Non-Christians: What is your biggest problem with the bible?

Question

Please note this is to NON-CHRISTIANS, so I really don't need to hear how it's a wonderful book, perfect in every way.

I'm curious about fellow unbelievers. Was it something specific? Was it issues with internal contradictions or contradictions with science, history, etc? Did it have anything to do with the morality of the bible (and if so, which bits)?

Thanks for your responses :)

Answer 1

The Bible has "manmade" written all over it. One of the obvious giveaways is Yahweh's fixation on one little tribe, to the exclusion of a whole world. Yahweh adopts that tribe as his special people, and he leads them in bloody little wars against their neighbors. That is to say, Yahweh acts no differently than Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, or Baal, the storm-god of the Canaanites, or Dagon, or any of the other chief tribal gods in the neighborhood. Each of these primitive gods is concerned with one little tribe, because each was manufactured by that tribe--as a personification of nature.

It never occurred to the ancients to question the morality exhibited by their gods. The fearful forces of nature spoke powerfully and man listened. Who could question the power of lightning or the thumping of giant hailstones or the strength of floods? It never occurred to the ancients that a truly powerful god would not have to act in such clumsy ways, for nature was the only god they knew. It never occurred to the ancients that a truly wise and powerful god would communicate face to face with each man or woman rather than through nebulous dreams, divinations, or (later) vague scriptures and obscure answers to personal supplication. The gods of nature never spoke openly, but rather in whispers and dreams and omens, or so the ancients perceived. It never occurred to them that their gods should be concerned with the well being of all peoples, including their troublesome neighbors. Gods in those days were tribal gods, including Yahweh. They concerned themselves only with their particular tribes.
("On Taking the Bible and Noah's Flood Literally"
- Dave Matson, The Oak Hill Free Press)
On a clear night look up at the sky. Look beyond the stars and into the great void. Are those trillions upon trillions of galaxies out there, stretching across inconceivable distances, each bearing billions of suns that support countless worlds, created for the sake of man alone? Would a rancher carefully prepare 1,000,000 acres in order to house a few ants? Of course not! But religious conceit and the human ego know no bounds, and many people further believe that God is only interested in their little tribe or religious sect out of a whole world of humanity. Such conceit just boggles the mind!

A god smart enough to design a living world--and powerful enough to set galaxies into motion--would have interests as wide as the universe itself. All of humanity would come equally under the caring hand of such a deity. There would be no special people or sect. And, you would never catch such a god leading one tribe in vicious, little wars against its neighbors as though he were a school boy at play!

Since the New Testament is based on the Old, at least according to the authors of the Gospels, and since the Old Testament is built around Yahweh, and since Yahweh is clearly a tribal god, the working brain immediately concludes that the Bible is a manmade work.

Answer 2

I don't really have a problem with the bible per say. It's not literally true when it comes to, for example, the question of creation. I don't know how anyone can begin to claim that the earth was created by God in 6 days when there is no agreement among scholars about what a biblical day is.
All that aside the bible is filled with basic truths which is why it has endured to this day. At it's core it is saying that we are better off if we try to get along. It's hard to find fault with that. It's a philosophy that can be embraced without believing in the supernatural aspects (i.e. God).

Answer 3

I have two major problems with the Bible. The first is the internal contradictions. I know of no other holy book save perhaps the Koran that has so many contradictions. Even greater though is what it teachs, esp. in the New Testament. The whole concept of repenting and asking forgiveness is flawed, and allows people to get away with doing nearly anything they want.

Answer 4

The bible isn't really one book. It's a compilation of many smaller works written over millennium. Each part reflects the viewpoint of the authors. Even if they were inspired (divinely or otherwise) all they were capable of was to put it in concepts they could relate to.
The bible is both a window into how our forebears thought and an impressive work of fantasy with even some sci-fi thrown in. It's vague in portions and contradicts itself a lot but that's because of the time span it was written over. Wandering nomads had a much different lifestyle from people stuck in Roman occupied countries.
The bible is OK by itself. My problem is with PEOPLE who used it to justify every form of bigotry and condone every kind of atrocity anyone ever thought of.

Answer 5

Oh, gosh, it's difficult to pick just one thing.

If I HAVE to pick one thing, it's not with the bible itself, but the fact that *some* people who say they follow it don't seem to have good reading skills.

1. They generally don't understand the Tanakh, or understand that NONE of it applies to Christians (and gosh, the idea that to understand it one might want to consult a RABBI seems to make their heads spin)

2. They seem to give FAR more credence to letters written by a man who never met Jeshua bin Miriam in life, (Saul/Paul) than they do to what that man actually said and did (as reported by people who say they knew him).

3. They seem to be utterly incapable of grasping the idea that if *some* of the bible is metaphor, that perhaps the more fabulous parts of it that are generally presented as historical record ought to be looked at again, with "metaphor" in mind.

4. They generally do no reading of history (besides officially approved "church" history) specific to the time periods that we are told the Tanakh and the NT were written, so they have NO way of understanding the Sacrificial God-King theme that Paul spliced onto a very superficial understanding of Judaism...nor do they have any real clue as to the character of the Roman Empire in terms of religious freedom. They are utterly unfamiliar with the VERY SIMILAR myths that precede the NT...or they have some inane story about the "real truth" being "foreshadowed" by these other myths. Can anyone actually say they believe THAT with a straight face?

5. Well, let's face it. They read that thing as if it were possible for it all to be true...and it just ain't. I have NO idea how their brains can carry around such twisty reasoning- like a pretzel on crack - and say it's a straight line.


You see, I don't have any problem with the Tanakh itself, or the NT itself. If people would read it the way they read other long-ago accounts (with a healthy amount of skepticism) then the writing itself would not cause any real problems for the world.

*** And I have *tremendous* respect for actual followers of Jesus. ***

NOTE:
Quailman, you rock. Really.

Answer 6

I was likely about 5 when I began reading the Bible. KJV. I think I had already read Bullfinch's Mythology but I can not be sure. I read the Norse Mythologies of the Aesir at about that time also. It seemed very obvious to me that the bible was just another collection of mythological stories.
I recognize that much of mythology has wisdom coded into it just like Aesop's Fables do.
As I got older I read more and learnt more.

The bible is not a good history nor is it a good collection of science. It is a collection of hints for how to get along, a few stories intended just as stories (some with moral teaching embedded), a very poor attempt at history, two books of basic legal code, some poetry and a collection of proverbs(clever sayings).
The Bible is an Anthology with an awful lot of it drawn from older sources belonging to more advanced cultures surrounding the Hebrews.
As you learn more of the Ancient history of the region that archaeologists have been revealing over the past century you start to see many of the stories in a dramatically different light and sections of stories and psalms that make no sense as religion suddenly pop out dramatically as ancient propaganda in a war torn region.
Even the understanding of who Herod the Idumean was and who Zachariah and the Maccabees were sheds entirely new light on why John was executed, why he was waging a war against Herod and why Philip's wife mattered at all.

Sorry about running on. When I was a child there was a large set of booksheves that were fairly low to the floor and were full of books. We had almost no books written for children, But there was a set of "Book Of Knowlege Encyclopedia," "Encyclopedia Brittanica," Several dictionaries including the"Shorter Oxford Dictionary," and a wide selection of high school, college and university texts from the late 19th to the mid 20th century. (my Grandfather had graduated from Queens University just in time to volunteer for WW I) When he survived the war he became a teacher.
Much to the disappointment of teachers and family I never went on to university. I chose the life of a construction carpenter instead because of the freedom to travel it offered.
(I was also totally bored with sitting at a desk).
But I have always been a reader and as I look around I see several different bibles, a couple of large dictionaries, and a large variety of university level textbooks on a wide variety of subjects. Plus, now, access to the resources of the internet and a UofA access code for the Libraries and Journals collections.

Answer 7

Three hundred years after Christ a group of politicians decided what scriptures that real people had followed for 300 years were good and which they didn’t care for. The scriptures that were thrown out were the ones that clearly link the faith to Zoroasterism some hint of that remains in the story of the “Magi” traveling from the east to honor him. That part would be gone now as well if it wasn’t in what was then one of the best-publicized Gospels of its time Mathew.
There was an intentional direct attempt to elevate the faith from a sect of Zoroasterism to a full on religion of it’s own so all ties to the old religion had to be severed. With that separation they also separated themselves from well over half their own sacred text. Some of the scriptures they tossed out explicitly instruct the reader to study the teachings of Zoroaster. Zoroastrian teaching holds that nothing on earth is sacred and specifically claims scripture as a good source for inspiration and learning but “Scripture is nothing Holy in and of itself else evil Deceptions take the student.”
It's all allegory, always was and always will be. The Bible is a collection of testimonials NOT the “Word” of God. The “Living Word of God” is the followers of Christ not an old book. The people that believe in the literal Bible are the same people that would condemn Catholics for their crucifix claiming it to be idolatry.
To believe the Bible literally is idolatry and against the teachings of God.
Remember when God didn’t want to give Moses his name for fear of people worshiping it instead of him and when no graven image was a commandment to prevent idolatry?
How can someone think the Bible is the “Word” of God elevating it to the level of Christ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh-1JVctSOY
♥Blessed Be♥
♥=∞

Answer 8

Oh wow, LJ.. what a great question! and btw (LJ!!!!!!!)

Several issues for me:
1. Creation story going back to ancient Sumeria.. it isn't indigenous to the jewish culture. The same for the flood story.. Amazingly, the ark of the covenant looks just like an Isis box, however. The staff Moses used with the snakes entwined comes from egypt as well. The code of hammurabi looks a lot like some of the laws of the god of moses as well. It just isn't original text there.

2. Contradictions with science and history.. example creation story: The sun isn't created until the 4th day but there was day and night?? come ON. The earth being flat and held up by four pillars?? The sun was held back for a day??
The hebrews built the pyramids? Um no.. didn't happen.

3. Contradictions between jewish belief and christian belief.. Satan is not viewed as the enemy of God by the Jewish people and he happens to be their invention, but the christians base their fundamental tenets on good versus evil and satan is a huge part of it.. how can this be the same god, same belief system if they can't get it together? (this is just one of many examples)

4. No historical evidence for the existence of the biblical Jesus.. none whatsoever. however, his virgin birth, 12 disciples, last supper, dying for his people to resurrect again in 3 days is a very common mythology.

5. The god of the bible is the most immoral, megalomaniacal being ever imagined. Examples: omnicient/omnipresent: knew ahead of time what would happen, yet sets his creation up for failure and then decides to blame them and make them pay for what he created them to do, and the only way they can make it up to him is to slaughter animals and spread their blood all over the place. Sends a flood to destroy the earth, including animals and plants just because people do what he designed them to do. Commands against murder, but is all about genocide, including women, children, animals and trees. Sends bears to kill small children for laughing at a bald man's head. Gets tired of animal sacrifices and moves up to human sacrifice to appease him.

That's a good overview, I could write a book on my biggest problems with the bible.

Answer 9

I don't have much of a problem with the book itself, it is mostly how people use it.

If people were to look at it in the context of the time, and not literally, I might be fine with it.

That rule not to eat pork or shellfish was a good idea back when they didn't know about trichinosis and red tide. Now we know. Crisis averted. Rule no longer required.

Most of the book is like that. I think it is important to remember that humans wrote it, driven by the divine or not. Their understanding of the word of god was limited by their experience. You don't tell three year olds the scientific explanation for fire. You just tell the to stay away from it. When they are older, it is OK for them to light a candle or roast a marshmallow, but at their level of understanding and ability(when they are three) it is the best for them just to stay away.

I am irritated by all the edits done by the church. They just decided "hey, lets get rid of this", probably because it didn't reinforce their power.

I am irritated when people use the bible to as proof for itself. "This is the word of God!"
"How do you know?"
"It says so!"

I wish I could do that. Would make essays alot easier.

Answer 10

I am not specifically Christian, which is funny, because I quote passages from the Bible to people sometimes to remind them that balance in life is important. The only problem I have with the Christian Bible is the way some misguided souls try to force it down your throat. I think the wisdom in the Bible is best achieved by allowing people to come to it in their own way and at their own speed. Otherwise, no problem at all. Some of the answers here on Yahoo! Answers make it abundantly clear the Bible is not everyone's cup of tea, huh.

Answer 11

Three:

1. The political nature of its assembly, which left some wonderful texts out . . . I feel wisdom and beauty were often sacrificed in the process.

2. That it is too often taken literally rather than as mythology, fable, poetry and spiritual allegory as it should be; this leads to resistance to REAL scholarship and archeaological inquiry. There's so much there that obviously could NOT have been meant to be taken literally by any but the simplest and most illiterate minds, and more that, simply put, does not align with known historical fact.

3. Certain of its followers. Not all, just some.