I'm Starting To Understand Why

[ogilvy]

I just realized that all these years, the last 20 years, I didn't do any of the research i'm dong now, about the Bble and Christian concepts, and therefore naturally I didn't have any reason to question much. Surrounded by other bible believers, entrenched in the church, being exposed only to their views, my belief in the Bible was continually reinforced. To go looking for flaws in it would just not happen. There were the stereiotyped answers given to the standard doubts anyone might raise, and i accepted those answers, because they came from Chrisitans who had studied more than i had, who knew Greek and Hebrew, were experts, and who naturally could be expected to have integrity and know what they were talking about. I would not have come to a forum like this, or Beliefnet. That would be succumbing to the devils wiles to lead me from the truth.

 

When i did have doubts, like those i've expressed on these forums, they were easily brushed aside because these older and wiser Christian scholars must surely be trustworthy to have given the right answers. If i started to look into, for instance, about the different Bible translations, the different early texts they were based on, it just looked too complicated, i couldnt put my mind to reading through them. It was like, i'm with billions of other believers from centuries ago, in my beliefs, they must be ok or someone else would have noticed!!!

 

Anyway, i've been amazed from the reading i've done lately on all the forums and skeptic type websites to find the opposite of my Christian experience. Now i'm surrounded by all the arguments for the other side, which i was never exposed to really, before. If i read anything about skeptics claims, i wouldnt read it properly, my mind didnt want to entertain it.Now i'm hearing over and over what would never be mentioned in my Christian circles....."The Bible God is barbaric, maniacal, genocidal, bipolar, etc". The ideas i had before, like that God didnt exactly seem as loving as Christians always say.... which i couldnt express to anyone in my Christian circles, is common knowledge in the skeptic circles i'm in now. Its amazing how sheltered i've been in the past 20 years, from these ideas about how the Bible is definitely man made. I wouldnt have even entertained such a thought, all those years. Even over the last year of being on this forum, i still inwardly flinched at the 'blasphemy' expressed towardss the sacred concepts of God, Jesus and the Bible. Its really bizarre, seeing as i myself have been posting about how cruel God is and the bible couldnt be God's word. Guess theres still a way to go.