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RE: How many Christians actually ever even read the Bible?
December 2, 2011 at 6:31 pm
Atheists do tend to know more about religion than most theists do.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - Carl Sagan
Mankind's intelligence walks hand in hand with it's stupidity.
Being an atheist says nothing about your overall intelligence, it just means you don't believe in god. Atheists can be as bright as any scientist and as stupid as any creationist.
You never really know just how stupid someone is, until you've argued with them.
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RE: How many Christians actually ever even read the Bible?
December 2, 2011 at 6:31 pm
(This post was last modified: December 2, 2011 at 6:32 pm by The Grand Nudger.)
True enough, we have some folks on the board that have wasted many many hours of their life by joining this little book club. They seem to be pretty adept at writing fan-fic as well. Guess it isn't a complete wash.
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RE: How many Christians actually ever even read the Bible?
December 3, 2011 at 12:16 am
(December 2, 2011 at 6:20 pm)Loading Please Wait Wrote: One of the 10 commandments, Thou shall not kill..
In the bible, God tells you to kill.
The whole commandment was supposed to say:
"Thou shalt not kill... unless I say so"
Yahweh's kind of like a Mafia boss that way. "Aint nobody gettin wacked unless I gives the word."
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
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RE: How many Christians actually ever even read the Bible?
December 3, 2011 at 1:12 am
(This post was last modified: December 3, 2011 at 1:19 am by Justtristo.)
Even among those who consider themselves 'bible believers' they would have certainly read sections of it plenty of times. However more times than not they would have not often read all of the bible. I seriously believe if many people who consider themselves Christians, managed to read the bible cover to cover (if you read 3 or 4 chapters a day, you can do it in a year), a large number of them would become atheists.
Although those Christians who actually know their bible are often quite repulsive in their views.
(December 3, 2011 at 12:16 am)DeistPaladin Wrote: The whole commandment was supposed to say:
"Thou shalt not kill... unless I say so"
Yahweh's kind of like a Mafia boss that way. "Aint nobody gettin wacked unless I gives the word."
Actually the more accurate translation of that verse is "you shall not murder".
Although you are right in saying that the biblical definition of murder does not include, when god or his word orders the killing of people for some reason or another.
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RE: How many Christians actually ever even read the Bible?
December 4, 2011 at 9:40 pm
(This post was last modified: December 4, 2011 at 10:10 pm by Rokcet Scientist.)
(December 2, 2011 at 6:29 pm)5thHorseman Wrote: I think Tack, Frodo and our other Christians here do know their book very well indeed, but the vast majority of Christians know very little, and i actually find this a little sad.
The realisation that they really knew nothing about the bible directly, or indirectly from its interpreters, the clergy, because it was written, read, and quoted in Latin, which the common folk did not understand, was a driving force behind the translations into German, French, English, Dutch, etc., in the middle and late 16th century, and, combined with the printing press, a powerful factor in 'the schism', the Reformation. Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and friends. Followed shortly even by Humanism (Erasmus)!
It was a revolution of knowledge and technology, hand-in-hand. The Enlightenment!
That episode, of losing control of the media, cost the almighty roman catholic church hundreds of millions of followers!
Another lesson that can be drawn is that less control of the media by 'special interests' increases individual intellectual freedom.
And vice versa strangles it.
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RE: How many Christians actually ever even read the Bible?
December 4, 2011 at 10:15 pm
The bible is usually not read from cover-to-cover. If someone did, they would probably realize that it is a work of fiction. Many preachers take out snippets of verses from here and there to "justify" their beliefs; of-course blatantly ignoring the sections that contradict the same beliefs.
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RE: How many Christians actually ever even read the Bible?
December 5, 2011 at 4:52 am
(This post was last modified: December 5, 2011 at 4:53 am by Rokcet Scientist.)
(December 4, 2011 at 10:15 pm)Forsaken Wrote: preachers take out snippets of verses from here and there to "justify" their beliefs; of-course blatantly ignoring the sections that contradict the same beliefs.
...and reserving/enforcing that cherry-picking as their, the priest class', the elite's prerogative on penalty of excommunication (= ostracism) and burning at the stake! I.o.w. extreme mental and physical torture.
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RE: How many Christians actually ever even read the Bible?
December 5, 2011 at 7:25 am
(December 2, 2011 at 6:29 pm)5thHorseman Wrote: I think Tack, Frodo and our other Christians here do know their book very well indeed, but the vast majority of Christians know very little, and i actually find this a little sad.
I find it very sad. At every class I teach I hand out a wonderfull little read the Bible in a year handout, with few takers. Thankfully I've met people that have an almost eidetic memory as well, although a rarity. It keeps me hopeful at least.
"There ought to be a term that would designate those who actually follow the teachings of Jesus, since the word 'Christian' has been largely divorced from those teachings, and so polluted by fundamentalists that it has come to connote their polar opposite: intolerance, vindictive hatred, and bigotry." -- Philip Stater, Huffington Post
always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
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RE: How many Christians actually ever even read the Bible?
December 5, 2011 at 10:59 pm
(December 5, 2011 at 7:25 am)tackattack Wrote: At every class I teach I hand out a wonderfull little read the Bible in a year handout, with few takers.
Yeah, they're on to you and your BS story now.  The time for blind obedience is gone. People think they think these days.
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