Bible

[JasonPatch]

I miss reading the bible but i just can't anymore. I no longer believe it to be truth. I used to take comfort in reading it, believing it to be a magical, mystical & 100% truth. I thought that just by reading it, the Holy Spirit was filling me to overflowing, like taking a puff off of a cigarette, inhaling the smoke into my body & then releasing it slowly out into the world. Or like filling an empty water bottle with water until it overflows. I no longer believe that to be true. I tried to read the bible last night for the first time in a while. I started reading Proverbs 1 but had to stop. The text was saying that if you don't accept the Lord's wisdom then disaster could strike & if it does the Lord will laugh at & make fun of you. Nope. Not doing it. Not reading one more word. What kind of God would laugh at & make fun of you? Not a god I will follow. Then again, the Bible is thousands of years old, written by man & interpreted a thousand different ways into a thousand different languages. The versions we have today are far removed from the original texts & their original languages. So, will I read one of today's versions of this archaic book? Nope. Not doing it. 

[TheRedneckProfessor]

I was a biblical literalist as a christian; so, for me, every word in the bible was the divinely inspired word of god.  A lot of that took some very creative apologetics, in addition to heavy indoctrination.  I can't say I missed the bible once I realized it was all hogwash, though.  For me, there was a great sense of relief and peace knowing I didn't have to believe or try to explain why god would bless someone who dashed babies heads against rocks.

[TABA]

Different ex-christians have different views of and relationships with the bible, not surprisingly.  Some of it has to do with how literally we took the scripture when we were believers, and some of it is a function of how confident and secure we are in our deconversion now.   
 

People in the early stages of deconversion may no longer be christians but they can be plagued by lingering fears left over from their years of belief.  I would advise them to steer well clear of the bible and to focus on continuing to learn from secular sources.  Once confidence is gained and the mindset moves further away from christianity, it’s possible to revisit scripture with new, clearer eyes and to see it for what it is: an ancient collection of human writings, some of it wise and admirable, some of it primitive and barbaric.  
 

Depending on one’s preference, studying the bible as a non-believer can be rewarding, leading to a better understanding of the evolution of both judaism and christianity over the centuries.  For example, reading the Old Testament without the blinders of faith reveals how the concepts of heaven, hell, satan and even god himself evolved gradually.  Biblical scholar Robert M Price, previously a christian and now an atheist, often mentions how much he loves the bible, not as the word of god but as a fascinating record of one group of people’s view of the world and how that view evolved over time. 
 

Studying the bible this way does not interest everybody, of course.  Many apostates are happy never to read a word of scripture again as long as they live.  This is totally understandable but I believe that for as long as the bible is taken seriously by many as the inerrant word of god, it is important for opponents of this view to have a knowledge of scripture, with all its paradoxes, contradictions and atrocities.  I’m glad that many members of this community have brought great knowledge of the bible with them and are happy to use it now in opposition to their former faith.  

[☆ DarkBishop ☆]

7 hours ago, JasonPatch said:

I miss reading the bible but i just can't anymore. I no longer believe it to be truth. I used to take comfort in reading it, believing it to be a magical, mystical & 100% truth. I thought that just by reading it, the Holy Spirit was filling me to overflowing, like taking a puff off of a cigarette, inhaling the smoke into my body & then releasing it slowly out into the world. Or like filling an empty water bottle with water until it overflows. I no longer believe that to be true. I tried to read the bible last night for the first time in a while. I started reading Proverbs 1 but had to stop. The text was saying that if you don't accept the Lord's wisdom then disaster could strike & if it does the Lord will laugh at & make fun of you. Nope. Not doing it. Not reading one more word. What kind of God would laugh at & make fun of you? Not a god I will follow. Then again, the Bible is thousands of years old, written by man & interpreted a thousand different ways into a thousand different languages. The versions we have today are far removed from the original texts & their original languages. So, will I read one of today's versions of this archaic book? Nope. Not doing it. 

 

Hey Jason,

 

I just saw your first post and this one today. So I'm a little behind the 8 ball. But Welcome to ExC!! I hate that you're feeling this way. I felt very similar about the bible when I was a believer. I was a preacher and studied the word almost obsessively at first. I would have dreams about it that I thought was God showing me a message. Or some revelation in his word. Like Redneck professor. I believed that the Bible was the inerrant word of God. 

 

Eventually, well I studied myself out of the faith. I saw to many issues with the Bible. Some of the same issues you are seeing probably. 

 

There is a term we use here. Its called "full Deconversion". This isn't always easy. For some it is harder than others. And it sounds to me like you haven't quite achieved a full deconversion. Stick with it tho. You'll get there. And believe me, full deconversion is priceless.

 

I felt that emptiness as well. For a long time.

 

I found that first studying about the bible from secular sources helped me. Dont touch the bible for awhile until you know more of the truth and history of it. This community helped me tremendously. I'll never be able to thank the members here enough for the help and encouragement they gave me along the way. I'm going to encourage you to come here more and try to be active. This community can give you a sense of belonging. Which is also something your missing since leaving the fold. Humans are tribal by nature. Let this be your tribe if need be. And we do have a mission here. To help others get through this like you. And to encourage anyone watching on the sideline to think critically. This will give you a sense of purpose. Another thing your probably missing since leaving God behind.

 

It is important to get that firm foundation of a full deconversion under your belt. For me Bart Ehrman books were and still are my go to books. He has a way of explaining his findings so that I can understand them. He is a professor. So I guess that's kinda his thing. The first book I read of his was forgeries and counter forgeries. I found out later that this was a book written for the scholarly world but I still got a wealth of information out of it. In this book he uncovers the forgeries of the Pauline epistles and explains why these forgeries could have been made. 

 

I read a lot of archeological research. Anything that I could find on the true findings. Not the fake Christian archeology stuff. I found information about the Elyon Pantheon. And found out how the polytheistic canaanite religion slowly became monolateral and then monotheistic. One of the best Ehrmann books to read is "Heaven and Hell a history of the afterlife". If I were you I would start there. 

 

As I learned more and more I began to see the answers to the questions I had about the bible. I began to make connections. Like why did God refer to himself in plural form sometimes? That is simply because not all of the original wording from the pantheon period was erased. Why do the Pauline epistles teach against each other sometimes? Well some were later forgeries to try and solidify certain ideology within the church. Why are there so many different versions of God even in the first five books of the bible? Because there were atleast 4 different groups of people that added and/or took away from it as ideology changed within isrealite thought. 

 

Now when I read the bible it is like reading it a new. With fresh eyes. Eyes that see the truth. As much as can be seen without being a scholar I guess. I've found lately that I enjoy studying the Bible again. But now I study it to help people see the fallacies and contradictions in it. At one time I would say. If I could just lead one soul to Jesus its all worth it. Now I have to say with fresh eyes and a free heart. If I could just lead one soul to the freedom I have today. Its worth it. Religious trauma is real. 

 

I hope this helps. And if you ever need anyone to talk to. Don't be afraid to send me a message.

 

Best regards,

 

Dark Bishop

[◊ Weezer ◊]

Welcome Jason!  I grew up in fundamental christianity and as a kid had no trouble with Jesus.  Seemed like a cool dude to me.  But as I got older and discovered some inconsistancies, especially between the old testament god and the teaching of Jesus, the questions snowballed and eventually led to agnosticism.  Eventually after reading about older religions (Hinduism, Buddahism, etc)  and ancient Sumerian writings, I found it interesting how much the Jews and Christians borrowed from those older writings.  And twisted some of it around to fabricate their own myths.  The bible was written by humans, canonized, and declared to be gods word by humans, all in a very successfull effort to control the masses of humans.   And through the middle ages, killing off those who wouldn't agree with them and convert, really helped them accomplish their goals.  They were masters of conditioning the beliefs of mankind.

 

OOPs.  Didn't mean to get on my soapbox.  It just happened!

[older]

On 11/18/2022 at 9:46 AM, JasonPatch said:

....

The text was saying that if you don't accept the Lord's wisdom then disaster could strike & if it does the Lord will laugh at & make fun of you. Nope. Not doing it. Not reading one more word. What kind of God would laugh at & make fun of you? Not a god I will follow.

....

 

And it goes beyond just laughing and making fun of someone. Christians claim their god is good but it's obvious to anyone who looks that there is an excess of suffering in this world that this alleged god could, if he wanted to, stop, but he choses to let it happen. That's not the behavior of a loving god.

 

I posted about this recently, and provided photographic evidence to back up my claim. Below is a link to the post. (Click on the little arrow at the top right.)

Also, I was just watching a George Carlin video on Youtube and I thought he summed it up fairly well:

Religion has convinced people that there is an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do every minute of every day, and the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do, and if you do any of these ten things he has a special place full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry for ever and ever until the end of time. But he loves you.