Skwim
Veteran Member
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If god wanted to send us a message, and ancient writings were the
only way he could think of doing it, he could have done a better job.
If god wanted to send us a message, and ancient writings were the
only way he could think of doing it, he could have done a better job.
-Carl Sagan
"It’s often said that the fastest way to turn Christians into atheists is to have them read the Bible cover to cover. The atrocities committed by God and his chosen people, the bizarre rituals, the vague prophecies, the blatant contradictions, the primitive morals, and the religious hysteria all make it seem like the Bible was written by violent, racist, sexist, intolerant, superstitious fanatics. I, myself, had my faith shaken many times while reading the Bible.
If God is all-knowing and all-powerful and infinitely intelligent, his book should be the most amazing piece of literature in history. It should be so brilliant and so glorious that no human author could write anything that compares. Instead, the Bible appears to be nothing more than a bunch of ancient myths, ritual instructions, mediocre poems, strange legends, religious letters, and deluded ramblings that were cobbled together by Jewish and Roman men a long time ago.
So what would we expect to find in a book that was written by God (or “divinely inspired”)? Here are seven suggestions."
If God is all-knowing and all-powerful and infinitely intelligent, his book should be the most amazing piece of literature in history. It should be so brilliant and so glorious that no human author could write anything that compares. Instead, the Bible appears to be nothing more than a bunch of ancient myths, ritual instructions, mediocre poems, strange legends, religious letters, and deluded ramblings that were cobbled together by Jewish and Roman men a long time ago.
So what would we expect to find in a book that was written by God (or “divinely inspired”)? Here are seven suggestions."
[I've only included the first paragraph of each comment.]
"1. It would be well-organized.
The Bible is in chronological order and the poetry, prophecies, gospels, and letters are mostly grouped together. Other than that, it isn’t very well organized. The Bible is supposed to be God’s message to humanity, a collection of teachings and stories we can apply to our daily lives. So why is it so difficult to learn from it?
2. It would be more specific.
Imagine how convenient it would be if one of the books of the Bible was called “Morality” and it had a different chapter for each area of morality. What if there were a chapter on murder that clearly describes all the various scenarios where killing is permitted (war, execution, self-defense, etc.)? Maybe a verse that says “Thou shalt not slay an unborn child” so there would be no doubts about whether abortion is murder. Or better yet, there could be a verse somewhere that says “Thou shalt not own another human as property.” Then we wouldn’t need thousands of apologists to explain how to interpret passages like Exodus 21:20-21.
3. It would be easy to understand.
Why is the Bible so confusing that it requires thousands of preachers backed by an army of theologians to explain it to us? If God wants his message to be understood by everyone, then even simple-minded people should be able to understand his book. As it is, experts in theology have been debating the exact meaning of many passages for centuries.
4. It would be perfectly consistent.
What does an all-powerful writer need? An all-powerful editor, apparently. When God spoke through his ghost writers, one of his angels should have spoken up and said, “Hey, you might want to fix some of those contradictions.” I mean, come on, there are hundreds of them. Am I really supposed to believe this book was written by the same being that created all the billions of galaxies throughout the universe?
5. It would have specific, verifiable prophecies.
If the Bible were divinely inspired, you would expect the prophecies to be specific and not subject to interpretation. “Wars and rumors of wars” is not a good prophecy.
6. It would contain knowledge that humans couldn’t have had.
Imagine if there were a Bible verse that said, “For the pieces that make up our Lord’s creation behave as both particles and waves, existing everywhere and nowhere.” It wouldn’t have made sense to people at the time, but millions of people today would recognize it as a description of quantum mechanics. Imagine how many fence-sitters would convert to Christianity after hearing about this amazing piece of scientific knowledge in an ancient religious book.
7. It would have beautiful, heart-rending poetry and stories.
Think about it: If God is infinitely creative and intelligent, he should be capable of writing absolutely brilliant poems that remain unmatched to this day. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some great stuff in there. I particularly like Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon, but these books pale in comparison to the works of T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman and hundreds of other great poets."
source
The Bible is in chronological order and the poetry, prophecies, gospels, and letters are mostly grouped together. Other than that, it isn’t very well organized. The Bible is supposed to be God’s message to humanity, a collection of teachings and stories we can apply to our daily lives. So why is it so difficult to learn from it?
2. It would be more specific.
Imagine how convenient it would be if one of the books of the Bible was called “Morality” and it had a different chapter for each area of morality. What if there were a chapter on murder that clearly describes all the various scenarios where killing is permitted (war, execution, self-defense, etc.)? Maybe a verse that says “Thou shalt not slay an unborn child” so there would be no doubts about whether abortion is murder. Or better yet, there could be a verse somewhere that says “Thou shalt not own another human as property.” Then we wouldn’t need thousands of apologists to explain how to interpret passages like Exodus 21:20-21.
3. It would be easy to understand.
Why is the Bible so confusing that it requires thousands of preachers backed by an army of theologians to explain it to us? If God wants his message to be understood by everyone, then even simple-minded people should be able to understand his book. As it is, experts in theology have been debating the exact meaning of many passages for centuries.
4. It would be perfectly consistent.
What does an all-powerful writer need? An all-powerful editor, apparently. When God spoke through his ghost writers, one of his angels should have spoken up and said, “Hey, you might want to fix some of those contradictions.” I mean, come on, there are hundreds of them. Am I really supposed to believe this book was written by the same being that created all the billions of galaxies throughout the universe?
5. It would have specific, verifiable prophecies.
If the Bible were divinely inspired, you would expect the prophecies to be specific and not subject to interpretation. “Wars and rumors of wars” is not a good prophecy.
6. It would contain knowledge that humans couldn’t have had.
Imagine if there were a Bible verse that said, “For the pieces that make up our Lord’s creation behave as both particles and waves, existing everywhere and nowhere.” It wouldn’t have made sense to people at the time, but millions of people today would recognize it as a description of quantum mechanics. Imagine how many fence-sitters would convert to Christianity after hearing about this amazing piece of scientific knowledge in an ancient religious book.
7. It would have beautiful, heart-rending poetry and stories.
Think about it: If God is infinitely creative and intelligent, he should be capable of writing absolutely brilliant poems that remain unmatched to this day. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some great stuff in there. I particularly like Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon, but these books pale in comparison to the works of T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman and hundreds of other great poets."
source
If you plan on speaking to any of the points please take a minute and read the entire comment, accessible via the "source" link.
Thanks
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