Has anyone ever noticed that most atheist and agnostics know more about the Bible than most Christians do?
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Yep! Quite often atheists came from religious backgrounds & had at least some grounding in the bibble, & as they lost faith they often went to the 'source' for reinforcement, only to be further disillusioned! Many atheists see it as a part of history/mythology/psychology, & thus of some worth in that respect. & many have studied the bibble as defense against the "cherry-picking" many apologists do with their holy book!
phxbillcee
Level 10
Aug 9, 2018
3
further disillusioned or disbelief more deeply affirmed? lol
@chalupacabre Works both ways!
Well said and I mean both you and Asimov
When I first "came out" to my religious friends in college, they actually pointed out that I knew more about the bible than they did.
Darla_Ann
Level 5
Aug 9, 2018
4
Right! Many atheist or agnostics do know more. It’s actually pretty sad.
@EmeraldJewel That's the difference between thinking for oneself vs blindly accepting doctrine from a man on an alter.
The more you read the bible, the more it sounds like bullshit which leads to atheism. As long as you're not reading it with your brain firmly in the off position which most Xians do.
Sgt_Spanky
Level 8
Aug 10, 2018
5
I read the bible like it was a book of short fictitious stories.
Gohan
Level 7
Aug 9, 2018
4
it is a bunch of short fictions stories no one ever bothered to proof read. There are to passages one says you have to hate your family to follow Jesus. Then another one says you have to love Jesus more than your family. Niether I can agree with!
@Dave75 except for the pornography, like Lot sleeping with his daughters, and Sarah being "loaned out" several times to gain flocks & grazing rights for hubby (i.e. her pimp), and David getting Uriah killed so he could screw Bathsheba, oh, and The Song of Solomon....shall I go on.
@Notlost ooooohh, the juicy bits.......
I was lucky, I wasn't brought up in a religious household, so essentially I've been an Atheist all of my life.
I never thought much about it until around around 2000, when the internet was on the rise, especially Youtube.
I watched a lot of debates about religion, Science, and creationism.
So I figured,I woul;dn't get involved in any debates until I read the bible all the way through.
The whole time I was thinking, are you serious, people actually believe this crap.
TristanNuvo
Level 8
Aug 9, 2018
4
Same! I wasn’t never raised in a super religious home, but I decided to educate myself about the Bible so I would have the knowledge I needed to debate these Christians when they would threaten me with Hell while arming myself with the proper knowledge. . For one the Jews were first and they didn’t believe in Hell and it also wasn’t in the Old Testament. It wasn’t until Jesus himself came into the New Testament when Hell was mentioned. Christians came along and formed their own religion.
When I was very young I noticed (mandatory) church lessons did not reflect reality so I figured Church (religion) was nothing more then adults trying to control children with really stupid stories. It wasn't until I was in my later 20's that I realized many adults actually believes the BS they were trying to sell us. That was a very scary (as in profoundly sad) day.
@EmeraldJewel and then the Christians that did not like what certain Christians believed, broke away from their church to start another church based on their interpretation. The biggest example to me was with the Church of England; the king wanted a divorce but the Roman Catholic Church would not allow it. The “devine right of kings” was sufficient to allow him to do so.
That's why we are Atheists! We can see through all the bullshit .
Coldo
Level 8
Aug 9, 2018
3
Right!
Yes. This is a widely know reality. Many studies support this observation.
NoMagicCookie
Level 8
Aug 9, 2018
4
I was going to say the same thing.
And add that studies have also shown that most 'believers' when asked what the ten commandments are, a huge percent don't know them all.
@AwarenessNow I can understand Jewish as being high there one the list. The torrah is essentially the old testament. And that is where the ten commandments are.
It was my last and final reading of the Bible that convinced me that the entire narrative was concocted. I was brought up in a religious (school / church / social) community, where we memorized Bible verses and entire chapters, and could rattle off the names of the 66 books of the (Protestant) Bible by the 2nd grade. And yet, what a relief it was to finally arrive at the logical conclusion that the entire thing is a crock of shit—works of fiction nowhere near as good as Homer.
p-nullifidian
Level 8
Aug 9, 2018
3
That is true thats because we've looked harder for truth in it and got to where we are
porkchopxpress522
Level 2
Aug 12, 2018
4
Yeah; the more carefully you read it the less true it becomes.
Rufus_Maximus
Level 7
Aug 10, 2018
3
yep because we don't let others tell us what is in it. We don't follow blindly we have open minds. That is why we have more liberals than conservatives.
benhmiller
Level 7
Aug 10, 2018
4
I was sent to Catholic school & they do not encourage bible reading. The church also insists that followers not interpret the meaning of anything in the bible, but only accept the church's interpretation.
I get told that quite often, and people are always surprised. IMO, they should be embarrassed - you believe this is the WORD OF GOD and yet my blasphemous godless self knows it better than you do! I agree with several posters - it is usually what convinces people what a crock it all is. Maybe that's why believers don't know it as well - they're afraid.
damonca
Level 5
Aug 9, 2018
4
been told from birth scared of the truth. The bible even tells you the truth will set you free of the slave chains of gods and religions.
@benhmiller hahaha! How ironic!
Yeah that’s pretty much how I got here. Ive had a couple Christian friends who would often ask me things about the Bible and religion in general, knowing how well educated in it I was. It was a minor shock to one of em when he realized I’m an atheist. It had never come up til one day it did, and he’s like “wait I thought you were a Buddhist?” Well yeah but there’s no god in Buddhism. “Oh...” and the questions stopped lol. He would often tell me I’m one of the smartest people he knows, so I don’t think the point was lost him though.
Wurlitzer
Level 8
Aug 9, 2018
3
I am told that I take the bible out of context. No I say. Read the words. Lol
Science-guy
Level 8
Aug 9, 2018
2
Seems to me most Christians take the Bible out of context. They treat it like trail mix, keep the parts they like and throw out what they don't like.
It is easy to take some parts out of context. Not everything heinous that’s written about in the Old Testament is necessarily commanded or even condoned by the abrahamic god for example; but enough of it is to still make the same point lol.
@PalacinkyPDX I'm old enough remember the early days of backpacking with just two ingredients: good ol' raisins and peanuts (GORP). Today's trail mix is way too sugary for me. 
@Wurlitzer An interpretation that I've read is that going by old testament laws is basically saying that the sacrifice on the cross wasn't good enough to forgive those old sins. So basically if you accept Jesus as your lord and savior, old testament stuff kinda goes out the window. And yet Christians still love to cite Leviticus.
@Darla_Ann yeah Old Testament law is only applied literally by Orthodox Jews n even they have a couple extra books of clarification n detailing and updating n backpedaling to go along with it lol. Except when it comes to examples that are convenient like homosexuality of course. When it’s time to wear mixed fibers to shrimpfest with your tattoo of the cross after church it’s all good though.
Its true, we analyze stuff i think way more than someone who is often like a puppet
ScienceBill72
Level 7
Aug 12, 2018
3
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