When I was a believer it was a general guide, I never thought it was the actual word of God and always knew that it was written by men, but I thought God may have inspired them. Most recently I have used a pocket bible that I picked up from a street preacher as rolling paper. Always wanted to light up John 3:16. It was very satisfying.

For me the bible is an inside look at the culture from the era in which it was written. Not completely historical but a written document of societies attempt at creating an acceptable life within the confines of their knowledge.

a waste of a tree

A story book

Its just a book in my eyes. Filled with a lot of scrap.

fire wood.

The bible is BS to me.

Just another book with stories contrived to a specific agenda, such as men superior to women, whites over blacks, and also meant to rule by fear of a vengeful god.

The Bible is 100% accurate, if thrown at close range.

I think the Bible is a collection of stories that are mostly fictitious, although some aspects may have been based on actual events.

For instance, the great flood of Noah. At the end of the last ice age, the ocean levels rose and filled in the areas now known as the Mediterranean and Red Seas. The floods happened several thousand years before writing was invented, so the stories got carried down by word of mouth, and as the stories were told one could imagine a child asking questions, like "how did the animals survive?" After all, in that time period most people did not stray all that far from where they were born. To have such an area flood would seem like the entire world got flooded to them. So, over time the real story of what happened got (mostly) lost.

The story of the tower of Babel was based in the city of Babylon (Babel in the Bible). They built many towers, but there was one tower left unfinished for at least two hundred years. And so, somebody made up a story as to why it was not finished. Most likely to, once again answer the questions of children about the story being told. However, after over two hundred years of being unfinished, the tower actually was finished. (Oops). We also know that languages evolve and change over time. So, it is easily proven that the story of the tower of Babel was made up. (I am assuming people are familiar with the story).

With stories about Jesus.... I think there was a person who wrote fiction who asked, "what if one of our common "miracle workers" came to believe he was the messiah prophesized by the Jews?" So he wrote something close to what became the book of Mark, which had not virgin birth and no resurrection, but just had a guy who became deluded about who he was and got crucified. End of story. But wait, there's more...

As it turned out the book of Mark was popular.

When Cervantes wrote "Don Quixote" which was also popular, there were all kinds of people who wrote additional stories using the same characters to try to "cash in" on a popular story.

So, the same thing happened with the story of Jesus even if a lot earlier. Lots of people told similar stories, incorporating ideas from religions of the time, such as a birth without sex, the three wise men who followed a star, and added in miracles like raising the dead, walking on water and turning water into wine. Most of which were popular story themes of the time period. They also would tell the same story form different points of view. There were more than three dozen versions of the story within a very few years. Later, four of those stories were chosen, because they had the fewest contradictions although there are still quite a few. They were looking to create a consistent narrative, and then banned all other versions and ordered them to be destroyed. They managed to destroy some, but many survived and are known as the Gnostic gospels. One, the gospel of Judas, which was deemed heresy, was only recovered with the Dead Sea Scrolls, and is the only known surviving copy, which tells a very different story from a much different perspective.

Anyway. I think it (the bible) is all fiction with very little truth or wisdom in it.

Like all "holy" books it contains some observations of how people behave and does co9ntain some universal truths, but they are very few and far between. I see religious people latching on to the little nuggets of wisdom convinced there has to be a lot more. Kind of like a person who finds a coin on a dirt path and starts to dig a hole convinced he will find more coins there, until he digs a hole so deep he can no longer get out, and he has very little light coming in through the opening at eh top of the hole to see clearly by.

A waste of trees, and a money controlling tool, nothing more. Only the strong will break free and see it for what it is: a joke and allow themselves to be free..

The most confusing and painfully dull book ever written. Some people (believers and non) make a big stink about having not only read it (all of it!!!) but also understanding it. I think they are either liars or they desperately need to make friends and get a life.

The bible is a book of hate that manipulate people into doin unhumanistic things and have lower compassion for those that are not under its control.

The bible was written in in a language that can be interpreted and translated in many ways buy the one who is reading it. Also there were many things left out of the bible. So it is some ancient writings that are translated and described by many with many different outcomes along with many parts porously omitted. And its a hard read and very strange story.

simply a collection of stories handed down orally for many years, then put into print, and edited as needed. in other words, just a book.

Absolutely nothing, zero relevance.

Use it as a feminine product for my menses. Oh...wait, this supposed God is the one who cursed me and all women with a period since the fall of Eve in the first place.

Interesting mythology, along the same lines as Bullfinch's "Age of Fable".

Wait... I like that Harry Potter bible idea. I'd pray to the almighty Dobby. Saint Hagrid has a nice ring to it.

The Goat Herder's Guide to the Galaxy.

It is a combination of books that reflect some identity issues of Christians and Jews. It was also impacted by Zoroastrianism. It has some good literature, but religious people, looking for a quick fix, are unable to find. There is some really horrible stuff in scripture as well. Discernment skills are necessary if one wishes to get the good out of biblical literature. Reifying or turning texts into doctrinal truths is to head off amuck. The Bible is a vast undertaking often undertaken by a halfvast people.

Toilet paper!

It's a book that I read most of while attending university. Other than that, it's a collection of stories that may or may not have value to the reader. In the right hands, it's a foundation for some interesting discussions. In the wrong hands, it's a brutal weapon.

The cause of centuries of division.

An old fiction book that is considered to be true by vested interests, and a large number of people who believe the vested interests, that the book is true.
It is the same for all religious texts.