Freethought & Rationalism Archive

lpetrich · 03-22-2003, 08:42 AM

I find it curious that those who do the most waving of the Bible as the absolute, final truth are often ignorant of much of its contents; one would expect someone who believes in the Bible's absolute truth to try to become familiar with it.

keyser_soze · 03-22-2003, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by lpetrich
I find it curious that those who do the most waving of the Bible as the absolute, final truth are often ignorant of much of its contents; one would expect someone who believes in the Bible's absolute truth to try to become familiar with it.

In a seeming opposite, those who do not believe in it are the ones who know it best. Go figure.

Godbert · 03-22-2003, 10:32 AM

That's baffling to me as well. There are people who go to Bible study three times a week and tell me they have not noticed any contradictions in the Bible

philechat · 03-22-2003, 02:18 PM

I found most bible studies full of off-topic ramblings. Instead of focusing on "the text" and their intrinsic meanings, they started praising God with their eyeballs rolling on all directions. When I asked questions directly from the text they gave me a "huh" look before they began another long (and confused) speech about the greatness of THE LORD.

sakrilege · 03-22-2003, 03:27 PM

I became an atheist at a bible study, I was seriously trying to rekindle my faith so I attended with some friends. It struck me that the leader of the group had decided what he wanted to communicate and simply found the verses that supported his position. I realized that any position could be so supported.

It was not a study of the bible.

spurly · 03-22-2003, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Godbert
That's baffling to me as well. There are people who go to Bible study three times a week and tell me they have not noticed any contradictions in the Bible

There are some people like that. That's sad that they have not yet examined their faith. Hopefully one day they will.

However, there are others who have examined the contradictions and have come to the conclusion that most of them can be remedied pretty easily and the Bible itself contains the Truth that they have been looking for.

Not all Christians are biblically illiterate.

Kevin

Infidelettante · 03-24-2003, 12:41 PM

The church seldom teaches from the Bible. I'm talking mostly about fundamentalism here but I think it must be true of all forms of Christianity.

There is a large body of literature that comments on the Bible. I would guess most non-believers suppose this but really have no concept of how truly vast this collection is. This literature is what gives meaning to the Bible. This is most assuredly true for those in formal training.

These then pass that meaning on to others as though it were biblical when in fact the meaning derives from set doctrines whose particulars have been supported by selected biblical passages. An example is the Trinity which can't be supported biblicaly but remains a foundation belief of Christianity.

The reason so many Theists appear ignorant of the Bible is that [at least here] they are driven out of their comfort zone by questions that raise concerns of reason, logic, historicality, morals, and social function.

Keep up the good work guys!

03-22-2003, 08:42 AM	#1
lpetrich Contributor Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Lebanon, OR, USA Posts: 16,829	Level of Theological Literacy? I find it curious that those who do the most waving of the Bible as the absolute, final truth are often ignorant of much of its contents; one would expect someone who believes in the Bible's absolute truth to try to become familiar with it.

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03-22-2003, 10:32 AM	#3
Godbert Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: southern california Posts: 779	That's baffling to me as well. There are people who go to Bible study three times a week and tell me they have not noticed any contradictions in the Bible

03-22-2003, 02:18 PM	#4
philechat Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Mind of the Other Posts: 886	I found most bible studies full of off-topic ramblings. Instead of focusing on "the text" and their intrinsic meanings, they started praising God with their eyeballs rolling on all directions. When I asked questions directly from the text they gave me a "huh" look before they began another long (and confused) speech about the greatness of THE LORD.

03-22-2003, 03:27 PM	#5
sakrilege Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Cleveland, OH, USA Folding@Home Godless Team Posts: 6,211	I became an atheist at a bible study, I was seriously trying to rekindle my faith so I attended with some friends. It struck me that the leader of the group had decided what he wanted to communicate and simply found the verses that supported his position. I realized that any position could be so supported. It was not a study of the bible.

03-24-2003, 12:41 PM	#7
Infidelettante Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: The Deep South Posts: 889	The church seldom teaches from the Bible. I'm talking mostly about fundamentalism here but I think it must be true of all forms of Christianity. There is a large body of literature that comments on the Bible. I would guess most non-believers suppose this but really have no concept of how truly vast this collection is. This literature is what gives meaning to the Bible. This is most assuredly true for those in formal training. These then pass that meaning on to others as though it were biblical when in fact the meaning derives from set doctrines whose particulars have been supported by selected biblical passages. An example is the Trinity which can't be supported biblicaly but remains a foundation belief of Christianity. The reason so many Theists appear ignorant of the Bible is that [at least here] they are driven out of their comfort zone by questions that raise concerns of reason, logic, historicality, morals, and social function. Keep up the good work guys!

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