Why is it that many Christians (not all) seem to assume non-believers have never read & studied the Bible?

Question

While, of course, I welcome any response, I am somewhat more interested in a Christian's response, not a non-believer's view of why many Christians do this.

Answer 1

I asked this question of non believers once, I was very surprised to learn that not only have most of you read it but know it better than I do!! Some even studied Religion/Christianity in school. It is just confusing to Christians be cause we can not understand why after reading it you do not believe. Which I have been told the non believers wonder why after reading it WE still believe.

Answer 2

Good point. I am guilty of making many assumptions in my life and that is one of them. I guess alot of times a non-believer will say something using the bible completely inappropriately. I have had people take one sentence or even a half a sentence and try to use it against me without putting it into context. I mean, you could take the bible and use words and skip over others to make your own sentence, but that doesn't make it true.
People will read the bible with a purpose in mind. Either they are curious, want to learn, or they want fuel for their fire. Whatever your purpose, you'll get what you want I guess. So, the problem here is that you tend to have people reading from the same book with a different purpose. This changes their outlook on it to the point that they think that they are talking about different books. One thinks they're talking about the bible and the other thinks they're talking about the BiBLe. Make sense?

Answer 3

I do not ssume unbelievers have not read the Bible. However as once an unbeliever myself I did read the Bible cover to cover several times and thought the same as the unbeliever. But when I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart and had Faith and Belief then I realized the Bible is for the Children of God, those who are born again with Christ. In order to understand the Bible you must have Faith, a hard hearted person cannot understand the word of truth because they have already set their minds against the truth! Christ is the only way to Salvation. So therefore they really did not 'read' the Bible. To read means to understand what you are reading.

Answer 4

Some or most (not all) haven't read the New Testament (not talking Old Testament).

Some non-believers have and therefore have questions. They are sometimes more respectful and or tactful than others....perhaps because they are better versed in the knowledge, a response is better understood.

Some are followers and have never even picked up a Bible, let alone read one.

Answer 5

I do not think that way. For example, if you read Shelly's "The necessity of Atheism", Shelly knew the bible very well. He then gave reasons why he was against it. Classic reasons that are used all the time.

Then you get a CS Lewis, who set out to disprove the bible and Christianity, and he writes "Mere Christianity", in defense of it. Lewis apparently held a monthly meeting in Oxford that discussed much, that Antony Flew, a well known atheist philosopher at Oxford, spoke highly of. Flew seems to be heading toward deism now.

Anyways, if you find yourself facing a contradiction, check your premises, you will find one is wrong. That is what happened to Shelly, based on his assumptions he was right in his conclusions, but his assumptions and perspective were wrong.

If you are interested, I can explain.

Take care.

Answer 6

Most people who read the bible do so as a seeker of truth. As such, they find truth and believe it.
Those that read it from a different motive, have a different mindset and don't understand what they are reading, so they only remember what they want to remember, usually error.

[such as: Money is the root of all evil instead of The LOVE of money is the root of all evil]

Therefore believers assume anyone who is a non-believer is "spiritually discerned"

God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world's spirit) so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you this, we do not use words of human wisdom. We speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren't Christians can't understand these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them because only those who have the Spirit can understand what the Spirit means.
I Corinthians 2:12-14

Answer 7

You can read and study the Bible all you want, but until you receive the eye opening experience with accepting Jesus as your Saviour, then you will not be able to totally comprehend the Bible and its wonderful contents. We assume that you are "limited" in your knowledge when you ask questions that are obvious to us. I am not being judgmental here - "but for the grace of God, there go I--" God gives Christians a new understanding when they are saved and have entrusted their lives (and souls) to Him. Please don't interpret our understanding (and our comments) as our chance to belittle you - that is (or at least should not be) our reason to tell you what we think. We are attempting to pass along the Gospel to you so that you too can become a Christian. It is your choice whether to receive Christ and believe that He is the Son of God who came as God in the flesh, was crucified for our sins, was buried, and rose again from the dead to gain eternal life for whosoever would receive Him. God bless you as you make your decision.

Answer 8

As a Christian, I do not presume that non-believers have not read or studied the Bible; of those I do know have, I don't understand why they cannot have the faith to trust God at His Word, and know the blessings of fellowship...I do not judge this, just pray a way for them to accept...peace

Answer 9

I assume that some of them have and that others have not. One can usually tell by the objection or question whether they have or have not.

Additional side note: As a Christian I hate to say this, but I have often found that atheists are often more reasonable than those who call themselves "Christian."

Answer 10

Sorry I'm not Christian but I assume its because they think reading the Bible would make a believer out of you. Just my guess, I'm probably wrong though