In a recent letter Duane Furman took issue with my assertion that the Bible is not divinely inspired, saying that the Bible contains “a brilliance that supersedes modern man”s thinking.”
Really? Any specific passages? An example or two would be welcome. Please make them exceed the brilliance shown by secular writers from the present down through history.
I have a few specific passages to offer from the Bible that show a definite lack of brilliance.
The creator never mentions the simple fact that the earth is a sphere, rather the Bible implies the earth is flat, has four corners, is standing on pillars that prevent it from shaking and is immovable. (1 Samuel 2:8, Job 9:6, Job 38:4, Isaiah 11:12, Revelation 7:1, Job 38:13, Jeremiah 16:19, Daniel 4:11, Psalm 93:1-3, Psalm 96:10, Psalm 104:5, 1 Chronicles 16:30, Matthew 4:8)
Leviticus chapter 14 describes the lord”s word on the treatment of leprosy. Check it out. The authors had no way of understanding the disease or what bacteria are, and received no brilliant answers to help their suffering from their deity.
One of the more annoying attitudes held by many Christians is something I call “benevolent arrogance.”
Benevolent because they genuinely want what they consider the highest good for everyone.
Arrogant because if one does not believe in the Christian deity, then they cannot be a completely good person. Nonsense.
Morals and ethics do not require supernatural deities. That is a fact.
This brings us to the “life preserver” metaphor. Of course the life to be preserved is not this one, the only one we have, it is the ?afterlife” Christians teach and tell their children, that unless one is “saved” and dies “in their sins,” their loving god has designated a hell so that they may be tortured without end, for eternity.
I gratefully accept the olive branch of peace from my fellow letter writer and extend my own wish for tolerance and understanding. My issues are not personal. I just want the truth and objective reality.
While I”m on the topic of peace, the monotheistic religions have not contributed to world peace. The dogma of “my way is the only way” and the dichotomy and polarization that brings has had a net negative effect on world peace.
Tim Snider
Lakeport
