mick Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 Trying to cope. Does anyone have any books or on-line materials to recommend? My friend is leaning toward some kind of almost insanely Liberal Christianity. I am now agnostic at the most. The kinds of materials that would help me would be things that obliterate Christian dogma, Bible, etc. The main thing I am fearing is that I could be wrong, but everything in my reason and brain tell me I am right. My friend and I have been writing each other our own scriptures as a coping mechanism that make us laugh. Readings from Books like: The second Letter of Conflicting Dogma The Lost Book of the Judges of Cannon. The 2 Book of Pain. Etc Some of it was really funny and heaing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleDee Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 The Rejection of Pascal's Wager is a great website. http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/central.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunNSand4me Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 The Rejection of Pascal's Wager is a great website. http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/central.html Your link was broken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highvoltage Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 I can think of a couple of good websites. The first is The Jesus Puzzle by Earl Doherty. He discusses the case that there was never any historical Jesus. Another supplement to this I found just the other day at American Atheists here. There are lots of interesting pages on Christianity at American Athiests at www.atheists.org/christianity/ . If you are still into studying the bible, then The Skeptics Annotated Bible provides some interesting commentary on the scriptures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleDee Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 The Rejection of Pascal's Wager is a great website. http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/central.html Your link was broken. Broken? I checked it out after posting and just now and it works fine for me. If it doesn't work just Google "Rejection of Pascal's Wager" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathuria Posted April 4, 2006 Share Posted April 4, 2006 Interesting references, Angela, although I can't quite agree with the Egyptian origins thing. Both Mick & you might want to check out The Bible Unearthed, by Finkelstein & Silberman for a less radical view of the early Israelites. Of course, their "less radical" view includes Moses being mythical. One thing we should remember when discussing the Bible as a source is that Moses, even if he did exist, never wrote anything. The Hebrews didn't have a written culture until three or four centuries after the (theoretical) Moses happening. Besides, the idea of the Hebrew people as long-suffering devotees to Abraham's covenant with Yahweh turns out to be a convenient political invention of the 7th century BC. That ought to poke a few holes in the funda-mentality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All Gods Fail Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Here's a few more good links: http://www.bidstrup.com/bible.htm - pretty evenhanded overview of the history of scripture http://www.whywontgodhealamputees.com - lots to ponder over http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/ric...tchristian.html - excellent essay I would also recommend Carl Sagan's 'The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark'. It can help clear a lot of cobwebs out of your perception, but it is essentially a pro-atheist book. I only recommend it because it's very clear-headed and common-sense. You might also, possibly, consider getting a little (secular) counseling to help you straighten your thoughts and feelings out. Coming out of a hell-based cult with years of indoctrination can be a daunting task. Just an idea - I did it myself and it really helped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Carrion Posted April 5, 2006 Share Posted April 5, 2006 Alternatively, just ask this one simple question: what differentiates Christianity and biblical religion in general from the hundreds of thousands of other religions, faiths and cultures that have existed throughout mankind's history and still exist now? I think you'll find the answer is not alot. Furthermore, you will never be able to find a Christian on earth who can satisfactorily answer what the status of people born to times and cultures outside of biblical influence (and therefore "knowledge") is with regards to the religion's eschatological implications. Are they damned by default, simply because they have no chance of knowing the truth and ways of The One True God? You might also want to ask yourself what it is you're afraid of? Lets assume that there is some fudnamental flaw in our reasoning here, thatd espite all the contrary evidence the bible is in fact the inerrant word of the truth, Yahweh is the creator of earth, humanity and all that is. It still doesn't affect my position one iota; the god of the bible is a neurotic, megalomaniacle tyrant that i would oppose whether it existed or not. Better a prince in hell in a slave in heaven, say i. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eponymic Posted April 6, 2006 Share Posted April 6, 2006 There's a truckload of good books out there. Biblical Nonsense Dark Side of Christian History The Christ Conspiracy There's a lot of them on Amazon.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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