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Atheists have a secret weapon in their arsenal of keeping people from becoming Christians and surprisingly it is the most unlikeliest of weapons: the Holy Bible.
Atheists' pitch is simple, "Just read the Bible cover to cover". Richard Carrier, bestselling author/atheist of such books as "On the Historicity of Jesus Christ" following a friend's advice when he was on a spiritual quest, did just that and as he recounts it when he finished chapter 22 of Revelation and closed the book he said to himself, "Yep, I'm atheist".
Why does the Bible turn people into atheists? Why aren't more Christians turning to atheism? The second question is a little easier to answer: the Bible is the most respected, more revered, the biggest bestseller in the world. Not surprisingly, it is also the least read. In other words 98% of homes in America have a Bible and it sits on the bookshelf year after year collecting dust. Why don't people read it? If you poll them they'd like say, "It's too confusing" or "It's too bloody" or "It's too sexually explicit".
Church-going Christians never hear the unsanitized verses like
Quote:
If two men fight together, and the wife of one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of the one attacking him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the genitals, then you shall cut off her hand; your eye shall not pity her.
I think the churchgoers would be more put-off by the injustice of a woman losing her hand just to save her husband than the actual mention of the word, "genitals" though that word would still be offensive enough to make the mothers cover their children's ears. Pity the poor pastor who was stupid enough to give a sermon on any of the more than 5,000 offensive verses. He'd be out of a job Monday morning.
Quote:
I was recently having a discussion with an atheist who had grown up in a Christian family and had gone to church for the first twenty years of her life. But she became an atheist in her 20s.
When I asked her why she became an atheist, she said, “I started reading the Bible.”
I think it's sad that the insistence by some Christians that the bible is the infallible "Word of God" would cause a person who read it and found it sorely lacking, to determine that that closed the case on the question of the existence of God.
Atheists have a secret weapon in their arsenal of keeping people from becoming Christians and surprisingly it is the most unlikeliest of weapons: the Holy Bible.
Atheists' pitch is simple, "Just read the Bible cover to cover". Richard Carrier, bestselling author/atheist of such books as "On the Historicity of Jesus Christ" following a friend's advice when he was on a spiritual quest, did just that and as he recounts it when he finished chapter 22 of Revelation and closed the book he said to himself, "Yep, I'm atheist".
Why does the Bible turn people into atheists? Why aren't more Christians turning to atheism? The second question is a little easier to answer: the Bible is the most respected, more revered, the biggest bestseller in the world. Not surprisingly, it is also the least read. In other words 98% of homes in America have a Bible and it sits on the bookshelf year after year collecting dust. Why don't people read it? If you poll them they'd like say, "It's too confusing" or "It's too bloody" or "It's too sexually explicit".
Church-going Christians never hear the unsanitized verses like
I think the churchgoers would be more put-off by the injustice of a woman losing her hand just to save her husband than the actual mention of the word, "genitals" though that word would still be offensive enough to make the mothers cover their children's ears. Pity the poor pastor who was stupid enough to give a sermon on any of the more than 5,000 offensive verses. He'd be out of a job Monday morning.
Weird. I read the Bible and became a Christian. I know of others that did, as well.
I suppose you need to put a little effort into understanding it. That seems to be a common area that atheists (at least the ones I've talked to) seem to be lacking in .
I'm going to preach tomorrow on 1 Timothy 2. I'm actually going to read the passage saying women should be quiet and submissive in church. Yes--I do cover all areas of the Bible. Even the "offensive ones". They're not that offensive when you put them in context.
Weird. I read the Bible and became a Christian. I know of others that did, as well.
I suppose you need to put a little effort into understanding it. That seems to be a common area that atheists (at least the ones I've talked to) seem to be lacking in .
I'm going to preach tomorrow on 1 Timothy 2. I'm actually going to read the passage saying women should be quiet and submissive in church. Yes--I do cover all areas of the Bible. Even the "offensive ones". They're not that offensive when you put them in context.
Vizio, are you telling me you picked up a Bible, read it cover to cover WITHOUT any external influences on HOW it should be read or WHAT you are supposed to see in there and you became a Christian?
Weird. I read the Bible and became a Christian. I know of others that did, as well.
I suppose you need to put a little effort into understanding it. That seems to be a common area that atheists (at least the ones I've talked to) seem to be lacking in .
I'm going to preach tomorrow on 1 Timothy 2. I'm actually going to read the passage saying women should be quiet and submissive in church. Yes--I do cover all areas of the Bible. Even the "offensive ones". They're not that offensive when you put them in context.
Yes, they are - to educated, rational, mature, empathetic, intelligent people.
Weird. I read the Bible and became a Christian. I know of others that did, as well.
I suppose you need to put a little effort into understanding it. That seems to be a common area that atheists (at least the ones I've talked to) seem to be lacking in .
I'm going to preach tomorrow on 1 Timothy 2. I'm actually going to read the passage saying women should be quiet and submissive in church. Yes--I do cover all areas of the Bible. Even the "offensive ones". They're not that offensive when you put them in context.
I said in another thread a holy book that is trying to teach a person something should not be divisive enough to make one person believe and another person disbelieve. A book overseen by God would break free of the foibles of man's limited abilities to translate and in any language what the bible is trying to teach would be as clear as glass.
I said in another thread a holy book that is trying to teach a person something should not be divisive enough to make one person believe and another person disbelieve. A book overseen by God would break free of the foibles of man's limited abilities to translate and in any language what the bible is trying to teach would be as clear as glass.
Why is your opinion of such the standard? Is not a sovereign God allowed to do what he wants with his creation?
Atheists have a secret weapon in their arsenal of keeping people from becoming Christians and surprisingly it is the most unlikeliest of weapons: the Holy Bible.
Atheists' pitch is simple, "Just read the Bible cover to cover". Richard Carrier, bestselling author/atheist of such books as "On the Historicity of Jesus Christ" following a friend's advice when he was on a spiritual quest, did just that and as he recounts it when he finished chapter 22 of Revelation and closed the book he said to himself, "Yep, I'm atheist".
Why does the Bible turn people into atheists? Why aren't more Christians turning to atheism? The second question is a little easier to answer: the Bible is the most respected, more revered, the biggest bestseller in the world. Not surprisingly, it is also the least read. In other words 98% of homes in America have a Bible and it sits on the bookshelf year after year collecting dust. Why don't people read it? If you poll them they'd like say, "It's too confusing" or "It's too bloody" or "It's too sexually explicit".
Church-going Christians never hear the unsanitized verses like
I think the churchgoers would be more put-off by the injustice of a woman losing her hand just to save her husband than the actual mention of the word, "genitals" though that word would still be offensive enough to make the mothers cover their children's ears. Pity the poor pastor who was stupid enough to give a sermon on any of the more than 5,000 offensive verses. He'd be out of a job Monday morning.
Thrill, I often think it is more complex than just picking up a Bible and reading it. When it is presented as a simple thing, many Christians will try to tell you that you did not read it the way it is supposed to be read. In fact, they will go off the deep end and tell you that the reason you MISread the bible or did not get it was because you did not allow the holy spirit to guide you or open your eyes to their...um, it's truths.
We live in a socialized Christian society. Whether we are Christians are not, I would venture to say that MOST of us have SOME concept of what Christianity teaches, even if just in passing and the older you are, the more you are more likely to be familiar with the basics:
1. There is one god and he created the heavens and earth and created the first humans
2. He has a son by the name of Jesus and he died on a cross for people's wrongdoings and you can be saved from your sins by accepting him or at least going to church and engaging in rituals.
3. There is a bad place called hell and there is a good place called heaven. Whatever you think they are, you want to go to one and not the other.
4. There are some people called the Jews this god loves.
5. Jesus is coming back to clean up the world and make things right for eternity.
Now, say you take the time to actually listen to someone peddling Christianity via the bible. Because you have already been casually socialized, even by movies (The 10 Commandments, The Passion of the Christ, the multitude of Easter movies about Jesus) or Christmas carols, your mind is already bent toward WHAT you think the bible is saying. It is now just up to you to believe the basic parts you are being sold:
1. You're a *******. Don't you feel really bad about being born and hurting God's feelings?
2. Jesus wants to unschmuck you so accept him and then he will do so and make God happy with you again.
3. Come to our church, read our material, accept OUR idea and concept of God and you will be in the right.
Now, an added bonus for the peddlers would be if you are going through some crap, recently lost a loved one or find yourself a mess. In such vulnerable positions, you are likely to be very receptive to "good news" about magic prayers that can move a deity on your behalf or that you can meet your lost loved one in some otherwordly place of bliss.
Now, with all of that said, if you have a more than average level of intelligence and have a more than cursory knowledge of human history INCLUDING religious history, you are more inclined to read the bible critically and more from a historical or just literary position than a devotional one. In THAT case, the book will not be converting you because it is already perceived as a book on par with the Illiad.
Why is your opinion of such the standard? Is not a sovereign God allowed to do what he wants with his creation?
First, define God.
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