(September 14, 2010 at 12:15 pm)Watson Wrote: There is no reason to take the stories in the Bible themselves literally, and they are written in a manner that suggests this. The lessons they teach, however, are to be taken literally and require observation of and comparison to the real world before deciding if they are right or wrong in relation to God.
It's interesting how every Christian thinks that their way of seeing it is the right way. No offense.
(September 14, 2010 at 12:15 pm)Watson Wrote: God is independent of the Bible, and many atheists fall into the trap of declaring "If the Bible is not true, then God is not real."
Thankfully, that's not why I don't believe god is real.
(September 14, 2010 at 12:15 pm)Watson Wrote: How do you not understand that that story was not to be taken literally, and was instead meant to convey a lesson that must be studied and understood through comparison to God's behavior in the real world first? The idea was God's nature and His capability, not what was actually done or historically real. It wasn't meant that way. You just want it to be because it 'proves' your point to construe it as such.
So, the lesson was, if we are all bad, god is going to kill us. Got it.
I don't want it to be any way. I know that the whole thing is fiction. I can make no good points against god based on a work of fiction.
