Questions tagged [religious-texts]

texts which various religious traditions consider to be sacred, or central to their religious tradition.

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14 votes
3 answers
11k views

Does Revelation 21 demonstrate pre-scientific knowledge about precious stones?

Revelation 21:19-20 (NIV) lists twelve kinds of precious stones that make up the city walls of the New Jerusalem: Jasper, Sapphire, Agate, Emerald, Onyx, Carnelian, Chrysolite, Beryl, Topaz, ...
35 votes
3 answers
20k views

Did the Quran predict the speed of light?

It appears to be popular to claim that the Qur'an predicted the speed of light before it was scientifically well understood. Although none of the sources state that outright, that is what they imply. ...
6 votes
3 answers
13k views

Is the name of Prophet Muhammad mentioned in the Bible?

Is the name of the Prophet Muhammad or Ahmad mentioned in the Bible? Does Jesus predict the coming of Muhammad in the Bible? This video (part 2) is an example of this claim. Here is a quote of a ...
7 votes
1 answer
954 views

Is this the Oath to become a Master Mason?

In Freemasonry, the third degree that one may obtain is called Master Mason. I found a book claiming to contain the rituals and oath that the Mason has to perform. The book is called "Duncan's ...
10 votes
3 answers
13k views

Is the Bible the most shoplifted book?

Looking at several 'fun facts' pages, the claim of the Bible being the most shoplifted book appears on several of them. Example 1, Example 2, Example 3 Example 4 The Bible, the world's best-selling ...
22 votes
1 answer
14k views

Did a magnitude 8.2 earthquake hit Jerusalem in 33AD?

A Telegraph article makes an interesting claim, in a discussion about the Shroud of Turin: However a new study claims than an earthquake in Jerusalem in 33AD may have not only created the image but ...
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

Did the ten plagues take place in Ancient Egypt?

Inspired by this question. Is there any extrabiblical evidence that any or all of the ten plagues occurred as outlined in Exodus 7:14-11:10? Particularly, any evidence in Ancient Egyptian records?
33 votes
3 answers
4k views

Did the Hebrew exodus from Egypt ever happen?

The Book of Exodus describes a movement of the Hebrews from Egypt, through the desert, and into the Palestine/Israel region. It also describes a number miracles, such as the ten plagues and the ...
20 votes
3 answers
4k views

Did a Jewish rabbi precisely calculate the duration of the full moon cycle 1800 years ago?

Attempting to prove to me that Judaism is the only true religion, a friend of mine read to me from a book titled, The Coming Revolution, that the Zohar (a 2nd/3rd century CE commentary on the Torah ...
14 votes
3 answers
3k views

Did William Shakespeare help make the KJV bible?

Many believe because of the placement of specific words in Psalm 46 that William Shakespeare helped in the translation of the King James bible to English. In 1610, the year of the final editing ...
35 votes
3 answers
8k views

Are any notable biblical characters historical figures?

Are any of the *main** characters who appear in the Bible that are real historical people, their existence supported by multiple sources. In addition do their actions in the Bible support or ...
19 votes
1 answer
6k views

Was the character of Lilith written out of the Bible?

I came across Lilith in the graphic novel Lucifer, but it seems she is mentioned in Jewish mythology Babylonian Talmud among other texts. The story goes Lillith was in the original creational ...
12 votes
1 answer
3k views

Is the Bible (Christian and Hebrew) the first one to suggest that the Earth is a sphere?

This website claims that the bible is the first to suggest that earth is a sphere way before the Greeks. A literal translation of Job 26:10 is “He described a circle upon the face of the waters, ...
18 votes
1 answer
2k views

Were technologically advanced artifacts found at the Durupinar "ark" site?

My social media stream lately has been awash with claims about items supposedly discovered at a site discovered by Turkish army captain Llhan Durupınar in 1959 that is believed by some to be the final ...
20 votes
3 answers
2k views

Did "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife" originally refer not to sex but to housework?

In "Debt: The First 5000 Years" by David Graeber, there is a claim on page 129: Even in the Bible, the admonition in the Ten Commandments not to "covet thy neighbor's wife" clearly referred not to ...
-4 votes
1 answer
1k views

Do Jews mostly descend from Shem, son of Noah?

I mean, I am not exactly a creationist. However, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shem How come we have a race called "semite" as in anti-semite? It's as if people think that those people are descendant ...
39 votes
4 answers
6k views

Are rape victims forced to marry their rapist, according to the Old Testament?

(Copied from http://www.theliberaloc.com/2012/05/14/traditional-marriage-according-to-the-bible/) Relevant portion of the text: Marriage = Rapist and His Victim (Deuteronomy 22:28-29) Virgin ...
5 votes
1 answer
652 views

Are the various claims regarding Ancient Indian Science made in the AICTE/MHRD new book "Bharatiya Vidya Sar" for a Indian Elective Course true?

This question is based on the following petition and this and this news article. Background The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has proposed a new textbook that will discuss the ‘...
13 votes
2 answers
2k views

Are there no camels in the Qur'an?

It seems to be an often-repeated saying that "there are no camels in the Koran". But I just repeated this factoid in the presence of a guy from Syria who insisted it's not true and that there is a ...
7 votes
1 answer
2k views

Is the New Testament significantly corrupted from its originally intended form?

I have seen "evidence" that we know with a great degree of certainty and accuracy what the original New Testament bible said. This is to say, we know what the original authors wrote. I'm not sure how ...
25 votes
2 answers
3k views

Has the Quran (the recitation) been preserved since Muhammad?

Islamic scholars claim that Quran's preservation is the one of the most miraculous aspects of Quran. In fact, a major reason for muslims to believe in the Quran was the preservation of Quran, which is ...
10 votes
1 answer
837 views

Are the Claims of Edward Carpenter (and others) historically accurate regarding the Zodiac and biblical interpretation?

In Edward Carpenter's, "Pagan & Christian Creeds : Their Origin and Meaning" one of the claims is made that the golden calf story in Exodus is allegorical due to the astrological turning of the ...
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

Did Winston Churchill say the King James Bible had been translated into more than 760 languages?

In the Jack Chick video "Where was the Bible before 1611? How can we know God endorsed the KJV?" (linked here), this claim is made: You know, Winston Churchill said that the King James Bible had ...
41 votes
2 answers
65k views

Is there a place in the world where two oceans meet and they don't mix?

This picture is currently being spread virally: Some Muslims were saying that this is mentioned in the Quran where it is said: He has set free the two seas meeting together. There is a barrier ...
20 votes
1 answer
2k views

Do certain religious traditions believe that Eve had sex with the Serpent?

On p.169 of my edition of de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, she includes a footnote remarking The moon is a source of fertility; it is seen as the "master of women"; it is often believed that the moon, ...
44 votes
5 answers
9k views

Does the Quran advise men to beat their wives if they disobey them? [closed]

I found this post on Reddit in which it is mentioned that the Quran advises men to beat their wives if they do not obey them. This is a quote from the link: Surah 4:34: "Men are in charge of women ...
39 votes
2 answers
9k views

Are there textual deviations between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Old Testament?

This article claims: Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls has increased the faith of Bible-believers. Why? Because they prove that the hand-copied texts that have come down from the Masoretic scribes ...
4 votes
1 answer
363 views

Was the Pentateuch dated back to the second millenium B.C.E?

This source claims, and walks through proof, that the 5 Books of Moses (Pentateuch) date all the way back to at least the era of Joshua ~1200 years B.C.E. Is this really true?
6 votes
2 answers
8k views

Did the Qur'an predict the defeat of the Persians at the Battle of Issus?

The Wikipedia page of the Qur'an and Miracles states Some Muslims believe that the Qur'an predicted many events years before they happened. They argue that such prophecies are proof of the ...
38 votes
1 answer
42k views

Has a "chariot army" been found at the bottom of the Red Sea?

It's apparently quite a popular story to "disprove doubting Atheists" regarding the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea by the Israelites during the Exodus of the Hebrew bible that in the ...
11 votes
1 answer
2k views

Are Muslims allowed to deceive non-Muslims through a practice called Taqiyya?

This is a pretty notable claim. Examples (the sites are, predictably, pretty anti-Islamic to put it mildly, so the language at the links may be harsh to extreme) Taqiyya ("al Taqiyya") is the ...
23 votes
1 answer
49k views

Has anyone ever memorized the entire bible?

I remember hearing an old legend growing up that Noah Webster (author of the American Dictionary) memorized the entire bible. The claims seem dubious and difficult to prove. Has anyone ever memorized ...
18 votes
4 answers
9k views

Is eating cloven-hoofed animals, bottom-feeders or ruminants bad for you?

The Torah and Talmud claim (and I have Christian friends that also claim) that eating animals that are bottom-feeders or ruminants—That is, eat the crud off the sea-floor, like shrimp, or digest ...
71 votes
3 answers
21k views

Did Moses live?

Moses is, arguably, the most significant prophet in Judaism and is credited with leading the enslaved Jewish population out of Egypt and into the promised land. Aside from the Torah, are there any ...
28 votes
3 answers
3k views

Does the Torah-encoded age of the universe match science?

Dr. Gerald Schroeder published an article in Aish.com about the age of the Universe and the Jewish bible: So the only data I use as far as Biblical commentary goes is ancient commentary. That ...
8 votes
1 answer
3k views

Were snakes an ancient symbol of wisdom, fertility, and immortality?

Here is a quote from The New Oxford Annotated Bible, NRSV, with Apocrypha, discussing Genesis 3:1 This characterization of the snake emphasizes his wise craftiness, a characteristic that ...
10 votes
1 answer
3k views

Do the Mediterranean and Strait of Gilbraltar have scientifically explicable different salinities, flora and fauna?

I am curious about a phenomena (supposedly confirmed by J. Cousteau) that is said, by a Facebook page, to support some quotes in the Quran. They say that some seas do not join and mix with each other ...
12 votes
0 answers
995 views

Did Saddam Hussein have a Quran written in blood?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Quran http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/19/saddam-legacy-quran-iraqi-government "The "Blood Qur'an" is a copy of the Islamic holy book, the Qur'an, claimed ...
0 votes
1 answer
5k views

Is the Old Testament based on Bronze-Age myths?

Lately I have been reading a lot about the origins biblical stories, and I have noticed that a lot of people mock the bible and the christians by telling them that they follow bronze age myths/beliefs....
8 votes
1 answer
1k views

Was a duel between representatives of the fighting armies an accepted way to end armed conflicts in ancient time?

The bible describes the battle between Goliath and David as a dual between two champions each represents his side fighting between them selves to determine the outcome of a battle. The same is ...
8 votes
2 answers
2k views

Do the key Abrahamic holy books claim that their god is omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent?

The claim that the Abrahamic god is omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent is popular among theologians, practitioners of Abrahamic religions and atheists alike (I am referring to the idea of god, ...
-6 votes
3 answers
2k views

Are pet RFID chips (eg: "HomeAgain") capable of fulfilling Revelations 13:16-17?

Regardless of the veracity of the Christian bible in general, could the technology behind the microchips (RFID tags) implanted into pets--used to re-unite lost pets with their owners--be used to track ...
20 votes
2 answers
3k views

Was Jesus crucified?

Assuming Jesus was a real person, it is a generally accepted fact that he died on a cross. On the other hand, Jehovah's Witnesses are of the belief that the crucifixion of Jesus is a mistranslation ...
14 votes
2 answers
4k views

Have there been documented cases of "blood pumping from the trunks of trees"?

Several British news reports (including the BBC "Bleeding trees") describe trees issuing red blood-like liquid when cut. Once the stuff of myth and legend, modern day eye-witnesses now catch on ...
5 votes
3 answers
4k views

Is the mustard seed the smallest of seeds?

From Matthew 13:31-32, 31 He [Jesus] put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, ...
22 votes
1 answer
3k views

Has Noah's ark been discovered in Turkey?

I found this website claiming that noah's ark has been found. Is there any archaeological or historical evidence to support or deny this claim? Related Question: Could a Great Flood have happened?
7 votes
1 answer
560 views

Do hares chew cud?

In Leviticus 11:6, a hare is referred to as a "chewer of the cud." What evidence is there on this matter? It is not necessary, strictly speaking, that the evidence be on chewing cud in the same sense ...
16 votes
2 answers
2k views

Does the new Testament claim that Mary, mother of Jesus, was a virgin?

I have read from quite a few sources stating that there was a mistranslation in the Bible, calling Mary a "virgin" instead of a "young, marry-able woman". It would be interesting to know about such a ...
26 votes
1 answer
8k views

Do the majority of Americans take the Noah's ark story from the Bible literally?

From Most Americans take Bible stories literally: An ABC News poll released Sunday found that... ...Sixty percent believe in the story of Noah’s ark and a global flood This claim is often repeated,...
22 votes
1 answer
16k views

Was marriage defined as "selling your daughter for three goats and a cow" in the Bible?

The organisation Planting Peace recently put up a billboard in controversial county clerk Kim Davis' hometown: Dear Kim Davis, The fact that you can't sell your daughter for three goats and a cow ...