A man who cannot recognize an exercise in futility.

Doubt it's particularly that, but alot of people mainly "atheists" and people of other beliefs read it with predetermined thoughts before they even read it. They put up a wall and read it as a "book". Just as they would read harry potter or any other book. They put up walls, they have preconceived thoughts of it being a "fable". It is hard to accept something as truth when someone sees it as being a "fable".

That is a great point, Cowboy. That also leads to an interesting question: Do atheists look at the Bible from the perspective that the material could be accurate. Or do they have a preconceived notion that it is fictitious?

I'm guessing preconceived notion it's fiction. That is why when they read it they automatically think it is. Rather then reading it with an open mind and allowing the spirit to comfort them in the truth.

What say you, atheists?

Just the opposite. Christians are told before hand that they are reading the word of God and that they should believe everything it says. They are the ones who begin reading with preconceived ideas.

Yes, I read it as many books, because that is what it is. That is the facts. I don't read it as a fable. I don't read it with the notion that it is truth either. I don't make decisions on any book or any story until I have read it.

I know it is many different books written by different people. I evaluate every book and every verse for what they say. Nothing more nothing less. I don't judge a story until I have read it all. I don't consider the Bible to be a single story, it is a collection of many stories.

This is why this post is so fantastic. Jeanniebean writes:

Christians are told before hand that they are reading the word of God and that they should believe everything it says. They are the ones who begin reading with preconceived ideas.

On the other hand, many Christians believe that atheists are told beforehand that they are not reading the word of God and that they should discount everything The Bible says. They are the ones who begin reading with preconceived ideas.

It is interesting to see both viewpoints. Great posting.

Told by whom?

In the beginning everyone was told that the Bible was the Word of God. Then we read it, and decided that it was not. The Bible itself convinced us, not anyone else.

Just forget that someone told you anything about it and read it as a book. You would not believe it either.

Jeanniebean writes:

"Just forget that someone told you anything about it and read it as a book. You would not believe it either."

I disagree here. Logically speaking, it makes sense to me. To me, atheism is not logical. The idea that there is no God has no rationality in my viewpoint.

Again, this is MY viewpoint, and I only mention it because you state that I would not believe the Bible.

As an example, in the Bible, there is an account of the Flood and of Noah's Ark. This ark was made out of acacia wood. In Genesis 8:3, it landed on Mt. Ararat in Turkey. Well, on this mountain, TODAY, there are remnants of curved-shaped acacia wood. To me, it would seem logical that these remnants came from the original ark.

Again, my viewpoint only.

I would not go so far as to say that all of the stories in the Bible have no basis in truth. I have never thought that.

But many of them, the way they are told are not possible, hence illogical. There are some people who believe everything in the Bible in a literal sense. I don't come close to that.

Also, just because I don't believe the Bible is truth, does not mean I don't have my own personal relationship to the first cause or what you call "God." This assumption is an arrogant one.

I don't know how literally you believe in everything in the Bible but for people who believe it in the literal sense, I have doubts about their ability to reason.

People who are fanatical about it, I have doubts about their sanity.

I'm not an atheist, but I don't believe that the Hebrew writings are the verbatim word of God.

Cowboy suggests that atheists read the bible with predetermined ideas. Although this is just his suggesting and does in no way represent the truth of the situation for all atheists.

Yet clearly the 'believers' in the Bible do precisely as he is suggesting. They do approach it with the preconceived idea that it is indeed the "Word of God".

I know for a fact that Cowboy's suggestion definitely does not apply to me. Nor did it apply to Isaac Newton. Both Isaac Newton and I went into our study of the Bible with the initial belief that we were going to make PERFECT SENSE of it!

You need to understand the reason I was originally studying the bible. Not for my own 'salvation'. I had already accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. I was already "born again in Christ". I had no need for personal "salvation" at that point. I was already "saved" as far as I was concerned.

My reason for studying the Bible was so that I could properly TEACH the word of God to others!

I had also already noticed that various preachers within our own church did not agree with each other on various things within the Bible. Add to that all the myriad of different denominations of Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism, and even Islam which is an offshoot of this same basic fundamental doctrine.

My purpose was to discover WHO is right?

Which preachers and denominations have it RIGHT?

I was taught that the Bible has answers to every question. Well, surely it would then have the answers to which religion best describes whats in the actual text.

So it was my purpose to discover the TRUE word of God and help others see the light more clearly. I would then be able to show them why their conclusions are wrong. Not to "show them up", but simply to aid in spreading the TRUE word of God.

Well, the deeper I got into the study of the bible I quickly became vividly aware that there are NO ANSWERS to the really important questions. Moreover, even with the most devoted effort I was constantly running into blatant contradictions and outright absurdities.

I finally began to question the validity of the BOOK.

I NEVER questioned the validity or thinking of GOD.

But the BOOK, yes, I began to suspect that it's nonsense. Especially the Old Testament. Once I started looking at it objectively with an OPEN mind, I soon began to realize that it not only has no more crediblity than Greek Mythology, but it's not even all that much different in it's foundational theme. It's about a MALE God, who is appeased by blood sacrifices.

In fact the issue of blood sacrifices was indeed a paramount issue for Christianity because Jesus is the ultimate blood sacrifice. Thus understanding precisely why blood sacrifices are important is paramount to understanding this religion.

But the Bible doesn't give any good reason for this at all. On the contrary it just ASSUMES that the reader believes that gods are easily appeased by blood sacrifices. No doubt because people were quick to accept that notion. That very notion was even common in Greek Mythology as well as many other man-made fairy tales.

There's nothing new or original in the biblical stories. It just the same old rehashing of the same kinds of myths that mankind has always made up.

The story of Jesus actually serves to confirm what I had discovered. Even Jesus renounced the absurdities in the Old Testament.

Jesus taught people to quit judging others and stoning sinners to death. Jesus taught people to quit seeking an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and instead, love your enemies, turn the other cheek, and forgive others who have trespassed against you.

Jesus was about as anti-Torah as a person could be.

There's no way that Jesus could have been the messenger of the original God. The teachings of Jesus were far more in line with the teachings of Buddha, not with the teachings of the Torah.

So I've found my answers. NOT the answers I had originally expected. I originally expected to clear up the "word of God" and make a decision from that as to which "denomination" of the Abrahamic religions was most likely correct.

But what I finally realized with an OPEN MIND, is that none of the Abrahamic religoins are correct. They are all false. The very notion of "The God of Abraham" is a flawed notion that is clearly just more Zeus-like mythology.

And Jesus was most likely renouncing all of that and trying to preach the brotherly love of Buddha instead. He was crucified for blaspheme (based on the Abrahamic religion that God commands people to kill heathens!), and then after he died, the New Testament was created as an effort to us Jesus to prop up the very religious teachings that he himself had renounced.

That's my honest sincere conclusion.

The Christians obviously hate me for what I have discovered.

They view me as their worst "enemy" because I renounce their treasured ideal that Jesus was the "Sacrificial Lamb of God", who must be accepted as such lest you be condemned into everlasting punishment.

I do not support that view. Not in the slightest.

IMHO, it's impossible for the Christian views of God to be true. The doctrine they use to create that story simply doesn't support it. When examined with a truly critical eye it falls like a house of cards.

Interesting viewpoint, Abracadabra. My suggestion is that if you feel the accounts in the Bible to be absurd, perhaps it is because you have not looked deeply enough.

Oh boy ... you shouldn't have said that...

It's quite amazing isn't it? Anytime anyone tries to say the Bible is not what it is said to be, it's always our fault. It's never that maybe just MAYBE we are right. How can one have a truly open mind to what the truth is, if they are always told they are gonna be wrong unless they agree with what they've been taught? You can't, the outcome is fixed then.

I did say "maybe," right? Nobody is blaming anybody for anything. It was merely a suggestion. Nothing more.

True, but I say that because Abra spent half his life trying to make sense of the Bible so he could be a preacher.

Jeanniebean writes:

"True, but I say that because Abra spent half his life trying to make sense of the Bible so he could be a preacher."

And isn't that when Satan tempts us the most? When we're closest to God?

My suggestion to you is that if you feel that the accounts of the Bible are not absurd, perhaps it is because you have not looked into them deeply enough, or you have refused to seriously question them in the fear that in doing so you would be committing the 'sin' of questioning God's character or purpose.

As long as you retain a fear of questioning the character of the God of the Bible you will forever be compelled to believe in the stories no matter how utterly absurd they become.

Well, that verifies your fear of questioning the Bible.

In your mind, you have convinced yourself that to even remotely consider the idea that the Bible might be false would be to fall for the temptation of Satan.

In other words, you've already fallen for the Biblical picture of God hook, line, and sinker.

You are even convinced that Satan is out to get you!

Abracadabra writes:

"Well, that verifies your fear of questioning the Bible."

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, faith, and a sound mind. I do look at the Bible from a logical viewpoint. To me, it is the most logical explanation of things.

"In your mind, you have convinced yourself that to even remotely consider the idea that the Bible might be false would be to fall for the temptation of Satan."

You just have to look deeper, that's all. You fell short of the mark. You can come back.

"In other words, you've already fallen for the Biblical picture of God hook, line, and sinker."

I have fallen for God, yes, it is true.

"You are even convinced that Satan is out to get you!"

If Christ is for us, who can be against us?