(March 8, 2015 at 3:38 am)warrior02 Wrote: All I ask of you guys here, is to read a bible. For me, the bible personally enlightened me and reinforces my religion. Instead of retaining your knowledge by what you hear from Christians, actually read the scriptures that the religion is based off of.

I've read it completely through (including all the Behoozebub begat Geboozephats) at least once. I've read all the non-genealogy stuff several times, and the most popular parts (Genesis, New Testament, etc.) many times. I do consider reading that book enlightening. It shows how strong beliefs can make the seemingly impossible seem possible, and it shows examples of self-sacrifice.

The parts about God, when taken together, provide a pretty schizophrenic view of a deity: all-loving genocidist, all-forgiving but punishing a father's sins to his descendents even to four generations.

Good read, not a particularly coherent work on which to base a sensible world view, however. Not if you actually take ALL of it as representative of proper Christian beliefs.

I've read bits and pieces, here and there. Reading the Bible isn't on the top of my to-do list. Why? Because there is not one good, conclusive reason for believing the Bible is divinely inspired. Biblical apologetics is all question begging and mere assertion.

What is this "bible"of which you speak? I've not heard of it.

There's a reason I am a non-believer in christianity, and the primary component behind that is the bible.

(March 8, 2015 at 3:38 am)warrior02 Wrote: All I ask of you guys here, is to read a bible. For me, the bible personally enlightened me and reinforces my religion. Instead of retaining your knowledge by what you hear from Christians, actually read the scriptures that the religion is based off of.

I have studied the bible, along with several other religious texts. That is one of the main reasons WHY I am Atheist now.

(March 12, 2015 at 1:53 am)Pizz-atheist Wrote: I've read bits and pieces, here and there. Reading the Bible isn't on the top of my to-do list. Why? Because there is not one good, conclusive reason for believing the Bible is divinely inspired. Biblical apologetics is all question begging and mere assertion.

Actually, you should read it if you debate Christians.

I have read large chunks of the bad book and in fact it has been instrumental in me parting ways with the Christian religion. I was one of those attendees who would only read verses when the priest instructed us to so we could follow along with his sermon and so he would invariably cherry pick the nice sounding bits. I never knew how much murder, carnage, mayhem and hatred was in the book. Reading some of the passages I couldn't conceive of believing in a God (OT or NT) who would be party to those things.

What struck me from reading it was how limited the 'intelligence' within it is. I mean if it's the divine and inspired word of God I would expect it to reveal things we are only just discovering now. Things to do with physics, laws of nature and even actual prophesies. It's all so ham-fisted and vague. It's quite clearly written a long time after by people who didn't even know JC at the time. The other thing which struck me was why JC chose that time to reveal himself. Why are there not startlingly miraculous events happening now when we have the means and technology to record them? Oh that's right - because they never happened to begin with.

Read it twice, that was a large part of why I am no longer a Christian.

I find very little about the damn book that's simultaneously enlightening, original, and non-obvious.

It's so bad the obviously made up stories don't even have consistency. It reads like the ramblings of a mad man.

(March 16, 2015 at 5:42 pm)abentwookie Wrote:

(March 12, 2015 at 1:53 am)Pizz-atheist Wrote: I've read bits and pieces, here and there. Reading the Bible isn't on the top of my to-do list. Why? Because there is not one good, conclusive reason for believing the Bible is divinely inspired. Biblical apologetics is all question begging and mere assertion.

Actually, you should read it if you debate Christians.

Why?

Read it and wrote my own book on it.