Wayne Delia

No, of course I don't honestly believe that all atheists are theives. I'm an atheist myself, which is why I'd be just as upset when one of the regular posters identified me as a thief. Not because I had actually stolen anything, but rather because a formerly theist poster, rhutchin, had used a throw-away insult which, once made, he found extremely difficult to retract and apologize. Instead, we went through an extensive exercise on whether the charge "atheists are thieves" is justified by John 10:10.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

In context, of course, John 10:7-10 indicates that the context of these thieves is any false teacher who came along before Jesus's time, and that the thief was attempting to gain access to the sheep pen by some manner other than through the main gate.

Quick background: I had refuted a point made by rhutchin in a long-closed thread in General Religious Discussions, and a fellow atheist agreed with my refutation. rhutchin was not surprised to see two atheists agree, he said, because he would expect "loyalty among thieves," misusing the standard cliche "honor among thieves." I took exception to being identified as a thief, and challenged him to prove it or retact it. He then did an online Bible search for any passage relating to thievery or robbery, and decided on John 10:10 as his primary defense.

Another verse which came up in his online search was Malachi 3:8, "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings.". Atheists, then, can rightly be identified as thieves, because they do not tithe to the church (rhutchin could not be more specific on which church denomination and sect it was that atheist should pay tithes to.) I had pointed out that such demands constituted extortion on the part of God and the church, rather than any kind of robbery on the part of atheists.

My main questions are:
1) Is John 10:10 referring to atheists as thieves?
2) Is Malachi 3:8 referring to atheists as thieves?
3) Does the act of falsely identifying someone as a thief without proof or evidence constitute breaking the so-called Ninth Commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness?"
3) For that matter, is there anything in the Bible which can be construed as identifying atheists as thieves?

Best,
WMD

Wayne Delia

Yes, we do. It doesn't apply to atheists, but rather to false teachers who came before Jesus.

That's because you are bigoted, prejudicial, and you are quite literally breaking the Ninth Commandment by bringing false charges. In fact, that's what disqualified you from being a Christian by the list of four Biblical criteria you posted: you broke the Ninth Commandment, you are continuing to refuse to apologize or repent, and you are misrepresenting the words of Jesus in doing so.

"Rest of the Bible?" You came up with only a handful of widely scattered verses which use the term. Jesus used the term to refer to false teachers of God's Word, all who came before Him, and I don't qualify on either of those conditions.

WMD