Sara2001 When it comes to the Bible there is nothing like an original text.
Even the very first known parts of the Bible in "original" language where written centuries after the described events happend (if they ever happened) and it was always interpreted by the people of that time who wrote it.
Nobody who ever wrote the Bible had any first hand information. It's all guessing and hearing something from someone who heard something.
It's well known that no Bible is a collection of facts or proven information. It's a collection of interpretations.
I respect your perspective and I realise that it is a common perspective in academic circles, however I have to politely disagree. I have a scientific mind and background, I am a very logical thinker... I can say that there is clear evidence that Genesis pre-dated the time of Moses and that Moses transcribed it from clay tablets. Literary analysis makes this very clear, writing structure, vocabulary etc. make it clear it was written in progressive segments by the people who experienced the events.
The secular view is that much of the Old Testament was written sometime during the Babylonian captivity, but there is no real evidence for that, just secular theory. The names of the people mentioned in the Bible, time after time show up in archaeological digs at the places where they are historically supposed to, proving it was a historically accurate book. The Ark of Noah still exists in Turkey where it always was said to be in ancient historical accounts. The red sea crossing still has chariot remains and skeletons of Pharoahs army, and many other locations show evidence that it is historically accurate and not myth.
The New Testament was written and complete by the latter part of the first century in it's current state while the apostles were still alive and they approved the text of the New Testament complete as it is today. There is no doubt about the original text of the New Testament, people just take the variants which say what they want and make translations to suit their own purposes.
Whether you believe in the Bible is your choice, whether you believe there is a God or not is your choice and I respect that. However the Bible is all from first hand information and there is only opinion as the proof that others wrote it, there are no facts supporting that.
