There seems to be a lot of non-believers that study the Bible - How exactly did you "study" the Bible

Question

My last question got lots of people tell me they have studied the Bible and yet they still dont believe but never really said how they do that
I'm curious about how much, what sources, whatever you would like to tell me about your Bible study habits

Thanks Gandolf but I think your wrong
MS in Microbiology - Pharmaceutical Scientist

amber95012
this is the type of answer I was looking for not so much of the - yeah I did so whats it to you that most seem to want to give me

Answer 1

Hi, servant! Great question. I have noticed that a lot of non believers here were raised in the church. God only knows why they choose after all that hearing and studying to reject Him. Someone also said that it takes more faith to be an atheist. I'm going to watch your question to see the answers. So far, you've stumped 'em.

Answer 2

Servant,

When you say non-believers, what the person is a no-believer in comes to mind, I do believe the bible, I do not believe in every person, or 1000 religions getting a different meaning of it, or each person that does the math from Adam to Jesus getting a different amount of years. Also every one that does a study on the meaning of the end time prophecy has a different view. NO ONE MAKES ANY THING SIMPLE.

So I hope I have made it clear on what I am a non-believer in. I rather stand before judgement with my mistakes than to believe in those of some one else.

I read it about 10 times the first near to 13 years. I went with it through a whole set of encyclopedia books and dictionaries. Bad Idea. I began to study on 17 x 17 " sheets of paper. The rule of study is to summarize the stories.
Turn any thing possible of study into songs or poetry or do what ever it takes to memorize all the important points, the books, the people or any thing important from one book that involves another to connect the distance between.
I just intended always, that if I had life, I would finish what I started. I learned along the way that people in general in religions or out, hate people that study the bible. You have no choice but to study their religious beliefs. That is mind boggling.

2Tim.2:15; 3:16,17; John 12:47,48; Philip.2:5,9-12; And don't twist any scripture, or add to or take from. The math can clear up most errors that just reading can't. The reason most subjects are in two or three books, if anything does not agree, the more study, the better the view. So few errors in so much materials covering so much time.

Answer 3

I had five years of weekly Bible study class growing up. I have read it straight through cover to cover twice which sad to say is more than many of the Christians I've met have done. I have also read Biblical scholarship from both conservative and liberal scholars. I personally don't see how an intelligent person can take a literalist approach to it but I respect their right to believe as they do. I also have a degree in biology and to me evolution is far more credible than the creation story, talking donkeys, talking snakes, and virgin conceptions. I also have a problem with divine revelation. How many people would or should believe someone claiming such? This is not to say that I don't also see things of value in the Bible as well. It is not for me after some study something I take as a literal guidebook on life.

Answer 4

Let's see, I was born into a Baptist family, owned my first bible at 6. First read through the bible at 8, again at 10, again at 13, again at 16.

During the time I was reading through the bible I questioned my pastors and Sunday school teachers on a regular basis.

Through the years what happened was, the more I found out about the real way the world worked, the less the bible could be taken as literal truth, it did not mesh with established historical fact.

Then came the major shift, I met people of other religions and had dialogs with them. At that point the enchantment was broken and I decided to find the path to the Divine that worked for me.

Say what you want about my being a Pagan, I'm happy and far more willing to hold myself accountable for my actions than I was as a Christian.

Your mileage may vary, be open to the path that is right for you.

Answer 5

I read the first three Gospels cover to cover, but I couldn't get through John--it just seemed like it was written by a lunatic. Also a smattering of the Old and New Testaments. And I read the writings of some theologians. My favorite is Elaine Pagels for spiritual insight, though I think Hyam Macoby may have had a stronger grasp of the actual facts of the lives of Jesus and his followers. Sometimes if someone quotes a passage to me, I will look it up.

If you'd rather I spend 2 hours a day on it, I'm sorry. There are other books out there, too.

Answer 6

Most non-believers, take the Bible simply as any other text, which means that they analyze and scrutinze it as they would any other piece of literature by looking at the style of how it is written and the historical context of the time frame in which it was written to develop an understanding of the ideas that are discussed therein. Thereby, their only different that should exist between their study habits and your is the assumption of the Bible's divine origin which your take on faith and others see as a proposition that can, or should be proved/disproved.

Answer 7

I studied the bible a great deal before leaving Christianity. Spent 3 years in a fundamentalist church. It's what got me to thinking about the nature of belief and faith. It's why I left Christianity.

As for being an atheist, only atheist who actually believe there is no god (strong-atheism) hold a belief about god. They are in the minority of atheists. Before you assume that this is agnosticism, agnosticism is the "philosophical" position that knowledge of god's existence or non-existence isn't possible. In that regard, I'm also an agnostic, but that doesn't say if I believe or do not believe in a god.

Answer 8

I was a "christian" (or I never was since I'm not now, but let's leave the semantics out of it) then one day I actually read the bible. After reading it and reaching a certain level of agnosticism I read it again. With my BS detector going wild I finally became an tried and true atheist on the third attempt.

By study, I didn't try to prove it true and accept it at face value, that is not studying, sorry.

Answer 9

I read the bible cover to cover as a child.

When I got older I focused more closely on the parts that seemed to convey the teachings of Jesus.

I found that most of the Bible conflicted drastically with the teachings of Jesus.

The more I read it the less sense the inclusion of the OT and the writings of Paul in the bible made. I then started to research how the bible came to be and the reason for the conflicting nature of the biblical text became painfully clear.

I suggest that you do the same. I am still a follower of the teachings of Jesus but I no longer refer to my self as a christian. Nor do I follow any religion.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 10

Well, I studied it in a church-based Bible school as a little girl, and then again as an adult, both on my own and at university. I've also looked at the historical background of the mythologies of the Bible (their prior origins in other cultures, etc.) and the ramifications of the Bible and the church on the history of modern society. Is that specific enough?

Answer 11

At university I studied humanities and that involved studying Christianity which meant I had to have a knowledge not only of the bible but of all the various controversies within the church regarding the interpretation of scripture.