The Great Flood

[Jason Jarred]

Daystar, are you of the position that you can't truly believe the validity of something (ie the bible) unless you personally evaluate and read it yourself? Could it be more efficient, and in some cases *more* reliable, to assess something based on what evidence there is to support it (other documents supporting the existence and events surrounding Jesus life, corroborating material, reliability of supporting documentation, impartiality etc) rather than to simply read the text?

To refer to the Harry Potter series as an analogy - I need not read the entire series to be able to tell you that it's a work of fiction, in fact I need not read a single sentence. How do I know this? Because there is no substantial evidence for the existence of witches and warlocks. I have a good knowledge of the content of the books from reading the blurb and various snippets, and could adequately say that I most certainly would not base my world view on this book given that there is no evidence to support it's doctrine. What is wrong with that?

I personally *am* reading the Bible, I'm near the end of Numbers and I am reading the New Testament concurrently. I plan to finish it, every paragraph, every chapter, every book.

I choose to do this because:
a) I have the time
b) I have the interest and motivation to understand *your* beliefs
c) I have the motivation to question my own beliefs and their validity.

This isn't to say that anybody else has to read the bible to arrive at the same point I will arrive at, it only means that I am reading the bible as I find it useful on this journey. Others may arrive at an equally valid and respectable opinion of the truth value without reading a single sentence, based on the reliability of the text and it's supporting evidence or lack thereof. That, I believe, is how the scientific method works. It doesn't matter what your hypothesis is (ie truth of the bible), it matters more how you arrive at the point of proving it as fact, bringing it to the point of scientific theory (with that supporting evidence, sources, testability).

To finish off, what I have read so far has not impressed me, in fact it's left me with the impression that anybody who has read the Bible and still calls themselves a christian is either an ignorant buffoon or a heartless, immoral human being.