Have any of you Atheist's ever read the Bible?

Question

I mean completely. No judgement, just curious.

I certinally did not ask this question to offend anyone, just curious. It is hard for me to understand an atheist point of view, simply because I do not know anyone who is (or who has told me they are) an atheist.I appreciate the honest and calm answers so far! :)

Oh and Hey Jayelle, I don't understand Shakespeare and I have no intrest in learning it or reading it or anything else...see my point?

Answer 1

Most of these people are lying because if they did they would not post such stupid questions that have already been answered in the Bible. Don't be fooled they just don't want to look like idiots talking about something that they have not even read- but its too late we already know.

Answer 2

3 times

Answer 3

I'm an avid reader. Yes, I've read the bible. I found it to be about as boring as anything I've ever read. As I read, I kept asking myself, " Just what does this have to do with anything ?"
When you realize that all of the "holy" books were written by very superstitious people who lived in very superstitious times, whatever is in them might make interesting reading to those who are studying the thinking of people of various ages, but not otherwise.
Yes, I know that the Torah, the Bible, the Koran, the Avesta, the Talmud were all either written by God, or else God directed the hand of a human writer. Did you ever wonder why God had so much to do with us during the time when every single aspect of life was guided by signs and omens, but keeps well out of sight in this modern age ?
I believe you'll find that Atheists do much more reading about religious beliefs than those who KNOW what they believe is right while everybody else in wrong.
Now I'd like to ask you, Have you ever read the other "holy" books mentioned above ? If your answer is no, the next question is - - why not ? I bet you believe the bible is 100% correct, while all the others are fiction.

Answer 4

I am trying not to be insulted :-x

I was a sincere believer. I "accepted Jesus" at a young age. Went to church camp and eventually became a counsellor (led 3 souls "to Christ" which was a humbling thrill for me). I was on the bible quiz team and memorized books of the bible. After H.S. I felt god's call to go to a Baptist Bible COllege for a thorough study of the bible. After a year there, I was in Hermeneutics class, translating I John from the koine Greek, I began to lose my faith. The "small holes" in the KJV became big gaping holes in the original language. The more I dug, the harder I prayed, the more it slipped away.

Most atheists have read the bible quite a bit. In my family, I would say with all humility, that I have studied the bible far more than any of my christian family members. I didn't study it so that I would lose my faith. I expected quite the opposite.

But I do get tired of the assumptions that: I haven't ever looked at the bible and that I was never "really" a christian. I'm sure you can understand.

Cheers!

Answer 5

I majored in religion in college with an emphasis on biblical studies. There I studied both new testament Greek and old testament Hebrew. I've read the bible thoroughly, although I cannot say I've read every word, simply because when I was reading it, I was also engaging in an exegesis of the topics at hand. Let me assert that simply reading the bible from front to back is hardly an exercise in spiritual achievement unless you actually think about what is being said.

After college I went to seminary for a year before dropping out. After all of this study (and after growing up in a minister's family), I have concluded that the bible is a telling of a mythological story that had some use in offering meaning to an ancient people, but that as such it has lost meaning for the modern world. There is no reason to believe in any god that intervenes in the world. To believe in a god who performs miracles requires such intellectual dishonesty that it cuts oneself off from the knowledge and understanding that our senses bring us.

I dare say that if you had invested 10% of the time I've put into studying religion into the study of biology, physics, or anthropology, your perspective would have shifted away from a positive impression of god and Christianity.

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Answer 6

yes- why do you think half of us become atheists?

I've found more often than not, those who believe in nothing have already exhausted their exploration of other religions and were left with nothing that makes sense. This can account for agnostics and athiests alike.

I personally realized my lack of faith at a very young age (it went down right along with Santa and the Easter Bunny) after reading the Bible and thinking it was all too fake to have actually happened. Not to mention the lack of explination of the Dinosaurs, those wierd skulls they have in museums, the striking similarity between humans and other apes, the fact that god was a jerk in the old testament and not so much in the new one... etc.

Since then, I have read the bible a few times just to process it and be sure that I am sound in my lack of beliefs...

Answer 7

It does seem like a judgmental question.

I'm not atheist, but most atheists I know online and off are quite familiar with it, and may actually have become atheists because of it!

I should also remind you that if you take a Western literature course, you're going to get familiar with the Bible and biblical allusions just so you can properly understand Shakespeare, Moby Dick, the Grapes of Wrath, etc.

Answer 8

Multiple times, in five different translations, taking over twenty courses from three religious view points (Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist).

Every so often, I'll still pull it out to use as a reference in a discussion with a Christian or OT if talking to a Jew.

Answer 9

Read the bible, went to parochial school, and took Sunday school lessons as well. I still read parts of the bible sometimes.

Answer 10

cover to cover a few times and that's more than most Bible believers. In fact, I quote scripture that most Christians never heard of.

Answer 11

... of course. Why is it that the religious automatically assume that because someones atheist, they've never read the bible? You have to read the book to be able to disagree with it.

Most atheists started out as believers.