The Top 10 Shocking Things Christians Don’t Know about the Bible
I was listening to talk radio the other day, and NPR was having a discussion on adoption. One of the two guests was a Catholic Priest, which immediately made my blood boil. Catholic’s policy against the use of condoms and their denigration of unwed mothers is arguably the single biggest contributor to unwanted pregnancies. Having a priest on a panel discussing the solutions to adoption issues is like having an active gang leader sitting on a crime-reduction committee.
Christian priests and pastors are not experts in adoption. In fact, they are not experts in anything, including knowledge of the Bible. It never ceases to amaze me how little Christians know about their own religious texts. My experience is that the more religious a person is, the less he or she knows about their religion.
If you want an honest analysis of the Book of Mormon, would you consult a Mormon? No. If you want to understand what the Quran actually says, the last person you would ever want to consult is a true believer. In both cases, if you really want an honest interpretation of the Book of Mormon or the Quran, you should start with an academic analysis. The same is true with the Hebrew and Christian Bibles – the more devout the Christian, the less they actually know about what the book really says.
Over the years, I have come up with a few choice points about the Bible that Christians don’t ever seem to know, especially if they are very devout. The following is my list of the top ten things about the Bible Christians don’t know. The point is to demonstrate exactly how shockingly out of touch modern Christians are from the teachings found in the Bible.
1. Despite Mel Gibson’s movie, there is almost no Crucifixion account.
One thing that stuns most Christians is that there is actually little to no text describing the crucifixion of Jesus. In general, all the Gospels have to say is that Jesus was convicted and crucified. That’s pretty much it. Of the few details that are in the Gospels, they don’t actually relate to the actual crucifixion. There are a few details regarding some comments made by Jesus (each Gospel has a different account), crowds mocking him, thieves beside him, etc. But most folks are surprised at how little there actually is in the Bible regarding the crucifixion of Jesus. So what did Mel Gibson base his grotesque movie on? You’ll have to ask him.
2. There is no Resurrection of Jesus in the Bible.
That’s right. There is absolutely no resurrection narrative found anywhere in the four canonical gospels. Jesus’ body is placed in the tomb, and three days later the rock has been rolled back and the tomb is simply empty. Nowhere in the New Testament is there a description of Jesus coming back to life. Sorry to disappoint you, but all of the “He is Risen” stickers are just wrong. “He has Disappeared” would be more accurate.
Now the non-canonical Gospel of Peter (this gospel was at one time part of the Christian Bible), recovered in Egypt by the French archaeologist Urbain Bouriant in 1886, does describe the resurrection of Jesus. In this account, Jesus is crucified by Herod Antipas rather than Pontius Pilate, and when Jesus does come back to life, he is a massive giant who is accompanied by a walking-talking cross. Yes, that’s right. The cross Jesus was crucified on walks out of the tomb and can talk. Could you imagine all the little kids playing with little talking cross-dolls if the Gospel of Peter had been left in the Bible?
3. Jesus is Against Marriage (with anyone).
Not only is Jesus against traditional marriage, but the Bible itself doesn’t seem to be too fond of the institution either. In the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, only Genesis 2:24 orders a man to leave his father and mother and “cleave unto his wife”. That’s it. In no other place in the entire Bible can we find anything else supportive of marriage.
Some people point to the Marriage at Cana (John 2) Where Jesus famously turned water into wine. The problem with the Marriage at Cana story is that the best one can say is that Jesus attended the party. He doesn’t endorse anything, he doesn’t officiate anything, and he doesn’t even seem to have attended the ceremony. By all accounts, Jesus just stopped by to drink the wine (of which the host ran out). What is seldom told about this story is how cruelly Jesus speaks to his own mother after she complains about the lack of wine, “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” (John 2:4), which doesn’t say much about honoring ones father and mother.
Jesus himself never marries, and only comments on marriage when he commands his followers to abandon their wives and children to follow him (see Matthew 19:29; Mark 10:28-30; Luke 9:57-62). Yes, that’s right – Jesus orders his followers to abandon their families. What kind of family values do Christians think they are getting from Jesus anyhow? To emphasize the point, Jesus even takes the time to provide instruction to his followers on how to divorce their wives (see Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:8).
Paul also never marries and quite specifically orders Christians “seek not a wife” (1 Corinthians 7:27). Additionally, Jesus praises those that have made themselves eunuchs (Matthew 19:10-13), which would seem to be more of an impediment to marriage than an enhancement.
And let’s not even get into the downright horrific things the Old Testament has to say about beating wives, stoning them, selling your daughters into sexual slavery, rape, etc. Needless to say, the Bible treats women like livestock. And if you think the New Testament is better, you should really read about how Jesus routinely treats his own mother, let alone his instructions on beating (Mathew 15:4-7) and murdering children (Mark 7:9-10), his endorsement of beating slaves (Luke 12:47), and his outright statement that he has come to destroy families (Matthew 10:21 & 10:34).
This point is actually worth commenting on a second time. In Mathew Chapter 10, which is often referred to as the “Call and Charge to the Apostles”, Jesus gives a speech where he passes down instructions that you will rarely, if ever hear in church. Keep in mind that of the 42 verses in this chapter, 38 of them are considered to be the words of Jesus.
Let’s start with Mathew 10:21 “And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.” This isn’t a prediction, it’s an instruction; nor is it out of context with the rest of the speech as you will see. Here are some of the following passages from the words of Jesus that you should take into consideration before claiming that your family values come from Jesus:
- Mathew 10:34 “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.”
- Mathew 10:35 “For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.”
- Mathew 10:36 “And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”
- Mathew 10:37 “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
So why does both Jesus and Paul attack the institution of marriage? Both Jesus and Paul believed that Judgment Day would come in the first century C.E. Why get married when Judgment day is just around the corner? You should be preparing for your judgment by following Jesus, not starting a family.
One other point worth mentioning regarding Chapter 10 of Mathew is that Jesus’ speech doesn’t simply stop with the order to Christians to murder their own families. With all the bomb blasts and martyrdom we see daily in the papers, modern Christians have come to believe that martyrdom is a message only found in the Quran. In truth, we actually see the roots of the Crusades in Jesus’ instructions for martyrdom right here in this chapter as well:
- Mathew 10:38 “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.”
- Mathew 10:39 “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”
In these two verses we see Jesus instructing his followers to bring their own crosses with them so that they can be martyred on them in Jesus’ name, and his instructions to take the lives of others to spread the faith in order to save their own souls.
The western world is probably fortunate that Jesus mixed these instructions up with his orders to murder your own family; so Christians throughout the ages have gladly ignored the unfortunate words of Jesus found in Mathew Chapter 10. Apparently Mohammed didn’t mix these instructions up, and we see what that means for Islamic society.
4. Thou Shall Not Kill, is NOT a Commandment.
One of the most shocking things to Christians and Jews is that the 10 Commandments they have learned in school are NOT the ones God wrote in stone. Do you remember Judge Roy Moore? He was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama who had a copy of the 10 Commandments etched on wooden tablets hanging in his court room. From 2001 to 2003 there were a number of legal battles which ultimately lead to his removal from office (Roy Moore recently announced his intention to run for President as a Republican for the 2012 elections). What Roy Moore didn’t know (and all he had to do was read Exodus to see), was that the list of commandments over which he lost his job were never written on stone tablets. That’s right, according to the Bible; the commonly known 10 Commandments were only spoken in speeches, and were never written on stone tablets!
Let’s take a minute to remember the story of Moses and the 10 Commandments. In the story, Moses goes up the mountain and God gives a really long speech (Exodus 20 to 31). In that speech God talks about the not killing, stealing, etc. (Exodus 20), but spends far more time discussing the offerings he wants, how to build his temple, and how he wants his curtain made (check out Exodus 26 for details on Gods curtains). It’s not until the last sentence of Exodus 31 that we even hear about stone tablets. God gives Moses two tablets written by the finger of God (it is not stated at that time what is written on the tablets), and orders him down off the mountain.
When Moses comes down from the mountain, carrying the stone tablets (that he never read), he finds the people worshipping a golden calf. Moses destroys the tablets in a fit of rage and is eventually forced to schlep back up the mountain in order to get another set. It is not until this second set of tablets, also written on stone and by the hand of God, that we learn what was written on both the first and second set of stone tablets (see Exodus 34). This second set is the only set that is called the 10 Commandments by the Bible (the Decalogue), and it is the set that is carried in the Arc of the Covenant and housed in the Temple on the Mound and worshipped by Jews for hundreds of years.
So where does the confusion come in? In Deuteronomy 5, Moses calls his people together to remind them about the long speech God had given them many years earlier. By this time most of the people to whom he was speaking were the children born in the desert and had not heard the original speech, and Moses was quite old. What Moses reminds them of is only the very first part of the long speech, the part in Exodus 20. Moses inaccurately states (in Deuteronomy 5:22) that God gave him two tablets of stone with Exodus 20 written on them, when in fact the stone tablets have Exodus 34 written on them.
So if you believe what the Bible says, Exodus 34 is the ONLY Ten Commandments and the ONLY thing ever written by the hand of God. Exodus 20 is never put in stone and is only given out as a speech along with a very long list of construction activities. So what are the real 10 Commandments? Below you will find the 10 Commandments that were written on stone by the hand of God, were worshipped by Jews, carried in the Arc, and placed in the Temple (a commonly used breakdown):
- Obey the commandments. Yahweh will conquer the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and cut down their Asherah poles.
- Do not worship any other god, for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous god. Do not make treaties with those in other lands who worship other gods.
- Do not make cast idols.
- Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days eat bread made without yeast during the first month of the Hebrew Year.
- Sacrifice the first-born of every womb, including all the firstborn males of your livestock. You can sacrifice a lamb in place of a firstborn donkey, but if you do sacrifice the donkey break its neck. If your firstborn child is a boy sacrifice something else in its place. None shall appear before Yahweh without a sacrifice.
- Do not work on the Sabbath, even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.
- Celebrate the Jewish holiday “The Feast of Weeks” with the first fruits of the wheat harvest and celebrate the Jewish holiday “The Feast of Ingathering” at the turn of the year. Three times a year all your men are to appear before the god of Israel and he will conquer surrounding nations before you enlarging your territory.
- Do not mix blood sacrifices to Yahweh with yeast and do not let any sacrifice from the Passover Feast remain until morning.
- Bring the first fruits of your land to the house of Yahweh, your god.
- Do not cook a baby goat in his mother’s milk.
So, according to the only stone plates that made it off the mountain, that were ever read by anyone, and the last thing ever hand-written by God, killing, stealing, coveting, and bearing false witness are all OK. But boiling a baby goat in his mother’s milk… that’s a sin!
5. The Bible is full of Raunchy Sex.
I quote from Professor Ben Edward Akerley; “Anyone who doubts that there is much sex in the Bible need only read Genesis to find in just that opening chapter explicit and graphic examples of several varieties of incest, rape, adultery, indecent exposure, pimping, homosexual assault, bigamy, ritualistic circumcision, attempted seduction of a youth by an older woman, prostitution, baby-making by proxy, use of both an aphrodisiac and a fertility drug, fornication with devils, women punished with sterility, husband-swapping, masturbation/withdrawal, and a fertility contest with four female contestants.”
The Bible has some simply fantastic and interesting stories regarding sex throughout its pages, and I am really tempted to list some of my favorites. But the statement above really says it all. So, I rest my case.
6. There is no “Rapture” in the Bible.
The word “rapture” does not appear in the Bible at all. In fact the words first known use is in England in 1825 by Mathew Henry who used it to comment on 1 Thessalonians 4. However, the word “Rapture” didn’t really become popular until William Eugene Blackstone’s book “Jesus is Coming,” which was published in 1878, and which sold more than 1.3 million copies.
In America, the term became associated with the religious group called the Millerites who had predicted the “Second Advent” of Jesus to occur in Missouri between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. The Millerites had formed in a part of upstate New York in the 1830’s which was called the burned-over district. Coincidently this is the exact same place and time that the Mormon’s formed, and they too believe that Jesus’ return will occur in Missouri. The failure of Jesus to return to earth in 1844 was the beginning of the end for the Millerites. Apparently Joseph Smith was the only one smart enough not to stick a firm date to when Jesus would return to Missouri. But out of the ashes of the Millerites, came our modern-day 7th Day Adventists and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. And yes, all three of the “Great American Religions” stemmed out of the burned-over district of upstate New York in the 1830’s.
Simply put, the “Rapture” is not biblically supported, and is a very modern Christian precept with a history going back only to the 19th century. So where did Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins get their “Rapture” ideas that spawned 16 best-selling novels? Like most Christian dogma it’s pure imagination, and very little Bible.
7. Satan is not a Bad Guy. He works for God, and Jesus wants his job!
Satan, Lucifer, the devil, whatever you call him, is an employee of God. In both the Old and New Testaments we are told that Satan has been appointed by God to govern the word! This appointment means that one of Satan’s primary jobs is to be the “Adversary.” The Adversary is a position of high-importance, appointed by God, and whose job it is to test man and make sure that they are truly good.
Remember the Book of Job? In the Book of Job, Satan is a member of the divine council “The Sons of God”. Satan is charged by God to tempt humans and report back to God on those who succumb to the temptations (Nice huh? It’s like an illegal speed-trap set up by the cops). Job is the most faithful of God’s follower’s, so God authorizes Satan to take away everything Job cares for. His family is murdered, his fortune is taken away, and his health fails; all at God’s command to Satan. That’s what you get for following God as faithfully as you can. In the end, Job passes the tests given to him by Satan/God and gets a new family (apparently the new family was as good as the old), his fortune is returned plus some, and he lives an additional 140 years after his ordeal.
We see the same thing in the “Temptation of Christ”. This is where Jesus spends 40 days and 40 nights in the desert being tempted by Satan. This is seen by Christians as an important test of character for Jesus, and Satan is just doing his job. Needless to say, in the Bible Satan works for God and is just doing what he is told.
Another thing that shocks Christians is how very little discussion about Satan there even is in the Bible. And what’s worse is that the story is so contradicting it’s hard to even put a cohesive story of Satan together. Some biblical scholars even claim that there is no single antagonist to God in the Bible. This is why the Bible has so many different names for God’s antagonists in use:
Lucifer, Satan, Devil, Dragon, Serpent, Beelzebub, Diabolos to name only a few. And to confuse things even more, in some cases the Bible uses the word “Satan” to mean obedient angels, and in other times it is used as a negative (an antagonist to God).
In Professor Henry Ansgar Kelly’s book “Satan: A Biography,” you can see clearly that early Fathers of the Church invented a new biography for Satan that is not found in the Old or New Testament. The idea that Satan as Lucifer, God’s enemy, a rebel who out of pride caused the fall of Adam and Eve, is simply not Biblical. Jesus actually predicts the conclusion of Satan’s rule at the end of the age (see #9 below) because his tactics are too brutal and deceitful. And who replaces Satan when his rule as Governor of the Earth comes to an end?
Well, Jesus of course!
8. In the Bible there is no Heaven and Hell as it is commonly understood today.
For most Christians today, their understanding of Heaven and Hell comes from the 14th century epic poem by Dante Alighieri titled, “Divine Comedy” (written between 1308 and 1321), and not from the pages of the Bible. Most people know this epic poem as “Dante’s Inferno”, which is a reference to one of the three main chapters in this long poem. Dante based his work on the “Summa Theologica” written by Thomas Aquinas between 1265 and 1274 (yes, the same
Thomas Aquinas that help start Europe’s 600+ years of terror called “The Inquisition”). It is hard to underestimate how much Dante’s poem changed the Christian understanding of Heaven and Hell, and it lasts to this very day.
What Christians fail to realize, is that Dante’s Poem is not the Bible. In both the Old and New Testament, when you die, you are simply buried in the ground, waiting for the day you will be brought back to life (Judgment Day) along with everyone else who ever lived. That’s right; the dead merely go to the grave. Furthermore in the New Testament, the “Kingdom of God” is a place here on this planet, and not some magical place existing in a different realm. Of course, when Judgment day does finally come… look out! But according to both Jews and Christians, Judgment Day hasn’t come yet.
While the Bible does have a few passages relating to Heaven and Hell, there is a lot less than people imagine, and what is described isn’t what people think. For example those passages that talk about “Heaven” discuss things like the peaceful conditions here on earth after the New Kingdom arrives, or the eternal rule by the Messiah, or bodily perfection (no thirst, hunger, death, sickness, etc.), or ruined cities that will eventually be re-inhabited by people. The shocking thing to Christians is that all of these discussions about “Heaven” are about a place here on this planet (earth)!
Even in the Book of Revelations, the story is about a dream and all the horrors occurring in that dream happen here on earth. All one has to do, is simply challenge a Christian to find the passages in the Bible that discuss Heaven and Hell, and the point will be made.
9. There is no “End of the World” in the Bible.
Christian Eschatology is an entire branch of study dedicated to understanding the destiny of man as it is revealed in the Bible, particularly the “end of the world”. What is shocking to Christians is that there is virtually no Biblical foundation for any of it. While there is plenty of discussion throughout the New Testament regarding the return of Jesus and Judgment day, there is nothing about the “end of the world”. The New Testament, talks about the end of the “Age,” not the end of the world.
What is the “end of the age?” It deals with astrology and represents a period of some 25,920 years. Each age is represented by an astrological sign such as Gemini, Aquarius, etc. During the time of Jesus, it was the age of Aires, which is represented by the Ram and, depending on your interpretation, ended sometime between the years 1 and 100 CE (the supposed time of Jesus). The new age, which we are still in today and will last for another 600 years, is Pisces. Pisces is represented by the astrological symbol of two fish, which is still used by Christians to this very day. Most Christians are shocked to find out that the New Testament is full of astrology, and that the end of the age of Aires, the new age of Pisces, and the second coming of Jesus are all quite related.
What becomes perfectly clear by reading the pages of the gospels is that the writers of the New Testament quite seriously thought that the New Kingdom of Jesus would come in the 1st Century CE when the Age of Aires ended. They were wrong.
Now, I have met a few Christians that will admit there is no mention of the end of the world in the Bible, but that is very rare indeed. Most firmly believe that the Bible discusses the end of the world. It doesn’t. Even the Book of Revelations with all its horrors does not have an end of the world scenario.
10. There are no “original texts” of the Bible.
I quote from Professor Bart D. Ehrman, “Not only do we not have the originals; we don’t have the first copies of the originals. We don’t even have copies of the copies of the originals, or copies of the copies of the copies of the originals. What we have are copies made later – much later. In most instances, they are copies made many centuries later. And these copies all differ from one another at many thousands of places . . . Possibly it is easiest to put it in comparative
terms: there are more differences among our manuscripts than there are words in the New Testament.”
Scholars have collected every possible copy of the New Testament that they can get their hands on. Currently there are more than 5,700 ancient Greek manuscripts, over 10,000 manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate, plus hundreds (if not thousands) of Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, Old Georgian, and Church Slavonic manuscripts of the New Testament. In addition, there are numerous writings from the early church leaders, all of whom quote the texts of the New Testament
extensively. All of this data has been digitally scanned and is now compiled in computers for easy comparison and computer analysis.
So with all this evidence, what can be said about the number of variations found between the ancient texts of the New Testament? Scholars differ in their estimates, but the number ranges from 200,000 to well over 400,000 differences! These are not simply minor differences such as changes in word order; these are substantial differences, and some of them demonstrate serious theological differences that are nothing less than 180-degrees from each other. As Professor Ehrman put it, “There are more variations among our manuscripts than there are words in the New Testament.”
Additionally, it should be plenty apparent by anyone visiting a Barnes & Noble at just how many different version of the Bible there are even today. The Religion section has a bewildering array of Bibles available for purchase. I have an App on my iPhone called the “Holy Bible” which has no less than 25 English Language Versions of the Bible at ready access. And a quick Google search shows that there are several more groups actively working on new versions as we speak.
If you still doubt me, just read Bart Ehrman’s phenomenal book “Misquoting Jesus” and you will quickly come to understand that the New Testament is the most altered document in human history.
So there you have it, the top ten most shocking things about the Bible Christians don’t know. Well, I guess it would be more accurate to say that it is “Shocking to Christians,” as anyone who is not a Christian probably already knows most of the above. Of course, there are many, many other things that could have been added to the list; however I think this is a pretty good go at it.
It is important that when it comes to the claims of the religious, we all set our mental “Bull-Shit Detectors” (as Sam Harris calls it) to the exact same setting’s we have for every other topic of human interest in our lives. Our internal ‘BS-Meters’ should be set no greater and no less than we set them when dealing with Doctors, Lawyers, Politicians or Used-Car Salesmen. Currently, liberals, conservatives and the religious of all types give matters of faith a special pass, and it’s time that it stopped.
When we hear Christians speak with all their false-certainties, trying to force political changes on to all of our lives, we need to point out just how far away from their own religion they have gone. We need to force them to question their own false-certainties (delusions). The only way to do that is to challenge them by having a conversation. When a Christian says that God is against gay marriage, we should point out that both Jesus and God seem to be against ANY marriage. When they quote the 10 Commandments, we should inform them that they have the wrong set. While it is certainly commendable that Christians, Jews and Muslims choose to use a better set of commandments than what God wrote down in stone, it is important that we challenge their assertions and make them reconsider their dogma’s.
Even if you concede and give the religious the commonly understood 10 Commandments, we still need to point out that only 3 of the 10 Commandments have even been codified into modern law (thou shall not murder, steel, or bear false witness), and those 3 rules have been understood by mankind and other ancient civilizations for far longer than Bible has been around. It’s not as if Moses ended the raping-murdering-stealing party for the Jews when he brought the plates down off the mountain. You couldn’t even form a small cave-dwelling village if you didn’t understand that murder, theft, and lying were wrong, let alone fight your enemies and survive in the desert for 70 years.
Today’s Christians are trying to apply 1st Century dogma to 21st Century problems. The truth is that the writers of the Bible, and especially the writers of the New Testament, had no thought about people living 2,000 years later, anymore than you are thinking about your decedent’s 50-generations from now. Think about it; try sitting down and writing a letter to someone 2,000 years in the future. What bit of wisdom could you possibly offer that they wouldn’t already know? What knowledge of the universe could you possibly have that wouldn’t seem quaint to them? Where would our modern morality of discriminating against people for who they choose to have sex with apply in the 41st century? How would that generation benefit from knowing that condom use is a sin? How will people in 2,000 years see any improvement in their lives from adopting any of the preposterous claims of 21st century Christians?
We need 21st Century reasoning to solve 21st Century problems. A moment’s thought reveals that our descendants in the 41st century will need the anti-wisdom found in the pages of the Bible even less than we do. As Sam Harris put it, “There is no society in history that has ever suffered because its population became too reasonable — too reluctant to embrace dogma, too demanding of evidence.”
Only when everyone starts pointing out the fallacy of Christian claims and stops tolerating obvious gibberish, will Christians finally start addressing our modern issues with rational thought. If we truly want change in our society, we all have to stand-up to their bullying and ask the hard questions that expose the hypocrisy inherent in the claims of the religious. Only on the day our society makes it embarrassing for people to pretend to know things they simply don’t know, will reason finally become main stream.
In closing, I would be remiss if I didn’t finish with the words of Jesus in Luke 19:27 “But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.”
I hope you have had as much fun reading this as I did in writing it. Enjoy!
David Stockin
July 23, 2011
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Joe Hanson of Truth-Saves.com for fact-checking and reviewing the above. Please visit his excellent and informative site at www.truth-saves.com.
I have made every effort to fact-check the above claims, and to the best of my knowledge it is correct. I will happily take constructive criticism and correct any errors that are found.
Want to win a free laptop from AtheistConnect? It’s easy! Find out how here?
It’s like they’re playing telephone\.
I loled so hard at your comment!
I’m rather enjoying the articles and comments by knee-jerk, uneducated, and uncritical fundamentalist athiests. I agree they are playing telephone, but it’s God who is laughing. http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Psalm+2
that verse sounds pretty spiteful, not very god-like.
fundamentalist atheist? what are you retarded? “Fundamentalism is strict adherence to specific theological doctrines typically in reaction against Modernist theology”- Wikipedia. Atheism has no doctrine. I would suggest you use smaller words you understand a bit better.
Perhaps militant was the word they were looking for. Either way, they made their point. You made no point…unless you want everyone to say, “Damn, this guy is a smelly douche.” You achieved great success in that.
Pablo, atheism is doctrine as well. No opinion is still an opinion. No position is still a position. Christians pose their culture worshipping God, atheists pose theirs by denying God.
I agree Pablo. Jim notes below that if you have no opinion you still have an opinion. If I have a rock and I throw the rock, do I still have the rock?
I do not deny what isn’t.
I like the term “fundamentalist atheist”, it makes people sound absolutely horrendous for not believing in the same things you do. But, may I ask exactly what it means? Atheist = Lacking in belief. There is no a set of beliefs, practices, rituals, or ideals amongst atheists. The only thing they have in common is a preference for rational, logical decision making, and scientific proof. If you can pull out of your ass an explanation of how being reasonable is somehow fundamental I will give you a medal.
As for the article, it was obviously written by someone undereducated in the field. This happens quite often with atheistic students of science and math because they don’t have the philosophical tools to debate religious people, who, as most middle educated peoples, cannot grasp complex scientific theory, or discredit it altogether. Dawkins has this problem; he has the tools but not the language to prove the logical fallacies in religion. This, (along with the fact that he’s very narcissistic) makes it difficult for religious peoples to do anything but become very defensive over his claims.
A much better spokes person for atheism, although still highly controversial, is Christopher Hitchens, who is much more philosophical and has a much more firm grasp on the ideologies of the major world religions. If you want to understand what an atheist is, and how fundamentalism and atheism as definitions really do not mix, I would suggest reading some of his work.
Ayn Rand is also a great spokesperson for objectivist attitudes towards religion. She is very persuasive and uncompromising in her opposition towards religion. She is one of my favorites among authors and philosophers.
I like it, refreshing to hear somebody talking some sense
“The only thing they have in common is a preference for rational, logical decision making, and scientific proof.”
AND you all seem to be keen on poking fun at our faith.
You’d think that after one go around you’d see the futility in arguing with us.
Is that part of your version of “rational, logical decision making?”
It seems to me that after making fun of someone for a while, most people find something better to do, or grow up.
Of course, there are whole denominations devoted to stunting said growth… But that’s not MY fault.
Marc, since you are clearly a very hungry troll I’m going to feed you one time only.
“AND you all seem to be keen on poking fun at our faith.”
Excuse me but don’t you dare spout your “I’m a victim” indignation and simultaneously put out a “you all” statement directed at us Atheists. I don’t poke fun at faith. Ever. I question it, and question people who believe in it, but I don’t belittle or stereotype a person for their beliefs in the way you’ve just stereotyped me (and others like me) for our lack thereof.
You would get mighty offended if I claimed that all Christians were brainwashed fools who try to brainwash others with their nonsense. Likewise I’m offended by your claim that all us Atheists live to make fun of you.
That kind of attitude on a website like this will make you the subject of ridicule. But obviously you’re a glutton for punishment, or you wouldn’t keep posting rubbish like the above quote on a site to which you so vocally object.
what is a christian doing trolling on an atheist forum?
Thinking that he’s outsmarting all of us. Our entire existence is backed by science, but yet we are expected not to base all of our beliefs on science in Christianity. What a joke.
Go team atheist!
oh we’re everywhere! you know…
Are you actually trying to give that as a valid point you moron.
Fundamentalist Atheists? Atheism is not a belief or a set of rules or guidelines for one to live ones life. It is simply the rejection of a stance based on there being not enough evidence to support it. There is nothing one Atheist automatically holds in common with any other Atheist other than their lack of belief in gods. You sir, are a moron.
Dude chill, I’m christian and i like reading athiests articles because it teaches me stuff about the bible and the good athiest dont force their views forward just educate the masses ok so chill
You realise there is no doctrine for athiests to adhere to, therefore the term “fundamentalist athiest” makes no goddamn sense.
I think you find that atheist articles such as these are remarkably well researched, educated and thoughtful. Shame your bible is not the same.
nice one
Good thing the poster only did this because he wants visits to his website. Smart.
“Satan, Lucifer, the devil, whatever you call him, is an employee of God. In both the Old and New Testaments we are told that Satan has been appointed by God to govern the word! ”
This would work better if you provided biblical citations.
Pastor, thank you for your comments. However, the rule of satan was always limited by what God allowed him to do and effectively ended with the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. In Luke 10:17-19, Jesus says that he saw Satan fall like lightening and in Rev. 12, we see that same battle that occurred during Jesus’ earthly ministry from heaven’s perspective. Notice that the Luke and Rev. passages involve both the casting down of Satan and the demons and Jesus tells of the casting down of Satan and the disciples marvel at their rule over the demons.
In Matt. 28 Jesus states that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. While it’s true that many folks love self delusion (that they can be their own gods), and we have both good and evil in us, Christ is the King and we need to start acting like it.
This article is total garbage. Lying to people about what the Bible says unnecessary, it’s shocking enough on it’s own to convince any unbiased reader to not take it seriously. Accurately describing the book as it is a good enough. Leave the lying to the evangelists.
I second this. This article is (mostly) bullshit.
Yeah. Full of wrong, FFS. Anyone with a Bible could easily refute most of this.
then do it. lmao prove him wrong. stop talking shit and do something
One example:
To emphasize the point, Jesus even takes the time to provide instruction to his followers on how to divorce their wives (see Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:8).
From the bible (NIV):
Matthew 19:5: and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?
Mark 10:8: and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
This is talking about people getting married, and has nothing to do with divorce.
so glad someone else pointed out the bs in this “article” if you can even call it that. The 10 commandments section was just plain silly.
Its Stating that they are not supposed to be apart and be one being -.-, a person who is neither male or female, but is both at the same time….thats my assumption.
I did so days ago. Maybe read the entire thread before commenting.
How bout for starters not all women are mis-treated in the Bible. Kind David goes back to rescue women. Naomi and Ruth: Women helping women. A woman murders someone in the old testament. You just have to read it to get it for yourself ! Read the Bible…it’s all personal. It’s all real. And it just is the word of God whether you mis-translate or mis-represent it or not!
David also cheated on his wife.
That’s a win for Anthony.
I just finished a 2 semester biblical literature class (taught by an atheist). Maybe about half of these claims are right? You really need to work on your “fact-checking”, love. And no. I’m not a Christian.
I have to say, many many of these verses are taken quite out of context. All the things you say Jesus “endorsed” were mainly just points he brought up to prove that the Jews were not actually following the laws as strictly as they claimed they were.
And I don’t know what version you’re using but my NIV does state that “He gave him the two tablets of the covenant law.”
And a whole lot of #7 was just plain wrong.
Some of these are incorrect.
Regarding 2, there are accounts of Jesus’ resurrection in the last chapters of all four canonical gospels. It is believed by some scholars that the original text of Mark, from which Matthew and Luke drew, did not contain this account, but it had already been tacked on when MT and LK were composed. John’s account, however, is extensive, and contains the “Doubting Thomas” story.
Regarding 7, it is so inaccurate it’s hard to know where to start.
Regarding 9, there are end of the world scenarios in Daniel, Revelation to John, and the three synoptic gospels. The clearest in the gospels is in Luke, which contains the well-known “Heaven and earth shall pass away” text.
I’m a staunch atheist. But there is enough horrific stuff in the Bible to quote that atheists do themselves a disservice to err or lie about its contents.
#2 is definitely very weak. I can see how there could be a case to be made that the resurrection accounts currently in the Bible are a later addition and therefore their credibility is suspect. As you pointed out, it is generally believed by biblical scholars that Mark was the earliest of the 4 gospels (believed to have been written somewhere between 68-73 or 65-70) and the earliest known manuscripts do not contain a resurrection account (see http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+16&version=NIV). Therefore, there is an argument to be made that the other 3 gospels used Mark as their source material that the resurrection accounts that are now in the Bible are later additions to Christian mythology. However, stating that there is no resurrection account in the Bible is simply not true as there are definitely resurrection accounts currently in the Bible. The author of this essay should fix this glaring problem.
7 is not inaccurate from a basic logic perspective, although because of the writing style, maybe you didnt give it any thought. If Satan does not work for God, where did he come from and why does he exist. God is all powerful but allows a competitor to work against him? That is patently stupid. If God is the creator, then he made Satan. God made everything for a purpose, therefore- he made the Devil to do stuff he wanted done. Please refute.
Here’s what I don’t get, I’m not trying to be a smart-ass, I just don’t understand;
God is all powerful, that’s pretty much a given in any monotheistic religion. And he/she/it is supposedly supremely good as well, right?
Then there is the statement ‘good cannot exist without evil’ (or something to that effect).
So here’s the problem, God is all-powerful and all good, but in order for there to be good there has to be evil, which means God requires that which is evil (ex. the Devil, Lucifer, etc.) in order for his/her/its goodness to exist. But if God requires evil in order to remain good, then good (i.e. God) is dependent on evil, and if God is dependent on anything, than how can God be all-powerful?
Furthermore, if God created the Devil, then does that mean that God created evil too? (Or is the Devil just the latest manifestation of the force that’s been battling God forever?) But if God did create the Devil (and evil) then it doesn’t seem as though God was originally good (more of a neutral?) until evil came into being.
Unless good can in fact exist without evil, in which case, if God is all powerful, and all good, why does he/she/it allow evil to continue to exist, that’s a total dick move (and I would argue, not supremely good by anyone’s definition)
I’m not sure what you’re talking about with “no resurrection in the Bible”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resurrection_appearances_of_Jesus
This appears to be a very poorly researched, fraudulent, and inaccurate article. One of the best things that atheists have going for them is the ridiculous nature of the Bible. The last thing we need is crap like this that uninformed atheists may quote and then be shown to be idiots.
Agreed!
Also agreed. I’m an atheist as well as a scientist. No scientific paper would ever be excepted without proper citation and this should be no different. This is just as bad as blind leading the blind.
Funny, I find your claim of being a Scientist as fraudulent as this article. Scientists prefer their papers to be “accepted”, not “excepted”. Troll.
Scientists tend to be terrible writers. I don’t think a simple grammatical error is reason to discount what he’s saying.
He said he’s a scientist, not an Communications major….derp.
While there are parts of this article that are true and parts that are false, what bothers me the most is the assumption that Christians know nothing.
I am a Christian and I was able to distinguish fact from fiction in this article, and able to point out that you people wouldn’t know an analogy if it danced naked in front of you.
tl;dr:
I’M A CHRISTIAN AND I KNEW THIS YOUR LOGIC IS FLAWED
Nice.
‘I am a Christian and I was able to distinguish fact from fiction’ Your bible is fiction. Science does not agree with your bible or any religious text. There is no historical evidence that Jesus was a real person. No evidence for your God, or any Gods at all. I have a personal relationship with reality. You have a personal relationship with superstitious nonsense.
‘What Would Jesus Do?
Advocate child abuse and murder amongst many other cruelties.
Christians are always claiming, “he’s the lamb”, “our savior”, “the king of peace”, “the embodiment of love”, amongst the many other names they associate with a loving, merciful nature. Jesus a nice guy? Not in my book. Nor in any other person’s who is capable of compassion and rationality. Let’s examine who the hell the Jesus character really is. These verses will show not only is Jesus’ “loving” nature a joke but so are the Christians who worship him. Jesus’ real mission to come to earth:
Jesus says that he has come to destroy families by making family members hate each other. He has “come not to send peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34
Jesus says, “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace on earth! No, rather a sword lf you love your father, mother, sister, brother, more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. “The real beauty of this verse is that Jesus demands people truly love him more then they love their own family. I ask you how can we love someone that we can not see or interact with? Love is an emotion pertaining to physical existence not to faithful ideologies, yet God threatens you with Death just because your love for your mother maybe stronger than your love for him. Matthew 10:34
Families will be torn apart because of Jesus. “Brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.” Matthew 10:21
Jesus strongly approves of the law and the prophets. He hasn’t the slightest objection to the cruelties of the Old Testament. Matthew 5:17
Jesus advocates murder and death:
Jesus condemns entire cities to dreadful deaths and to the eternal torment of hell because they didn’t care for his preaching. Matthew 11:20
Jesus, whose clothes are dipped in blood, has a sharp sword sticking out of his mouth. Thus attired, he treads the winepress of the wrath of God. (The winepress is the actual press that humans shall be put into so that we may be ground up.) Revelations 19:13-15
The beast and the false prophet are cast alive into a lake of fire. The rest of us the unchosen will be killed with the sword of Jesus. “An all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” Revelations 19:20-21
Jesus says he is the only way to salvation yet he purposely disillusions us so that we will go to hell:
Jesus explains that the reason he speaks in parables is so that no one will understand him, “lest . . . they . . . should understand . . . and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Matthew 13:10-15
Jesus explains why he speaks in parables to confuse people so they will go to hell. Mark 4:11-12
Jesus advocates child abuse:
Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees for not washing his hands before eating. He defends himself by attacking them for not killing disobedient children according to the commandment: “He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.” Matthew 15:4-7
Abandon your wife and children for Jesus and he’ll give your a big reward. Jesus asks that his followers abandon their children to follow him. To leave your child is abuse, it’s called neglect, pure and simple. Matthew 19:29
Jesus criticizes the Jews for not killing their disobedient children according to Old Testament law. Mark 7:9
A few other things about Jesus:
Jesus says that those who have been less fortunate in this life will have it even worse in the life to come. Mark 4:25
Jesus sends the devils into 2000 pigs, causing them to jump off a cliff and be drowned in the sea. Clearly Jesus could have simply sent the devils out, yet he chose instead to place them into pigs and kill them. This is called animal abuse. Mark 5:12-13
Jesus kills a fig tree for not bearing figs, even though it was out of season. Jesus must not be as smart as Christians would have us believe, for he was retarded enough to do something this silly. You’d think the son of god (god incarnate) would know that trees don’t bear fruit in dry season. Mark 11:13
Luke 12:47 Jesus okays beating slaves.’ http://www.evilbible.com/what_would_jesus_do.htm
‘“Thou Shall Not Ignore the Old Testament!”
New Testament Verses Which Demand Following the Old Testament:
I hear so many Christians now a days claim that the Old Testament is defunct for Jesus was the “lamb” to clear away its rules and regulations. This is just another bullshit scapegoat that Christians use to ignore the atrocities and bizarre laws commanded by their god. Their preachers spoon feed them that the Old Testament is no longer binding so that they can excuse the majority of evil that the bible promotes. I am so tired of Christians manipulating the scriptures so that they can assign a kinder nature to their God, that I have assembled a BRIEF list of verses which clearly show that the Old Testament is not to be ignored. Its laws should indeed be adhered to, for the New Testament demands it! After this section I shall list where the Bible contradicts itself concerning other laws.
1) “For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:18-19 RSV) Clearly the Old Testament is to be abided by until the end of human existence itself. None other then Jesus said so.
2) All of the vicious Old Testament laws will be binding forever. “It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for the smallest part of the letter of the law to become invalid.” (Luke 16:17 NAB)
3) Jesus strongly approves of the law and the prophets. He hasn’t the slightest objection to the cruelties of the Old Testament. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest part or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.” (Matthew 5:17 NAB)
3b) “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16 NAB)
3c) “Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation, for no prophecy ever came through human will; but rather human beings moved by the holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God.” (2 Peter 20-21 NAB)
4) Jesus criticizes the Jews for not killing their disobedient children according to Old Testament law. Mark.7:9-13 “Whoever curses father or mother shall die” (Mark 7:10 NAB)
5) Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees for not washing his hands before eating. He defends himself by attacking them for not killing disobedient children according to the commandment: “He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.” (Matthew 15:4-7)
6) Jesus has a punishment even worse than his father concerning adultery: God said the act of adultery was punishable by death. Jesus says looking with lust is the same thing and you should gouge your eye out, better a part, than the whole. The punishment under Jesus is an eternity in Hell. (Matthew 5:27)
7) Peter says that all slaves should “be subject to [their] masters with all fear,” to the bad and cruel as well as the “good and gentle.” This is merely an echo of the same slavery commands in the Old Testament. 1 Peter 2:18
9) “…the scripture cannot be broken.” –Jesus Christ, John 10:35′ http://www.evilbible.com/do_not_ignore_ot.htm
‘A DAY IS A DAY, NO EXCUSES!
Have you been reading the latest from the Catholic church? Apparently they have decided to admit in the face of OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE that Evolution did indeed happen. Gee, they’ve come along way! I suppose since they aren’t a government any more that can’t poke out the eyes of leading scientists like they did in Galileo’s day. Shouldn’t evolution invalidate the Biblical/Pentateuch creation account, hence throwing Christianity in the toilet? (Even orthodox Jews are now claiming that Genesis is metaphorical and not literal.) Why yes it should, but the Catholic church presented a loop hole that the masses have been touting as a mantra ever since. I’m sure you all heard the lie they are spreading, the lie which tries to reconcile evolution with the 6 days of creation. It’s the “a day can be like a thousand years to god” lie! Here is an excellent example of this lie in use:
The Jehovah’s Witnesses argument that each of the six days encompasses thousands of years:
“… some may say even the idea of this planet passing from a ‘formless and waste’ condition to its present form with continents, forests, plants, animals, and men, all in just six 24-hour days–this still is incredible! But where does the Genesis account say that the 6 days were 24-hours each? Though some religious groups teach this, the Genesis account does not say it. You yourself use the expression ‘day’ in a broad sense of your ‘grandfather’s day.’ Likewise the Bible often used the word ‘day’ in a broad sense-Genesis 2:4. Keep in mind that the works spoken of in the first chapter of Genesis are those of God, not of man… Are God’s ‘days’ of work controlled by the rotation of this globe? Obviously not. Of God, the Bible says: ’One day is with Jehovah as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day’(2 Peter 3:8). And that even to God a ‘day’ can have more than one meaning is seen when comparing this text with Psalm 90:4 which says: ‘A thousand years are in your eyes but. . .as a watch during the night.’ So it is plain that the word ‘day’ can be used to refer to a 24-hour day, a person’s lifetime, 1,000 years or even longer” (Is the Bible Really the Word of God, p.18-19).
You free thinkers reading this are surely nodding your head knowing the fault in this circular reasoning. You Christians reading this are probably still clinging to the mantra like a pedophile to a 6 year old boy. Well, no matter how hard you try to hold on Jesus pimps, I’m going to blow a hole through your lie and spread it’s short comings to everyone I meet. We all know I find it my self appointed duty to expose the Christian/Jewish scriptures. Which is precisely what I’ll do right now:
FACT: the world is at least 4.6 billion years old. The bible claims to be approximately 6,500. Christians try to argue this by saying the usage of the word “day” in genesis is actually a term for thousands of years in time. This rationalization, they believe can help evolution be accepted into the bible. In other words Christians are trying to say that the word “day” is not meant to be as a 24 hour period. This idea is COMPLETELY FALSE AND NOT PLAUSIBLE. All it takes is a little research into the meaning of the Hebrew word for day and the usage of it in consistency. Of course, it should be common knowledge that the first five books of the Old Testament were written in Hebrew. The Hebrew word for day used in the genesis is account is “yom”, which is a definite 24-hour period. Christians attempt to say that because there was no sun until the fourth day, that the word yom is null and void. This cant be, for the lord claimed there was light, a morning and an evening PRIOR to the sun being created, hence the sun was not even needed. (Also note another contradiction here, that Christians/Jews refuse to notice. They’ll claim the word yom is void because there is no sun, yet that would mean that there couldn’t have been light or a way to decipher between morning and evening. Obviously this is a MAJOR scientific blunder on Jehovah’s behalf.) Now this fact alone pretty much blows the shit out of the bible, but let’s pretend to accept the word yom is really meant for eons of time, how then can we reconcile the following?:
1) If a day is an era, why are an evening and a morning even mentioned? Actual days must be intended, otherwise, men who lived hundreds of years, e.g., Seth and Noah, would really have lived millions of years. If a day is an era, then a year must be tremendously long, perhaps encompassing hundreds of millions of years;
2) If a day is an era, then much of the Old Testament becomes chaotic. For example, in each of the following verses the same Hebrew word “yom” is employed: “And the flood was forty days upon the earth” (Genesis 7: 1 7), “And he [Moses] was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights” (Exodus 34:28), and “Thus I fell down before the Lord forty days and forty nights…” (Deuteronomy 9:25). If “yom” means era instead of a 24-hour period, Moses was “there with the Lord” for a VERY long time.
3) If a day means more than 24-hour period, then how are we to interpret the following verses, as well as scores of others. “Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath. . . . in it thou shalt not work… For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth… and rested the seventh day” (Exodus 20:9-11).
4) Genesis 1:16 (“And God made two great lights: The greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night”) states the sun rules the day and the moon rules the night. This obviously is referring to time as we know it, time with days that are 24 hours long with daylight ruling half of each.
5) Adam was made on the sixth day (Genesis 1:26-31) which was supposedly thousand of years long. This was followed by the 7th day which was also thousands of years long. Following the 7th day, Adam fell into sin and was expelled from the Garden. This would mean Adam lived thousands of years, which is false, since he died at age 930 (Genesis 5:5).
6) Genesis 1:5 surely spoke of literal day and literal night, and the inference from the statement, “And the evening and the morning were the first day,” is that it was a literal day of evening and morning, 24-hours. There is no Biblical evidence that the days of this chapter were longer periods.
7) If we do try to buy into what the Jehovah’s quote as “a day can be a thousand years” even this isn’t sufficient enough time. For the earth is at least 4.6 billion. The biblical passages concerning time should’ve read that days can be like MILLIONS of years. Obviously, their claim falls apart under mathematic speculation.
For those of you Christians who are STILL clinging to the idea that evolution can be reconciled with the bible, take a little advice from one of your own brethren on the matter. The following is a CHRISTIAN AUTHOR who admits that the word yom does mean a 24 hour period in the creation account:
“The Hebrew word for ‘day’ is ‘yom’ and this word can occasionally be used to mean an indefinite period of time, if the content warrants. In the overwhelming preponderance of its occurrences in the O.T., however, it means a literal day… Still further, the plural form of the word (Hebrew ‘yamim’) is used over 700 times in the O.T. and always, without exception, refers to literal ‘days.’” (The Bible Has the Answers, Henry Morris, p. 94).
Obviously even Creationist Morris admits the idea that each day represented an era is ridiculous. Not only is the day-age theory unacceptable scripturally, but it also is grossly in conflict with the geological position with which it attempts to compromise. My suggestion? Make a valid justification as to how the creation account can be plausible, until then don’t pimp feeble lies to cover up for your even more errant book.’
http://www.evilbible.com/a_day_is_a_day.htm
Awesome. Just awesome. The hate on atheists and followers of the great FSM needs to stop. People, look at what you are war-shipping! Oh wait… You can’t.
Just LOOK at what you’re reading and think about the hate coming FROM atheists toward people that believe in God and have found that belief extremely beneficial to their lives. I know it’s all relative, but I have known very few Christians that have ever hurt anyone, and yet know a million atheists that make it their duty to point out flaws in people’s beliefs.
It’s called the high road. You’re probably right, but running around saying “I told you so” just makes you an asshole.
wow you know MILLIONS of atheists? Personally?
Since when does the term “hurt anyone” = “make it their duty to point out flaws in people’s beliefs” ?
I, being an Atheist, like to question people’s blind faith, and presents questions to challenge the way a person thinks. I look at it this way – if no one in the course of human history ever challenged the assertions and beliefs of others (not just in a religious context but in all ways of thinking) – we’d all still believe that the earth was flat, and that the sun and the universe revolved around us.
I like to have rational, thoughtful debates with religious believers who are open to idea that not everything written in their doctrine is acceptable, valid, or even the ultimate truth. My discussions with them don’t shake their faith in their god (and I don’t ever attempt to de-convert people) but simply allow them to see inconsistencies between what they learn from the bible and are told by other religious folk, and what they personally believe in.
I have no problems with people believing in Jehovah, Jesus, Zeus, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Elvis or whatever gives them comfort. I have problems with the institution of religion, and the imposing of unflexible (at times impossible) rules and laws that conflict and contradict, not only within a religion, but with other religions.
I never intentionally cause harm to another person for any reason, including for their beliefs, and I personally haven’t come across many Atheists that do. Sure there have been some very evil Atheists who have done terrible things, but I’m a little skeptical on how many of these were based purely on being an Atheist and whether they were more heavily influenced by other factors (eg. politics, greed, corruption, etc). I could also point out numerous points in history where Christians have intentionally harmed others in the name of their God (look at the congregation of the Westboro Baptist Church for a current example), but again we could also argue that many of these were based in external agenda.
Christians don’t like it when they are all lumped together and branded ignorant hate-mongerers, so kindly respect that we Atheists also don’t appreciate being labeled and stereotyped.
hate from atheist? i dont hate anyone because of the religion they practice, i just dont wanna waste hours of my life reading a book anf going to church for someone i dont believe in if you want to more power to you. and you cant say nothing i know plenty of christians forcing christianity down others throat because they dont believe. We live in a free country with “freedom of religion” but it seems like there is no such thing to christians if your not a christian then your not right. I on the other hand do not believe in your god so stfu and gtfo the athiest post if you dont like us!
Are you insane? The Entire US Army promotes the Christian ideal and kills people every single day. Christianity, today, is enmeshed in every war on the planet is some detrimental way or another.
Every Sergent, Captain or general of any division will tell his troops they are protected by God and this Jesus person for the people they are about to kill. rape or ruin in some way, shape or form. A young man was killed by his own SQUAD in Iraq because he objected to the Christianization of his unit.
Don’t for one second think you don’t know any violent, murderous Christians- any military person you know kills men, women and children with the fervor of any Taliban and the complete blessing of priests, pastors and ministers all over America..
First of all, that is a ridiculous, militant comment and you deserve every bit of harsh criticism you get. These are conspiracy theories and you are a jackass. I was in the military and it was not overly Christian. I met an atheist for the first time in the army. I met a lot of them. Most of the Christians I knew didn’t give a damn about Christianity. None of us ever killed a woman or child. We treated them with absolute respect. You are an insane, internet psychopath who feels strong behind a computer. Get bent, dickhead.
win
win @FSM
WHY would god even need 6days or 6,000days to create the entire universe if he is that powerful? Isn’t 6microseconds enough??
“I am a Christian and I was able to distinguish fact from fiction in this article, and able to point out that you people wouldn’t know an analogy if it danced naked in front of you.”
First of all, “You people?! ” haha that is a joke…
Second, where were you able to point out that “you people wouldn’t know an analogy if it danced naked in front of you”? Are you referencing a theoretical pointing out? Like maybe you argued the article and won but are only telling us of your victory?
Third, “I’M A CHRISTIAN AND I KNEW THIS YOUR LOGIC IS FLAWED” pssshhh…your grammar is flawed…
But yes, this is a silly article. All the spelling errors didn’t help, but using objective logic to refute a subjective faith-based book is folly. Atheists and believers disagree on what truth means, so quit wasting your time trying to analyze their book and grow up.
Certainly, it has potential.
But you ought to know that whatever you have to say of value, you ruin it because of the offensive and ironic attitude.
But for it, this would have been a valuable article.
My friend, we don’t worship the Bible. Pointing out flaws in something humans put together will only affect the undiscipiined, the immature, and the ignorant. There is something beyond the written word on a page that connects us; I pray you will find it.
Peace.
You are only praying to yourself, grow up and get away from fairytales.
‘Jesus Lied About Prayer
Jesus is quoted many times in the Bible saying that a believer can ask for anything through prayer and receive it. He even goes so far as to say that mountains and trees can be thrown into the sea simply by praying for it. This is clearly a lie, and can be proven to be a lie by any believer. Simply pray for me to be converted to Christianity right away. Or better yet ask God to move the mountains behind my house. He could make a lot of converts that way. If I’m converted today, I’ll post a public apology on my web site and devote my life to kissing God’s ass. If I’m not converted it would only be fair for you to apologize and devote your life to kissing my butt.
Here are the quotes from Jesus that proves that he lied:
1) And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, `Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Matthew 21:21-22 NAS)
2) Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8 NAB)
3) Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst. (Matthew 18:19-20 NAS)
4) Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him. Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours. (Mark 11:24-25 NAB)
5) And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Luke 11:9-13 NAB)
6) And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it. (John 14:13-14 NAB)
7) If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. (John 15:7 NAB)
9) On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. (John 16:23-24 NAB)
A lot of Christians ignore what Jesus actually says in the Bible. They also tend to add things to the actual words to make them say something else. If you honestly and truthfully read these quotes, without adding to them, it is very easy to see that Jesus is not saying that God will think about your prayers. He says God will grant all your prayers. Clearly, God doesn’t grant all prayers and this proves that Jesus was a habitual liar.’
Jebus was an asshole!
To Micbael,
Jebus very well could have been an asshole.
From Kble
This was grotesque and highly incorrect. While it seems your argument is that Christians “know nothing,” you are obviously wrong– I found holes in each of your statements and the supposed “proof” you used (nearly all of it taken out of context).
If I had the time to write a full-fledged rebuttal, I would. But firstly, the truth needs no defending. Any true believer that reads this will quickly cast your opinions and skewed logic aside because they know better and possess “faith,” one important topic you failed to address in bashing th Christian faith. Also, it seems to me that you spent so much time searching the Bible just to prove it wrong that you are clearly searching for answers yourself.
Lastly, the Passion of the Christ has nothing to do with the Bible (which you seemed to pick up on), so that point was completely irrelevant.
I am not a religious person. But I have read enough bible to know that this is a poorly written, fraudulent article. I you get hits on this page, it is unfortunate. One of the strongest points in favor of atheists and agnostics is their strong logical prowess. Your article has no logic and no citations. I don’t even think you have read the bible completely ever, even from a critical point of view. Very amateirish crap and waste of my time, even responding to this.
Well said Doubting Thomas. I am an atheist who used to be “born again” so I do know the bible. I found this article makes a weak argument against christianity.
OK. Maybe I was harsh earlier. This isn’t full of fail, but fails significantly. It might seem in poor form to take this apart, but I think it’s important. If we are going to pretend to be smarter than religionists we could at least try to do a little fact-checking. The many versions of the Bible are available digitally and searchably at http://www.biblegateway.com/
It depends on what you mean by “almost no account” but at least two chapters at the end of each of the four canonical gospels are dedicated to this account (plus resurrection, but see below). About 20% of John documents the crucifixion and resurrection. Maybe it would help if you included what you thought were significant details that are in the Christian tradition but not biblical.
Mark 16. 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Matthew 28. 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Luke 24. 13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
John 20. 11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
…and the final chapter of John is devoted to Jesus’ little visits to his apostles.
You could make the argument that the resurrection was not in the earliest versions of Mark (the earliest canonical Gospel) and was redacted later. However, the modern book that most Christians have in their home is replete with not just Jesus disappeared stories, but resurrection stories.
This isn’t so full of fail. It does indicate that Jesus is a little weird, though. He recommends that apostles leave their families to follow him, but is against divorce (Mark 10, Mathew 19, Luke 16).
Also, Paul had no idea what Jesus taught. He never met Jesus, and there is no indication in his letters that he knew anything of Jesus other than the resurrection (although some might argue that his probable association with the author of Luke might have been sufficient to fill him in on most of the details.)
4. Thou Shall Not Kill, is NOT a Commandment.
Come on. You could wiki this one. There are several accounts of God’s commandments in the Pentateuch. The accounts in both Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 include a proscription against murder. It seems disingenuous that you missed this.
5. The Bible is full of Raunchy Sex.
Not enough to hold my attention for long. But yeah. Mythical figures do be laying with each other.
True enough. But most Christians don’t believe in the Rapture, and wouldn’t likely find this at all surprising.
Satan means “adversary”. The enemy. He is always a bad guy, but goes from a relatively minor role in the OT, to a much more important role as a foil for Jesus and Paul (or people who were writing under Paul’s name).
Examples of Satan in an unflattering light:
Luke 22: 2-4 Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus.
Romans 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
Revelation 12:9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
OK. Not wrong.
Maybe I’m splitting hairs, but Jesus promised “The End of the World as We Know It” long before Michael Stipe did.
“6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
7 The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
8 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied.
10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.
11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
12 The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.”
Book of Job (NIV) 1:6 – 1:12
I would say his references to Satan were correct from the book he was pulling it from. Although you may be right in your citations as well, take into account, this is the Satan from the Old Testament, not the New Testament.
Razz: I would argue that both Yahweh and Satan in the Book of Job are bad guys. YMMV.
You are right to point out that the role of Satan in the Abrahamic religions has evolved.
“He recommends that apostles leave their families to follow him, but is against divorce”
Check this from Matthew 19:
1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”
11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
I don’t know how you read that, but when I read his disciples supposedly asking him if it is better not to marry and then he supposedly replies by telling them that if you can accept it, you should choose to live like a eunuch, that seems pretty anti-marriage to me. Even thought he’s against divorce, you can’t really argue that he’s pro marriage after his statement in verse 12.
Christians are flawed. Let’s face it. I’d rather go to hell than be around you people. If there even was one.
Agreed.
I guess you’ll find out.
Matthew 8:12b “…there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth”. Yeah……sounds like fun. I want to jump right on finding the quickest route into hell……. /sarcasm
Go to heaven for the climate, go to hell for the company
I’m pretty such the Vatican has a copy of John from 125ce, thats like 30 years after john died, and as was mentioned there are lots of accounts in the bible of Jesus resurrection. Agree 7 is totally wrong, Satan is gods enemy and in Rev 12 there is war in heaven and god throws him out. You make some interesting points buts but some of your comments about doctrine are way off and its hurts the valuable points you make later about how Jesus would break up families.
I’m no scholar, but if God created everything, he had to have created Satan. And if God is a perfect being, he would not have created an enemy for no reason, that would be illogical and therefore not in God’s assumed nature. God needs Satan as much as we need darkness to know anything about light. If God didn’t need Satan then I ask anyone to posit another reason for his existence. Just something that amuses me about this particular religion, Satan strikes me as someone who loved God so much he would take the abuse of humans for eternity in order to do God’s work. He is hated so that we may demonstrate our worthiness to God (I think this is stupid to begin with, but I’m playing the devil’s advocate).
I read this article with extreme interest thinking of several people I’d like to forward this to. Only to fact check and read these responses and would have been made a fool of if I had. Atheist are seekers of logic, truth and intellect. This article hurts us all.
yes! It’s almost as if this article was written by a Christian to make atheists appear uninformed. It makes us look bad!
It’s all bullshit whatever way you look at it. If you don’t believe in unicorns and big foot you’re going to hell. If you choose to believe King Kong climbed the Empire State building (IT’S ON FILM !!!) that’s fine but please don’t base your whole life and decision making on that one thing or try to ostracize somebody who doesn’t see it the same way as you do (It’s just a film.). Why do religious people get so threatened when you don’t agree with their delusion? It’s kind of sad. it’s almost as if they know it’s all bullshit but are too superstitious to admit it.
I totally agree. Almost as worrying are the quasi-religious ramblings of the conspiracy theorists who share a lot in common with mainsteam religions —– their theories are based on dubious ‘facts’ and they also get very uppity should one try to contradict them
What are you talking about were does it say that? All those things are SO not true! Jesus did die on the cross for our sins and if you don’t like that than get over it, but that doesn’t mean that you can go and right was ISN”T true!
Kim: Your argument is misplaced. The biblical writings attributed to Paul clearly say that Jesus died on our cross for our sins. The article on which you are commenting doesn’t say anything about that, as wrong as it is on just about everything else.
We could argue whether Paul was correct on this point, or more importantly, what dying on the cross for someone’s sins even means. But that has nothing to do with the thread you have stepped into.
This is bullshit!!!!!!! Stop non if it is true!
Look. every body has their own damn opinion, can’t we all just be happy that we’re alive? NOBODY fucking KNOWS what happens when we die, people just have their different BELIEFS so what I don’t get is why don’t people stop fighting about what nobody knows? I mean lets all look at what we know for a FACT.
1. We’re all human, we all have vices.
2. one persons IS NOT AND WILL NEVER BE more “Holy” than the next.
3. what ever you believe, good for you.
4. EVERY religion thinks that they are right.
5. EVERYONE has a different opinion on life. WE’RE ALL FUCKING ALIVE at least take that to heart.
6. YES there are things in this world WE CANNOT EXPLAIN, SO UNTIL WE DO SHUT THE FUCK UP.
7. EVERYONE has something that they want in life. BUT WE ALL WANT A HAPPY DEATH.
8. If YOU CAN’T PROVE IT, LET IT BE.
9. UNTIL WE CAN UNDERSTAND each other there will ALWAYS BE FIGHTING.
10. Now do you REALLY WANT to MAKE A DIFFERENCE? GET THE FUCK ALONG. it’s like the worlds dealing with a bunch of “sophisticated” kids. really, I’m only 17 and I’m more mature than most adults. what does that say about you if you can’t even look past people for what they believe? IT’S THEIR LIFE LET THEM FUCKING LIVE IT. Yeah religion has done some pretty fucked up shit..
11. Believe in, PEACE, LOVE, LUST, LOSS, SORROW, HAPPINESS, AND HUMANITY.
I mean lets all look at what we know for a FACT.
Facts are things that can be observed or measured.
1. We’re all human, we all have vices.
It depends on what you think a vice is. You and I will likely disagree on what my vices are. For the moment, I find your misuse of the word “fact” annoying, but not really a vice.
2. one persons IS NOT AND WILL NEVER BE more “Holy” than the next.
Clearly not a fact. Unless you have a means of measuring “holiness”.
3. what ever you believe, good for you.
Clearly this is just your opinion. If you believed that your feet were made out of salami, and you ate them, I would regard this as a tragedy for you. Lot’s of beliefs are detrimental to the health and well-being of those who hold them.
4. EVERY religion thinks that they are right.
This at least could be a fact. It is probably true of the majority of religious people anyway (because technically speaking, a religion can’t think).
5. EVERYONE has a different opinion on life. WE’RE ALL FUCKING ALIVE at least take that to heart.
OK, I guess. No need to shout.
6. YES there are things in this world WE CANNOT EXPLAIN, SO UNTIL WE DO SHUT THE FUCK UP.
a. You are not the boss of me.
b. Admitting that we can’t explain these things, and trying to find ways to explain them require that we don’t “shut the fuck up”. In fact, “shutting the fuck up” doesn’t help anyway.
c. This is more of you being bossy, and not a fact.
7. EVERYONE has something that they want in life. BUT WE ALL WANT A HAPPY DEATH.
I guess the first part is damned near factual, but I don’t understand how it stands in juxtaposition to the second part. How does a happy death relate to anything that has been discussed here?
8. If YOU CAN’T PROVE IT, LET IT BE.
Again with the bossing and shouting. Oh. Clearly not a fact as much as command.
9. UNTIL WE CAN UNDERSTAND each other there will ALWAYS BE FIGHTING.
I believe that there would be fighting even if we understood each other.
10. Now do you REALLY WANT to MAKE A DIFFERENCE? GET THE FUCK ALONG. it’s like the worlds dealing with a bunch of “sophisticated” kids. really, I’m only 17 and I’m more mature than most adults. what does that say about you if you can’t even look past people for what they believe? IT’S THEIR LIFE LET THEM FUCKING LIVE IT. Yeah religion has done some pretty fucked up shit..
I realize that you are only 17, but this is an oversimplified view of a complex world. What people do based on their irrational beliefs affects others. Sometimes refusing to get along is how justice and equality happen. Also, this is kind of a screed and not so much a fact…and you would probably seem more mature if you laid off the caps-lock button.
<i?11. Believe in, PEACE, LOVE, LUST, LOSS, SORROW, HAPPINESS, AND HUMANITY.
I assume by “believe in” you mean something along the lines of “do what you can to support”. This makes sense for peace, humanity, happiness, and maybe for lust. However, I don’t know how you could simultaneously promote loss and sorrow while promoting happiness.
Unless you just mean “believe that these things exist”….in which case, you’ll get no argument from me.
Other than to say, once again, #11 isn’t a fact either.
@Antiochus Epiphanes
You have been quite possibly the most helpful troll on Mr Anon’s comment, and I have decided to congratulate you on a job well done. You really did make me have a nice chuckle
To Anon…when did you ever think that 90% of your opinion should be placed in caps lock? While that is just an arbitrary number to help get my point across, you clearly need to stop, count to ten, and then reread whatever it is you are about to post. If you think to yourself, “Wow…just wow…” then you may want to rethink your whole strategy.
You do realize that if we just leave it alone and wait for someone to figure out the answers then no one will find them. They’ll all be young adolescent kids such as yourself. And what you fail to see is the reason that these people are fighting. From the atheists point of view they aren’t satisfied until everyone agrees with them. In this regard they are very much like Christians or believers of other faiths. But from the religious view if anyone else is wrong then that demands serious consequences. Such as hell and other like things. That’s why they fight. One wants to be right the other wants to save everyone. But should it be left alone. I say not. These fights cause people to try and defend themselves. It’s good to be knowledgeable about what you seek.
by the way, My name Is Brandon. and I love every living breathing thing on this planet. <3
My one biggest problem (with the bible) is that so many claim it to be “the inerrant word of God”. That’s just wrong. It’s not the word of anyone except the people who wrote the first written accounts and all of those interpretations of those accounts that came after.
Let’s look at it this way:
If I went to the doctor and had a checkup, the doctor would promise the results in so many days, etc. Cool. i wait and, several days later, someone I’ve never met, who doesn’t work in my doctor’s office and has never met him or me, calls and tells me that, as a result of my tests, I have been found to be suffering from some terrible disease and need treatment right away and that I should immediately begin bathing every 5 minutes in milk, shave my head, and kill all the household pets within a 50 mile radius of my birthplace in order for me to be cured. What would I do? Why, I’d call the doctor to see what was up. Duh.
Why do we place so much emphasis on what a bunch of people wrote down based on stories that were handed down orally through several different (and some dead or much changed) languages hundreds of years ago? Sure, we can’t “really” go directly to the source and ask what’s what, but shouldn’t the fact that no two renditions of the bible really agree on even the crucial points anyway really give any sane person pause?
The bible is HISTORY, maybe even historical fiction. That means it serves a purpose and that purpose is to tell us how and why early Christians did as they did and what they thought God was telling them. It’s just not entirely applicable to today’s world. It’s a skeleton key in a world full of combination locks. Do you consult the owners manual of your first Ford Model T for instructions on how to replace the automatic transmission on your Ford F150?
Please, just learn to think on your own.
You must understand that the Christians claim it not to be the words of god but the “inspired word of God.” It makes a difference. At least the Christians that aren’t dumb enough to believe this article know that. It’s true the texts were written by several different individuals but according to Christians they were God inspired.
This article is downright brilliant. As a devout atheist, I take pride in knowing more about Christianity than Christians do. This apparently is not a very high bar because I was blown away by more than half of the things you said. Great work! I really need to just sit down and read the Bible cover to cover one of these days in order to strengthen my disbelief.
Yes you do. That way you will realize how much of what this article has said is completely false.
Kevin could start by reading the comments here.
This article is full of false information. I’m an atheist, and I’m disappointed by your ignorant ridicule of the bible.
thank you!
Hello, I am going try to say this in the nicest manner possible (being a Religion major at a major university). I encourage you to actually read the Bible and a book about basic Christian doctrine (A Faith For All Seasons By Ted Dorma is a good one!) What you have listed above is misrepresentation of the Biblical text. Also (knowing Koine Greek) I have to say the point you made about not having original copies of the text does not make a difference based on the age of some the manuscripts we have. Some are within 25 years after the originals were written. This taken into account along with the number of Greek manuscripts (5700, the most for any ancient piece of literature) means that the reliability of the text we have today is very high (they are about 99.9 % the same as the originals). The reason for the many different interpretations is caused by a number of factors. For one, Greek words have multiple meanings. Two, the words that are added into the text help to render a better English translation (without compromising the original meaning). Finally, with only .1% of the Bible not being the same, no major teachings were have been compromised. The .1% is most likely a missing article or something small of that sort. I am not trying to be mean by writing this but this is a horrible misrepresentation of the Bible. I could address every comment that you put but that would take too long so i will address one more. The rapture. Your right the word “rapture” is not found anywhere in the Bible! The reason being it is a Latin word. The Greek word used is “harpazo” literally meaning “catching up.” There are many different views of the harpazo so not every Christian is going to have the same view.
Your friend,
Marcus
Sorry I have to say something about the crucifixion and resurrection as well. We know quite a bit about crucifixion based on historical documents describing it in detail. You should look into that! And as for the resurrection “never” being talked about….”The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Luke 24:7…This is Jesus speaking about his resurrection. If you want further proof ….”The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. So as you and the readers see the Bible does talk about the resurrection of Jesus.
“We know quite a bit about crucifixion based on historical documents describing it in detail.”
I’d be interested in seeing some of these “historical sources”, can you provide links to any?
I thought you would never ask! Here is one about Jesus existed/being crucified….These are actual historical documents that refer to Jesus and some to his crucifixion. They paint a picture strikingly similar to the Gospels.
http://www.agapebiblestudy.com/documents/Historical%20evidence%20on%20the%20exhistance%20of%20Jesus.htm
And for me to provide you with historical documents that explain crucifixion itself would be a little pointless considering the fact that there are a number of books written on the subject. You could type crucifixion into Google and find thousands of websites explaining it in detail. But just in case that does not satisfy you here are a few…
Histories, ix.120–122, the Greek writer Herodotus describes the execution of a Persian general at the hands of Athenians in about 479 BC: “They nailed him to a plank and hung him up … this Artayctes who suffered death by crucifixion.” (Translation by Aubrey de Selincourt. The original, “σανίδα προσπασσαλεύσαντες, ἀνεκρέμασαν … Τούτου δὲ τοῦ Ἀρταύκτεω τοῦ ἀνακρεμασθέντος …”, is translated by Henry Cary (Bohn’s Classical Library: Herodotus Literally Translated. London, G. Bell and Sons 1917, pp. 591-592) as: “They nailed him to a plank and hoisted him aloft … this Artayctes who was hoisted aloft”.)
“They crucified him with hands and feet stretched out and nailed to cross-pieces; cf. vii.33. This barbarity, unusual on the part of Greeks, may be explained by the enormity of the outrage or by Athenian deference to local feeling.” ( Stavros, Scolops (σταῦρός, σκόλοψ). The cross; encyclopedia Hellinica)
These and many more modern books site historical documents that provide a picture of crucifixion in ancient Roman times. I found these two on Wikipedia.
John 2:19-22
Dude, have you ever eve read the Bible? Start from there before writing al that crap!! There is plenty of historical evidence about the reliability of the writings and the writers of the New Testament. It’s even silly to try to defend Christianity from people who barely knows the Bible.
Claudio Sepulveda
Theologian
okay, one, jesus did come back. he appeared to his disciples, two, the very last book of the bible has the end of the world, three, the crucifixion is described. Marriage is fine, one of the first thing god does is create heaven, Satan IS a bad guy, for he is sentenced to punish the bad because he tried to take over heaven, and Thou Shall Not Kill IS a commandment. Atheist jerk.
Where are your citation and list the bible verses that verify your ludicrous comments. That’s the big weakness with you theists. You say something and expect everyone to believe it without proof. But after all, you believe in your religion without proof, so it’s understandable that you would project your own intellectual failings upon others.
She’s right. See the end of the article in which the author states there are 3 commandments that are used in US law. One of them is “thou shall not kill.” The author specifically wrote this. And all the claims Adrian made are absolutely correct. The crucifixion is described in detail from the trial to the people he met along the way and what he said to them. The bible does say that there is an end of time but only god himself knows about it. Oh, furthermore, the author writes that the more religious someone is, the less they really know about the bible. Which explains why priests are required to get a degree in theology.
It’s sad when I have to actually DEFEND Christians because a fellow atheist does not know what they are talking about. There are plenty of biblical misconceptions and contradictions. For example, God made Adam. Then from Adam, God made Eve. Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel. Great, so now they have two sons. Cain killed Abel. Then Abel has offspring- where did THEY come from?
Atheists are more educated than Christians? Please! Step up your game a little!
Where does Genesis mention Abel having offspring?
Funny how god waited around 13 billions years to tell some people in the desert about himself……and funny how people actually believe that god actually exist, an invisible man that controls everything with great power yet look at every modern day problems….same hing as beliveing in the invisible pink unicorn or spagetti monster
Well considering the fact that its not possible to prove or disprove the existence of God it is perfectly logical for a person to believe in God. There are a number of things I would like to address about this comment. For one God is not a man. For two, it appears that you believe the world is supposed to be a certain way (a right way if you will) which begs the question where did this idea of right and wrong come from? For three, In Genesis God created a good world. In the fullness of time God caused his image (ie. The moral law, intelligence, a moral free will) to fall on the humans He had perfected through the evolutionary process. With that free will granted by God, man decided to rebel against God plunging the human race into sin. I have said all of this to say that it is mans (Not Gods) fault that there is corruption in the world. So we have established that God is good but what about all-powerful? Should God stop all evil or some of it? If God stopped all evil there are many things that would follow. God would have to destroy us. We think evil thoughts so if God stopped all evil then he would have to destroy us. For two what is evil? It’s the absence of good. Since man is no longer good because of the first humans in the garden rebelling he would have to take away our free will in order to stop evil.
I gave this page a “thumbs-up” on StumbleUpon. Not for the original content, mind you. In fact, I was reading through the list thinking to myself, These are pretty incredible; I’ve read my Bible and didn’t even catch on to most of these “shocking” things! I look forward to poring over the list of citations at the end of the article. Of course, no such list was to be found, much to my dismay. Aside from a few “So-and-so, author of What’s-it-called, said…” quotations and some misplaced Bible verses (Matthew 19:5 and Mark 10:8 have nothing to do with divorce, but with the symbolic joining of two people to become one) there were no citations. Clearly Mr. Harris from truth-saves.com as well as the author of this article did a very poor job of fact-checking.
No, when I gave this a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon it was for the commenters, especially Antiochus Epiphanes and Flying Spaghetti Monster for their brilliant rebuttals to both the original article and a few of its commenters.
I would like to add that the style of writing does not seem very consistent in this article, which begs the question of whether the person who composed the list of “Ten Shocking Things” was the same person who added the follow-up commentary at the end. The blatant dishonesty of the the entire list got me to raise an eyebrow about the author’s credibility, so I might as well raise one (the other one? I guess now I just look surprised) for his honesty overall.
Atheist Dave
My apologies for the italics.
Agreed. The comments in this article are informative and interesting. I learned more from them than I did the original article.
What Christians fail to realize, is that Dante’s Poem is not the Bible. In both the Old and New Testament, when you die, you are simply buried in the ground, waiting for the day you will be brought back to life (Judgment Day) along with everyone else who ever lived. That’s right; the dead merely go to the grave.
THE BIBLE PREDICTS THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE!!
Why, may I ask, did God, with all His Powers, wrote, or “inspired” a Book (mostly about Himself and His only Son) which so many of His own created humans could disagree so passionately on?
I’m sorry dude, but you obviously haven’t studied the bible, it’s history and more. I’m NOT a Christian but I am a student of the Bible and in particular the fallacies, edits, additions, contradictions, and allusions tied to it and you’re light-years off base, the type of pseudo-atheistic ranting that gives the bible lovers “proof” as to how stupid the self-professed intellects can be when it comes to the bible.
The Bible is the ONLY source from which we have any direct record of the Crucifixion and Resurrection which are the two key factors that make a Christian a Christian. . . while educated folks know that this is just a new evolution of far older Sun-God Pageants (in particular Dionysus) it is the thing that Christians claim that makes them “special”, so what if they ignore the evidence that says JC was just a man more akin to Buddha than some kind of divine IS (besides, it’s not as politically potent or lucrative).
There are other holes in what you’ve shared but I won’t wade through it all. I will encourage you to get your information a bit more honed before you run off with this sort of B.S. ever again.
You haven’t pointed out a single “hole” I suspect you are a christian troll that tries to discredit anything that disagrees with your beliefs but cannot offer proof.
Doubtful. Maybe he didn’t feel like repeating what 20+ other commenters already said?
I am amazed at how RIDICULOUS this article is…I don’t even know where to start.
It’s even MORE sad to think that many people will buy into this ignorant ridicule of the bible.
This is honestly laughable, at most, and if this article isn’t meant to be a joke, than whoever wrote this has not studied the text very well…at all, coming from another atheist.
Then tell us, exactly what parts are not correct? You while, moan, and complain, but you carefully avoid saying what is not correct.
This should be taken down. It’s embarrassing!
I never did expect ignorance of the Bible to be magnified to THIS extent. Wow.
Get that garbage taken off of this website, please!
Again, tell us what is not correct. Or maybe you don’t know?
None of it is correct. I’ve read the Bible, studied the Bible, and am currently majoring in religion with a biblical emphasis at a university and to put it simply this article is full of false information. I’ve addressed a few of this issues in above comments but I can address all of them if you would like.
You keep posting comments like this under different names, but you forget, I can see your email address.
lol
^win.
Aristotle: How could this be “win”? Regardless of Marcus sockpuppetry, this article has been demonstrated to be packed with FAIL. It only serves to make atheists look stupid.
Wow. Some of this is manipulative and not the whole story. Other parts are flat out lies. I’ve read the New Testament many times as an Atheist. This is complete nonsense. The Atheist writing this article needs to go back and do quite a bit more research. Maybe read the whole thing instead of taking out excerpts and copying from other uneducated Atheists. Educate yourself on something before you speak about it. Whether it be physics or Christians.
Toward the end of the article he says that only three of the 10 commandments have been codified into US law- and he states that one of these is “thou shall not kill.” #4 is that “thou shall not kill” is not in the bible.
Sorry, but I’m an atheist and I found a few things that were wrong with this article. I’m too lazy to go back (Bible study in Humanities courses was the most boring thing I’ve ever done and I don’t feel like reviewing my notes!). But there were several mistakes. Some good points, too. The Bible is full of raunchy, delicious sex.
Christians, get off the site, you’re just looking for something to bitch about. The site is clearly for atheists, it’s highly unlikely that you will see reason, just as unlikely as a sane rational person deciding to convert to a religion. You’re just raising your blood pressure and irritating us.
It’s mostly the atheists getting upset. He’s making us look stupid by making so many false references! I only wasted one semester (and I guess Catholic school as a child) studying the bible, and I found so many errors in this article. I can find plenty of contradictions in the bible and could easily prove that the Christian religion is utter bull- but this author gives no credence to that in his article. He just contradicts himself and makes atheists like liars! He’s doing a favor to the Christians.
I disagree. I think it’s good for Christians to stumble upon (pun intended!) sites like this. It forces thought, logic, and discussion which is exactly what atheists and religious people should be doing together.
I agree with the guest above me, it IS mostly the atheists getting upset. The religious person replying most, Marcus, may be a grammatical nightmare but at least he’s using his own version of logic and has cherry picked which pieces of the bible to stand behind (it makes the atheist side look better).
And yet no one has said anything about the comments I posted…
This site is clearly for Atheists? It was posted on my facebook page – as it was a statement of “The 10 shocking things Christians don’t know about the bible” I thought it was clearly put there so I could check it out. Sorry! Didn’t realize Atheists were the only people that were supposed to read this garbage. I don’t know if you’ve read all the notes, but I have and most of the people, including many Atheists, disagree with the writer that posted this. Doesn’t take much to irritate you Madisyn, I could tell you how you could get some peace in your life, but you’d probably disagree.
Religion is like a penis.
We all know you have it.
We all know it’s there.
But you don’t have to shove it down our throats.
Personally, I think people need to re-think this whole religion thing to begin with. I mean seriously, how many wars would we have saved our self, if we would’ve just done away with religion to begin with?
But that is never going to happen. I believe people need to shut their mouths, and live their lives they believe best. Sure they may be some flaws in the bible and the way people understand its text, but seriously you don’t have to bash other people’s life. This is how a war gets started. Grow up. Accept that you cannot and will not change this. I’m young, and I’ve accepted this fact. Jeeze, how long will it take you un-educated masses to realize this is it, and you just need to get over it? You don’t enjoy people attacking how you live, so why are you going to do it to them.
Oh, and for the record: I am NOT a Christian. I have no religion of preference. I believe in something greater, I don’t know what it is out there, but I am accepting and understanding of other people’s religious beliefs. It’s time you do the same thing. The world might be a little happier and more accepting for my children, and my children’s children.
Religion is like a penis.
We all know you have it.
We all know it’s there.
But you don’t have to shove it down our throats.
Which is exactly what this article is doing with atheism. Atheism is MY penis, I guess. I enjoy being an atheist and doing reading and finding discrepancies in holy texts, and I want other people to know about them. That’s how religious people feel. I don’t care if people “shove religion down my throat” (okay, I care, it’s just annoying) as long as it isn’t taught in schools, doesn’t play a role in government, and doesn’t have an effect on the way I live my life. Unfortunately, It’s not fair to say atheists can have the pleasure of talking about how great we are without allowing religious people to do the same.
To have an intelligent discussion/debate on the bible (or anything else), there need to be some basic premises that all can agree on. To that end, it’s worth pointing out that actual bible scholarship has been done and published in books readable by non-theologians. People seem to get far more heated and passionate over the truth or lack thereof presented in the New Testament than in the Old, as evidenced by the above article and comments. With that in mind, both atheists and Christians should find common ground in the books published by The Jesus Seminar in general and by John Dominic Crossan in particular. Dr. Crossan is one of the foremost living New Testament scholars; and while his conclusions are controversial, his underlying premises are generally accepted by most non-fundamentalist scholars. A good book to start with is “The Five Gospels”, co-edited By Robert Funk and Dr. Crossan. It presents the four canonical gospels plus the Gospel of Thomas and summarizes 2oo years of New Testament scholarship. It includes original scholarship done by the Jesus Seminar, where the words attributed to Jesus are assigned probabilities of having actually originated with him based on textual and contextual arguments by the Seminar’s scholars, all of which are concisely given.
^like^
Who gives a %$#@? This arguement is getting old. Believe what you want but dont judge and critizie others! Your beliefs are just as stupid and nobody knows the real truth until you die. So &^%$ OFF with your bullshit writing, because nobody really cares.
love it.
Ouch… after reading the article AND the comments, I think the author should have made it very clear that his essay was entirely his personal ‘point-of-view’ and that any research errors are his alone. Jeez (sic), all serious authors do that.
However, I did find it entertaining and it did get me to do some reading, so all is not lost, here. I like research challenges.
I have found, over time, that even a poorly written and/or poorly researched doc can still have some interesting morsels of thought– to follow up and delve into a bit deeper.
I can understand other atheists having issue with this essay, but do try to remember that ‘practice makes perfect’. Perhaps the critics (on both sides) will have a positive effect on the writer to tighten it up and do deeper research.
Any voice against religious tyranny needs to be heard…. and checked…. and re-checked
We can’t win against the nutcases unless our arguments are stone-cold perfect
Number 2 is bullshit.
All four Gospels make references to the resurrection.
I’m not a Christian, but I’ve actually read the bible, the research here is pretty sub-par.
A single search proves you wrong.
Everyone knows there is a God only some choose to deny it–doesn’t change what is —Men are deceivers of themselves. There are no Atheists in fox holes.
I would think getting an education might serve you well instead of spending all your time making up a bunch of garbage that no one could possibly believe unless they are completely brainless.
I am thinking perhaps the reason for all this is because you were looking to get a rise out of anyone who stumbles on to this ridiculous website.
For the record, I am a veteran of the U.S. Army. I served in Iraq. So yes, there are atheists in foxholes.
He got a rise out of you alright.
Stop wasting time arguing about this shit. If all it takes to prove you are right is, “faith,” then there will never be an argument logical enough to persuade anyone. Religious arguments plague our Earth and lead to death after death after death after death. Enough. Everyone. Fuck.
Does it seem to anybody else like Point #10 invalidates everything that came before it?
Points 1-9 are based on textual readings of the Bible. But if there are dozens of different versions of the Bible that say different things, what’s the point in picking on one of them? I’m willing to wager that most of the beliefs the author purports to debunk in the article are based off different texts than the one he excoriated.
whoops. ‘Textual readings’ makes no sense. Meant to say ‘close readings’.
I got to the part about Jesus saying it’s okay to murder children, and i quit. Look, I’m not even baptized; I was RAISED Atheist, and I’m saying that whoever wrote this did absolutely no research and doesn’t know what they are talking about. And I swear if someone says I’m a “Christian troll” I will fuck the Virgin Mary and then force her to get an abortion. (Bible quotes taken from the NIV).
This article states:
“And if you think the New Testament is better, you should really read about how Jesus routinely treats his own mother, let alone his instructions on beating (Mathew 15:4-7) and murdering children (Mark 7:9-10), his endorsement of beating slaves (Luke 12:47), and his outright statement that he has come to destroy families (Matthew 10:21 & 10:34).”
This is so very offensive to me because Mark, Chapter 7 is actually a good verse to use in argument with devout Christians. Jesus says that the followers of the traditional Jewish institution have become so immersed in the human-created church tradition, that they are no longer capable of honoring God. It is an interesting parallel to modern times. IT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT MURDERING CHILDREN, UNLESS YOU TAKE IT COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTEXT and only read “‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.” Jesus is quoting/paraphrasing Moses, not giving a step-by-step guidebook on how to bloodily murder babies, as implied by this article.
According to Matthew, Chapter 15 (which is the same story as Mark, chapter 7 fyi), he later quotes/paraphrases Isiah saying “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” He is talking about the hypocrisy inherit in the system!
I bring this up, because what many of the ignorant, die-hard, self-righteous, Bible-thumpers do is TAKE SPECIFIC BIBLE VERSES COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTEXT.
Writing a treatise that lacks accurate, researched evidence with a pre-conceived bias is EXACTLY the same activity the people who “make [your] blood boil” engage in.
This kind of ridiculousness hurts the Atheist/Agnostic/Non-Abrahamic cause, and it offends me greatly. I personally think that the author is a “Christian troll” attempting to present “non-believers” as ridiculously stupid
“IT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT MURDERING CHILDREN, UNLESS YOU TAKE IT COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTEXT ”
Bullshit.
Here’s the passage:
1Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.
2And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.
3For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
4And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.
5Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
6He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
9And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
10For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:
11But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.
12And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;
13Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
If you read it and understand it, he’s chastising the Pharisees for being so uptight about hand washing while they have set aside the Mosaic law that requires children who curse their parents to be put to death. Obviously a baby cannot curse its parents (at least not until it can talk), but Jesus is definitely defending the requirement to kill kids who don’t honor their parents. Just saying that something is being taken out of context does not mean that it is being taken out of context.
Nah. I point out to homophobes all of the time that while citing Mosaic law regarding a man lying with another man, they ignore ritual food restrictions. The point isn’t that they should remain kosher. The point is that by singling out one rule and ignoring the other they are being hypocrites.
Yes, he was supposedly trying to point out their hypocrisy, but that does not then that he was supposedly saying that the Mosaic law was no longer important:
Matthew 5:
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
That doesn’t read to me like the idea was that Mosaic law is to be suspended in Christianity. Modern Christians just like to believe that Jesus is supposed to have suspended the Old Testament laws because most modern Christians have absolutely no intention of trying to follow Mosaic law in any meaningful way.
None of the OT scriptures are really about what Jesus actually did, but about what the authors of those scriptures wanted to communicate to those who followed Jesus. This is why the gospel accounts differ so widely in reporting what Jesus actually did and said.
However, I think it’s clear from the book of Matthew that the author did not intend to support those who used Mosaic law as a justification for ritual murder, and yet wanted communicate primarily with a Hebrew community. This is actually more evident in the book of Matthew than the other Gospels, because in this book, Jesus is in constant conflict with the Pharisees who regarded themselves as the sole custodians of Mosaic Law.
Anyway, the verse you cite (in Matthew 5) reveals this strange conundrum. Jesus doesn’t claim to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. The Law was instituted by the Sky-daddy to prepare the Hebrews for His Grizzly Idea of Redemption. What this ultimately means is a suspension of the Law in the Apocalypse to Come.
It is clear that Jesus regarded his own judgment as greater than the law.
Matthew 9:6
But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.
Matthew 12
1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
3 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’[a] you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
11 He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.
The conclusion that the author of Matthew supported the ritual killing of children to fulfill Mosaic Law is ridiculous and completely without contextual backing. It is based in exactly the kind of cherry-picking that we accuse Christians of.
Shit! “None of the NT scriptures” is what I meant. I chopped out my earlier screed about the role of the Son of Man in Ezekial….bad job, there.
“None of the [NT] scriptures are really about what Jesus actually did”
I take issue with a statement like that, because there is little to no evidence outside of the New Testament that there ever was a Jesus. The NT along with the scant extra-biblical mentions of the guy would be compelling if the Jesus story was an original story, but since it seems largely based on many other man-god savior myths that predate it, it makes it much less compelling and therefore seem much less likely that there was an actual Jesus to be referred to with statements like ‘what Jesus actually did.’
Now, as far as the discussion that we’re having about whether or not there is sense to be made out of the stories presented about him in the NT, I think the best that can be said about them is that they are contradictory- not that they present any form of a cohesive ideology. From a certain perspective, one that is trying to say that the whole thing isn’t somehow non-sensical, your argument that there is no way that Jesus could have been defending killing unruly kids works. But, from another, one that is trying to point out how contradictory and non-sensical the whole convoluted mess is, mine makes sense as well. Because mine is basically, ‘look at how non-sensical it is for this guy to supposedly be saying that all of the Mosaic law has to be followed when at other times he’s saying the opposite.’
Case in point. The NT has Jesus saying that you have to honor your father and mother and that you have to hate your father and mother. Christians and Christian apologists try to somehow make this blatantly ridiculous contradiction make sense. I’ve had Christians tell me that the admonition to hate all of your family and your life really means that you have to love them less than you love Jesus. Well, I’m sorry but, if that’s what the intended message was, it should have said that and not to hate everyone. That amounts to nothing more than the mental gymnastics that a believer has to do in order to make the non-sensical somehow sensible. I’m so happy that I no longer have to do this.
This is buulls**t know what your talking g about before you open you mouth
Um…for all the religious people out there and to explain the difference between a fundamental atheist and a regular atheist. A: Everyone is given right to their own opinion. B: Judge yourself by your actions and thoughts before judging another, it makes u look like an ass if you don’t. C: An atheist is someone who believes in nothing but the facts, a FUNDAMENTAL atheist believes in nothing but the facts that are placed in front of them in the proper order of ways ie: Chronological, alphabetical, numerical, etc. and finally D: If you had a problem reading this article or any comments regarding this article, then rather tossing words that you will shame yourself with later, why not look back into history? because I’ve read the bible from cover to cover, and quite honestly, it is nothing but a book of fiction, I”m not atheist nor fundamental atheist, and I’m not christian/catholic. I am a Wiccan, but i follow virtues of several religions, and what is in this article is true, some out of context, but its all true. And there is nothing in the Bible stating that God smote Lucifur and banished him from the heavenly kingdom, the name Satan is read as The Satan, which translates as The Accuser, and Lucifur was given this title. It does mention a “perfect kingdom” but most people refer to it as heaven, and Hell was brought in after an entire Israelite city was burned to cinders, commonly said that “its burned like a hellfire” not that it was hell on earth. as for the supposed “FALLEN” angels, there’s no reference to then anywhere in the bible. and they got the description for Satan as a bad guy from the Pagan god Satyr, who was in all fact a satyr, half human half goat. Another thing that boggles me whenever i speak to priests and religious people about the design of man….here is what I say and I’ll quote it for you so you can persecute me later for it. “IF GOD MADE HUMANS IN HIS IMAGE, WE WOULD ALL BE HERMAPHRODITES” if God is so perfect, he would have to be a hermaphrodite, and for the anatomically ignorant(used in all respect) a hermaphrodite is a person who is born with BOTH; FEMALE: BREASTS, VAGINA VAGINAL CANAL CERVIX AND UTERUS, AS WELL AS MALE: TESTES, PENIS, URETHRA. AND OFF OF THEM ARE IN PERFECT WORKING ORDER. Hermaphrodites can FATHER a child as well as MOTHER a child within their womb. since scientists decided that hermaphrodites are a genetic defect and that they should choose a gender (and that’s just another way to persecute). I dated a hermaphrodite and kinda envied them for the fact that they get the best of both worlds, and they are closer to God than everyone else. for my parting gift, I’m going to give you a question to answer. If you were to meet God or Jesus of Nazareth, what would you ask, and why?
Really? a hermaphrodite? Someone must have missed the part about the Trilogy. What a great way for a Wiccan to slander Christianity while pretending he has any knowledge of it. Re-read the bible again. And like I have said to several people… this time read it like any good book, and not like you are looking for any possible way to discredit it. Because any little thing can be taken out of context far enough to make a statement technically true, but actually a flat out lie. Yet, another pathetic post from an ignorant person claiming to be wise.
Oh and just so you know, on the topic of Satan, the Devil… imagine that, your completely wrong again.
1And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
7And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Oh and by the way, for your sake and the sake of all the Atheists on here, lets suppose for one moment us Christians are correct, and what we believe is true… Don’t you think what you have been saying, (especially the completely off-his-rocker-Author) would make Satan applaud? For someone with such disbelief you go to amazing lengths to slander our beliefs. Did you all get together and write about how horrible a person Santa Clause is? (assuming you don’t believe in him either). What about the tooth fairy? My point isn’t that I’m comparing Jesus to these fictional characters by the way so don’t try and focus that. Instead focus on the comparison of your “non belief”. People do not slander and hate things they don’t believe in, they save that treatment for things that hurt their pride, and things they can’t comprehend.
Well, this was educational.
The only one I had heard before was the last one.
can i get a works cited so i can reference all these biblical fictions?…my theist friends are skeptical.
I liked the article and think that it makes many thought provoking claims. However, if you are serious about the following statement:
“I have made every effort to fact-check the above claims, and to the best of my knowledge it is correct. I will happily take constructive criticism and correct any errors that are found.”
Then you definitely need to rewrite #2. Especially when it says, “There is absolutely no resurrection narrative found anywhere in the four canonical gospels.”
How do you explain the following:
Matthew 28
Jesus Has Risen
1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
The Guards’ Report
11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Mark 16
Jesus Has Risen
1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.[a]
[The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9–20.]
9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
12 Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13 These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.
14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
Luke 24
Jesus Has Risen
1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.
9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
On the Road to Emmaus
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Jesus Appears to the Disciples
36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.
44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
The Ascension of Jesus
50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
John 20
The Empty Tomb
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The Purpose of John’s Gospel
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe[b] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 21
Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish
1 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee.[a] It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus[b]), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.[c] 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Jesus Reinstates Peter
15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) 21 When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”
22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” 23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”
24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.
25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
Clearly, there’s resurrection narrative in the modern Bible in the 4 canonical gospels. If you really mean your claim that you will take constructive criticism and correct any errors, then you need to do something about #2.
Just more sheeple… just a different flock… just another opinionated shepherd who needs to feel validated
Yes, by trying to tell people to question and think critically about the Christian Bible, the author of the piece is just trying to create more mindless ‘sheeple.’ Brilliant.
I’m Christian.
None of this surpised me.
Try harder next time.
HAHA! Religion is all based on perspective. It doesn’t matter if your a Jew, Muslim, or Christian or Atheist. None of these beliefs can be proven wrong, or right. That’s why I stay away from religion. The morals are great, but the in-depth (trying to make sense of every single line) analysis is a bunch of bullshit that really cannot be supported with hard evidence. The Bible is a great piece of literature, but I’m not gonna live my every breathe by it. The same goes for the Koran or any other religious piece of literature. Personally, science seems most logical to me and that’s what I’ll stick by. Anyone who lives their entire live around the Bible is a fuck’n twack
Check this out: http://stevenofclubs.wordpress.com/2011/05/10/was-the-united-states-founded-on-christianity/
Hi, I’d just like to say, anyone who has read a bible knows that this list is completely false, and is making atheism look like some sort of propaganda machine. I don’t believe in any of the crap in the bible but the author of this clearly hasn’t even read the bible. Sorry to burst everyones bubble but this list is just a load of nonsense. Please keep Christianity debunking in the realm of truth and reason, and don’t sink to the lie-spreading level of the average fundie. Of course now everyone’s going to assume I’m a christian because I don’t believe everything I’m told, even if it isn’t contrary to what I believe.
David Stockin should have done his homework better. Some of what he said is just plain wrong. Other bits, including the last quotation by Jesus, are taken out of context.
I’m an atheist. The main cause of this is that I read all of the Bible and studied how, why and by whom it was written along why some books were chosen by which committees for what reasons and why others were rejected. There is enough horrific, disturbing and ridiculous things within its pages to write millions of articles without resorting to poor scholarship.
OTOH, some of the things which the Christian Trolls are complaining about, David actually got right. For example, the Ten Commandments which Christians believe to be the epitome of God’s Rules is, indeed, the Old Version. The Amended Version was given to Moses by God some time later. It is supposed to be identical to the First Set, but it very clearly is not. It needs to be explained by the Yahweh god has memory problems. Most Bible translations list only 9 Amended Commandments, not 10. It was the Amended Version that was put in the Ark of the Covenant, not the Original Top Ten.
There is no need to consider Christianity as valid at all. Words from its own magic book tell us so.
Revelation 1:1-3
The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
Unless “soon” and “near” include up to 2,000 years after the fact, then the clock ran out on this religion a very long time ago, meaning there’s no need to argue the details.
Ah! so you’re the all knowing keeper time I see
I want to start out by saying that I am not defending Ulises statement. Attacking someone for having a generalized belief in god(s) is ignorant and pointless.
I do have some questions about your statement though. You say that God cannot do away with evil because that would mean getting rid of humans who are, in themselves, evil. So then where does evil come from? Even if God did create us initially as “good” that is saying he also created us with the potential to do evil. Yes there was free will involved but if the first humans were capable of doing evil than the potential was always there.
Also I think it would be fair to argue that if doing away with free will in order to have a world free of human suffering would be far more humane. And do we even really have free will if God is all knowing and already aware of the path we will take? If there is already a known future for each individual, we have a destiny, and therefore cannot deviate from the path of destiny.
http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/479133/How+to+disprove+God+with+a+flowchart/
yeah Christians, you just lost the game. your very basis of God is a paradox.
and of course all this is an exercise in futility because in the words of i think its mark twain
“f you could reason with religious people there would be no religious people mark twain”
I’m an atheist, and even I can tell that these quotes have been completely twisted and taken out of context. This is a very silly article and it just makes atheists look stupid. It doesn’t serve anyone.
I like to consider myself agnostic, and I look for flaws and hypocrisies in Christianity, but this article is very misinformed. Many of the things that are discussed are just plain wrong. Judge Roy Moore’s court case was based on the Ten Commandments being placed in the court house in Montgomery. I’ve been there, I’ve seen them. They are definitely made out of stone or marble (it was a while ago) and in the front atrium/lobby area. The fact that the tomb was empty and the stone rolled away IMPLIES resurrection. The fact that he didn’t disappear but left the tomb to reappear to Mary and Mary proves it. And the Bible definitely has accounts of crucifixion in every book of the gospels. What about the DETAILS about him speaking to the criminals on either side of him, and the hyssop with a sponge of wine vinegar, or the spear in his side killing him…those sound like details to me. I’m not trying to prove anything right, but before you write an “atheist” article ridiculing the Bible, make sure you do your homework.
“Many of the things that are discussed are just plain wrong. Judge Roy Moore’s court case was based on the Ten Commandments being placed in the court house in Montgomery. I’ve been there, I’ve seen them. They are definitely made out of stone or marble (it was a while ago) and in the front atrium/lobby area. ”
Why should i believe anything you say? The point was not that they were made of marble or stone!
The point is that what most Christians think are the 10 commandments are not the real ten commandments, in fact most Christians do not know there are 3 different versions of them. Moses broke the ones Christians think are the real 10.
“The fact that the tomb was empty and the stone rolled away IMPLIES resurrection.”
Are you kidding me? This implies someone rolled the stone away!
“The fact that he didn’t disappear but left the tomb to reappear to Mary and Mary proves it”
None of the people that wrote the gospels were eye witnesses, therefore this hearsay.
They could have said 50,000 people saw him, means nothing.
By the way, You are NO agnostic. Quit lying.
…also, the Catholic Church allows for the use of prophylactics like condoms now, dipshit.
Really? Do you have a citation on that?
I personally think people are being over critical. I enjoyed reading this article and agree with most that was written. I challenge anyone to write a better article!
Yeah basically most of your argument based on anything out of the bible, you took every verse out of context and the tiniest bit of it you could in the first place. Seems to me the things you found out about the Bible were the things you wanted to find in it. Those who actually seek the truth will find it, and you will find what you’re looking for.
well you found it good job
To remove spirituality from religion is like trying to learn someone’s personality from a dead body.
One of my friends showed me this article and we both found that to be true, too! He’s not affiliated with any religion, but he researches stuff he hears about. I’m a Christian and I research the crap about of the Bible and other topics because I love research!
We both found the entire article (I had an easier time debunking it than he does simply because I have a greater knowledge of Scripture, so it’s easier for me to find what I’m looking for, etc.) full of falsifications and we wonder if he even read most of the verses he posted because some of the verses completely contradict the points the author is trying to make.
The entire article is based on half-truths and whole lies.
For instance, there are half- and quarter-truths regarding the Rapture, Heaven and Hell, the End of Days, and the “Raunchy Sex” bit.
The stuff about there not being documented evidence about the crucifixion, that no one saw Jesus resurrect from the dead, that the Bible and/or Jesus are against marriage, Thou Shalt Not Kill is not a commandment, that Satan isn’t a bad guy and works for God – those are all whole lies.
So, Jesus was against marriage, although he was a jew, not only a jew but a rabbi, and it was jewish custom to marry as an endowment to God. So doesn’t that just not only disprove the point made here, and point to the fact that he might have (and most likely was) married?
Using your reasoning he was most likely not the son of god either!
It just proves what we knew all along – all theists are liars that are all obsessed with judging people and recruiting for their cult of irrational fear and willful stupidity.
VMP, this isn’t an attack one you at all, your question just about what a religious person would be doing on this website ignited my response:
I just became an observant Jew quite recently…I used to be agnostic, questioning our purpose for existence, and refusing to have blind faith. The process involved a ridiculous amount of questioning, analyzing, reading opposing view points (like atheism websites,) discovering the science of it, learning the Hebrew (English translation does not do it justice) and learning about the purpose of the oral tradition along with the very strict Judaic process of its transmission throughout the generations, which only got me to the point of belief, let alone observance. Jews don’t believe in blind faith, the same g-d you don’t believe in is the one I didn’t believe in either. If there are Jews with blind faith, i recommend they do their homework as well.
All this is stupid, all religion is based of eachother. Do psychedelics you want religion go do some dmt and you will have the most profound religious, spiritually, whatever the hell you want to call it experience. Even Jesus believed in this, he gave his followers ergot which is a fungi, very similar to LSD. Look inside yourselves, stop fighting.
I am a Christian and I have been studying the Bible and anything relating to the Bible for most of my existence (14 of nearly 23 years) and my friend, who is religiously unaffiliated with anything and, so far as I can tell, not looking to believe the Bible, but does enjoy religious and philosophical discussions, etc., shared this article with me.
All my friend and I and I had to do was start looking up the passages of the Bible that the author posted to realize that the author is not scholarly at all. I have listened to lectures and read scholarly articles which are infinitely more convincing than this article – this coming from someone who believes the Bible entirely.
I will give two examples with links to my references.
He partially quotes I Corinthians 7:27. The entire verse says, “Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.” Ie: If you’re married, don’t seek a divorce. If you’re divorced, don’t marry someone else.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=I%20Corinthians%207:27&version=NKJV
He also claims that there is no witness to Jesus after his resurrection.
John 20:24-29 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The link I included is for all of chapter 20, which starts with Mary Magdalene finding the empty tomb.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2020&version=NKJV
Suffice to say, if you’re going to have this person continue to write articles, I recommend checking his work like I do for the math students I tutor.
That’s all me and my non-religious friend had to do.
“I have listened to lectures and read scholarly articles which are infinitely more convincing than this article – this coming from someone who believes the Bible entirely.”
I meant atheist-fueled lectures and scholarly articles “which are infinitely more convincing…”
Check out Matthew 19 for Jesus’ views on marriage:
“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
A lot of surprising and good stuff in your article, but this wasn’t very hard to find, and thereby almost invalidating the whole point 3, where you explicitly state:
“In the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments, only Genesis 2:24 orders a man to leave his father and mother and “cleave unto his wife”. That’s it. In no other place in the entire Bible can we find anything else supportive of marriage.”
Can you explain?
Please read the entire thread. The main thing you guys are missing is that Chrisianity is faith based, being faith based is harder than being logical, this means believing in something you can’t see or always explain. Remember, this it what started this great country that gives you the right to expess your opinion. You are right in some aspects, Christianity and the Bible can not be proven because no one alive was there when these events took place, that’s why it is called written history, just like US or World history.
If we wanted too we could question everything that was ever written not experienced personally, this includes science. If the Bible is read for what it is then you will find comfort in it. After reading what is listed it is obvious that you are not reading the Bible objectively. You are looking for holes and inconsintencies and resulting to trickery to try to prove your point. Logic thinkers are supposed to be smarter than that. The reason that there are inconsistancies is because they are accounts through diffrent persectives. Two human beings can see the exact same thing and have two diffrent opinions about what actually happened. This is what makes crime investigation so hard.
I have witnessed what God can do in peoples lives that can’t be explained by logic. I know this is God at work. I could sit here and argue using verses but I won’t. See, that would take too much time, mostly because I would use the whole verse or the one before and after that explain the whole meaning or context (just a little advice). What I will say is that none of that matters because, if the Athiest are right then we all just dissapear into oblivian. If the Christians are right then the alternative is eternal suffering or salvation. Which would you prefer? The Athiest movement is a waste of time because there is no end result in your scenario.
I will close in saying that all people are Gods people including the Athiest, therfore I love all of you and feel sorry for all of you. If it pleases you, you can deflect by correcting my grammer and trying to twist my words, this seems to be what you are truly talented at. What I wish you would do is use your logical thinking to contribute to society in a positive manner. I dont’t know, like curing cancer, fixing the economy, or alternate fuel sources. These are more important things that you could do. I truly hope that you guys have the fortitude to actually post this, meanwhile I have to go to work and provide for the family that God has truly blessed me with. This is the true honor in life.
P.S. A movement that has to result to trickery to get their point across, is a failing movement.
you should never end a sentence with a preposition…
“this seems to be what you are truly talented at. ”
and what if you are wrong??? then you have wasted all those sunday mornings at church instead of nursing a hangover and getting ready for football like a real american…
I cant believe this, the best way is to say you dont believe what the Bible says is true, to a thinking person, this is an embarrasment, even Christopher hitchens would disagree with this.
Is this guy serious? If you want to attack the Bible, then do it right. Almost all of these are complete crap, anyone who has at least some knowledge of the Bible would realize that. Better luck next time, when you actually take a second to research what you’re writing about.
As a former Atheist of many years now turned Christian, I’d like to point out the fact that the man who wrote this blog is talking out of his you-know-what. Did anyone even read the scriptures he is using to propose his statements? They are all either completely misinterpreted, or taken out of contest. For example – “To emphasize the point, Jesus even takes the time to provide instruction to his followers on how to divorce their wives (see Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:8).” he says, but when you look up these verses: Matthew 19:5 along with the context around it:
Mathew 19:
1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
And the other completely opposite-of-his-statement verse he used: Mark 10:8 and its context:
1 Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.
2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
5 “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’[a] 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,[b] 8 and the two will become one flesh.’[c] So they are no longer two, but one. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
This fool blogging on your website you guys enjoy so much is hilariously deceived by his own hypocrisy. He says: “Christian priests and pastors are not experts in adoption. In fact, they are not experts in anything, including knowledge of the Bible. It never ceases to amaze me how little Christians know about their own religious texts.”
Maybe that’s is because in your perception of reality its okay to write and pass along what some other ignorant person told you. The fact is most “devout Christians” – as he put it, should know a heck of a lot more than him or majority of Atheist, because you see we read the Bible trying to learn it, so we read every word for what it is and means, you all (coming from my own personal experience as an atheist and dealing with other atheists) read the bible in an attempt to refute it and in doing so justify your own wrongdoings.
The fact is, his man’s post is highly biased and he read only the tiny bits of a story to try and prove a point that was built upon a foundation of sand. He acted just as a corrupt lawyer would in a high profile case. Take 5 words a man says in a paragraph and rearrange them as you see fit, and you can technically say that that man “said this: ” however, anyone who actually heard or read what the man truly said, would know you were full of crap.
I urge all of you who read this post, and claim to be Atheist and argue against, as I once did- to read the bible one time through. That is, all the way through- with an open mind. If you claim you don’t believe in something, but refuse to examine it for the truth it is, and purposely remain ignorant of what it is you don’t believe in… well, you obviously believe in it and are lying- to protect your pride. If you truly believe there is no God, or Devil, no heaven or hell, then what does it hurt to learn what it is you are saying you don’t believe in? How can you honestly argue with me about my beliefs in Christianity when you don’t have a legitimate understanding of what it is I believe in? Again, I urge you to at least go through this blog of his and read for yourself the verses he quotes (and the 4 verses before and after it to understand the conversation and context) for yourself. Don’t applaud and agree with an ignorant hypocrite, people might think you are one as well
To David Stocktin the author of this pathetic argument I urge you do the same, and next time do so before you make yourself a liar. When you were pretending you read the bible, you must have missed the verse: Mathew 7, the all famous “Don’t judge me” the uneducated-in-scripture like to quote. And so you don’t read only that first line as well, I’ll post the whole section for you so you understand hypocrisy a little better
Mathew 7:1-6
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
It is a never ending source of amazement to me that hard core religious people seem to be totally unable to comprehend logic. They don’t bother to read their bible because that might upset their cherished beliefs. It is far simpler for them to continue to believe myths than face up to the fact that they are wrong.
Again, do you even bother to read up and study on the topics you are so ignorantly speaking about? Look above at how I easily proved this guy is full of it, and hear you just repeat the same stupid thing he did. The fact is YOU probably have never read the bible at all. Just like the Author of this blog, you make comments based on foundations of sand, the fact is you all will go to any length to prove Christians are wrong… because if we are not well, you are going to hell. We on the other hand are only wishing you could pull that blanket of corruption and lies from your face and see the truth.
I respect (even though I disagree with) Atheists who at least actually read the bible, and those who respect other people’s beliefs, but this is neither. Its simply someone lashing out in desperation to hold on to what he holds dear, his sinful nature. Not a single one of the things he discussed even had any truth to them. Like I said before, I urge you to research things for yourself instead of believing in the first thing that comes out of someones mouth that goes along with your desires. Just because its what you wanted to hear- does NOT make it the truth.
Excellent article.
This should be taught on every school.
All christards are fucked up in the head. They’ve all been suckered into playing an ancient game of telephone since the cradle and upwards.
be god or no god, i rather stick with heaven than hell, so regardless of theories im not not goin to hell over my own stubberness of disbelief because i would be the only one im hurting
Dude you have no idea what your talking about, I have studied the bible and one thing you will not get any thing unless u truly believe but since u don’t I’ll will a answear one of your wrong understanding. God is for marriage if any thing god created marriage tell me if you can find a man who says he love being marriad to one woman. In the begging god said it was not good for man to be alone and since their was not a suitable companion he put him in a deep sleep and created a woman and god said go and muitiply. And in the bible it also says it is better to marry than to burn with the desire meaning if you really Wanna have sex do it after marriage it’s okay as long UR married. Now the only thing that it does no lt say is if u love the person, if u ask god if u do want a person u can love he will have the righ onet
This isn’t an atheist saying there is no god and shit. In short it just says: “Christians…You’re doing it wrong”
First of all i want to say how much I enjoyed this article. I am an atheist, and I did find a few inaccuracies, but nothing that would take away from your main points. In fact the bible itself is full of them, you can prove anything with it. It seems to me that this is a good thing if it gets even one of you christian trolls to read the EVIL book, some good will be done.