[Closed] Anyone read the Bible?

Good contribution from kja78

Well I have but I always feel a bit weirded out by true believers, I just can't see their point of view at all.

Stan Lee has a lot to answer for.

Good contribution from kja78
Second that. Completely disagree with him, but a polite and thoughtful contribution (well, it is his job and all )

Thanks chaps and chapeses, I'm now off to write the 'thought for the day' that I was supposed to be doing whilst chatting with you lot! After I cook dinner for my wife and three daughters (how's that for Biblical equality!)

Well, a pay rise and a decent summer wouldn't hurt I suppose. Reckon you could have a word with your god, see if he can sort out the weather for us this year?

Reminds me of a joke -

I wanted a nice new mountain bike so I prayed to God to give me one. Then I realised that God doesn't work like that. So I nicked a bike and prayed for forgiveness.

LOL thanks kja78 🙂

Although I stopped posting in this thread I've kept up with most of it.

I'll also add. Even though I am very much an atheist Kja78 replies are very good, well thought out responses with a refreshing view on religion. Your acceptance that parts of the bible are exaggerated or made up tales but for the purpose of faith are a nice view and one that I wish other believers would take.

Although I stopped posting in this thread I've kept up with most of it.

I'll also add. Even though I am very much an atheist Kja78 replies are very good, well thought out responses with a refreshing view on religion. Your acceptance that parts of the bible are exaggerated or made up tales but for the purpose of faith are a nice view and one that I wish other believers would take.

+1

Last week I watched a Nigerian wedding on tv and it filled me with hoy. Loved it. Praise whoever you want but do it with love folks. Peace.

[img] [/img]

❓ 😯

Must be those thighs. Good looking bloke though, so I can relate to why Hora wants to be full of him.

Must be those thighs. Good looking bloke though, so I can relate to why Hora wants to be full of him.

You're meant to be angst ridden and miserable... Posts of that quality could persuade Pope Jim Bowen into a snog!

Ffs. Fail of the week 😆

Hora and Cougar; I just spat coffee out of my nose. Please refrain...

rail of the week, shirley?

I stopped reading when someone said "the whole world being covered in water over just 40 days would really churn up the soil layers and muck up the dating systems used currently" and I spilt me tea everywhere.
Can someone summarise the rest as I've got 4 wheels to build before bedtime 🙁

I stopped reading when someone said "the whole world being covered in water over just 40 days would really churn up the soil layers and muck up the dating systems used currently" and I spilt me tea everywhere.
Can someone summarise the rest as I've got 4 wheels to build before bedtime

Hora got excited about Chris Hoy whilst watching a Nigerian wedding and wants us all to praise someone with love.

Well one things a given. No matter what Hoy wont be riding behind me.

Imagine his disappointment, etc.

So not very many then.

So not very many then.

Well I wouldn't expect very many to admit on STW that they read the bible, in the same I wouldn't except many to admit on here that they take homeopathic medicine or like Piers Morgan.

It's a good point actually, I never actually answered the OP.

I haven't read it in the sense of sitting down at page one and wading through it to the end, no. But I expect few people have out of choice, it's heavy going. I have however read good chunks of it in isolation during RE lessons at school, and have revisited it subsequently on numerous occasions during discussions like this one.

Whilst I can't quote it verbatim and have never 'studied' it, because frankly I've better things to do, I think I know enough to get by, and certainly enough to form an opinion.

Mooly, care to expand on where you're going with the question? Have you read it? Have you read any other competing texts, the Qu'ran for example?

In answer to the question : yes, three times. Once enforced, two out of choice.

There's probably not a lot in it that would work for me, I think.

so no, 'part from school I sppose

Nope.Got expelled for asking 'awkward' questions in RE aged 10 and refusing to sing hymns.It sounded stupid to me aged 10 and still does 29 years later.

Just to tangent on the subject of hymns for a moment,

I learned hymns at school by nature of listening to the older kids who already knew the words and joining in. For [i]years [/i]I cheerfully sang "Oh come little sadollie, Chri-ist the lord" all the while wondering what the hell a 'sadollie' was.

At Infant school I was made to stand outside at morning assembly countless times for refusing to sing praise to religon. THAT young. Glad.

I read several pages in my early teen (think it was my cousin's) because I was learning English ... ahem ... So the answer is No.

Then I started reading Lighthouse (I think that's what they were called then ... free handout/mag) given to me/us by two nice/polite elderly Jehovah Witness ladies every time they visited us.

I think they were spreading the gospel 12 noon in a very hot country (34c to 37c) so my mother invited them in to give them drinks and some biscuits to eat. Nice people that my mum could chat to from the other part of the world.

That's ace.

"Have you heard the good news about Jesus?"

"We have biscuits."

"You win."

I don't think I ever thought enough about it to rebel or anything, went to sunday school, sang hymns, all that stuff, then grew up. I think after school, unless you're really bothered about it, you just stop thinking about religion and god and all that, don't you?

Something's just occurred to me.

In a lot of religious debates, the Christians assume the atheists are ignorant about religion, and the atheists assume the Christians are preachy and judgemental.

With a couple of notable exceptions, neither of these assumptions are true on STW. And that makes for very interesting discussions. For that, I thank you all.

With a couple of notable exceptions, neither of these assumptions are true on STW. And that makes for very interesting discussions. For that, I thank you all.

Definitely agree with that---my thoughts when the thread started echoed the trepidation you implied on the first page "this is going to end well"

Cougar - Moderator

That's ace.

"Have you heard the good news about Jesus?"

"We have biscuits."

"You win."

LOL! No harm having biscuits with two elderly ladies (my mum including me but I never stayed more than 5 mins) ...

Really, they were two nice elderly ladies. My mum could not just let two elderly ladies walking in the heat of noon with everyone turning them away. Nobody offered them drinks etc. No, we did not hate them but more like my mum welcoming friends from afar. We knew they were spreading the gospel but my mum only sympathised them for their hard work at their age. Always wish them well.

Nope. None of us (mum or me) were converted if you wish to know.

p/s: I think one of my mate is some sort of preacher but for whatever reasons he never wanted to convert us (the lads) ... hhmmmm ... 😆

Cougar +1

And in answer to your question about being like God. The Anglicans seem very bad at explaining simple things like that IMO. So you have to turn to the RC and their Catecisms. Form there, the argument seems to be that

1. The likeness to God is chiefly that we have a soul
2. Our souls are like God because they/it is spirit and immortal.

Cougar, good point well made.

To answer the OP (and to go along with Cougars point) I'm not religious and have read the Bible quite a few times, and studied Theology too.

I don't know if I class myself as an Atheist as such, I just know I'm not Religious.

To answer the point, I too have read bits of the Bible, although not all the way through. The bits I have read were quite well written (or at least translated), but not massively convincing.

Still not quite sure what the OP's point is, though - if you can't deny Christianity unless you've read the Bible, I guess apart from the particularly well-read we're all also Mithraics, Hindus, Wodinists etc. etc. And the secret texts of Scientology - has the OP read them? Can s/he, hand on heart, from a position of ignorance, deny their truth?

With a couple of notable exceptions, neither of these assumptions are true on STW. And that makes for very interesting discussions.

Sorry to rain on everyone's parade but I certainly have seen more hatred on religious threads on this site than on any other topic. Although, there has been some improvement of late - due to a few posters with thick skins and extraordinary reserves of patience. I also have seen, at best, an average understanding of faith.

if you can't deny Christianity unless you've read the Bible, I guess apart from the particularly well-read we're all also Mithraics, Hindus, Wodinists etc. etc.

Isn;t that basically a repackaging of the idea that atheists and Christians both disbelieve in several thousand gods, the only difference is that the atheists believe in one fewer?

It's an interesting point though, in as far as it goes. Say there's a film you don't like the sound of (let's say 'the human centipede'), it's ignorant to slag it off without ever seeing it, but plain stupid to forcibly sit yourself though an hour and a half of viewing being appalled before complaining about it to anyone who'll listen. There's a valid argument there that you need to be familiar with the source material in order to criticise it, alternatively avoid it but shut up.

I think the bullet being dodged there though is, it's generally not the Bible that the more militant atheists have an issue with, beyond deconstructing "ah, but it says in the bible..." type arguments; rather, their issue lies with people who use it to justify their bigotry and get their own way.

Sorry to rain on everyone's parade but I certainly have seen more hatred on religious threads on this site than on any other topic.

As a, eh, vocal user on the religion threads myself, I'd suggest that's unfair.

a) most of the serial arguers and trolls have been banned for life now, and

b) the "hatred" (such a strong word and I'd contest it, "intolerance" perhaps) you describe is applicable only to a very small minority.

I don't think it's fair to judge the current forum by the actions of some of its users several months ago. This thread alone surely must demonstrate that, no?

I also have seen, at best, an average understanding of faith.

I'm sure that corrections to any misunderstandings would be gratefully received. I'd welcome it, at any rate.

Ernie got it bang on with this post

As someone who has attended marxist-leninist education/talks/discussions, for a period literally spanning decades, I have never encountered hostility towards religion which even begins to approach the levels that it does on here.

Even Karl Marx, possibly the most famous atheist in history, had a more relaxed attitude to religion than some of the Guardian-reading wannabe lefties that post on here

Intolerance is hardly a virtue.

That's commies for you.
I'm lactose intolerant...can I not be virtuous? 😥

I think you probably can...if you choose to be.

But you may wish to refer to higher authority.

There's a valid argument there that you need to be familiar with the source material in order to criticise it, alternatively avoid it but shut up.

Can see where you're coming from, but that argument falls down when you consider child porn, for example - I feel no need to read it to be able to criticise it. Second-hand familiarity with the contents is often more than sufficient.

Not that I'm comparing the Bible to child porn, I'm not a huge fan of Christianity but I don't equate it with child abuse, even taking into account the Catholics 🙂

(And fortunately the last few marathon religious posts have been generally better-tempered than they were in the past, the shrill parroting of Dawkins seems to have faded a bit).

Sure, you can reasonably say cold that you're unlikely to approve of the genre; but if you (for some bizarro reason) wanted to debate the quality of photography or the skills of the director say, you'd have to watch it.

So, I don't think that's a very fair analogy, and if it's ok I'm going to use a slightly less emotive example to explain what I mean!

I don't particularly like rap music. I could say blindly that it's unlikely that I'll enjoy, say, Eminem, but I couldn't (fairly) be critical of him unless I'd heard a few of his "songs".

I've read enough of the Bible to be able to discuss it critically from a semi-informed position. However, I couldn't use that knowledge to critique religious texts as a whole; I've never read any of the Qu'ran, as a random example.

cougar

Interesting one, this. It's a bit 'damned if you do and damned if you don't.'

As someone who has attended marxist-leninist education/talks/discussions, for a period literally spanning decades, I have never encountered hostility towards religion which even begins to approach the levels that it does on here.

So what happened to religion in Russia?