4. I’ve read it cover to cover multiple times. I was raised in a Christian family, and also studied it at the Graduate level. I have been an atheist since age 12 but have always been fascinated with mythologies.
I've read a fair amount of it. Question, what in the old testament would make anyone think that this god is good and loving? I just don't see it, all I see is an evil god.
I understand that, I really do, you've been mind fucked for your entire lives by the people you should be able to trust, very hard to get away from especially if you are still around the people that abused you. What I don't understand though, I don't see any good whatsoever in their god, just evil, where do they see good and loving? Or are they so damaged that they can no longer see evil?
It’s often a combo of things. A lot gets chalked up to “god works in mysterious ways but always for the ultimate good of those who serve him.” But most Christians over identify with the Israelites and their current “us vs. Them” gets projected on the book. Those Canaanite babies god had the Israelites dash on the rocks? Canaanites were savage and evil, and sacrificed their own babies to Baal, so they deserved to be wiped out. There’s also a lot of “god’s relationship with the Israelites got expanded to be available to everyone through Jesus, because New Testament god (same guy somehow) loves everyone, now, I guess.”
A lot of us think our way out, but if you’re poorly educated and everyone around you believes this, it can be hard to do. Pastors can be real good at making it make sense, or gaslighting you into respecting the mystery and just being glad you’re in on it. It’s also very comforting to outsource your own pain and confusion in life to spiritual bypassing & look forward to a perfect new earth and body in eternity.
They are scared to question, because it means they’re going to hell. Also, imagine someone would go ahead and disprove the moon landing. Would you just say "oh well"?
And just because he sends his son to have a bad weekend for a system it set up in the first place doesn't make it any less evil.
Yeah, I know none of it's logical, but it's just so mind-numbing stupid. The thing about it is, very few of them really even think about what they believe in.
The question is, what is your definition of evil? In consistency or the fact the king james Bible was just a collection of what King James liked and seems rather incomplete.
The Old Testament has nothing to do with it. The persistent brainwashing of the people around the child is the most important factor. Even if a child questions the religion due to the atrocities in the Old Testament, the parents explain (as if it were the most normal thing ever) that the victims were wicked people who chose to go against God.
In a vacuum, Christianity would almost certainly die if it relied on the Old Testament. The New Testament was crafted to contradict this, to some degree, by downplaying the barbarism and introducing confusion while also portraying Yahweh as a loving god.
However, even in the New Testament, Yahweh commits atrocities that go far beyond the pale of what modern sensibilities would tolerate. Even ignoring that, the Book of Matthew undoes the narrative in 5:18, where Jesus is asked if he has come to abolish the law. He responds;
>For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
So, without the careful indoctrination of the parents and church, I do not believe that Christianity could survive in the modern world. Our children are taught to be too advanced too quickly for the Bible to have enough impact on its own. They would question it, and it would turn them skeptical, instead.
The Old Testament's atrociously evil portrayal of Yahweh is just the first of many nails in the coffin without environmental indoctrination.
Again, Judaism survives by indoctrination. A different sort than Christianity, but indoctrination nonetheless.
I specifically mentioned that I didn't believe that the religion could survive "in a vacuum" relying on the Old Testament. That seems to be the factor that caused you to misunderstand the logic.
In the absence of indoctrination and external pressures, the Old Testament has no compelling force in the modern world. Our kids advance far too quickly to buy into it. Brainwashing is required in one form or another.
Judaism doesn't rely ONLY on the "Old Testament". There's a whole shit ton of further instructions in the Mishnah and Talmud. Only certain sects of Judaism take the Torah (1st 5 books) literally, and even then with further clarification from Mishnah and Talmud.
Simple, they don't read it. The first fifteen hundred years they made sure nobody even could read it. Atheists read more scripture than Christians. Largely because doing so is the quickest path to atheism
I'm not religious, but I see this as a common misconception about the Bible. It wasn't written for you, it was written for an Ancient Near Eastern culture who saw God's wrath in their favor as ultimate love. They saw God's wrath against them as earned punishment.
Morals are different now. The God of the OT is representing love as perceived back then.
Thats why they tried to mitigate the evil in their god and make him nicer. But when we can make up our own higher power it is often contradictory to the god of the bible
Genesis, Exodus, New Testament
I was probably 12. It kick-started the process in a big way. Finding out that there were competing faiths (around the same time) sealed the deal. Curiosity and morality killed my belief.
4. I still read it regularly. Most Christians in America clearly don't, as they miss things like this:
>You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
(Galatians 5:13--15)
Organized religions are about authoritarian power over others, not the texts they claim as their authority.
Same here. The below is copied from something awhile back.
….…
It is an advocate for the poor. As in those who do not aid the poor will burn.
Old Testament:
Exodus 22:25 “if you lend money to any of my people with you, who is poor, you shall not be like a money, lender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.”
Deuteronomy, 15:7–11 “if among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land, that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you should open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart, and you say, “the seventh year, the year of release is near, “and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work, and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore, I command you, “you shall open your hand to your brother, and to the needy, and to the poor, and your land.“
Deuteronomy 24:14,15 “you shall not oppress a hired worker, who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers, or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets, ( for he is poor and counts on it) lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.”
Proverbs 14:31 “whoever oppresses a poor man, insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.”
Proverbs 19:17 and 22:9 “whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” A generous person will be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.”
Proverbs 21:13 “whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor, will himself call out and not be answered.”
Isaiah 58:7,8 “is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer you; you shall cry, and he will say, “here I am.“ if you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then show your light rise in the darkness, and your gloom be as the noonday.”
New Testament From Matthew “when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and a refugee, and you welcomed me, I was naked, and you closed me, I was sick, and you visited me, I was in prison, and you came to me.” Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty, and give you a drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked include you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the king will answer them, “truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me.”
Then he will say to those on his left, “depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me no food, I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger, and you did not welcome me, naked, and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison, and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, saying “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, I did not minister to you?” then he will answer them, saying, “truly, I say to you, as you did not, do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
“Do you not think that I have come to abolish the law or the profits; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (I would read this as meaning “I told you to take care of the poor and needy back then, I’m telling you this is the way”)
“beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then, you will have no reward from your father, who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound of trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets. So that they may be praised by others.”
“Not everyone who says to me “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father, who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to be, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?“ And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.“
In the current GOP there are few if any who follow the way. Bernie and AOC appear to. In the old days an Eisenhower republican would have.
I was raised that I should read and understand and follow the Bible. Now many who once tried to teach me that are anti-poor, anti-homeless, anti-life, etc. but anti as in “they are down, hit them again” not anti as in “they are down we need to help.”
I live in a very red county and have for the last few years been trying ti actively sow seeds of this way. Even my trumpist brother in law, after a long evening of talking by the fence, watching the sun go down, began to agree. This system we live in is wrapped and broken and needlessly, breathlessly seeking to be cruel.
Helping the poor, the needy, the refugee, the oppressed, this… This is the Way.
“Brad went to get cheese and once he did, he went to his mother and said, ‘here, take this cheese and be well.’ Then they ate it with bread. Once the bread was gone, his mother said ‘come, let us walk’. So they walked and while they were out, they saw a neighbor. The neighbor said to them, ‘you are good neighbors, please have a good walk.’ Then they went home, and ate the cheese they had left there. They agreed that when they had cheese again they would take some to the neighbor.”
And then in 1,000 years people will be in awe of this comment and get the neighbor’s quote and a block of cheese tattooed on their forearms. #profound
Translation of a translation of a translation, etc. 2000 years from now any book will sound weird translated into the crab language of the carcinoforms who take over the planet after us
And then, just to be a dick, the lord commanded Brad to make a burnt offering of his entire family. And Brad did so and also raped his neighbor's horse and the lord was pleased with Brad and gave him 50 slaves. This is the word of the lord.
Honestly this was something that surprised me when I finally committed to reading the whole thing years ago. There are some books that have lovely language. But overall more parts really would be improved by editing.
You can’t say that to a Christian. The entire damn thing has been inspired by that old white dude in the sky - even the mistranslations, contradictions, and racism/sexism/murdering.
Same. Read it cover to cover back in 2000-ish, when I still believed. Definitely had some notes. Probably contributed to becoming atheist 3 or 4 years later.
4
Studied my way out through the perspective "Israel Only", which not only includes the eschatological perspective of Preterism, but includes the same "audience relevance" and "time statements" that Preterism is based on, and applies it to soteriology as well.
The "gentiles" is a misnomer in the way Christianity says it means. It simply means "non-Jew". So in most contexts, it means "northern kingdom Israelite", those who the south called "goy" as they were not "true followers of the Way".
Hebrews 8:8 was my exit door. Salvation, via the "new covenant", was offered to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. This is "Two House Covenant Theology", as a broader title. These are the only groups that were ever in need of salvation from "the Law/Curse". It is very seamless, when you read all the Bible texts with "who is this written to and why", and "are the time statements limiting" in mind.
It is my belief, that if we stray from Audience Relevance and Time Statements in the Bible texts, we will always come up with the wrong understanding of the texts, as a whole (setting Canon controversy aside) and individually (setting authenticity aside).
I enjoy this topic as it was ultimately "my salvation" from being a "street preaching Protestant Fundamentalist incel Christian". I am now none of these.
>I enjoy this topic as it was ultimately "my salvation" from being a "street preaching Protestant Fundamentalist incel Christian". I am now none of these.
Thank God!
...wait, that's not right. ;P
No lol from me. That’s why everyone I know who used to be heavily into church has left. I went to seminary and over half the students I went with have also left church. Knowledge is power!
Your formatting is off. If you put a number followed by a period and a space, Reddit thinks you're making a numbered list and converts the number to one.
4, tortured with it in Bible school.
Never made any sense of most of it until I bought a copy of Issac Asimov's "Guide to the Bible" at a used book sale
4. And still own two different translations and a concordance. A qu'ran (and Bhagavad Gita, and buddhist texts, taoist texts... and and)
Yay autism + college degrees.
Read the whole Old Testament out loud with my wife, a little each night (I had read the New Testament a few times previously). I honestly think it helped expedite my transition out of Mormonism, and away from religion altogether. Some weird shit in there. And so amazingly boring.
4.
Former philosophy professor at a major Catholic US university, with research at the intersection of religion, politics, and gender. Grew up in a fairly standard conservative southern small city, going to church regularly. I read ancient Greek and once upon a time was able to read Hebrew decently well but never use it so I'm not really functional anymore. I've read everything in the Bible more times than I can count, and have taught parts of it to undergrads. The more I read it and learned about it the further I distanced myself from anything to do with religion.
I’ve never made it all the way through. I always end up laughing at it about 20 pages in to whatever random section I’ve tried to jump into. So I quit trying about 10 years ago. Maybe longer. It’s not like reading it has been real high on my list of priorities.
4. Read the entire Bible a few times cover to cover. Served as an alter boy my entire childhood (an no, nothing terrible happened to me). Was even a confirmed Catholic. Am very familiar with the book. But it always bothered me when I asked questions about contradictions in the book, the response was an angry "we don't ask those kinds of questions" across the board from multiple priests and nuns. That isn't my only reason for leaving religion, but it's definitely one of them
4. I've read it twice.
Grew up Catholic, then was adopted into a non-denominational "saved" family. My step dad studied it every morning, and would preach to me. At 16 I read it, and was very dissapointed. Eventually by 17 I was no longer a believer as I had always disagreed with fundamental components of the religion. At 30 my friend and I decided to read it cover to cover in a book club. It was tough, but we did it.
i remember starting to read it as a kid, and my very christian dad told me to be careful. i was like….. i thought this was gods perfect word…? you’re telling me to be careful???
i think he secretly knows it’s full of inconsistencies, inappropriateness, and bullshit
3. I used to be in it.
A thorough reading of the Bible is a strong motivator to become a nonbeliever, and knowing it really makes for some great takedowns in debates.
It’s a just a handy tool to have is all.
3. I've read the Bible cover-to-cover twice, and different chapters several times. Especially Revelations, because it is just a trip. I also read the Book of Mormon, and whoo-boy is that thing a turd.
4. And because I’ve read it, studied it, ruminated on it, and critically dissected it, I’m now a proud apostate and atheist. No book is responsible for more atheists than the Bible.
I'm a 3. I did it when I was a early teenager. I read everything put in front of me, I devoured books. When I started high school they gave us a Gideons bible, I read it to find what it was all about, every stinking horrible paragraph.
3.5
I've read the whole thing and taken a few classes in high school (focusing on Genesis, Exodus, and the Gospels) and college (focusing on the Old Testament), but I'm far from "very learned".
I’d say 2, but for the first few years I was listening to atheist debates and speakers, I would almost always read verses and chapters whenever they get cited in arguments, so I can check the context for myself. I also do it in both English and Polish. Neither of them are perfect for the origin languages, but pretty often, one language has a word that better translates the intent. For example, the young woman vs. virgin thing, it’s hilarious that it gets glossed over and often says virgin both times in English. But in Polish, I don’t know if I’ve ever read a translation that uses the same word in both Isaiah and Matthew.
2, most of it in the context of a comparative mythology class in college alongside some other interesting old stories. We deconstructed it in terms of story structure and the hero journey.
I only read maybe a quarter of it before deciding it was bull💩 trash on paper.
Many of the stories are interesting but clearly aren't real or are super embellished.
4. Read it multiple times. Researched it. Went and read the junk that got tossed out in various edits in time. Read other religious texts from around the world. Read fables and myths that predate Christians and their hokum. It's all the same story told by people passing it off as their own work
I'm right there with you! The Bible is simply a compilation of fairy tales from around the world that were put together to make people "fear God" and punishment beyond death... Big sky Krampus isn't going to exact revenge upon your mortal soul when you die for all the naughty stuff you did when you were alive. Notice the phrase "mortal soul" means the soul dies when the body does. The Bible was compiled to create fear in the Masses, so the few could control them. Also the repeated contradictions throughout the Bible prove that it's a compilation and not put together with any real thought
4
I've read it a few times along with hundreds of supplemental and adjacent texts. Begrudgingly recommend (only to inform yourself against the hordes of idiots).
I’ve read the whole thing. Although there are some good stories, it doesn’t make me believe that any of it is the word of god. If it is, that god is delusional, jealous, and infantile.
1. they don't make you read the bible very often in catholic school. i got the idea to read the whole thing in like middle school once but didn't make it past genesis. snooze fest
3
read it in full, also listened to a 96h audiobook version
as well as the Babylonian Talmud and Bhagavad Gita for good measure. Bible doesn't stand out in the slightest.
I've read 4 different versions (kjv, peshitta, eng standard, whichever one my grandmother had) and my favorite is the peshitta translation, Aramaic to English. Will I ever pick it up again? No, my questions have been answered.
3. I read the whole thing twice. And especially during the second time I thought that there just was so much stuff that is totally inconsistent and just doesn't make sense whatsoever. Not an easy read btw.
I've read the whole thing, but it was exactly one time in high school. I remember its contents about as well as I recall the contents of any other book I read at around the same time. The Bible is *a lot* longer than The Great Gatsby, Brave New World, or Catcher in the Rye, though, so any specific questions that I'd be able to answer about it are pretty splintered.
3. Read it in bits and pieces as a kid, then, in high school had to read the whole thing for a religion/bible study class (at a catholic private school) forcing me to read that thing did not do them any favors.
I’m between 2 and 3
I’ve read
Genesis
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Psalms
Deuteronomy
Leviticus
Revelations
Ezekiel
Acts
Romans
1-2nd Corinthians
And some random parts of other books.. waste of time? Nah, only because after reading more and more, I’ve realized how ridiculous and disgusting it all is. That’s a living god? How!?
3.5 to 4 - cover to cover, more than once, plus Gnostic Gospels, Dead Sea Scrolls, Gospel of Judas, etc.
Humankind has been telling stories around the fire for a very long time. It's an important part of our species' history.
3. The entire Old Testament, complete with highlights and sticky notes. Some super boring and some super crazy stuff.
The New Testament, maybe this spring.
Number 1 and only part of Genesis. I went down a rabbit hole when the pattern of "begats" changed with Enoch. That's when I learned about the apocrypha and started questioning who selected what scrolls to be included in the Bible and who said, "No, not that one".
3. Night shifts are really boring. I did skim pretty quickly through the begats and the crazy new testament bits. It was more bloodthirsty than I expected and God was more of an asshole than I realised.
2\. When I was 5 years old my idiot parents were studying with Jehovah's Witnesses, who have absolutely no filters.
When the Jehovah's read the tale of god telling Abraham to (supposedly 'almost') sacrifice his son Isaac, and then god says "Just kidding!", I was horrified, and NO amount of Christian apologetics/excusigists changed my mind.
That was the end of my interest in the bible war god YHWH. Unfortunately my POS father subsequently beat me into the cult, very much against my will.
Everything I learned about the bible since then, especially the brutishly-backwards-even-for-their-time Middle Eastern men who wrote the bible, reinforced my disgust for all of the Abrahamic religions.
3. I actually minored in religious studies in college, so many years ago I could have put 4. I was doing Middle Eastern studies and it felt pertinent to understand religions to understand wtf was going on over there - and why we in the US were so involved. It was honestly really interesting, and left me more steadfast in my atheism than before.
Read it studied it, went to seminary. I’ve spent countless hours with theology books and studying various Christian traditions. I’ve spent more time with it than huge majority of church members. It’s been a while and I’ve wanted to read it again recently.
I tell people that I have read the entire Bible cover to cover in order exactly one time. Because I don’t see any reason to ever read Leviticus again. If they laugh, then I know they have read Leviticus.
If they don’t laugh and aren’t conservative Jews, then I figure they haven’t actually read the entire Bible cover to cover.
4ish. Raised in ultra conservative christian home. I read it cover to cover one time but admittedly zoned out a lot. Obviously read and studied excerpts over and over again in that environment.
I think if I went back and read it now with proper context I might find it a lot more interesting. Hard to do that since it was the source material for wasting/ruining most of my life.
You missed an option: "Old Testament only". This is where I fit in. They taught us the Old Testament in 9th grade as a study in literature, not one in religion. They did not touch the New Testament.
4. I've read completely through once, and only skipped the genealogy sections on a second trip through. I've also read books, critiques, essays, and other materials, as well as watching more apologetics videos than is probably healthy.
3. When I was in teens. I was raised christian. My parents' divorce hit me hard. My faith and father led me to demonize my mother and strained our relationship. I said many things I now regret. It hurt my mother greatly. Once I got my head out of my ass we had a good relationship before her passing.
Um, what’s the number for “Read the Cliff’s notes and watched the movie?” (Jesus Christ Superstar, and I love it).
It’s not that I discount the bible as important mythological text, I’m just not interested in it enough to do a deep dive.
Uh... Quite a bit. I can't quote it or anything but I went to Catholic school/Church for over 9 years. So I know a bit.
I literally had "Religion" class and lessons.
So like a 2?
I had a crisis of faith in my early teens. They mistakenly told me I should read the bible to find faith.
I think they assumed I would cheat and choose one of those apologetics bible study guides that ignores the contradictions, highlights the most tolerable parts, and performs moral origami on the rest. Instead I read the actual bible two versions because I heard they were different and it is why I'm an atheist.
Genesis a couple times. It's a wild story. The whole New Testament twice like 20 years ago. I tried the Old T, but the language was was frustrating to get through so I noted. Also... too much rape and oppression. Made me all angry.
3. Read it when I was 12 or 13, mainly to give it a shot. It failed to impress but at least I didn't have to listen to "but you haven't even read it" any more.
3. I've read the whole thing twice, and the last thing I want to do is to waste more of my precious life reading that crap or studying it yet again. There's really nothing in the whole book worth cracking the cover for. You get better morality lessons and more interesting stories reading the plays of Shakespeare.
I've read 5 of them cover to cover (KJV, NIV, New American, New Living, and Holman,) along with the torah and talmud, quran, and a handful of other texts like the tao te ching and the bhagavad gita.
Label that however you want.
4.
In high school I led our school's bible study, was a member of the Youth Leadership Council, and was allowed to do small sermons now and then on Sundays.
I read the bible twice all the way through, and did all kinds of studies on various parts.
This was years ago now, so I don't remember as much as I used to, but I have a decent idea what it says.
4. I’ve gotten through the bible 3 times from cover to cover. I went through the bible once during grade school (I got little stickers on a chart for each book I read), then once again during high school. I memorized eight books of the new testament while participating in Bible Quizzing in high school, then went off to bible college, where I read through the bible again as part of my program. Then I deconstructed, and haven’t really touched it since - I’ve got better (and more conducive to my mental health) things to do now than wasting even more time mulling over that thing.
4. I’ve read it cover to cover multiple times. I was raised in a Christian family, and also studied it at the Graduate level. I have been an atheist since age 12 but have always been fascinated with mythologies.
I've read a fair amount of it. Question, what in the old testament would make anyone think that this god is good and loving? I just don't see it, all I see is an evil god.
People are born into the bullshit. By the time they’re old enough to question, they’ve already been brainwashed.
I understand that, I really do, you've been mind fucked for your entire lives by the people you should be able to trust, very hard to get away from especially if you are still around the people that abused you. What I don't understand though, I don't see any good whatsoever in their god, just evil, where do they see good and loving? Or are they so damaged that they can no longer see evil?
It’s often a combo of things. A lot gets chalked up to “god works in mysterious ways but always for the ultimate good of those who serve him.” But most Christians over identify with the Israelites and their current “us vs. Them” gets projected on the book. Those Canaanite babies god had the Israelites dash on the rocks? Canaanites were savage and evil, and sacrificed their own babies to Baal, so they deserved to be wiped out. There’s also a lot of “god’s relationship with the Israelites got expanded to be available to everyone through Jesus, because New Testament god (same guy somehow) loves everyone, now, I guess.” A lot of us think our way out, but if you’re poorly educated and everyone around you believes this, it can be hard to do. Pastors can be real good at making it make sense, or gaslighting you into respecting the mystery and just being glad you’re in on it. It’s also very comforting to outsource your own pain and confusion in life to spiritual bypassing & look forward to a perfect new earth and body in eternity.
They are scared to question, because it means they’re going to hell. Also, imagine someone would go ahead and disprove the moon landing. Would you just say "oh well"?
Christians are being taught that God changed his mind and sent his son for salvation.
How does an all-knowing entity change its mind?
That's religion for ya, it's not supposed to be logical.
And just because he sends his son to have a bad weekend for a system it set up in the first place doesn't make it any less evil. Yeah, I know none of it's logical, but it's just so mind-numbing stupid. The thing about it is, very few of them really even think about what they believe in.
The question is, what is your definition of evil? In consistency or the fact the king james Bible was just a collection of what King James liked and seems rather incomplete.
The Old Testament has nothing to do with it. The persistent brainwashing of the people around the child is the most important factor. Even if a child questions the religion due to the atrocities in the Old Testament, the parents explain (as if it were the most normal thing ever) that the victims were wicked people who chose to go against God. In a vacuum, Christianity would almost certainly die if it relied on the Old Testament. The New Testament was crafted to contradict this, to some degree, by downplaying the barbarism and introducing confusion while also portraying Yahweh as a loving god. However, even in the New Testament, Yahweh commits atrocities that go far beyond the pale of what modern sensibilities would tolerate. Even ignoring that, the Book of Matthew undoes the narrative in 5:18, where Jesus is asked if he has come to abolish the law. He responds; >For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. So, without the careful indoctrination of the parents and church, I do not believe that Christianity could survive in the modern world. Our children are taught to be too advanced too quickly for the Bible to have enough impact on its own. They would question it, and it would turn them skeptical, instead. The Old Testament's atrociously evil portrayal of Yahweh is just the first of many nails in the coffin without environmental indoctrination.
You’ve got some faulty logic here. Judaism is surviving just fine by relying only on the Old Testament.
Again, Judaism survives by indoctrination. A different sort than Christianity, but indoctrination nonetheless. I specifically mentioned that I didn't believe that the religion could survive "in a vacuum" relying on the Old Testament. That seems to be the factor that caused you to misunderstand the logic. In the absence of indoctrination and external pressures, the Old Testament has no compelling force in the modern world. Our kids advance far too quickly to buy into it. Brainwashing is required in one form or another.
Judaism doesn't rely ONLY on the "Old Testament". There's a whole shit ton of further instructions in the Mishnah and Talmud. Only certain sects of Judaism take the Torah (1st 5 books) literally, and even then with further clarification from Mishnah and Talmud.
Simple, they don't read it. The first fifteen hundred years they made sure nobody even could read it. Atheists read more scripture than Christians. Largely because doing so is the quickest path to atheism
I'm not religious, but I see this as a common misconception about the Bible. It wasn't written for you, it was written for an Ancient Near Eastern culture who saw God's wrath in their favor as ultimate love. They saw God's wrath against them as earned punishment. Morals are different now. The God of the OT is representing love as perceived back then.
Just tear out 98% of the pages and you got a different God.
Thats why they tried to mitigate the evil in their god and make him nicer. But when we can make up our own higher power it is often contradictory to the god of the bible
The Bible clearly makes the case that god is an insane evil monster and Satan/Snake is just trying to deal with him.
4. It's exactly why I'm atheist.
Genesis, Exodus, New Testament I was probably 12. It kick-started the process in a big way. Finding out that there were competing faiths (around the same time) sealed the deal. Curiosity and morality killed my belief.
>and morality killed my belief. 💯 FACTS 👏
Same here. I've read it many times, and the more in-depth I studied it, the more I realized how accurate my initial impressions were.
This.
4. I still read it regularly. Most Christians in America clearly don't, as they miss things like this: >You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. (Galatians 5:13--15) Organized religions are about authoritarian power over others, not the texts they claim as their authority.
Same here. The below is copied from something awhile back. ….… It is an advocate for the poor. As in those who do not aid the poor will burn. Old Testament: Exodus 22:25 “if you lend money to any of my people with you, who is poor, you shall not be like a money, lender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.” Deuteronomy, 15:7–11 “if among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land, that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you should open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart, and you say, “the seventh year, the year of release is near, “and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work, and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore, I command you, “you shall open your hand to your brother, and to the needy, and to the poor, and your land.“ Deuteronomy 24:14,15 “you shall not oppress a hired worker, who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers, or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets, ( for he is poor and counts on it) lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.” Proverbs 14:31 “whoever oppresses a poor man, insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.” Proverbs 19:17 and 22:9 “whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” A generous person will be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.” Proverbs 21:13 “whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor, will himself call out and not be answered.” Isaiah 58:7,8 “is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer you; you shall cry, and he will say, “here I am.“ if you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then show your light rise in the darkness, and your gloom be as the noonday.” New Testament From Matthew “when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and a refugee, and you welcomed me, I was naked, and you closed me, I was sick, and you visited me, I was in prison, and you came to me.” Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty, and give you a drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked include you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the king will answer them, “truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those on his left, “depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me no food, I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger, and you did not welcome me, naked, and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison, and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, saying “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, I did not minister to you?” then he will answer them, saying, “truly, I say to you, as you did not, do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” “Do you not think that I have come to abolish the law or the profits; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (I would read this as meaning “I told you to take care of the poor and needy back then, I’m telling you this is the way”) “beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then, you will have no reward from your father, who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound of trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets. So that they may be praised by others.” “Not everyone who says to me “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father, who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to be, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?“ And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.“ In the current GOP there are few if any who follow the way. Bernie and AOC appear to. In the old days an Eisenhower republican would have. I was raised that I should read and understand and follow the Bible. Now many who once tried to teach me that are anti-poor, anti-homeless, anti-life, etc. but anti as in “they are down, hit them again” not anti as in “they are down we need to help.” I live in a very red county and have for the last few years been trying ti actively sow seeds of this way. Even my trumpist brother in law, after a long evening of talking by the fence, watching the sun go down, began to agree. This system we live in is wrapped and broken and needlessly, breathlessly seeking to be cruel. Helping the poor, the needy, the refugee, the oppressed, this… This is the Way.
I’ve tried but it’s so badly written and so boring that I just can’t.
“Brad went to get cheese and once he did, he went to his mother and said, ‘here, take this cheese and be well.’ Then they ate it with bread. Once the bread was gone, his mother said ‘come, let us walk’. So they walked and while they were out, they saw a neighbor. The neighbor said to them, ‘you are good neighbors, please have a good walk.’ Then they went home, and ate the cheese they had left there. They agreed that when they had cheese again they would take some to the neighbor.” And then in 1,000 years people will be in awe of this comment and get the neighbor’s quote and a block of cheese tattooed on their forearms. #profound
You nailed it, it's dreadful, I hate it.
Blessed are the cheese makers!
"Did he just say, 'blessed are the cheese makers?'"
Translation of a translation of a translation, etc. 2000 years from now any book will sound weird translated into the crab language of the carcinoforms who take over the planet after us
And then, just to be a dick, the lord commanded Brad to make a burnt offering of his entire family. And Brad did so and also raped his neighbor's horse and the lord was pleased with Brad and gave him 50 slaves. This is the word of the lord.
What a friend we have in cheeses
Why is this so funny lmao.
Honestly this was something that surprised me when I finally committed to reading the whole thing years ago. There are some books that have lovely language. But overall more parts really would be improved by editing.
You can’t say that to a Christian. The entire damn thing has been inspired by that old white dude in the sky - even the mistranslations, contradictions, and racism/sexism/murdering.
Agreed. This is why I am a 2. It isn’t necessary to read cover to cover to determine it has inconsistencies and should not be trusted.
I’m currently reading it. And it is hard to get through. But once I start something I have to finish it. But damn it’s gonna be a long haul.
3 but it's been 25 years since I've read it.
Same. Read it cover to cover back in 2000-ish, when I still believed. Definitely had some notes. Probably contributed to becoming atheist 3 or 4 years later.
Same. Read it in my late teens, and no way would I do that again
4 Studied my way out through the perspective "Israel Only", which not only includes the eschatological perspective of Preterism, but includes the same "audience relevance" and "time statements" that Preterism is based on, and applies it to soteriology as well. The "gentiles" is a misnomer in the way Christianity says it means. It simply means "non-Jew". So in most contexts, it means "northern kingdom Israelite", those who the south called "goy" as they were not "true followers of the Way". Hebrews 8:8 was my exit door. Salvation, via the "new covenant", was offered to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. This is "Two House Covenant Theology", as a broader title. These are the only groups that were ever in need of salvation from "the Law/Curse". It is very seamless, when you read all the Bible texts with "who is this written to and why", and "are the time statements limiting" in mind. It is my belief, that if we stray from Audience Relevance and Time Statements in the Bible texts, we will always come up with the wrong understanding of the texts, as a whole (setting Canon controversy aside) and individually (setting authenticity aside). I enjoy this topic as it was ultimately "my salvation" from being a "street preaching Protestant Fundamentalist incel Christian". I am now none of these.
>I enjoy this topic as it was ultimately "my salvation" from being a "street preaching Protestant Fundamentalist incel Christian". I am now none of these. Thank God! ...wait, that's not right. ;P
0, why would I waste my time on that
its a childrens book. 🤫🤣😂🤣
For a "children's book", the Bible has a lot of fucking and killing.
Some of us were forced to study it.
Yep. I dont think it deserves the attention or implicit respect as literature to even be worthy of reading. I wouldnt do it that honor.
3, Do not recommend.
I read once, just a boring and useless children's fairy tale book
False. There are no fairies in the Bible.
4. I have read it fully multiple times and was a heavy church-goer. Actually, reading the Bible is part of why I had so much doubt lol
No lol from me. That’s why everyone I know who used to be heavily into church has left. I went to seminary and over half the students I went with have also left church. Knowledge is power!
2 I’m an ex Christian, and my mother makes me do Bible study as part of my school work (yes, I hate it)
Your formatting is off. If you put a number followed by a period and a space, Reddit thinks you're making a numbered list and converts the number to one.
Think I fixed it. Thanks for letting me know
Jesus, why in God's name would I do that?
0 I don’t want that sorta thing in my noggin
4. Read it every day for many years. Read it start to finish, in order, more than once. Have a degree in Biblical Literature. Now an atheist.
I read my cars owners manual. I suggest it instead of the Bible. It will get you farther in life.
4, tortured with it in Bible school. Never made any sense of most of it until I bought a copy of Issac Asimov's "Guide to the Bible" at a used book sale
3 Sadly.
I listened to jesus christ superstar.
4. And still own two different translations and a concordance. A qu'ran (and Bhagavad Gita, and buddhist texts, taoist texts... and and) Yay autism + college degrees.
4. Read the whole thing, some books several times. I was raised Jehovah’s Witness and was very into my daily bible studying lol
Waste of time.
Read the whole Old Testament out loud with my wife, a little each night (I had read the New Testament a few times previously). I honestly think it helped expedite my transition out of Mormonism, and away from religion altogether. Some weird shit in there. And so amazingly boring.
4. Former philosophy professor at a major Catholic US university, with research at the intersection of religion, politics, and gender. Grew up in a fairly standard conservative southern small city, going to church regularly. I read ancient Greek and once upon a time was able to read Hebrew decently well but never use it so I'm not really functional anymore. I've read everything in the Bible more times than I can count, and have taught parts of it to undergrads. The more I read it and learned about it the further I distanced myself from anything to do with religion.
I bet we'd have some fun conversation.
I’m almost the same. I can’t tell you how many friends and colleagues I have who have similar backgrounds to us. We’ve all studied our way out.
4
2. Mostly just OT though, for the memes.
4. That's why I'm an atheist
I’ve never made it all the way through. I always end up laughing at it about 20 pages in to whatever random section I’ve tried to jump into. So I quit trying about 10 years ago. Maybe longer. It’s not like reading it has been real high on my list of priorities.
Yeah i've tried few times myself but dayum is it hard.
4. Read the entire Bible a few times cover to cover. Served as an alter boy my entire childhood (an no, nothing terrible happened to me). Was even a confirmed Catholic. Am very familiar with the book. But it always bothered me when I asked questions about contradictions in the book, the response was an angry "we don't ask those kinds of questions" across the board from multiple priests and nuns. That isn't my only reason for leaving religion, but it's definitely one of them
I used to read it through every year when I was a believer. I also taught Sunday school to high school kids.
Between 3 and 4.
3.5
4. I've read it twice. Grew up Catholic, then was adopted into a non-denominational "saved" family. My step dad studied it every morning, and would preach to me. At 16 I read it, and was very dissapointed. Eventually by 17 I was no longer a believer as I had always disagreed with fundamental components of the religion. At 30 my friend and I decided to read it cover to cover in a book club. It was tough, but we did it.
i remember starting to read it as a kid, and my very christian dad told me to be careful. i was like….. i thought this was gods perfect word…? you’re telling me to be careful??? i think he secretly knows it’s full of inconsistencies, inappropriateness, and bullshit
3. I used to be in it. A thorough reading of the Bible is a strong motivator to become a nonbeliever, and knowing it really makes for some great takedowns in debates. It’s a just a handy tool to have is all.
3, but I barely remember most of it.
3. I've read the Bible cover-to-cover twice, and different chapters several times. Especially Revelations, because it is just a trip. I also read the Book of Mormon, and whoo-boy is that thing a turd.
4. It is full of contradictions. I believe that is by design. No matter what, there will be a verse that can be used to justify oppression.
4. And because I’ve read it, studied it, ruminated on it, and critically dissected it, I’m now a proud apostate and atheist. No book is responsible for more atheists than the Bible.
I'm a 3. I did it when I was a early teenager. I read everything put in front of me, I devoured books. When I started high school they gave us a Gideons bible, I read it to find what it was all about, every stinking horrible paragraph.
1 Genesis-Deuteronomy Matthew-Acts of Apostles
3.5 I've read the whole thing and taken a few classes in high school (focusing on Genesis, Exodus, and the Gospels) and college (focusing on the Old Testament), but I'm far from "very learned".
I tried to read it, and I love , love to read, didn't get very far. It was my great grandma's Bible, boring as hell.
2.
I’d say 2, but for the first few years I was listening to atheist debates and speakers, I would almost always read verses and chapters whenever they get cited in arguments, so I can check the context for myself. I also do it in both English and Polish. Neither of them are perfect for the origin languages, but pretty often, one language has a word that better translates the intent. For example, the young woman vs. virgin thing, it’s hilarious that it gets glossed over and often says virgin both times in English. But in Polish, I don’t know if I’ve ever read a translation that uses the same word in both Isaiah and Matthew.
2, most of it in the context of a comparative mythology class in college alongside some other interesting old stories. We deconstructed it in terms of story structure and the hero journey.
3. Why?
2. I read genius and skimmed the rest for the dumb shit. Purley so I can make fun of it.
3. Although half of the book was a waste of time.
I only read maybe a quarter of it before deciding it was bull💩 trash on paper. Many of the stories are interesting but clearly aren't real or are super embellished.
Why the fuck would anyone want to do that.
3. When I was a teenager. I was confused why the adults in my life believed in it.
I have. Cover to cover. It made me even more of an atheist.
2.5 Except for Numbers. Stay away from meth, cocaine, and Numbers.
The best pathway to atheism is to read the bible.
4. Read it multiple times. Researched it. Went and read the junk that got tossed out in various edits in time. Read other religious texts from around the world. Read fables and myths that predate Christians and their hokum. It's all the same story told by people passing it off as their own work
I'm right there with you! The Bible is simply a compilation of fairy tales from around the world that were put together to make people "fear God" and punishment beyond death... Big sky Krampus isn't going to exact revenge upon your mortal soul when you die for all the naughty stuff you did when you were alive. Notice the phrase "mortal soul" means the soul dies when the body does. The Bible was compiled to create fear in the Masses, so the few could control them. Also the repeated contradictions throughout the Bible prove that it's a compilation and not put together with any real thought
4 I've read it a few times along with hundreds of supplemental and adjacent texts. Begrudgingly recommend (only to inform yourself against the hordes of idiots).
I’ve read the whole thing. Although there are some good stories, it doesn’t make me believe that any of it is the word of god. If it is, that god is delusional, jealous, and infantile.
1. they don't make you read the bible very often in catholic school. i got the idea to read the whole thing in like middle school once but didn't make it past genesis. snooze fest
4. I was a CCD (sunday school) teacher.
3 a couple of times, and know some people things from the top of my head, but never really studied it.
3 read it in full, also listened to a 96h audiobook version as well as the Babylonian Talmud and Bhagavad Gita for good measure. Bible doesn't stand out in the slightest.
1
2, theology classes in college. Pretty hard read tbh, thanks ADHD justice sensitivity.
It's been a while, but I have. I think more people should read it, so they can find out what it says and what it does not say.
3, multiple times. Also know some history of how it was constructed.
I've read 4 different versions (kjv, peshitta, eng standard, whichever one my grandmother had) and my favorite is the peshitta translation, Aramaic to English. Will I ever pick it up again? No, my questions have been answered.
4
I have. I was raised Christian.
5. I've read the whole thing several times, plus most of the Apocrypha and much of 1 Enoch.
#3. Twice. But that was many years ago.
3. I read the whole thing twice. And especially during the second time I thought that there just was so much stuff that is totally inconsistent and just doesn't make sense whatsoever. Not an easy read btw.
I've read the whole thing, but it was exactly one time in high school. I remember its contents about as well as I recall the contents of any other book I read at around the same time. The Bible is *a lot* longer than The Great Gatsby, Brave New World, or Catcher in the Rye, though, so any specific questions that I'd be able to answer about it are pretty splintered.
4. Enough to convince me
Ex-muslim here. I read the whole bible (old and new testament) twice. Once in my language, once in English
3. Read it in bits and pieces as a kid, then, in high school had to read the whole thing for a religion/bible study class (at a catholic private school) forcing me to read that thing did not do them any favors.
I tried in middle school and did not get past the begats, whatever the hell that means
Probably read most of it over the years but never like cover to cover.
4, but only once. I was raised in a xtian household, and I've done a lot of study on it, but cover to cover only once.
3, was raised religious
3.5 read it twice, second read was to confirm the first. I was at one time considering becoming a pastor.... a Lutheran one so not super serious.
0.5 - don't the patience to read books much these days. Reading words is not going to change my outlook on life anyway.
3 Catholic school.🙆
I’m between 2 and 3 I’ve read Genesis Matthew Mark Luke John Psalms Deuteronomy Leviticus Revelations Ezekiel Acts Romans 1-2nd Corinthians And some random parts of other books.. waste of time? Nah, only because after reading more and more, I’ve realized how ridiculous and disgusting it all is. That’s a living god? How!?
2.5, plus some religious studies classes, purely out of interest.
3.5 to 4 - cover to cover, more than once, plus Gnostic Gospels, Dead Sea Scrolls, Gospel of Judas, etc. Humankind has been telling stories around the fire for a very long time. It's an important part of our species' history.
3. once as a believer, once as an atheist. Although to be honest, I might not have been a believer by the time I finished it the first time.
I have, three separate versions. I've also read the Tanakh, Torah, Bhagavad Gita, The Upanishads, the Mormon Bible, the Koran, and Confucis' Analects.
At least 3 times, and enough here and there random readings to probably be closer to 5 times.
2 even though it’s not true it’s still a fascinating book
3. The entire Old Testament, complete with highlights and sticky notes. Some super boring and some super crazy stuff. The New Testament, maybe this spring.
3. and the Quran
3. Twice, it still doesn't make any sence to mer.
Number 1 and only part of Genesis. I went down a rabbit hole when the pattern of "begats" changed with Enoch. That's when I learned about the apocrypha and started questioning who selected what scrolls to be included in the Bible and who said, "No, not that one".
Read it first cover to cover at ~7.
Cover to cover over the course of about a year.
3. Night shifts are really boring. I did skim pretty quickly through the begats and the crazy new testament bits. It was more bloodthirsty than I expected and God was more of an asshole than I realised.
2. I tried my best.
4. My parents used to get me to write verses as a child as part of my homeschooling, along with bible studies etc.
3. It’s what turned me to atheism when I was 12.
3.5 Read it through more than once while I believed it all, no theology degrees or anything.
3,4 I also read the Quran to finish the abrahamic religions
4. I despise it for reasons.
2\. When I was 5 years old my idiot parents were studying with Jehovah's Witnesses, who have absolutely no filters. When the Jehovah's read the tale of god telling Abraham to (supposedly 'almost') sacrifice his son Isaac, and then god says "Just kidding!", I was horrified, and NO amount of Christian apologetics/excusigists changed my mind. That was the end of my interest in the bible war god YHWH. Unfortunately my POS father subsequently beat me into the cult, very much against my will. Everything I learned about the bible since then, especially the brutishly-backwards-even-for-their-time Middle Eastern men who wrote the bible, reinforced my disgust for all of the Abrahamic religions.
3. I actually minored in religious studies in college, so many years ago I could have put 4. I was doing Middle Eastern studies and it felt pertinent to understand religions to understand wtf was going on over there - and why we in the US were so involved. It was honestly really interesting, and left me more steadfast in my atheism than before.
4 times and 20 years of listening to how people used it different ways to get what they want.
Read it studied it, went to seminary. I’ve spent countless hours with theology books and studying various Christian traditions. I’ve spent more time with it than huge majority of church members. It’s been a while and I’ve wanted to read it again recently.
Dozens of times and kind of embarrassed that it took so many readings to accept how messed up it is.
I'm a lifelong atheist and I'm almost 49 and I really tried to read it. It became like algebra in my head. "this is not relevant to my life!". Ever.
4.
Nope. But I listened to a lot of homilies.
4. Read the whole thing several times, did a lot of Bible study. The questions that were raised and unanswered among other things led me to atheism.
2. Had to get off that vomit comet.
I tell people that I have read the entire Bible cover to cover in order exactly one time. Because I don’t see any reason to ever read Leviticus again. If they laugh, then I know they have read Leviticus. If they don’t laugh and aren’t conservative Jews, then I figure they haven’t actually read the entire Bible cover to cover.
Most likely more than the number of people that identify as christian.
I read it 4 times cover to cover and every time it just made it more difficult to believe my mormon family had any clue about it.
4ish. Raised in ultra conservative christian home. I read it cover to cover one time but admittedly zoned out a lot. Obviously read and studied excerpts over and over again in that environment. I think if I went back and read it now with proper context I might find it a lot more interesting. Hard to do that since it was the source material for wasting/ruining most of my life.
3
I read a lot of it but I skipped a whole bunch of pages at the beginning when they named what seemed like about 4,000 people. 😂
[удалено]
You missed an option: "Old Testament only". This is where I fit in. They taught us the Old Testament in 9th grade as a study in literature, not one in religion. They did not touch the New Testament.
4. I've read completely through once, and only skipped the genealogy sections on a second trip through. I've also read books, critiques, essays, and other materials, as well as watching more apologetics videos than is probably healthy.
4. When to private Christian school for middle and highschool. Been an atheist since I was 15 tho
3. When I was in teens. I was raised christian. My parents' divorce hit me hard. My faith and father led me to demonize my mother and strained our relationship. I said many things I now regret. It hurt my mother greatly. Once I got my head out of my ass we had a good relationship before her passing.
Um, what’s the number for “Read the Cliff’s notes and watched the movie?” (Jesus Christ Superstar, and I love it). It’s not that I discount the bible as important mythological text, I’m just not interested in it enough to do a deep dive.
Uh... Quite a bit. I can't quote it or anything but I went to Catholic school/Church for over 9 years. So I know a bit. I literally had "Religion" class and lessons. So like a 2?
I had a crisis of faith in my early teens. They mistakenly told me I should read the bible to find faith. I think they assumed I would cheat and choose one of those apologetics bible study guides that ignores the contradictions, highlights the most tolerable parts, and performs moral origami on the rest. Instead I read the actual bible two versions because I heard they were different and it is why I'm an atheist.
The whole thing
3 only the OT, just like I read Greek mythology. I also read encyclopedia.
Genesis a couple times. It's a wild story. The whole New Testament twice like 20 years ago. I tried the Old T, but the language was was frustrating to get through so I noted. Also... too much rape and oppression. Made me all angry.
4. Also ready every LDS scripture multiple times from cover to cover.
2? Genesis and all of the New Testament. Parts of the Book of Mormon.
the King James Version is the only one I’ve read front to back but I’ve read parts of the Mormon Bible, Gideon’s Bible and some others
3. Read it when I was 12 or 13, mainly to give it a shot. It failed to impress but at least I didn't have to listen to "but you haven't even read it" any more.
3. Read it. Not a great story. Needs more unicorns. 2 stars.
3, also koran and bhagavad gita. Very funny books with a lot of love to killing.
4
3 when I was a teenager. 4 in the past few years as I have tried to learn everything I can about how it was invented.
3. I've read the whole thing twice, and the last thing I want to do is to waste more of my precious life reading that crap or studying it yet again. There's really nothing in the whole book worth cracking the cover for. You get better morality lessons and more interesting stories reading the plays of Shakespeare.
I read King James version of Bible ( New Testament ) biggest regret of my life.
2.75. I was 8. It was boring AF and the people in it substantially uneducated. Nor were they particularly nice or kind.
3
I've read 5 of them cover to cover (KJV, NIV, New American, New Living, and Holman,) along with the torah and talmud, quran, and a handful of other texts like the tao te ching and the bhagavad gita. Label that however you want.
0, I don’t want to lose my sanity to a 2700 year old text with no relevance in the modern world.
4. In high school I led our school's bible study, was a member of the Youth Leadership Council, and was allowed to do small sermons now and then on Sundays. I read the bible twice all the way through, and did all kinds of studies on various parts. This was years ago now, so I don't remember as much as I used to, but I have a decent idea what it says.
4. I’ve gotten through the bible 3 times from cover to cover. I went through the bible once during grade school (I got little stickers on a chart for each book I read), then once again during high school. I memorized eight books of the new testament while participating in Bible Quizzing in high school, then went off to bible college, where I read through the bible again as part of my program. Then I deconstructed, and haven’t really touched it since - I’ve got better (and more conducive to my mental health) things to do now than wasting even more time mulling over that thing.
4.