The Bible

[Eilonnwy]

A couple weeks ago I was at Borders purchasing some atheist books and I saw the bookshelves dedicated to just the Bible. I saw a decent sized copy of the NIV Bible for fairly cheap so I got it, figuring I could use it a reference. I've seen different versions of the Bible and find the NIV the easiest for me to read. Anyway, the other night I was bored and so I opened it up and read the first few chapters. Basically up until Noah's ark. I've toyed with the idea of reading the Bible but never acted on it. Let's be honest, it's not easy reading.

I also figured that if Christian's can argue for the Bible without having read it entirely I can do the same against it. I went to Chruch up until I was 18. (I was in a Catholic high school, so even though I was atheist by 16 I still had to go to church) and I've heard a lot of atheists bring up Bible stories and so I know some of the more obscure ones that are really damaging to Christianity. I have slightly more knowledge of the Bible than average Christians that I ahve come across, but admittedly not by much.

But I guess I figure if I'm going to argue with people about this book, it carries a bit more weight if I've read it front to back. So I'm gonna try. It will probably take me a while to get through it because I'm not going to try and attack it all at once and rush through it. I probably wont be able to take it in completely if I do that anyway.

Since I already have a Blog I think I'm going to blog about my Bible reading as I go, sharing thoughts, pointing out anything I find silly, offensive, horrendous, etc... Would that be something people find interesting to read?

Also who here has endeavored to read the Bible in it's entirety?

[lilphil1989]

I'd definitely be interested to read your thoughts!

It's something I've also considered doing, but I always seem to buy 3 or 4 books in advance of what I'm reading, so I never get there!

At the moment, I have, waiting to be read:

Foundation and Earth (Asimov)
Foundations Edge (Asimov)
The Great Hunt (Robert Jordan)
God is not Great (Hitchens)
and I have the (almost) complete works of HP Lovecraft that I dip into every now and then.

But I think I'm going to add it to my reading list some time in the near future

[Kyuuketsuki]

A couple weeks ago I was at Borders purchasing some atheist books and I saw the bookshelves dedicated to just the Bible. I saw a decent sized copy of the NIV Bible for fairly cheap so I got it, figuring I could use it a reference. I've seen different versions of the Bible and find the NIV the easiest for me to read. Anyway, the other night I was bored and so I opened it up and read the first few chapters. Basically up until Noah's ark. I've toyed with the idea of reading the Bible but never acted on it. Let's be honest, it's not easy reading.

Agreed ... I have two copies, one King James and one NIV (I think) but I tend to use Bible Gateway for quoting online from it. I've toyed with the idea of reading it fully too.

I also figured that if Christian's can argue for the Bible without having read it entirely I can do the same against it. I went to Chruch up until I was 18. (I was in a Catholic high school, so even though I was atheist by 16 I still had to go to church) and I've heard a lot of atheists bring up Bible stories and so I know some of the more obscure ones that are really damaging to Christianity. I have slightly more knowledge of the Bible than average Christians that I ahve come across, but admittedly not by much.

Not quite as bad as you ... raised Catholic and in Catholic schools until the age of 16, started to switch away from religion (and on to what I call Von Danikenism) about 13 and by the age of 16 I had stopped believing entirely (in anything much) but took the stance that I was agnostic. I don't know if I know the more obscure ones, the school was fairly mainstream and wasn't out to challenge standard rat-catcher lore, all I knew (I never really thought about it) was that we were the chosen ones and all the other Christians (obviously cults) would burn in hell when judgement day came ... hmm, where have I heard that from before?

Nevertheless, with my subsequent (late developing) interest in all things religious I still get the impression I know a lot more about the damned book than most of them do. And those that do appear to know more come across as so apologetic it's hard to get sensible arguments out of them.

But I guess I figure if I'm going to argue with people about this book, it carries a bit more weight if I've read it front to back. So I'm gonna try. It will probably take me a while to get through it because I'm not going to try and attack it all at once and rush through it. I probably wont be able to take it in completely if I do that anyway.

Good luck, you'll need it ...

Since I already have a Blog I think I'm going to blog about my Bible reading as I go, sharing thoughts, pointing out anything I find silly, offensive, horrendous, etc... Would that be something people find interesting to read?

... I tried it too ...

Also who here has endeavored to read the Bible in it's entirety?

... and failed! I got bored before I'd got 2 pages into Genesis!

Biggest problem you're going to have when using the bible in debate is that you'll be told you're using the wrong version ... that's part of the reason I stick to websites. On Bible Gateway you can look up the passage you are interested in then freely convert the same passage into another version.

Currently I'm reading Ben Goldacre's "Bad Science"

Kyu

[chatpilot]

Eilonnwy happy hunting,I have read the bible personally from an objective point of view 4 times from cover to cover and I have found that the more I read it the more rediculous its stories sounded to me.I have relegated the bible to ancient mythology and nothing more it does have some historical facts mixed in but in my view it's mostly a work of fiction.

When I do argue about the bible I do from my having read it completely.Most christians argue from hearsay: "the pastor said that its in the bible in his sermon last Sunday".Very few of them have actually read it from cover to cover and most of them that do are afraid to question it.Although in my view the bible is not a valid document to argue the existence of god or defend christianity from.Its like trying to argue about the validity of a product using the product manufacturers own source materials.

[athoughtfulman]

Its like trying to argue about the validity of a product using the product manufacturers own source materials.

That's an interesting way to look at it. I didn't even think about it like that.

I grew up going to church till I was 18, more by choice than anything. There was a point when I was almost about to go to bible college; I did a few sermons and was heavily involved in other activities. As far as the bible, I read it more than most. And I thought about it. At that point, I still believed so I didn't pay attention to the stories which discredit it. However, I'm always finding I know the bible a lot more than most christians. I also enjoy taking ideas in the bible to their extreme and seeing if christian morality stands up to it. For example, in one of Paul's letters he mentions that he counts everything as loss for the sake of knowing christ. Now Paul is a man, a supposed sinner like everyone else, yet he counts it all as loss. Ask a christian is they count everything as loss. Very few will be able to answer truthfully, especially in the western world. They're all too caught up in their work, family, marriage, financial trouble, etc. But if they don't count everything as loss, are they a real christian?

Watch them squirm.

[fr0d0]

Its like trying to argue about the validity of a product using the product manufacturers own source materials.

Wrong religion.. that's Islam. (Muslims regard the Bible as the actual words of God, Christians regard the Bible as interpretation by people and therefore potentially errant)


Just watch yourselves that nothing "miraculous" happens k? </joke>

[WWLD]

i would love to read your thoughts on some things that the bible says! i grew up catholic as well, but i never really tried to read the bible completely. But when you grow up in a catholic church you get the gist of it.

[athoughtfulman]

Wrong religion.. that's Islam. (Muslims regard the Bible as the actual words of God, Christians regard the Bible as interpretation by people and therefore potentially errant)

Um, no. At least if you are like the majority of christians. Tell a christian that the bible isn't the word of god, and watch them get upset, angry but otherwise distressed because they can't back up their claim.

If that's your view of the bible, it's very liberal and would have many christians trying to 'excommunicate' you from the church.

Like I said, I used to be one of them, so I know what they think.

[Demonaura]

Theres many schools of thought on the bible within christianity, the majority I have met or heard of beleive that one way or another the book was written word for word how god intended.

I say he has terrible foresight because hebrew is a freaking obscure language these days, really the book should have been written in what was to become the most widely used and understood language on the planet.


Good luck reading it, I like fiction but, I fell asleep most times I tried to read it. Don't think I ever finished Genesis, just too damn dry (and I read science textbooks).

I agree with you though, despite this I still try once in awhile. If only to know what I'm talking about, even if the people I'm talking to should know it already but, I know they won't. It's sad that most atheists know the bible better than most christians but, unsurprising.

[Edwardo Piet]

... and failed! I got bored before I'd got 2 pages into Genesis!

Exactly the same here. About two pages in. Starts to get even MORE boring from then lol.
From the start its like "Ok....where's the story going with this? I wonder how the plot's gonna develop"...but then it gets really kind of samey about 2 pages in.

Good luck Eilonnwy...if you can do it I'd certainly be interested! I tried to do exactly the same thing for exactly the same reason - so I could argue with Christians about it better. But like I said above - I found it way too boring 2 pages in...I kept trying to force myself but I just couldn't lol...2 pages in it got WAY too dull for me

Anyways...good luck. In the end I personally think I don't even have to read the book at all. If there's no evidence of God IN or OUT of scripture...then all the talk about the bullshit stories in the bible is just basically white noise...irrelevant.

If God doesn't exist I find the stories irrelevant...EXCEPT on the subject of morality I think...I know of the horror in The Old Testament for example and have read quite of the worst online as well as heard about it in TGD...its so blatantly horrid and if that's the word of God and you don't accept that but accept all the 'nice bits'...you are 'Cherry picking', etc.

I would like to read all the bible....I certainly wouldn't love it though! I have difficulty getting past page 2 like I said.

EvF