The Apostles' Creed (Not the Nine O'Clock News)

[comsources]

The woman looks like Ramana from the Tom Baker days of Dr. Who.

[10452land]

Not at all, in anyway funny or amusing or even acceptable!!!!!

[JSBasss]

@10452land Don't know what is wrong with you, it sure amuses the heck out of me.

[mkottelenberg]

This is not funny...You are making fun of the Apostle's Creed.

[TheYellowcatt]

@mkottelenberg

Very funny, why can not religionists get that their beliefs are a joke?

[Jax132]

i'm sure this has already been mentioned somewhere but not that long ago (a few hundred years?) 'virgin' the word just meant 'young women' and so it is very likely to have been misinterpreted... sorry to rain on your church parade...

[robertgift]

Thank you, JSBasss, for providing the text.  (Could not hear well at work.)

@serviodio ALL religions, all the myriad flavors, are MAN-made myth and should be laughed at. Especially MAN-favoring HIslam and MORmONism.

[thrashattacks]

hay no entendi nada

[wildmustang184]

Im a devout Roman Catholic and I find this HYSTERICAL.

[x50calgibby]

as a Church going Christian who with the rest of my faily have many responsibitites within our church l have to say l have never found anything by NTNON to be offensive to me or my faith nor anything be the late great dave Allen and has Billy Connolly would say if God gets offended then he is not as big and as mighty as we believe then we would all be in serious trouble l believe that we are so sure and solid in our faith we can laugh at it a true test of the relationship

[awgamblin1987]

It is funny, but sad. It really points out how in many churches you can believe anything and still label yourself a Christian

[arbeitsscheuer]

I love the way gay liberation is just thrown in there amidst all the ridiculous rubbish, so brilliant. It's like they asked a bunch of 12 year olds what they thought of Christianity and Belief, and then just used the whole lot verbatim.

[ADEMruinedmylife909]

I was foolish enough to say this version of the creed a few weeks after I saw it in the 80s during a mass I attended with my father...

[seanissohot100]

it is really supposed to be fummy. well do ya'll know how unfunny you are??? this is a prayer to God, do ya'll know what am saying not a joke!!

[weirds0up]

@seanissohot100 actually, it isn't a prayer. It's a declaration of faith.

[athorist]

@seanissohot100 I have no idea what you mean, and I probably wouldn't care if I did.

[lovencare62]

I like the Catholic Apostle Creed we always said it at every mass.

[ADEMruinedmylife909]

@lovencare62 We have to say a different version of it now - no where near as good as the original!

[asmodeus585]

As my mother comes from Poland, I find the last line particularly relevant. A year after the release of this programme the Polish Communist Party introduced Martial Law (called "the state of war"), officially to "restore law and order" and stop the unrest in the nation, unofficially to do the dirty work against the Solidarity movement, because if they didn't do it themselves, then Russians would gladly help them.

[bluejeckett]

I love Not the Nine o Clock News but havent seen this one, classic, thanks for uploading

[ApostlesoYahwehUnite]

This video is great! I love Jesus.

[dead0piggy]

I wouldn't have thought that any religious person would believe in 'Gay liberation'.

[Londonfogey]

@dead0piggy , you're obviously not familiar with the contemporary CofE!

[OmegaRFox]

"No, don't laugh, it could happen..."



[BigAndTall666]

This too proves that religion is for the stupid people!

[bushuraloser]

i believe in the great Lord of all Leprechauns

[crratliff11]

y joke about GODS words

[mytimetravellingdog]

@crratliff11

cause its hilarious :)

& the book of common prayer was the work of thomas cranmer, not god

its actually quite a sophisticated topical satire partly about the changes to the book of common prayer, but it holds up well because its essentially also commenting on the stupidness of it all, the rise of new age bullshit to fill in some gaps left by the traditional bullshit which is dying out (the uk is one of the most secular & irreligious countries) however even more stupid it is

[TripeHoundRedux]

It's fantastic all round but "The Surry Panther" is just excellent as an inclusion. :D

[stripeytop777]

lol was quite funny actually

[vapourmile]

This stuff would never get on TV today. I'm prob a bit of dinosaur because I think that narrowing down acceptable targets of comedy to pretty benign matters takes a lot of the power from it. Surely, part of the service comedians provides for society is the ability to stand outside of the status-quo and the austerities we are conditioned to accept and to ridicule the very principles we bind ourselves to en masse, but deep down don't really accept. Comedy's job is to mention the unmentionable.

[wware]

@123Calvario They said "the Surrey panther" and "copper bracelets for rheumatism". A little googling indicates the "Surrey panther" was an urban legend of a wild cat wandering around Surrey, a county southwest of London. Copper bracelets are still available as folk remedies for rheumatism and other things, and their effectiveness is also questionable.

[quique2310]

i've had it wrong all my life.....

thanks for claryfing it hahahahaahahahaahaha!!!

this is completely cracking!!!!!!!

[christopherwrees]

The Alternative Service Book was just Published around this time, but I am not sure of the data.

[dirkydaring]

@123Calvario:

The 2 items are "The Surrey Panther" (after various sightings of a mysterious big cat in rural England) and "Copper bracelets for rheumatism". :)

[paolocabling]

why did the creed used as a joke? a prayer used as a joke? no way!

[JSBasss]

@paolocabling Technically, it is not a prayer.

[serviodeo]

@JSBasss it is a proclamation of faith but even still it should not be joked about.

[JSBasss]

@serviodeo Why not? Religion is every bit as jokeworthy as any other topic on this planet.

[DarkAntiU94]

@serviodeo why cant i make fun of Religion. Any thought should be a subject of scrutiny in this moder age.

[meep204]

@paolocabling They're making fun of the state of the modern Anglican Church, not the creed itself.

[ZitraStatnice]

@paolocabling Actually they're making fun of syncretism, which is just fine.

[mmasny]

@paolocabling they found their way miraculously.

[dead0piggy]

@paolocabling Because it is funny.

[MidwesternDiva]

@paolocabling I'm a Christian and I don't see a problem with this. Jesus must have had a sense of humor or no one would have listened to him.

[MultiSmartass1]

"I believe in the holy ghost, black magic, telepathy, gay liberation" funny, funny, funny.

[MidwesternDiva]

Love this video!

[123Calvario]

I'm a non-native English speaker. May anyone tell me what do they say after "the Abominable Snowman" until "levitation"? It's just two items, I think.

[JSBasss]

See information box.

[123Calvario]

Oh, I see. Thank you so much. Was it there before I asked? Because if it was, I'm gonna hide my head in the sand, like those ostriches in cartoons.

[gkavner]

They say "The Surrey Panther" and "Copper Bracelets For Rheumatism".

[roughun]

It was 'the Surrey Panther' and 'copper bracelets for rhumatism'! Still makes me laugh after all these years

[Recushio]

@123Calvario The Surrey Panther. I think it was a local legend or some big cat that escaped from the Zoo.

[ricbur123456]

@123Calvario  The Surrey panther refers to sightings of a large cat in the county of Surrey in England. Copper bracelets for rheumatism refers to some peoples belief that wearing one eases the suffering of the condition.

[Englishtenor2]

@123Calvario The Surrey Panther and copper bracelets for rheumatism...

[MasterRavenwing]

wtf... wrongness XD

[MrWeemavis]

sooo funny

[sadhustar]

"That is, if the bloody Russians don't invade Poland. Amen."

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Amen!

[rogiet3]

why does rowan atkinson annoy me so. The most unfunny person in the universe

[TheWisemonkey8]

yes it seems he has that effect on many people. I think he is rather talented. Regardless of whether one is liked or disliked it must be better than occupying a stance of sheep-like mediocrity. Kind and warm regards,

[starsky665]

how can you find Rowan Atkinson unfunny? He is simply a genius.

[MisaCantada]

This is BLASPHEMY!!!

[m1ll10n1977]

lol

[starsky665]

This isn't meant to be taken at face value, Offcourse people dont watch this and go Oh yeah! that makes sense, lets follow this guide, even though what their talking about makes more sense than actual religion. Now that, that is Blasphemy.

[Jcolinsol]

Great isn't it?

[Londonfogey]

Hilarious! Pretty much sums up my own mental reservations when saying the Creed. (not sure I believe in the Loch Ness Monster though...!)

Also, this sketch does show how much English society has changed in the last 30 years. I doubt if you would get a sketch about the Apostles' Creed and the BCP on prime time TV nowadays. You might as well make a sketch about a finer point of Moonie or Scientology doctrine for all the 'relevance' it would have to contemporary British audiences.

[sundomain]

Nice and hilarious! :)

[garywdavis6151944]

Probably the best known edited version of the Bible is that of Thomas Jefferson. His idea was to drop the prescientific whoppers and preserve the heart of Jesus' teaching.

[Malfinnien]

The Catholic Church put together an EDITED version of the Bible, which emmited several 'controversial' gospels and twisted it to suit their views. Ever heard of Thekla? Emmited from the Bible because it empowered women and did not portray men in a flattering light.

People believing the Bible is the word of God- especially as it contradicts itself at every turn- is frankly ludicrous in this day and age. It belongs in the time when we burnt people as witches and thought the earth was flat

[frmoses4]

This is simply not true. Even secular literary scholars do not agree with this rhetoric. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is closer to fiction like the Da Vinci Code than a well reasoned opinion. It is also very close minded.

[1337bard]

You're correct. I don't know why people had given you 4 thumbs down. They must not like the truth.

[palaeologos]

Perhaps we just don't like sloppy polemic and warmed-over Enlightenment rhetoric.

[orderandnumber]

Um, dude. The Catholic Church was the church that compiled the Bible. The Bible did not exist as such until the Church chose which books of which it should consist. You make it sound as though the completed Bible was in existence before the Catholic Church and the Church made changes. Not so.

By the way, it's "omitted" not "emitted." To emit means something very different to omit. To emit means to exude or release, to omit means to leave out.

[nightcrawlercyp]

Bible existed long before the schism... ok?

[palaeologos]

Really? It "emmited" them?

You are merely parroting things you've heard others say. There are so many historical inaccuracies in your post that the mind reels trying to think of which one to correct first. The "Acts of Paul and Thecla" was written in the mid-2nd century, which was some time after the rest of the NT was written. Tertullian attests to its fraudulent nature and the exposure of the fraud in his lifetime, c. AD 160.

[1401JSC]

This sketch is not mocking God, but pointing out a change in language in the different versions of the Prayer Book. 1547, 1550, 1660, 1928 (the first modern rendering of Elizabethan/restoration English) then in the 60s and 70s Series1, series 2 and Series 3. It was quite common for churchgoers to joke that the Lord's Prayer in Series 10 would be "Hiya, God" and the General Cofession reduced to "Sorry, Father".More widely, the issue is the rôle of the Church in world concerns, women priests etc

[MidwesternDiva]

@1401JSC It's also addressing that, generally, mainline Protestants are doing away with the idea of "right belief." Essentially, they aren't saying this, this, and this makes you a Christian. Maybe not a good thing...

[macthebhoy]

The Catholic church was a foremost enemy of the bible and its translators.????????

XCritonX

The Roman Catholic Church, put the bible together, copied in monasteries, then via the Guttenburg press and disseminated it to the whole of Europe and therefore the world. Had it not been for the Catholic Church the bible would not exist.

Now if you want to continue an anti-papist rant, crack on but this part of your argument is flawed.

[justthefactsmister]

I couldn't put it better myself.

[browncello]

You are spot on, friend! Well said! Some people are simply allergic to Truth!

[audesperare]

This is hilarious. I love Anglicans, if for nothing else than a good laugh.

Props to you, btw, for the defense. ;)

[nightcrawlercyp]

the bible existed long before the roman bishop decided he is better than everyone, and that he is god's voice on earth

[yomomtubes2]

What they're MOST going after, is laughter. They won mine.

[laddiebuck12]

What they're most going after, I think, is the watering-down of the Christian message to try to appeal to the masses. This is often just bad for Christians and bad for atheists. Beyond the Fringe did this too, with their sketch about the progressive preacher.

[zzukizzz]

Why Rowan Atkinson does not go for Islam like he does for Christianity? Because, he is afraid of the fate of Theo van Gogh. A hypocritical coward!

[PinkoPapist89]

This was well before the van Gogh and Rushdie cases. Islam simply wasn't considered a big issue then like it is now.

Atkinson led a coalition of writers and other artistes in opposition to the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill in 2005 which was generally supported by Muslim groups. He is no hypocrite or coward.

[dasheriff001]

I bet you are a christian who's feeling hurt. Am I right?

[vivalacony]

I would say he is a Atkinson fan

[Dusual]

I don't even think he is going after Christianity ... their is no specifically anti-Christian line in this ... He is however "going after" all forms of spirituality that lacks reason and logic .... and in general neutralization of all spiritual concepts ...

[Anastasia3001]

if he is "after" anything, it's the spirit of endless revision in anglicanism that leaves very little of the original core and has become, in a word, ridiculous. And not because he's after it. Because it's there and it's funny.

[lexo30]

This isn't going after christianity, this is going after woolly-minded agnosticism. This sketch could almost have been written by a fundamentalist christian, except that they have no sense of humour. And are you seriously pissed off with Rowan Atkinson for being afraid that he might be killed? Isn't that excessively demanding of you?

[maryade]

Perhaps it's because he doesn't know Islam or the realities and idiosyncrasies of growing up in an Islamic-dominated culture? True satire must grow from an almost innate understanding of the subject one is satirising. Comedy works best when the theme is universal enough that the majority of the audience gets it. That's why comedians change their routines from country to country or even region to region. It not necessarily down to bravery.

[valu777]

Jesus, yielded up the ghost behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying Truly this was the Son of God.

[shagybaxter]

Exactly what I was thinking.

[1Sargon0]

Perfect satire of European agnosticism!

XD

[astraman84]

I used to be able to recite this perfectly

Love it.

[Hornet85]

This is really funny. Hats off to them, I love how this show could poke fun at anything and everything no holds barred.

Thats what makes it special, and i love it very much

[zapkvr]

And russians invaded Poland a few weeks later. How prescient was that?

[piesior]

???

[WASHZOO]

Do you feel happy when you make fun of something others feel serious about? Yes, you feel happy ! Go ahead then ! Dare we laugh at a religion which is violent and revengeful;but toward Christianity, we can do anything we want! Because Chritians love their enemies ! Hahahaha ! He who laughs last laughs best !

[georgeowers]

This isn't a piss-take of Christianity in general, but of the Church of England, for its generally wishy-washiness.

[zapkvr]

You could hardly get a more violent religion than Christianity or have you forgotten the Crusades? What about the Inquisition? Yeah keep telling yourself Christians all want peace oh, that is except George W and who could forget that clown Ronald Ray Gun or even Tony Blair for crying out loud.

[fuckamericanidiot]

i've never heard rnald ray gun before, that's pretty funny

[koreanbounca]

Islam is a very violent religion,so I heard,and so were many shamanistic religions. The basis of Christianity is peace, but during the time of the crusades nobody knew what the priests were saying in latin when reciting the Bible. So, many Christians during the time only knew small things.

[Weetikveelwelkenaam]

The koran and the bible share a lot of texts, and are fundamentally identical, so they are about as violent, never heard of the spanish inquisition? (and i don't mean the one you don't expect)

[JSBasss]

Now you got me curious. Where exactly is the Spanish inquisition mentioned in the bible?

[Weetikveelwelkenaam]

Obviously it is not mentioned in the bible, the Spanish inquisition was however based on the bible, sorry if that sentence was too concise for you.

[JSBasss]

Well, as the concise person you are, you know of course that the Spanish inquisition was by no means "based on the bible" but rather "based on" greedy monarchs trying to maintain and extend their secular and religious power... Instead of Catholicism, they might as well have used the "Lord of the Rings", had it been written early enough ;-)

[Weetikveelwelkenaam]

Well, firstly the Spanish inquisition was established through a pope, the original inquisition was also founded by a pope, so no monarchs there yet. Yes, the spanish monarchy probably did use it for their own good, just as they used the church for their own good. Catholism was used as an excuse, and without quotes from the bible were used to prove their points. ps. I'd prefer the tales of La Fontaine to lotr, bit closer to the timeframe

[XCritonX]

"the Spanish inquisition was established through a pope".

Yes quite true, and what does the pope have to do with the bible? Nothing. The Catholic church was a foremost enemy of the bible and its translators. They didn't use bible quotes for anything, they preferred the words of the popes as dogma.

The Roman Pontiff is considered an independent "Christian" monarch. This is in direct violation of Jesus words that his followers would be "non part of the world", i.e. not involved with politics.

[macthebhoy]

I think you will find that the Roman Catholic Church is responsible for putting the bible together and copying it and dissemenating it to the rest of Europe via it's monks who copied it laboriously and beautifully and then utilising the Guttenburg press. There would be no Christian bible but for the Catholic Church.

Now if you want to criticise the Church in any other way, crack on, but this bit you have wrong.

[carsonh]

After the whole Martin Luther fiasco. Reformation anyone? The Catholics did quite like the practice of indulgences and keeping the bible in Latin so that the lovely masses could not read it and see that indulgences, among other terrible practices, were not biblically sanctioned.

The might have printed some afterwards but they were quite in favor of keeping people ignorant and the bible un-readable.

[palaeologos]

I might point out that until the Industrial Revolution most people weren't literate--at least to the point where they could read and understand the Bible, in the vernacular or out of it. And the proliferation of Protestant sects certainly doesn't bode well for the doctrine of scriptural perspicuity.

[frderek]

I think you will find that that was done by the Eastern Churches as much as by the Western ones in the days before the great schism. First translation was into Syriac, long before Latin.

[VulcanFleet]

@JSBasss Yeah. And God's Word shouldn't be usable to justify that sort of thing. Indeed, I'm not sure LotR would even be as good of a justification as the Bible.

Anyway: Love this video! Thumbs up.

[clairens]

@JSBasss hahahaha that's something I'd like tosee. A bloody inquisition based on the Lord of the Rings LOL

[meep204]

@clairens Nooo one suspects the Elvish inquisition!

[pergorav]

@JSBasss And as concise as everyone here claims to be everyone should do his homework and find out that the so called 'Inquisition' was the first form of a justice system that grants rights to the accused, that offered a chance to be advocated. You mustn't look at it from today's perspective. It's the Middle Ages, that's something completely different. And for the MA the Inquisition was the most modern form of jurisdiction. And now to something completely different.

[snugglebunny5000]

awesome

[deborahbetty58]

I had to laugh as well, yet at the same time it does however confronts one with the fact that the original Apostles' Creed has been defiled by non-Biblical believes in our every day lives. Nevertheless, Yah bless & Mercy

[Rumrunr815]

As an Anglican, I'm laughing so hard I'm almost crying - however episcpalians in the usa are actually proud to believe this stuff!

[gt68student]

Its all load cobbers anyway.

[scatcatpdx]

Brilliant

The future of the Episcopal Church the way thighs are going.

[scatcatpdx]

TEC were it going

;)

[fossefan]

Catholics (like me) find this funny too!

[helgatridr]

This is brilliant!!

I will trie this at my congregation

[RadicalWhig]

Sounds like a Unitarian-Universalist creed! One I could more or less agree with.

[kittinvittamin]

As a Christian I fine this hilarious!

It brings up all the "fuzzy" things in christianity :)

[gt68student]

A Christian with a sense of humour a rare thing.

[TheGamingWeasel]

I'm a christian and I found this clip and anything from Atkinson funny.

[BelgianAtheist]

I beg to differ, the whole Black Adder series (I have the DVD's), The Thin Blue Line, NTNOCN skits, all top notch but I could never have imagined he would ever fall so low when I saw the first Mr. Bean, it was a real sad day.

[fuckamericanidiot]

a lot of mr bean i don't like, but the first one is good, and certainly much much better than the thin blue line, terrible series

[Seminarys]

That's very bad, it's a Apostles Creed. Why you make an APostle Creed to be Joke ? That's the one of three Holy Creeds in Christian Church whether Roman Catholics, Anglican, Protestants, etc....

[KinglordFranon]

it's a joke, theres nothing insulting religeon in it

[Adastra14]

oh come now... :P

[intosmithereens]

Dude, why are you taking offense? I'm a Christian and I laughed like hell at that, it's my favourite sketch from NTNOCN.

[cones2005]

not sure about 5 stars

[Shell777Elect]

Wake up,before it's too late! Repent!God Will Not be Mocked!~

[merdufer]

I just got converted by this video into Christianity.

[BungleZippie]

Get over yourself extremist its comedy!

[IzDiaries]

I think I'm fully awake, thank you.

[ghfyoug]

i would really like to hav a copy of the book LOL

[jumpnjza2]

briliant.

[Ikonicre]

That is, if the bloody russians don't invade Poland.. haha.

[RowanAtkinsonBean]

Rowan Atkinson is so good at acting!

[fearsomepirate]

I would think Christian types would find this hilarious since it so perfectly encounters the weak dishwater religion of the Church of England.

[PaxInvictis]

Well, in fact it's based on all the christian speeches being done at that time in all the churches of any of the different "flavours" that christianity has/had, in all of them the pulpit was used to fustigate "those antichrist representants that only want to kill you and steal your wellfare, the communists".

[2206411411]

I recommend following this with Spitting Image's "Atheist Tabernacle Choir".

[Manofhopeandglory]

Amen ^^

[Nonregional]

Those bloody Russians.

[annenonymus]

I love the look on Rowan Atkinsons face throughout this...sort of "sheepish/serious/tongue-in-ch­eek" - but he doesn't over do it either, it's quite subtle. Brilliant.

[1987carlo]

British comedy gives the world something to live for. Thanks, Britain!

P.S.: I'm not British

[cas5aho]

On be half of england we accept your thanks

lol

[Wildeparker]

yay Britain.

Check out Bill Bailey and Dylan Moran too - if you haven't already!

[kittinvittamin]

this is lovely :)

[PaxInvictis]

This is just wordlesslly funny.

Thanks for posting.

[scarletshade]

This one was actually funny as all hell, and a keen observation of the C of E's moderate policies during the early 80s. I also enjoyed the 'Divorce' sketch and the one about 'gay christians,' both were spot-on parodies. I guess that's the definition great satire; something that gets you thinking while it makes you laugh ...

[scarletshade]

Surprised this one hasn't attracted criticism from Youtube's Christian element.

[JSBasss]

Yeah, and it's already been online for 2 months. So what, I am not afraid of extremist reactions :)

[smaakjeks]

You should post this on godtube. That's where they hang out in flanges.

[timmoyler]

Hello. I guess I'm one of YouTube's Christian element. (Anyway, I'm a committed Christian and I love YouTube.) I thought this vid was hilarious! Thanks so much for posting it.

[allblingedout]

Christian as well... my youth pastor showed this one to us, which we all got a kick out of.

Mr. JSBasss, nice work finding this one.

[SianMycock]

It might be because the extremist Christian types don't use the Apostles' Creed anyway.

[ApprenticePL]

...that is, if the bloody Russians don't invade Poland xD ROTFL

I'm christian and Polish, so just imagine my enormous ROTFL xD

[Prubbleoflakes]

not all christians are extremist. i believe you have been listening to stereotypes. i also believe in the loch ness monster, the abominable snowman, the surrey panther...

[JSBasss]

> not all christians are extremist.

Sure. Who said that they are?

[Prubbleoflakes]

3 minutes ago, there was a comment asking why the christian element of youtube wasn't extremely angry at this clip, but it appears to have vanished. hmm. for the record I think this clip is hilarious.

[JSBasss]

Seems as if YouTube's comment management is acting up a little... You probably meant this here:

(scarletshade) Surprised this one hasn't...

(me) Yeah, and it's...

So I assumed (and still do) that the term "YouTube's Christian element" refers to the more extremist kind. The kind of Christian that would feel offended by this... The kind that invades foreign countries because God told them to. The kind that gives Mr. Bin L. and his crew something to live for.

See? Stereotypes are fun ;-)

[Prubbleoflakes]

ok! :)

[Wildeparker]

I'm sure you can understand the confusion. The extremist Christians on Youtube always refer to themselves simply as Christians - they're the ones putting you all in the same boat. I'd be pissed off if I were a Christian. Extremism ruins everyone's reputation. Feminism, to name one cause, has also suffered a lot from the extremists.

Thanks for posting - does anyone have the "kitty chunks" sketch? That used to kill me when I was a kid.

[zapkvr]

Don't say Christian if you mean religoius fundamentalist. Not all Christians are raving looneys you know

[gunnarni]

I guess you're right; most people considering themselves christians choose what to believe and not in the bible, based on what corresponds best to their moral sense -- and, to a certain degree, to their rational sense. (Not many christians believe in the talking snake; a considerable amount believe Jesus came around after being dead for a couple of days though.) With that, much of the bible is regarded as allegories, saying pretty much whatever you want. Flexibility is the beauty of the bible.