Bear in mind, Masterock, that most of the mythical beasts mentioned above occur in the Old Testement - or, in other words, The Torah. Although I don't know how literally the Torah is taken, in Judaism.
You do have that right, of course. If you choose to excercise that right, it just means that you are being selective about what you believe, and means that you should not, therefore, treat the bible as being the literal truth the way some people do. That, in essense, is the entire focus of this quiz - to get people to realise that acting as the bible is the literal truth reflects badly on the millions of christians who are more rational.
I absolutely agree with you, of course. Taking any document literally (even criminal law statutes) will produce weird results most of the time... And - although considering myself to be an active catholic christian - I would take it a step farther and question the infallability of god, but that's something else.... I really like this project and the discussion it provokes. I also think it's a good argument in favour of studying Religion and the Bible in public schools, rather than only in fundamentalist Christian environments.
And yet, if they are the results of inept translation attempts, that still leaves us with a document that it might not be wise to take literally? Plus - were the original attempts genuinely wrong, or is the current discrepancy an attempt by later translaters to purge the Bible of things they personally don't believe in?
I just looked up some the references you gave in my German Bible version (Einheitsübersetzung - 'official' edition for both Catholics and Protestants in Germany). And I might object to some, if not most points:
Cats are explicitly mentioned in Baruch 6:21 in a letter by Jeremy about powerless gods in Babylon, on whose heads there are all kinds of birds, bats and cats.
Bats as Birds: Leviticus 11:19 does list bats under birds, but I don't think the point of this (ridiculous) law is to make a scientific claim about bat genealogy. It's just a rule about which animals you may not eat, grouping these animals by their habitat.
I didn't find Dragons in Maleachi 1:3, only Jackals, but, of course the Book of Revelation has them.
I didn't find Unicorns in Isiah 34:7, in fact, I didn't find them anywhere in the bible. Then I looked it up in Wikipedia. Seems like there has been a shift from the old translation to a new one meaning aurochs or bull (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn).
Same with Cockatrice: There seems to have been another shift to translate the originial term nowadays with poisonous snake.
And again the same with Satyrs which are nowadays translated as bulls in Isiah 13:21 (maybe because the original translation was flawed or plain laughable).
This is not to say that there are indeed many fabulous fairy tales in the bible (just consider the creation story, Noah's arc, giants coupling with humans, the resurrection of Christ - uOh I'll get flamed for this). Just that maybe some of the more wonderous tales might be the result of inept translation attempts...
5 out of 10. Lovely, compelling and provocative project, with extremely interesting discussions in the comments! And this is only a very small sample of the the Bible's vast fantasy-tale treasure. Now let's do the same for the Qur'an, anyone?
oh wait, is that it, your 3rd newest project? oh and by the way not only is it not on front page anymore, it has been taken off the whoole favorites list.
but seriously. A creature that eats a whale a day? Is this a joke, or is it real? Because i dont think something that eats a whale a day or a person that lives 967 (there bones would collasp)) is real.
Mayhem, I didn't move on to look at the sources, my bad! Please disregard my complaint. I never would have imagined that the creature I missed isn't even mentioned...
There Is No God, God Is The Humans Thing To Look Up To Death.. Just A Fake, Something That People Would Like To Believe Would Come But Will Not. And Another Thing, Who Wrote The Bible? MAYBE Some Guy Wrote A Fake Story And All Theys Idiots And Believing Theres Something Up There.. I Dont Know, Thinking About How People Could Believe Something So Stupid Makes Me Angery...
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I got 10 out of 10 but thats only cause I said everything was true except for cat which IS NOT TRUE!! THE CAT EXISTS AND 969 YEAR OLD DOESN'T!!!!!
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where? and in what context?
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Passage numbers are given at the end of the quiz.
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Bear in mind, Masterock, that most of the mythical beasts mentioned above occur in the Old Testement - or, in other words, The Torah. Although I don't know how literally the Torah is taken, in Judaism.
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Or maybe it was just a metaphor.
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not necessarily, coolstuff! God can do anything, and he protected Jonah.
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You do have that right, of course. If you choose to excercise that right, it just means that you are being selective about what you believe, and means that you should not, therefore, treat the bible as being the literal truth the way some people do. That, in essense, is the entire focus of this quiz - to get people to realise that acting as the bible is the literal truth reflects badly on the millions of christians who are more rational.
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2 out of ten (this test is bogus) i have a right not to believe in a unicorn and also believe in jesus!!!
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I am Christian but I think the Bible is the truth but is slightly twisted. I mean, if Jonah really got swallowed by a whale, he'd be dead.
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I'm just pointing out that a literal interpretation of the bible may not be the wisest interpretation.
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so what are you trying to say are you a christion or not
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6/10
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The BIBLE is ...REELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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but i also believe dragons and creatures of that sort are real, unlike many.
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hmmm... i believe in the bibble and that religion.
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i know ABSOULTLY nothing about this bible stuff(im obviously NOT religious) but i got 9/10? i just guessed!XD
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i got 9/10!!
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i better not tell my score : (
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5/10 in the middle
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3/10 i dont belive the bible
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9 of 10
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first time
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9/10
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A very odd stance, logan996 - there are plenty of horrible and yet real creatures that are quite deadly.
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and that test was easy god is real and no way he'd create those horrible mitholical creatures that bring death to everyone
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4/10
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2/10
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I absolutely agree with you, of course. Taking any document literally (even criminal law statutes) will produce weird results most of the time... And - although considering myself to be an active catholic christian - I would take it a step farther and question the infallability of god, but that's something else.... I really like this project and the discussion it provokes. I also think it's a good argument in favour of studying Religion and the Bible in public schools, rather than only in fundamentalist Christian environments.
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Hey dude check out 'the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy' by douglas Adams
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it explains a lot about god and stuff but also i think its cool
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And yet, if they are the results of inept translation attempts, that still leaves us with a document that it might not be wise to take literally? Plus - were the original attempts genuinely wrong, or is the current discrepancy an attempt by later translaters to purge the Bible of things they personally don't believe in?
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I just looked up some the references you gave in my German Bible version (Einheitsübersetzung - 'official' edition for both Catholics and Protestants in Germany). And I might object to some, if not most points: Cats are explicitly mentioned in Baruch 6:21 in a letter by Jeremy about powerless gods in Babylon, on whose heads there are all kinds of birds, bats and cats. Bats as Birds: Leviticus 11:19 does list bats under birds, but I don't think the point of this (ridiculous) law is to make a scientific claim about bat genealogy. It's just a rule about which animals you may not eat, grouping these animals by their habitat. I didn't find Dragons in Maleachi 1:3, only Jackals, but, of course the Book of Revelation has them. I didn't find Unicorns in Isiah 34:7, in fact, I didn't find them anywhere in the bible. Then I looked it up in Wikipedia. Seems like there has been a shift from the old translation to a new one meaning aurochs or bull (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn). Same with Cockatrice: There seems to have been another shift to translate the originial term nowadays with poisonous snake. And again the same with Satyrs which are nowadays translated as bulls in Isiah 13:21 (maybe because the original translation was flawed or plain laughable). This is not to say that there are indeed many fabulous fairy tales in the bible (just consider the creation story, Noah's arc, giants coupling with humans, the resurrection of Christ - uOh I'll get flamed for this). Just that maybe some of the more wonderous tales might be the result of inept translation attempts...
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notice how you said 'birds, bats and cats'? why would they display 'bat' as a 'bat' when it is a type of 'bird' (according to bible)
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And do you believe in all those thing, Stevii?
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i am a christain
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9/10
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1 outa ten...
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BTW, I was trying to answer not which statements I myself considered to be true, but what I believed the Bible to say...
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5 out of 10. Lovely, compelling and provocative project, with extremely interesting discussions in the comments! And this is only a very small sample of the the Bible's vast fantasy-tale treasure. Now let's do the same for the Qur'an, anyone?
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How is it rude? It asks questions to see how well you know the Bible, that is all. If you don't like the answers, don't blame me.
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VERY rude to christians.......... i hate this!
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:)
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What sakani, you jewish?!?!?!?
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2 out of 10
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3 out of 10
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10 out of ten the first time wow!!!
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oh wait, is that it, your 3rd newest project? oh and by the way not only is it not on front page anymore, it has been taken off the whoole favorites list.
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1/10. i put not real because the bat it isnt a bird. what happened to that other project of yours?
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so what is the bat? a bird with no feathers, that is untrue, but the bat is certainly real.
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Or at least, that part of it.
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So that makes me think the bible is wrong.
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yep bible wrong
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but seriously. A creature that eats a whale a day? Is this a joke, or is it real? Because i dont think something that eats a whale a day or a person that lives 967 (there bones would collasp)) is real.
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yeah!
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1/10
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9/10 =Þ
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3 out of 10 :)
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Mayhem, I didn't move on to look at the sources, my bad! Please disregard my complaint. I never would have imagined that the creature I missed isn't even mentioned...
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4 out of 10.
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sadly, only got a "2" :)
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There Is No God, God Is The Humans Thing To Look Up To Death.. Just A Fake, Something That People Would Like To Believe Would Come But Will Not. And Another Thing, Who Wrote The Bible? MAYBE Some Guy Wrote A Fake Story And All Theys Idiots And Believing Theres Something Up There.. I Dont Know, Thinking About How People Could Believe Something So Stupid Makes Me Angery...
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