What is the most ridiculous story in the bible?

[Dawkinsrocks]

The bible is full of ludicrous stories that stretch the bounds of credibility past breaking point.

But which is the most ridiculous?

The flood is a very serious contender for more reasons than you might even imagine.

But then there are the more obscure stories.

One I like is about Joshua who was considering how tro attack the walled city of Jericho. God came up with the obvious method of blowing trumpets at it which Joshua's men did and the wall came down as predicted.

I don't know why other military commanders haven't used this obvious method of destruction.

The thing I can't work out though is why every building in which trumpets are played doesn't collapse.

 

[Dawkinsrocks]

Ok, what about this for a laugh.

Ignoring the ridiculousness of Moses finding the ten commandments, one of said commandments is 'Thou shalt not kill'.

There then follows an orgy of death and destruction. Maybe people should have said 'wait a minute....' even then.

Well, if any of it had actually happened of course.

 

[bododie]

Id rather talk about Muhammad raping little girls. Is that just a story too?

 

[Dr.Who]

The bible is full of ludicrous stories that stretch the bounds of credibility past breaking point.

And yet intelligent thinkers the world over accept them. probably because they are more ridiculous the way you interpret them than the way the smart folks do. That doesn't mean you are dumb just biased.

But which is the most ridiculous?

The flood is a very serious contender for more reasons than you might even imagine.

There are several interpretations of the flood story. Yours is no doubt ridiculous but mine is not.

But then there are the more obscure stories.

One I like is about Joshua who was considering how tro attack the walled city of Jericho. God came up with the obvious method of blowing trumpets at it which Joshua's men did and the wall came down as predicted.

I don't know why other military commanders haven't used this obvious method of destruction.

In the middle ages there were a variety of methods used to destroy walls. Most of them don't work very well today now that walls use mortar and are built better. One method was to dig a tunnel under a wall and then set a fire in the tunnel. The fire would cause the earth to collapse and thus the wall.

Jericho was the worlds first walled city. It probably had the weakest and least technologically advanced wall in history. Did the builders of the wall poor a concrete foundation? No. Did the builders make the base of the wall below ground? Did they even put a layer of rubble inside the larger exterior rocks? Did they compact the ground before they built the wall? If not then it seems very reasonable that compacting the loose soil on the outside of the wall only just might make it fall down.

But then again the point of the story is not to show that Joshua came up with a logical way to make a wall fall down. The point of the story is that God was on their side and they did not even need to use military might to win. If a miraculous event was responsible then that is no more unreasonable than saying that the universe began when nothing cause something to suddenly form in a huge "big bang."

The thing I can't work out though is why every building in which trumpets are played doesn't collapse.

You could try thinking about things rather than relying on your prejudices.

 

[foggedinn]

Is it real or is it memorex? The sound of Ella Fitzgerald's voice can shatter glass. Everything has its resonant frequency. Find the resonant freq. of the wall and it comes tumbling down. Jericho is actually one miracle of the bible that doesn't take a supernatural explanation. Any sonar tech. could explain it.

As for miracles that do require a supernatural explanation, the time the sun stayed up for an extra day at the word of Joshua, would have to take the cake.

 

[Dawkinsrocks]

Because it is possible for sound o break objects does not mean that trumpets could bring down a wall. And as I said, if they could they would be banned from public buildings.

But I take your point in general which is that even though the Jericho stroy is ridiculous there are even madder ones like the one you cited.

Andy, I'd love to hear your interpretation of the flood which put more water on the earth than is contained in all the oceans for a period of 6 weeks and then it all went away.

Maybe the kangaroos surfed back to Australia on the receding water level.

 

[Bunz]

While I am no biblical scholar, not even an interested amatuer. But the notion of a great flood is a highly probable scenario. Almost every American culture is a similar story of a great flood.
I think the notion that Noah was able to secure a pair of every animal on earth is an absurd notion, but certainly making a boat that held a breeding pair of a handful of domestic animals like sheep and poultry within reason.

What I find difficult to absorb is the virgin birth, and the resurrection.

 

[Dawkinsrocks]

What about the red sea parting on command to let the Israelites escape the pursuing Egyptians by walking along the sea bed?

That sounds perfectly reasonable.

Right I am off for my daily walk on the lake.

 

[Jarlaxle]

I've heard several theories that the great flood story came from the Mediterranean "breaking through" to the Black Sea at what is now The Bosporus. Before this happened, the Black Sea water level was much lower.

 

[Dawkinsrocks]

Oh, proof

 

[Jarlaxle]

I didn't say it happened exactly as written...I said it may well have come from that. Like any story, it gets stretched & changed over time (in this case, several millenia).

 

[Dawkinsrocks]

The story in the bible states that everyone in the world was killed and that the ark came to rest on mount Arrarat.

Due to rain.

This implies that the whole world was covered in rainwater to a depth of a mountain.

That is more water than is contained in the oceans.

Where did it go?

 

[9sublime]

Yes, rational people realise that anyone who takes the Bible literally needs to be, literally, hit round the head with the Bible until they start thinking.

Its not a new idea Dawkins. And I don't think your talking to any fundamentalist Christians here.

 

[Dawkinsrocks]

Maybe not but once anyone accepts that the bible is not literal there are at least 2 major problems for christians.

One - who can say that their interpretation is correct and on what grounds?

Two - why didn't god inspire man to write the bible accurately and in a way that wasn't so embarrassing for his followers in the first place?

 

[Dawkinsrocks]

And, most christians claim that some parts of the bible are literally true.

As science debunks the stories they just say that those are allegoricals.