BIBLE READERS--Can you relate any common misconceptions about the Bible?

Since we are approaching the "holiday season", consider these misconceptions about Christmas, and the birth of Christ.

"Christmas" is nowhere in the Bible.

The Bible does not sat there were 3 kings that came to visit baby Jesus in the manger.

It could have been 3, or 2 or 4 or more. It has been assumed there were 3 because there are three gifts listed that they brought. (Matthew 2:11)

The Bible never calls them "kings", but it calls them "wise men" (Matthew 2:1).

They did not come to the manger, but by the time they came, Jesus and his family were in a "house". (Matthew 2:11)

At this point, Jesus was called a "child" (Matthew 2:11) and not a "baby" as he was called at birth (Luke 2:12). He may have been 2 to 4 years old by the time the wise men arrived.

The Bible never states December 25 as Christ's birthday, nor does it identify any other date.

There is no Biblical authority for celebrating Christmas.

The most common misconception I see here is that the Bible mentions a global flood. It doesn't. http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/localfloo...

Another misconception is that Adam is the first name of the first man. It is actually a word that means Mankind.

There is also the misconception of what happens after you die. For the past 2000 years, the dead souls are dormant in the ground. They will be judged at the second coming. Meanwhile, the church prays for them since it is never too late to accept Jesus even after you die.

Then there is the misconception that all non-Christains go to hell. They don't. There is a reason why even non-Christians have morals and it is called NATURAL LAW. If you follow it without accepting Jesus, there is still hope.

Jer 31:33: But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law in the midst of them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Jer 31:34: And they shall teach no more every man his brother and every man his neighbor, saying, Know the LORD; for they shall all know me, from the youngest of them to the eldest of them, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sins no more.

Ok, so I think I can be only one who can answer this clearly for I have been studying Bible for many years. Here are the misconceptions before and until now:

1. People tend to interpret Bible literally and can t understand what is metaphorical figure. The Bible was written in ancient times, some part of it including the so-called 6 days of creation or the earth is the center of the universe to the last book of the Bible which is Revelation are clearly metaphorical. The Bible was written in bizzare demonstration.

2. One thing I don t really like about many Christians and some people is that they are making predictions based on the Bible, especially on the prophetic segment of it. You noticed it in internet when there are posts regarding the predictions that are connected to the scriptures which doesn t make sense at all. It s really weird you know, when this thing also became part of preaching in Churches.

3. Maybe this you will interesting, if you know some part of Christian or Judaistic belief. Maybe you may know that they say Satan was a fallen angel from the Heaven because he was filled with pride and tried to take over God so he was banished and sent on the bottom. Actually, as Bible literate, the claims that Satan or Lucifer was a fallen angel was ambiguous. I forgot the specific chapters and verses, but it is somewhere in Ezekiel and Isaiah. Christians believe the way I said to you, that Satan was a fallen angel. But, to be true, the chapters or verses were actually not referring to Lucifer but rather to some king of sort. Even if you are going to read it in different versions, you will clearly say that the chapters and verses doesn t "directly" point to Lucifer. The Bible uses pronoun, and it is very ambiguous in nature. But there is little claims in New Testament that give clues that Satan was an angel before, but those are weak points after all.

4. Jonah was not eaten by a whale, but a big fish.

5. God banished Adam and Eve because He doesn t want them to eat the fruit of life which gives them immortality.

6. Mary Magdalene was not the prostitute Jesus defended from religious authorities.

7. This is another interesting, the story of prostitute that is about to be executed by stoning doesn t actually belong to Greek manuscripts on which the Bible was based. So where did it come from? How come the story passed the canon when it doesn t belong to ancient manuscripts? You will see this story of prostitute in the Bible with note on it.

8. Sodom and Gomorrah was thought by many Christians is the land of gay and lesbians that s why God destroyed it. Actually, the Bible say God destroyed the land because of "sexual acts of imorrality", not because the settlers are just gays or lesbians.

The big picture: That it's ALL nonsense. The intellectually honest should acknowledge that much of the bible is historically accurate, as verified by archaeology and secular history.

Specifics: A big one is that the Bible says the world is flat. It doesn't. Not unless you, for instance, mean that YOU believe the world is flat when you say your friends and family are flung to the four corners of the earth.

It is more than mythology. that is a serious misconception, ans is without merit, yet they persist.

It is a fine book of mythology, like the Norse mythology.

The misconception is in embellishing it's value as something it is not, the words of some god thing.

It certainly is not that.

Common misconceptions?

In a country dominated by Christians?

You need to check your persecution meter, it is broken and registering more than 0.

Misconceptions are rampant because people bring their own biases to the Bible. However, when one allows the Bible to define itself and be its own commentary, then there will be no misconceptions. Remember to always keep God's character clean and not consider He is lying.

The words (The truth) are in the Bible.

The truth is in the Bible

One misconception is that the bible was written by ignorant goat herders. That is just so incorrect -- they were sheep herders.

The main misconception is that it's not 100% TRUTH.