Does the Bible make people atheist? - Libby Anne

[Saturn500]

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2012/06/does-the-bible-make-people-atheists.html

An ex-fundie asks: will Christians who read the Bible become atheists?

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Not if they're fundies! They live and breathe the Black Book!

[Barbarella]

The Bible, especially the OT would make any sane person question their faith, that's for darn sure!

Fundies, however, are not sane people.

[Rime]

Fundies like to use the bible as if it's some shortcut to holiness.  The problem with this is it is exactly the kind of behaviour that Jesus was frequently confronted with and walked all over in the Gospels.

A favourite quote regarding New Rabbis:

Real Live Preacher wrote:
The truths of the bible are utterly beyond anyone who seeks to own truth and who seeks truth above the Spirit of God.

The bible is not a book for those who need a weapon. It is not a book for those who know where they are going and what questions they will ask. It is not a book for those who are in a hurry and looking for the shortest route.

The bible is a book for pilgrims and wanderers. It is a book for children and for those who wish to become children again. It is a book for seekers and searchers and dreamers.

It is a book for anyone and everyone who hopes that the desires of God might be written upon their hearts.

Even if I don't believe in God, I can totally support this.

[N. De Plume]

Real Live Preacher wrote:
The truths of the bible are utterly beyond anyone who seeks to own truth and who seeks truth above the Spirit of God.

The bible is not a book for those who need a weapon. It is not a book for those who know where they are going and what questions they will ask. It is not a book for those who are in a hurry and looking for the shortest route.

The bible is a book for pilgrims and wanderers. It is a book for children and for those who wish to become children again. It is a book for seekers and searchers and dreamers.

It is a book for anyone and everyone who hopes that the desires of God might be written upon their hearts.

Even if I don't believe in God, I can totally support this.

It seems to me that if I wished to become a child again that I would have to read the Bible rather selectively. There are a hell of passages strike me as counterproductive to that goal.

[Old Viking]

If it were not for its identity, the Bible is a book that no decent person would have in the house.

[ThunderWulf]

Hell, reading the bible as a whole is a large part of what made me start doubting my faith.  Most fundies though will never actually read enough the bible enough to realize that though.

[Art Vandelay]

I find it rather interesting that, within a huge group of people that sincerely believe the Bible contains teachings that determine whether you're tortured for all eternity or not, people who've actually read it cover to cover are the exception rather than the rule. If I honestly believed in Christianity, you'd better believe I'd make reading the whole Bible a top priority.

[Sylvana]

I used to be borderline fundie, I started reading the bible properly during one home cell evening and as a result I finally abandoned my faith. Reading the bible properly is probably one of the fastest ways to loose ones faith as you see it for the manipulative words of old men trying to control others through religion. At that point with the only source for Christianity being seen as flawed and unreliable one can only take the next step and find Christianity as a whole unfounded.

[Rime]

Real Live Preacher wrote:
The truths of the bible are utterly beyond anyone who seeks to own truth and who seeks truth above the Spirit of God.

The bible is not a book for those who need a weapon. It is not a book for those who know where they are going and what questions they will ask. It is not a book for those who are in a hurry and looking for the shortest route.

The bible is a book for pilgrims and wanderers. It is a book for children and for those who wish to become children again. It is a book for seekers and searchers and dreamers.

It is a book for anyone and everyone who hopes that the desires of God might be written upon their hearts.

Even if I don't believe in God, I can totally support this.

It seems to me that if I wished to become a child again that I would have to read the Bible rather selectively. There are a hell of passages strike me as counterproductive to that goal.

He also wrote in another essay that said it's read it critically and selectively or you're lying to yourself and everyone else.  The big point of putting that excerpt there was that people who try to own the truth and use the Bible as a lever or some sort of rulebook are the exact same people 2000 years ago who would have been trying to push Roman soldiers out of the way so they could drive in the nails themselves.

[N. De Plume]

Real Live Preacher wrote:
The truths of the bible are utterly beyond anyone who seeks to own truth and who seeks truth above the Spirit of God.

The bible is not a book for those who need a weapon. It is not a book for those who know where they are going and what questions they will ask. It is not a book for those who are in a hurry and looking for the shortest route.

The bible is a book for pilgrims and wanderers. It is a book for children and for those who wish to become children again. It is a book for seekers and searchers and dreamers.

It is a book for anyone and everyone who hopes that the desires of God might be written upon their hearts.

Even if I don't believe in God, I can totally support this.

It seems to me that if I wished to become a child again that I would have to read the Bible rather selectively. There are a hell of passages strike me as counterproductive to that goal.

He also wrote in another essay that said it's read it critically and selectively or you're lying to yourself and everyone else.

Reading critically is vital to any work of significance.

But if you have to read selectively—if it if loses significance or ceases to make sense when you look at the whole—Then there is a major problem withe the work.

[Rime]

He also wrote in another essay that said it's read it critically and selectively or you're lying to yourself and everyone else.

Reading critically is vital to any work of significance.

But if you have to read selectively—if it if loses significance or ceases to make sense when you look at the whole—Then there is a major problem withe the work.

I've seen both sides of this coin.  I've seen Ikester, Benedict XVI and Troy Brooks.  Then there's Sandman, Jim Wallis and Real Live Preacher.  The work may not make total sense, but I feel it's much more dependent on the attitude of its interpreter.  Otherwise, I don't think 30 million Catholics would have left the church in the USA in the last five years.

[e13]

He also wrote in another essay that said it's read it critically and selectively or you're lying to yourself and everyone else.

Reading critically is vital to any work of significance.

But if you have to read selectively—if it if loses significance or ceases to make sense when you look at the whole—Then there is a major problem withe the work.

I've seen both sides of this coin.  I've seen Ikester, Benedict XVI and Troy Brooks.  Then there's Sandman, Jim Wallis and Real Live Preacher.  The work may not make total sense, but I feel it's much more dependent on the attitude of its interpreter.  Otherwise, I don't think 30 million Catholics would have left the church in the USA in the last five years.

Can you cite this statistic. I'm really interested in where you got this... 

[Stormwarden]

I read the Bible, and it made an atheist out of me. I couldn't trade my humanity in. Penn Gillette was right.

[TheL]

I read the Bible, and I became Wiccan.

[Star Cluster]

In my way of thinking, I don't think the Bible in and of itself is going to make anyone become an atheist unless there is at least a seed of doubt already there.  Most people that read the Bible are looking for validation for their faith and confirmation that their god is the true inspiration for its writing.   Most of them are so blinded by the need to keep believing that they do not understand that many events told of in the "good book" are atrocities instead of the actions of a loving god taking care of "his people" that they think they are.  They just gloss over those parts and think "Wow, what a powerful being God must be."

Until someone delves into the Bible with an open mind and eyes wide open can the Bible turn them away from Christianity.  After all, if they weren't so blinded by faith, they would realize that the holy books of other religions are thought by their adherents to be the true word of god just as much as Christians think the Bible is.  Everybody can't be right. 

This is the thing that really got me to thinking about religion in general a long time ago.  If Christianity was the one true and indisputable religion that Christians think it is, why are there other religions.  Obviously, the Bible isn't as confirmed as they like to think it is.