Question for those who rejected the Bible after reading it?

Question

When you read the Bible, did you read it front to back (Genesis to Revelations)?

Did you use any commentaries or just your own study methods?

Did you talk with anyone before coming to this conclusion, or just determine it was inaccurate based on talking with others who also were skeptical?

Answer 1

Hey friend.

I red the Bible thoroughly and from cover to cover, in a 4-Bible "parallel" format, having been churched and choired since age 4. I studied it at a rebellious time in my life, the way a karate student studies anatomy. The way a drunk uses a lightpost---for support, not illumination.

during my 20's I likely talked several people out of their faith.

When my wife conceived our son, I decided that I was an unsuitable father. Wanted my son to have the same social and moral opportunities that I'd had in my stodgy presbyterian church. Then I stared to study again, this time with a different attitude.


I learned that the languages 2000-8000 years ago were very small and metaphorical. I learned that many things in the Bible make sense when examined in the context of the times---and there was plenty that WAS historically accurate. and still the contradictions remain.

A godly (sorta) lady advised me some years ago to "chew the hay and spit out the sticks." She was married to a dairy farmer for years---when I study scripture now, I look for what makes sense, what works, and when I encounter an intractable problem I ask questions, and if no answer is forthcoming, I just move on. I have no investment in debunking the Bible or showcasing its shortcomings, my cleverness.

I just look for what works, try to live an honest life, and tell my son---an awesome kid and a strong Christian---that Dad does not have all the answers.

BTW---there are 622 laws of Moses, starting with Exodus20. There are 10 Commandments. there are Three Requirements.
(Micah 6:8) I try to keep the three requirements in front of me every day---not easy, cuz I have a prideful, arrogant streak.

Answer 2

Reading the bible is a study in inconsistency, at best. Now, if I was my dog and forgot what just happened 2 minutes ago, I could read the bible and simply be awed at all the neat things. But as a logical person with long term memory capacity, I can't help but wonder at some of the crap passed off as the work of an almighty, perfect being.

Leviticus says that gay men are an abomination, but says nothing about lesbians. But the fundies preach that ALL homosexuality is wrong.

Genesis can't decide if man was created first or the rest of the animals existed before Adam.

Noah's great flood; did it last for 40 days or 150? And how did a full-grown olive tree appear in one week so that Noah's dove could bring him an olive branch?

Do you kill Wal-Mart employees on Sunday to do God's work according to Exodus 35:2?

These and HUNDREDS more inconsistencies exist within the bible's pages. The universal answer by Christians to all this B.S. is that it has to be swallowed "on faith." Again, as an intelligent human being with the ability to reason and identify fallacies, I cannot accept that the bible is the work or word of an almighty God. And since this non-credible bible is the only basis for their BEING a Christian god in the first place, I do not believe in God either.

Answer 3

Yes, cover to cover. Three times. I made notes of the contradictions, and outright errors, and other things I found questionable. Then I talked to my pastor about it. Most of his answers required "Interpreting" other passages (funny, no cross-references in my copy.)

But it became clear to me that their were no real answers when this thought popped into my head: If the Bible is God's Word, or was inspired by God, wouldn't it be written in such a way that it would be perfectly clear to whoever read it? If there are no contradictions in the Bible, and no errors, (and it calls bats birds, clearly wrong!) then why would it even APPEAR TO HAVE THOSE CONTRADICTIONS AND ERRORS?

He could provide no acceptable answer to that question, and many others have tried and failed.

I had to stop believing in the Bible, because I realized the non-truth of it, and sometime later realized that God was just as untrue. With the exception of a couple who were raised atheist, the is a common theme of among the atheists I know. The details may very, but the realizations are all very similar!

Answer 4

No, actually. Historically it has over 35 writers of just the OT alone. And thus, is rather disjointed. Lots of it is copied from the literature of those tribes who once had the Tribe of Israel captive. For example, the flood story comes from the Epic of Giglamesh, of Samaria and Babylon. And it is a copy right down to the dove. Read it on Google. You'll find the flood story on Tablet 11. Adam and Eve, as well, has historical roots in a previous civilization. Google that one too... Adam and Eve + original story source, or something similar. The NT wasn't even in existence until 330 CE or so, and there are easily 30 or 40 gospels, all about Jesus. Only 4 were chosen. The ones that made it into the NT were chosen by those 200 bishops that were called to the Council in Nicea, in what is now Turkey. And, sadly, we aren't at all sure what Jesus even said, since there was no one round taking notes.... they couldn't. Most day laborers were illiterate. Worse yet? The first one, Mark, wasn't even written until more than 3 decades after Jesus was dead. " Mark" used a source called "Q". Matthew, and Luke copied from him. And John, the last to be written wasn't, until the '90's some time. After the Council disbanded, the other Holy Scriptures were ordered burned.... but of course, they all were not. We do have still such items as the Infancy Gospel according to Thomas.... and why wasn't that one included? People have alwys hungered to know more about Jesus. But....... Pretty hard to make a god out of a child who murdered another child, and blinded his parents. There are two ways to read the bible... historical-critical, and devotional. I'm a historian. My major in college was history.; And I got to sit in on courses of rel studies, at the U of Chicago Divinity School, and learned how this bible was put together. Hugely interesting. I am never bored reading it, and comparing it to other religions of that era. So, yes indeed it is cobbled together. If you read the two versions of Genesis, you will find them contradictory. As you will find lots of things in all the bible that are contradictory. This is for two reasons..... the New Testament wasn't written in Hebrew or Aramaic, but in Greek, by Greek Christians. As such, there are no caps, no punctuation, andno separation between words. Worse? We don't even have any of those originals... only copies of copies of copies. And this in and of itself, is a huge problem..... because in Alexandria, and other places were scriptoria... places where one guy had a copy and 20 or 30 other guys sat at desks and wrote what they heard... but these guys weren't all that literate. If they hear "rane" some wrote "rein", "rain", "reign" or "rheine". If you ever have a chance to take a course at the college level in biblical history do take it. Hugely, hugely interesting.

Answer 5

I talked a great deal with Evangelicals, deists, and atheists about what I had read. Lots of friends of differing faiths. I even made up a list of questions. See, I read the bible initially to find answers, but all I had were more questions. I read the Amplified bible, Nelson's student bible, and used a bible dictionary for the things which weren't clearly explained. I've read it many times over the last few years, always cover to cover. I decided that it's a good story, but that's all, and I decided it on my own. The inaccuracies are glaring, I could never believe in a god who kills indiscriminately, who would punish his creation with hell for disbelief when no proof has been given by him, and it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Answer 6

Mostly, I've read each story independently and looked into how the stories related to the times in which they were written. I've talked with many people, including religious people, on many religious issues and have read a lot about Christianity and other religions. I have also read about the history of the Bible and understand, to a large degree, how it came to be. I have also studied the nature of belief and understand, to a large degree, how superstitions, urban legends and myths come to be and how they relate to religious beliefs.

I've found that I'm more knowledgeable about the Bible than the average Christian. I have talked directly with many clergy that don't have as good an understanding of the Bible that I do.

Answer 7

I looked at the whole, and its message, noted the wide discrepancy between its two halves, and the wider discrepancy between the bible and that which is actually taught and practiced, and concluded that it is almost certainly nonsense. It bears absolutely no similarity to observed reality - the only way one can believe in the existence of the Biblical God is to invent a galaxy of excuses for his behaviour, or the surprising absence of the same.
It's like an elaborate house of cards which is self-supporting so long as not one single card is pulled from it's position - but so many of the supports on which christianity rests are innacurate, or outright lies, that the whole cannot stand as soon as one does even casual research.
have a look at "whydoesgodhateamputees.com" Atheist or Christian, it's interesting stuff.

Answer 8

I was raised Christian. I went to a Christian High School. I used the bible and I used notes, commentaries and several other cliff note type things.
Sure I talked to lots of people. I also took college level courses and took science classes. It just doesn't make sense to me.
Now do I believe in the Gods? That there is a divine? Yes, I do. I just don't think its wrapped into a book. It's in us.

Answer 9

Yes. I have studied it many ways. Front to back and I've studied individual books at length. Key books such as Romans, the gospels, Genesis, etc

I used commentaries. I also translated from the koine greek directly in Hermeneutics class and did work in the Hebrew. I went to Bible College and was a Biblical Studies major.

It broke my heart. It was the last thing I expected to have happen to me. God was my world and my relationship with Christ meant a lot to me. I talked with ... everyone about it. My pastor, dean of the school, parents, friends, you name it.

The "testimony" of this is on my 360 if you need more details. http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-vusPCkozbqE7hwwUiMGjEmstzA--?cq=1&p=110

Answer 10

I've read the bible in it's entirety many times. I was raised a Christian. I have studied many things, including those from believers of different faiths, and the scientific community. Do you think we are so stupid that we make life changing decisions based on nothing? Most Christians, in my experience, only go on the Bible and what their particular religion tells them.