" The quickest way to atheism is through the Bible"

I have heard the quote before and was thinking about it today. Does anyone agree or disagree with the quote, or have any sort of input?

I actually was a Christian all my life, raised in a Baptist church, got "saved" when I was 8, and felt I was the only kid at my church who truly believed and cared about Christianity. I was always reading scriptures and studying the Bible, even more than school work, which led me to getting bad grades... I was constantly praying ,not asking God to grant me things (such as peace, wealth, strength and all that garbage, I never though God should be made into a genie) but actually talking to God about life and observing the world with him by my side. But towards the middle of my senior year in HS i think (right before Christmas actually) I renounced my faith in Yeshua/Jesus as God's son and the Messiah. So I was basically Jewish, and even planning on finding a synagogue, until a few months later I lost faith in God altogether and became an atheist.

The more I read the bible and studied what was said, over many different translations, and reading and hearing what other religious people had to say about it, the more I realized Christianity wasn't any different from any other religion, and that it was full of nonsense, and over-romanticized ancient tales...

Has anyone had any similar experiences with religion?

Wasn't it Penn Gillete that said that? Anyways. It does have some truth to it. The bible as a whole is pretty contradictory and that usually irritates those who weren't raised to accept it. However, I do not see this as a specific reason to doubt the faith itself. It's my belief that the bible was not written by God him/herself, but instead was written by men speaking for God, huge difference. Going by the traditional belief, God does not make mistakes. Humans do not share this trait however. Humans are greedy and usually motivated by their own personal beliefs. Thus, some of the more contradictory parts of the bible may not actually be the words of God. Not to mention that something with that many different writers is bound to have some differing opinions.

sage of fire: Agreed it's not like a golden box fell out of the sky and when they opened it the bible was inside. No the bible is merely our interpretation of God's word so like you said it was likely to get tainted and changed over time. However that doesn't mean you should completly renounce the God.

I think that any honest look at the Bible demonstrates that many fundamentalist Christianities are incompatible both with their central text and with reason.

Many religious groups based on the Hebrew Bible and/or new testament do not make the same kinds of demands on it -- as soon as you take the (very common) view that the Bible offers mythological, paradigmatic truth as opposed to simple literal historical truth, the problem of incompatibilities with itself and with history is dramatically lessened.

If you take the (much less common) approach in which the Bible is available for guidance to the extent that you wish to consider it -- leaving the freedom to toss away unpalatable sections, etc., then the problem virtually disappears.

In short, I would say that the Bible does not offer a quick way to atheism, but it does force a person to abandon certain faith traditions, if considered with intellectual honesty.

Originally Posted by Trico

I think that any honest look at the Bible demonstrates that many fundamentalist Christianities are incompatible both with their central text and with reason.

Many religious groups based on the Hebrew Bible and/or new testament do not make the same kinds of demands on it -- as soon as you take the (very common) view that the Bible offers mythological, paradigmatic truth as opposed to simple literal historical truth, the problem of incompatibilities with itself and with history is dramatically lessened.

If you take the (much less common) approach in which the Bible is available for guidance to the extent that you wish to consider it -- leaving the freedom to toss away unpalatable sections, etc., then the problem virtually disappears.

In short, I would say that the Bible does not offer a quick way to atheism, but it does force a person to abandon certain faith traditions, if considered with intellectual honesty.

Christians? Honest? Wait....what? I'm joking of course. I have actually be lucky enough to know a few Christians, true blue, who were able to keep their rationality after accepting their faith. They were some of the best people I've ever known. It's actually something of a shame that some of the more...extreme...Christians, are what people know the faith as being.

To the OP-
It seems like you're too eager to find "the answer".

I can understand and relate to losing one's faith. it happened to me. However, you were much more devout in your faith than I was in mine. I think you've become accustomed to having an assurance of your fate. You accept Christ, you're saved, you go to heaven when you die, you live by the word so you have crowns in heaven, yadda yadda.

All of a sudden that all comes out from under you but you still feel the need to believe in something (or nothing at all).

I've learned that I feel the most free not being tied down to one faith because if one can turn out to be false, others can. My opinion is that I'm alive now, and as long as I live a good life now and try to better the world in my own way, I'll be alright. And if I go to hell for not being the "correct" religion, I don't care. what God would really set the rules so arbitrarily (it's like a sick sociology/psychology experiment!)?

So without being attached to one faith, or lack of, would that make you feel free, or lost?

I am an atheist because I, like all men, was blessed with the gift of reason.

Some good replies, thanks, haha.

I guess one of my problems was though that if you can toss out one thing out of the Bible as untrue, or an error by man, why can't you throw out other parts? How do you decide what is real and what isn't? What kind of god sits there noticing that everyone is extremely confused by the only thing he supposedly "left us" as a way into heaven? Its not like its a small ordeal, your eternal resting place (either in a peaceful whatever, or forever in a burning pit being eaten alive by maggots) is a BIG deal and shouldn't be taken so lightly as a "best guess" you know?

And another thing was that I saw all my Christian friends, and people in my Christian community that supposedly talk to the same God I did, and are influenced by him, have completely different mindsets on things, and can't even agree on who this guy really is... This is when I realized I was talking to myself the entire time, and that I'm good company when I have no one else to talk to, hahahahaha. Then all the things I held in the back of my mind as "evil thoughts" finally came back up as truths. Such as, if God were actually real, the Israelites would never have turned away from him to worship a golden cow, they would continue to worship the insane vengeful god who reeked havoc on the Egyptians and split an entire sea for them and all that... And if Yeshua really performed the miracles the Bible said he did, everyone would have instantly recognized him as who he supposedly was, and wouldn't be able to question him. And that the only reason I was Christian is because I was raised one.... Stuff like that. And also seeing the horrors that Christians have brought about the world through the years... Spanish Inquisition anyone?

Reason eventually found me.

I sort of had the same thing happen to me. I believed in God, but over time, the Christian religion started to confuse me (although, technically, I'm Anglican). Currently, I have made my own belief that God is the "essence" of science. I think that God isn't His own being, but rather every being. God is birth, growth, life, death, polyatomic ions, cellular respiration, and everything in the universe. God is what gives things the ability to exist and happen.

Essentially, God is another word for life and science. This is what I believe and, to me, it makes the most sense.

Originally Posted by Beemnorv

I sort of had the same thing happen to me. I believed in God, but over time, the Christian religion started to confuse me (although, technically, I'm Anglican). Currently, I have made my own belief that God is the "essence" of science. I think that God isn't His own being, but rather every being. God is birth, growth, life, death, polyatomic ions, cellular respiration, and everything in the universe. God is what gives things the ability to exist and happen.

Essentially, God is another word for life and science. This is what I believe and, to me, it makes the most sense.

Hahahaha! sweet! that was exactly what I believed right before becoming an atheist! I'm not saying you are going to be an atheist soon or anything, or than Im further along in the truth, please don't think that, haha. I just think its cool someone else came to the same conclusion I did.

eiyuu: What kind of God? Listen my belief is that god doesn't bring everybody to one consensu because he wants us to accomplish it without him. Only then can we truly acheive his vision for us.

Originally Posted by Discussion

I am an atheist because I, like all men, was blessed with the gift of reason.

Amen.

Growing up in a very predominant mormon community, with everything thrown in your face, it was pretty hard not to believe. Reading through scripture, and hearing contradictory tales and such, I always just made excuses. One thing that bothered me a ton was that people everywhere we as devoted to their religion as the people around me were to ours. And ours supposedly was the only one true church, so how could it be possible for someone to be devoted to something false? Then after that I began looking seriously into the origin of the church, and other churches. It didn't take me long to come to the conclusion that religion is the manifestation of mans will to believe in anything at all. And that the reason that I never felt "comfort" in prayer or reading scripture was because he didn't exist, and I wasn't a stooge.

Needless to say, this radically changed my out look on life. I have not been happier since I've stopped going to church, and thinking about god. I've been studying other spheres of philosophy, and have recently finished a book about the teachings of Confucius. For the first time ever, I felt like it was my own thoughts, not the confused medley of a church congregations opinion. It's been three years, and I'm truly happy.

Originally Posted by Oni Dark Link

eiyuu: What kind of God? Listen my belief is that god doesn't bring everybody to one consensu because he wants us to accomplish it without him. Only then can we truly acheive his vision for us.

Which is?

sage of fire: That we can be a people of piece who respect the differences of one another.

Anyway I consider myself a true christian because my parents were never very strict about going to church and I actively hated it until I realized something. Now not to insult anyone but I believe if everyone follows the teachings of Jesus Christ(whether you believe in him or not) and not necessarily the teachings of the bible but what God's son(I know it's debatable but roll with it) believed in then our species would be much better off.

Originally Posted by Oni Dark Link

sage of fire: That we can be a people of piece who respect the differences of one another.

Anyway I consider myself a true christian because my parents were never very strict about going to church and I actively hated it until I realized something. Now not to insult anyone but I believe if everyone follows the teachings of Jesus Christ(whether you believe in him or not) and not necessarily the teachings of the bible but what God's son(I know it's debatable but roll with it) believed in then our species would be much better off.

Well yea, it would be better if everyone followed to rules in the bible that are actually moral, but that, in my opinion, is all but an impossibility. The human race will always have at least one charismatic psychopath who's good at talking.

Originally Posted by eiyuu_004

I have heard the quote before and was thinking about it today. Does anyone agree or disagree with the quote, or have any sort of input?
.....

The more I read the bible and studied what was said, over many different translations, and reading and hearing what other religious people had to say about it, the more I realized Christianity wasn't any different from any other religion, and that it was full of nonsense, and over-romanticized ancient tales...

Has anyone had any similar experiences with religion?

I have had such experiences. I was a Christian until I hit 14 and realized that there was a reason my mind needed to be continually re-glued to the words. They didn't match my experiences or perceptions of the world, and a lot of it just could not escape my incredulity.

What helped me recognize through the Bible that there was certainly no God of the Christian Scriptures is all of the immorality that God demanded occur. All the murdering in favor of the violent Hebrews, very coincidentally they came out on the other side and their religion acts as though it were always right. The victors of history, back then more than ever, write the history books.

And Christianity is a mutation of the religion amongst the people over time. Reading the Bible critically leads to atheism. Reading it like a sheep makes one a sheep.

The Bible is the smuttiest smutsky-smut in all of smutland. There.

Really, to me, anyone who takes the Bible literally for historical value is an idiot. I can kinda see people going by its metaphorical meanings-- that is, what the stories teach rather than what the stories themselves are. (And even then there's plenty of room for debate on how credible it is.)

But come on, Noah's Ark, man?

Tonchiki: Too me the bible is mostly metaphorical. For example Noah's Ark may have been inspired by a massive flood that swept through the Middle East(which at that time was the whole world) and caused a great deal of damage.

Also things like people living five hundred years are just unrealistic and might just be intended to mean they lived a long time.

Aw, I'm really curious as to what the deleted comments said, haha.

And we all know that Noah's Ark is based off of the time the Goddesses flooded the world to stop Ganon from taking over Hyrule. Hahaha, just kidding...

And about the long age of people, that's most likely the case! I mean, we all know of fisherman stories right? How the longer a fish story is told, the bigger the fish seems to get? Well, take a story, and pass it down over thousands of years.... then write it down, and translate it into a bunch of language many many times...

Originally Posted by eiyuu_004

Hahahaha! sweet! that was exactly what I believed right before becoming an atheist! I'm not saying you are going to be an atheist soon or anything, or than Im further along in the truth, please don't think that, haha. I just think its cool someone else came to the same conclusion I did.

Actually, I pretty much fully believe in science and I shall continue going by this stance:

"God" is just a word. It means "life" and "science".

It's like taking the words "life" and "science", moulding them into a shape, and naming it "God".