have existed but after the fact. You could also argue that other people/places never existed. But that misses the point that magic does not exist.

We know that George Washington existed, but no sane person in their right mind goes around claiming that he could fart a real full sized Lamborghini out of his ass.

We know that the City of New York exists, but because we see Superman flying around that REAL city, no sane person thinks Superman is real.

I don't care if they can prove someone existed, my point would be "so what"? How does that prove God tapped Barry White on the shoulder and told him to play some music for Marry so he could give Mary some magical invisible hot beef injection without donating a second set of DNA.

The OT was written before the NT. The authors didn't write a word until way after the alleged death of the alleged zombie god Jesus. The authors of the NT had access to the writings of the OT which means they wrote the new stuff to retrofit to the old stuff. Peppering it with real people and real places doesn't make fiction real or magic real.

The most accurate thing you could asses is that a splinter group from the Jews wanted to make a new sect and wanted to usher in the savior. The reason Christianity became successful was because of marketing, not a real god.

The bible makes fantastic claims about how humanity started, how the earth formed. It also makes claims about magical births and magical deaths. It is full of justification of slavery, sexism and genocide. And the end of the book is all about a giant bloodbath to glorify one being. Peppering a book with allegedly real people or real places does not make magic real, nor does it justify scientific absurdity or moral bankruptcy.

Brian37, you make an EXCELLENT point that Christians keep forgetting or chose to ignore. The reason why most people think Jesus existed is NOT because of any evidence of Jesus but it's MARKETING!!

MARKETING!! MARKETING!! MARKETING!!

Christianity was a religion spready by FORCE i.e. the SWORD so they did NOT give people a choice as to whether to believe it or not since you HAD to!! Even if it they told you Bugs Bunny was real and said Bugs Bunny rose from the dead they'd believe it because you were FORCED to!

In more recent times the church simply BRIBES people to believe in fairy tales! Church missionary groups have well over a BILLION dollars to convert people to comic book fairy tales!!!

If you give me a billion dollars I'll go live in a damn church if you want me to!!

P.S. I typed the words "Marketing!!" with a larger and different font but it did not display. Why not??