…a historical record of events, a how-to book for building torture devices…etc?
A way to hoist believers up by their own petard.
there is a multiple use for a bible. yes one is a story of morals such as the known stories known as bible parables. but also as a teaching tool of what to do and not to do and how to see how scripture can relate to your own life. my favorite story is the story of ester. i don't know about torture devises. back in those days there wasn't a whole lot of ways to kill beyond swords , knives and axes bow and airs and catapults. but then i don't look into that much.
Useful for history, but so much is embelished or outright fantasy it's hard to tell whats useful. Some of the values are still relevent today (don't kill, steal etc) some less so (avoid certain meats, treat women as lesser beings) It's still an important book however you look at it
Find me anywhere in the Bible that even remotely gives you an idea of how to torture. Not there, cept the crucifixion part, but they don't have diagrams. It is completely relevant to today, take the 10 Commandments, most of our laws have a base in them, laws preventing murder, theft, and to a degree sexual sin. It is a great historical record of events as well, and our society in large is based on the Bible itself. Full of great lessons too and real world applications
