I'm reading the bible!

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reasons
1: academic study
2: to be the atheist who knows more about the bible than many Christians.

So far,god seems like the villain of this good,but VERY sexual, fairy tale. I'm just on exodus.

When you read the Bible, you must remember the time it was written in (primarily about 700 BC to about 100 AD).

Some things which are shocking to us might not have been shocking to people in those days.

Well, at least you're putting in the time to actually read it. I've met a small chunk of atheists who don't even know basic theology, let alone a comprehensive understanding of the Bible. You can't criticize something unless you truly understand it.

As far as Christians go, reading the entire Bible should be a definitive prerequisite, and yet only the first step in a lifelong study of hermeneutics, theology, anthropology, ecclesiology, etc., etc., etc.. I spent two years in comparative religion classes before converting to an Abrahamic religion. If Christianity was limited solely to people who actually took these steps in developing their spiritual ideology instead of just taking it on blind faith (and also just limited to people who can read in general), we wouldn't have half of the societal problems they're causing.

But, regardless of whether one is theist or atheist, the Bible is still an incredible piece of literature; undeniably the most influential tome ever written. It's essentially an epic that makes Homer look like a dime store novelist. I'd recommend it to anyone, regardless of belief.

Well said. As a young Christian I studied theology and learned a lot of things that the average Christian would struggle to comprehend. I also saw "literal" contradictions that don't invalidate the story or the Bible. Theology also shows where fundamentalism leaves off and historicity takes over.

Once I did theology, I saw just how the creation/evolution debate is a non-issue. It's about the authorship, the culture at the time of writing, the intent and the sociopolitical events of the times.



I agree with this too. As literature, the Bible is amazing. But to understand it best, so you can comment on it, you need to also read the theology of the parts you are reading. If you're starting at Genesis, then read up on the Documentary Hypothesis.

Comparative Religion is also a good topic. One of the more dominant themes in that realm is Pain and Suffering. Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism all have a lot to say on the topic.

Final point, but an important point: Agenda can flavour the way you read something. If you're reading the Bible to support atheism, then it may blind you to certain approaches in your reading/learning. I am functionally atheist now, but when I did theology (about 40 years ago) I was a young Christian. In a sense, it was the scholastic approach to theology that distracted me from making it a proof of faith. At the time, it didn't dent my faith, but it did lay seeds of thought for years and decades later.

I am not an Atheist, but after having read the Bible, I am convinced that if "the love of money is the root of all evil" (1st Timothy 6:10), then it is religion that is the fertilizer.

Which VERSION of the Bible are your reading?

Is it the King James Version?

Or the New International Version?

or something else?

It makes more of a difference than you think.

Have fun with Numbers.You will need to drink lots of coffee.

lol.. so true

My fav book is Ecclesiastes. The first religious book ever written with a sense of humour.

i also love ecclesiastes: of the making of books, there is no end.

read the whole bible when i was a christian. the prophet having bears maul little boys for calling him bald contributed to my growing out of that faith.

I've been curious about reading The Bible as well, just because of how influential it is. I'm not religious by any means, but religion does fascinate me.

Good luck with that.

Seeing how the different books in the Bible were written by different people, I'd consider it acceptable to take breaks between books. Reading a long text like the Bible could be a strain on your brain. You should read something you genuinely enjoy between the testaments, at least.

I've tried reading the Qu'ran a few times on my Kindle. I figured it would give me the same boasting rights if I read the Bible, seeing how it holds a similar position in Islam. It's also shorter. Most were in poetry, and I really can't handle narrative poetry for long lengths of time. I remember that I copied a prose translation into a txt file, but when I read it I realised that I'd only copied half of the book! Then I got sick of it and read some Lord of the Rings fanfic.

I personally think that the literary quality of the Bible is slightly over-rated, but that's just my opinion. The psychedelic wackiness of Revelations and Daniel are fun, the Song of Songs gives me something to think about and the Wisdom literature has some terse one liners. But characters in the gospels are frequently two-dimensional, the genealogies go on for far too long to be entertaining, and I don't think anyone is meant to enjoy reading the laws in Deuteronomy. I think that religious people feel obliged to praise the literary quality of their holy book, but I don't think its quality is relevant to its claims. The Bible is a compilation of religious texts, so you've got to expect some variation in quality.

I didn't much like a translation of the Odyssey either, so there's that.

Those with an atheistic or cynical bent might enjoy the Skeptic's Bible.
It
says that the best book in the Bible is Ecclesiastes, with a net goodness of 36. I'd agree, if I had to associate with any bible author it would be Ecclesiastes Guy, or Girl. They have a sort of textual charisma. The Brick Testament is also fun.

You can't avoid your own agendas and biases. Maybe you could pretend your reading something else?

I tried. I thought it was boring and kind of weird when Moses lynched a guy for breaking the Sabbath.

Also, what's up with Matthew 27:52 ? Saints also rose from the dead? How is this swept on aside on Easter and never mentioned? I don't think I've ever seen this presented in a Christian movie dealing with the crucifixion and resurrection.

I never had any problem reading the Bible straight through, but then again I can read James Joyce like a breeze, so I doubt I'm within anything except the minority.

The best thing about the bible being written solely by human conception is what it tells us about us.
The best part being that we are really good people trying to be even more good and noble.

If we take god out of the equation then this is simply man trying hard to be a better human.


...the best parts anyway...

It almost sounds as if you're saying that you need to read the holy books of all religions before you can be a qualified atheist.
Going by that a Christian should read the Vedas, the Eddas, the Koran and all the other books before being a real Christian.
I became an atheist by default, since my parents were not religious.