For academic atheists only?

Question

What knowledge do you have that the bible isn't truthful?
I mean by scientific and historical academic knowledge?
This question is not for braying religion haters but I want honest and candid replies based on sincerity.

Please keep the answers to the question brought up.

If you are a not an athiest then do not reply.
If you are not academically sure of your reasons why you are athiest then do not reply.
If you do not have scientific and historical facts then do not reply
If you are just spouting off your view which do not fit the criteria of the question then do not reply.

Christians please go to the similar question for christians at:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20060730220638AAMllpW&pa=FYd1D2bwHTHwIb5lFug4SLxrQZ2QRUk.HZlxZQPJ3N31ww--&msgr_status=

Answer 1

I used to be an aethiest. The best answer I had that science has to come up with a naturalistic explaination, not supernatural. Praise Jesus that I got saved.

Answer 2

Well it has been a long time since I read up on it, but I do remember reading lots of books and articles online regarding the creation of the bible stories, the influence and incorporation of previous religions into Christianity. I read a sufficient amount to be totally convinced that Christianity (and Islam, and Judaism) are total shams. I think one good place to start reading would be skeptic.com or at an atheist website with lots of good links to essays and articles and with sources of books on the topic.

Also, like the other person said, if you want historical or scientific knowledge, just look at the absurdities in the bible (or any other religious work). I mean great worldwide floods are possible, of course, but creating women out of the rib of a man? A bush that burns but isn't harmed by it? Sounds like a parlor trick, and if it ever actually happened, I'm sure it was some sort of trick.

Also, historically, I remember reading about the fact that before Christianity became a huge religion, there were tons of "messiahs" appearing throughout the "civilized world". They showed up everywhere, because it was a way to get money and attention, and there were religions at the time that had prophecies of saviors. So plenty of people tried to fill that role. But there is no evidence (outside the gospels, bible stories) that any of Jesus' miracles were ever real.

Obviously Messiahs and Prophets kept coming for millenia since jesus, too. See Islam, and thousands of smaller religions that have sprung up over the past 2000 years.

It's all non-sense, there is sufficient proof of that for anyone willing to take an honest look at the information, however most people are addicted to their religion, and won't let themselves give their religion the honest critical review that it should be given.

Answer 3

I am not an atheist. I am a Christian. I am also an engineer, so I have lived my adult life balancing what the scholars of my faith told me to believe and what my education (based in the sciences) told me to believe.

In truth, as an historical document, the King James version of the Holy Bible (to which most of us Christians adhere) is not perfect. It's a fact that it contains factual contradictions and omissions. Does that mean the entire document is without worth? I don't think so. The mistake lies in ignoring the fact that there was a human element in the authoring/assembly of the Bible as we know it today. Religious scholars say that the Bible was inspired by God and I agree with that, but that doesn't take away from the fact that humans are fallible, even when inspired. The Bible isn't one long book written by one person. It is the work of many dozens of people spanning thousands of years of stories.

Certainly parts of it form a historical record (the portions describing names of family members over multiple generations come to mind, i.e. Joseph begat Jerold begat etc.). Much more important, however, is the record of events in the life of Jesus Christ.

We all want to believe there's something eternal within us. We get a real picture of that when we read the Bible. I believe, as a person who puts the value of faith much higher than the value of religion, that the portion of us that will live forever is given if not a path to follow, at least an ideal to aspire to.

Answer 4

There is so much evidence showing that the universe is about 12-15 billion years old and the earth about 4.5 billion that I can't even list it all here. So saying that the earth is 6,000 years old (by calculating back the generations) is scientifically wrong.

Noah is told to make a wooden boat by himself that is about 450 ft long. No completely wooden boat has been made that large by modern man and even boats that are near that long need constant re-pitching. There is no way that 8 people could feed and clean up after 2 of every species on Noah's ark for a year. There is just no way. There are thousands of species of beetles alone and "An adult elephant can consume 300–600 lb of food a day" so multiply that by 365 and double it for 2 elephants. How did they keep that hay good for a year?

How did Noah keep the wood for the ship from rotting for 120 years?
Numbers 14:33, 32:13 It took the Israelites 40 years to travel from Egypt to Canaan, yet such a journey, even at that time, would have taken no more than ten days.

2 Samuel 24:9: How many soldiers did Israel have? This verse says that Judah and Israel had a total of 1,300,000 fighting men (1 Chr.21:5 says 1,570,000) in this battle. Of course, this is a ridiculously high number for a battle between two tribal armies in 1000 BCE. (The United States had about 1.37 million active duty soldiers in 2001.)

Job 39:13-16 Ostriches are not cruel and stupid birds who abandon their eggs to die after laying them, as these verses imply. They are, in fact, careful and attentive parents. The male scoops out a hollow for the eggs, which are incubated by the female during the day and the male at night. After the eggs are hatched, they are cared for by the mother for over a month, at which time the chicks can keep up with running adults.

Answer 5

First off, much of the history of the Bible is simply wrong. Crucifixtions never EVER used crosses, the wrists were nailed behind the victim, through each other. Nobody was allowed near the condemned, so where the Bible says he had visitors, they lied. The resurrection could not have happened unless he appeared dead and then woke up three days out of a coma or something. The supernatural cannot be proved by science, or even studied for that matter because you cannot reproduce supernatural events in a laboratory (laboratory meaning anywhere at all).

Answer 6

I don't want to say that the Bible is untruthful, or even claim to be an atheist. I want to bring into question its validity as a tome written by God.

While I find it hard to believe that God spoke to these individuals and they were able to interpret his message and put it down in words, that all just depends on your belief. The real problem I have is in deciding which books belong in the Bible and which do not. It is a fact that a group of men sat down and together decided which books would make up the Bible. Were these men truly inspired by God? At the time, they had considerable political inspiration as well. Did that not play a part in their make-up of the Bible? What ruler of the time would have let the Bible be anything other than exactly what would benefit them most? I just see all these different people who say God spoke to them and wrote down his message, but a few men got together and decided who was telling the truth and who was lying. After they were done, did God come down and say, "This is THE religious text to follow"? Who is to be the judge? To me, it seems that men were, NOT God. For that, the validity of every scripture in the Bible is nullified.

That is my reasoning for questioning the Bible. In addition to all that, I find that some parts of the Bible are no longer followed. This is always explained away. If all parts of the Bible are not followed to the letter, then what is to say any part is to be followed? The hands of men simply play too much of a part in its creation (and interpretation) for me to believe it was all done by God. We, as humans, could not have functioned that way, leaving out our own personal beliefs and opinions, whether they be with the best or worst of intentions.

Answer 7

Did I miss something? I want to know what is an Academic Atheist. A guy that study in Cornell or Yale.
The Bible have references to historical events that are true, but the Bible is also full of incoherent things and fairy tales histories.
Did you know that the same thing occurs to the books of Omero, Don Quixote or Romeo and Juliet just to name a few and you don't need to believe literally in them.

Answer 8

I am agnostic. I just don't like the way that the Bible attacks rational thought, then turns around and attacks you for using rational thought. It denounces rational thought almost as if it were a sin. There are so many contradictions in the Bible as well. I do not want to point them out because it would take up more space then they allow for. If you truly want your answer read the Bible like I did a couple of times and you will see what I am saying.

Answer 9

The knowledge I have is my own.. Religion is a belief, an opinion a choice and I chose not to believe! There is no scientific/historical evidence I have to show you!
I personally chose to put my faith in my partner, family and friends, the ones who I dont need to close my eyes and imagine and pray too!
There is no right or wrong answer, it is a personal choice and comes down to the individual!

Answer 10

You ask "what knowledge do we have that the Bible isn't truthful"
Well the question I ask is "what knowledge do you have that the Bible is truthfull?"

Do you see the dilemma with it all as there is no right or wrong answer, it is simply a matter of belief.. there is no cold hard proof for either arguement, It's just a matter of some people can accept that others think differently to them - each to thier own..
While others (small minded ppl) like people to think them and want to pursuade people to belive as they do .. maybe to reassure their own beliefs as they aren't really all that confident in what they belive in after all??

Answer 11

If we look at history there is no orginial text of the bible. It has been copied and changed and has parts added over it through the centies. Just look at the many verisons of the bible there is today now if the bible was correct there be only one verison and not several.

Now if we added data to science, people would call it forging (sp) the results.