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I have read the Bible cover to cover I also have a friend who teaches a Bible study weekly, while he thinks it is s much non-fiction as I see it at myth, I did say that there is ZERO evidence anywhere at all that "god" inspired, wrote, or created the Bible. None
And like many non-believers, I am open to evidence. But there has, so far, never ever once has one inkling of evidence been submitted that the Bible is the "word of god"
Now My question is why, in the 21st century, do we have less intelligent and less educated people who allow themselves to be told that it is in fact "god's word" and believe it and try to force it onto others?
I think it is time that we put away harmful and destructive myths and focus our energies on solving problems by human efforts. That means we may have to put aside outdated superstitions and concepts and focus on what actually works instead.
I have read the Bible cover to cover I also have a friend who teaches a Bible study weekly, while he thinks it is s much non-fiction as I see it at myth, I did say that there is ZERO evidence anywhere at all that "god" inspired, wrote, or created the Bible. None
And like many non-believers, I am open to evidence. But there has, so far, never ever once has one inkling of evidence been submitted that the Bible is the "word of god"
Now My question is why, in the 21st century, do we have less intelligent and less educated people who allow themselves to be told that it is in fact "god's word" and believe it and try to force it onto others?
I think it is time that we put away harmful and destructive myths and focus our energies on solving problems by human efforts. That means we may have to put aside outdated superstitions and concepts and focus on what actually works instead.
Just imagine if God allowed folks to just do what ever they want, we would have a society just like we have today.
We don't already have a society just like we have today? I'm confused by the statement.
Personally I like to imagine what it would be like if I woke up tomorrow, and everyone on the planet was a calm, rational humanist like the smart people in this section of the forum. With no one believing in any of the lame religions or traditions that they do today, Abrahamic or otherwise. Let alone violence and fervor over any of them, and theocratic government.
Talk about peace and harmony on Earth. We could finally focus on the real issues and the real human concerns and the real science and technology goals, and make some actual big progress as a species, within my lifetime.
Religion holds us back. Irrationality in all of its forms is the great poison of the world, and of the human mind.
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aLL RELIGION IS MAN MADE
Yes, and including Christianity, and the Christian God, and all of it. You just don't want to admit it.
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Biblical Christianity is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Those are imaginary people that don't exist.
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eTERNITY IS A LONG TIME.
Infinite time is a long time, yes. Good thing I don't have to worry about that, since I'll be dead in a few decades.
I wouldn't want any infinite afterlife, "eternity" scenario, even the best ones imaginable. My life began, and at some point I want it to end. And if there is some kind of afterlife, I want it to be nice, but finite. Then kindly return my consciousness back to the cosmos from which it came.
I am curious about former believers who are now non believers and what brought them to change their minds. I suppose for many it was a gradual process and it happened for many reasons.
However I am specifically interested in what Biblical story/tenet/doctrine that was the straw that broke the camel's back.
For me, there was no straw. I just one day realized I did not believe, and had not believed for some time before that.
How many of you have actually read the whole bible, cover to cover?
I always smile at this one.
People who have "read the Bible from cover to cover" remind me of somebody who runs a marathon. They are proud that they covered the distance more than anything else.
And marathon finishers don't spend a lot of time deconstructing their marathon. Neither do "cover to cover" Bible readers.
With all the on line tools available any individual can examine any part of the Bible or any Biblical concept in just seconds to minutes. Which is the best way to learn what it the Bible actually has included within it's pages.
Reading the Bible in the order of the Books to obtain a sense of history is also confusing because the Books lose their chronological order.
Reading the Bible book by book is also overwhelming in attempting to process it as some sort of book that has a message that builds upon itself.... which is frequently the claim by adherents.
And probably most importantly, if readying the Bible from "cover to cover" meant anything... Christians would be more in one accord regarding all their doctrinal stances. As it is, beyond a handful of fundamental beliefs...they get all over the place rather quickly.
How many of you have actually read the whole bible, cover to cover?
Yes, the NT in it's original Koine Greek.
I have also read many of the works by the early church fathers, and many of the gospels and Acts that never made it into the Bible.
I have also read a few of the historians from that time, including Tacitus and Josephus.
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Originally Posted by WalkintheLight
Just imagine if God allowed folks to just do what ever they want, we would have a society just like we have today.
You mean the society that does not follow the evil, immoral Biblical laws of the OT?
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Originally Posted by WalkintheLight
Religion is a joke, I agree. aLL RELIGION IS MAN MADE, BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY IS GOD MADE.
Biblical Christianity is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It's no legalism or religious garbage that enslaves.
The 'relationship' argument is just a way to pretend your religion is not a religion, because if they are false, then yours is also probably false.
The ascension story was pretty hard to swallow after learning about the vastness of the universe. Was it Carl Sagan who said, "if the ascending Jesus has been moving away from Earth at the speed of light for 2000 years, he still hasn't left our galaxy."
There's also a passage about all of the stars "falling" to earth, and obviously that's ridiculous. A single star is vastly bigger than the earth and would swallow it whole on impact.
There's also a passage about all of the stars "falling" to earth, and obviously that's ridiculous. A single star is vastly bigger than the earth and would swallow it whole on impact.
Believers are generally willing to pick and choose what they take metaphorically or literally though. Most would say that those aren't literal stars literally falling because most of them understand just what you're pointing out. But when it suits them they will say a thing is literal. It just depends on the need of the moment.
Yes. Imagine the horror of being free, as opposed to subject to authoritarian dictates. Scary, eh?
Speaking only for myself, I never felt I wasn't free behaviorally, because as a believer, the "dictates" were pretty well aligned with my own internal compass anyway. Apart from all the pearl-clutching around the margins, most of what is forbidden in holy writ is just common sense. One should not steal, murder, cheat, etc. Not because some sky wizard says so, but because they are great social harms anyway. No god needed to point that out really, and no god needed to enforce it either, as there are clearly-defined civil sanctions for those behaviors.
The freedom I revel in is freedom of thought. Nothing is unthinkable. This does not imply that everything I think I also embrace. But I can consider all the data and truth claims that come to my attention and determine my response in an evidence-based way. And my response, on balance, is far better than it was as a Christian. It isn't a small thing that people do the right things for the wrong reasons. No wonder they struggle to do the right thing, their whole motivational structure is compromised with various "because I said so" reasoning instead of "because it isn't a good tradeoff" or "it's outright harmful". Also it helps to be free to have empathy -- for others, including out-groups, and for your future self. Understanding that foregoing short-term (and somewhat illusory) pleasures for the long term benefit of your fellow man and your future self provides the motivation to be disciplined around things that require it.
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