Read the Bible without prejudice, read it with objectivity and willingness to accept truth even if that means giving up something that you have believed for years.
Christians mean well. They regard themselves as striving for the highest good that humanity can aspire to. These beliefs have helped them in their lives, given them hope and meaning.
The truth matters a great deal to me. I prefer the truth to illusion, even if the illusion is comforting.
The following has been offered as irrefutable evidence of a supernatural, divine influence in the Bible:
“… the central figure of the Bible, Jesus Christ, has his place of birth, place of upbringing, nature, teachings and the intimate details of his death are predicted by prophets of old hundreds of years before they occur in total perfection”.
The answer is quite simple. The authors of the New Testament were of course aware of Old Testament prophesies, and simply wrote the account of Jesus to match.
Another untruth that should be addressed:
“The horrific events that are described in the Bible and all of human history for that matter, are primarily the brutality of men toward each other.”
That”s not what the Bible says.
There are many instances of the Old Testament God ordering murder, rape, infanticide, and pillage.
This includes the killing of an entire town if one person worships another god: (Deuteronomy 13:13-19 NLT)
Non virgins on the wedding night are to be executed: (Deuteronomy 22:20-21 NAB)
Other ?God ordered” atrocities are ready for review to the reader with a strong stomach:
Leviticus 20:9 NLT (death for cursing a parent)
Exodus 22:17 NAB (witches must die)
Deuteronomy 17:12 NLT (death for failure to listen to a priest)
These are just a very few of the Biblical verses that portray ?God the father” as jealous, cruel, and capricious. The bronze age humans that wrote the Bible reflected the same qualities they possessed, in the deity they created.
One more point, it has been stated:
“… the Bible really is: God”s Word given to help, not hurt, His creation.”
We are not the creation of a supernatural deity, we are the result of natural forces, which are themselves worthy of awe and wonder.
Tim Snider
Lakeport
