The Bible

[claymore]

Many people on here quote passages from the Bible and hold it up as proof of what ever their argument is, others decry it as purely a work of fiction . My question is ,how many of them have read the book cover to cover, or is it just a case of believing what you want to believe?

[ljdksa]

I read it from cover to cover at school because we had to. Still didn't believe a word of it though:-)

[MarkRae]

> how many of them have read the book cover to cover

Seven.

[ummmm]

I only know two people. My Mum...a born again Christian..and her Brother...an Atheist.

He was an Atheist before he read it.....

[ummmm]

I don't think reading it as a kid really counts. I studied Marks Gospel for GCSE and passed with a B. I can't remember a word of it...

[mibn2cweus]

Nothing like flipping on the light switch to send the cockroaches scurrying for cover.
Those in the Catholic hierarchy were well aware of the potential consequences of their failure to keep 'God's word' from the eyes of those they held captive through their own preferred interpretation . . . not that those who did eventually gain access immediately faired much better with their own interpretations, still believing they were privy to 'the word of God'. I suppose some people are slower than others in being able to accept and admit to having been duped, to take that crucial step outside the existing paradigm and to reclaim the conviction of their own minds.

[wildwood]

We had something at school called catechism (in Holland mostly) which sort off went over the most important parts in a way children can understand, a bit like bible study, I think.

You have to study chapters and then you'd have to answer question as a test. I got good marks in the tests but I can't remember nothing from it. I was the happiest kid on Earth when I could leave catholic school and go to a normal one. Church used to bore the pants of me and I got in trouble many times for misbehaving there.

[ludwig]

// I don't think reading it as a kid really counts. I studied Marks Gospel for GCSE and passed with a B. I can't remember a word of it... //

ummmmm, it's about this bloke called Jesus who claimed to be the son of god. Apparently he was born in a stable in Bethlehem - I won't spoil the ending in case you want to read it again.

[ll_billym]

I doubt many people have read the actual 'Bible', wherever or whatever that is. There are many versions and translations about, there are even a few films about the 'best bits'.

I tried to read it once (Good News Translation), probably for the same reason Wyzard did and didn't make it out of Genesis as it is very boring.

[Ankou]

"how many of them have read the book cover to cover"

how on earth would we know ?

[naomi24]

I know a few people, in particular some Christadelphians, who read specific verses of the bible daily in order to complete the whole over the course of each year, but in my experience more atheists than Christians have read the whole bible - which is precisely why some of them have concluded they are atheists.

[Ankou]

"is it just a case of believing what you want to believe?"

no, more like believeing what you are told. daily mail is the modern equivalent.

[naomi24]

//is it just a case of believing what you want to believe? //

Although I think many people do believe what they're told to believe, some definitely choose what to believe. I've had long discussions with very wealthy Christian friends - and they have a very convenient explanation for the biblical text that says ' It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven'. Apparently it doesn't refer to a sewing needle at all, but to a small gate called 'The Needle' that was in the wall surrounding Jerusalem. I don't believe there's any real evidence that such a gate ever existed, but they seem very happy to accept the explanation as fact.

Incidentally Islamic literature mentions something remarkably similar about camels and eyes of needles, except it refers to the 'impious' rather than to the wealthy. What a coincidence! ;o)

[woofgang]

yes I have read it, no I don't believe a lot of it.

[sandyRoe]

But none of us can take it with us when we go. We'll all be in the same boat when we stand at the Pearly Gates.
I've never got past the first chapter.

[Booldawg]

isnt it like any book though? I read 'The Great Gatsby' and after reading the study notes on the subversive meanings of various happendings in the book I could kind of see what Fitzgerald was getting at.

Without I study notes I wouldnt have had a scooby.

[Ankou]

its human nature to search for meaning, even where none exist, we would often invent it if an obvious answer was laciking - often with some romanticism/idealism. as artist mark rothko said : "there's no such thing as a good painting about nothing".

once you are told what the meaning is, our human minds formulates a belief, or at least an understanding of 'where you're coming from'. i house shared with several art students when at uni, and coming up with a title for their works was great fun, because when they were displayed, the students had to explain the title and the meaning of their piece. 90% of the time, it was nonsense, even if the work was rather good, the title was doggy doo's.

but people went along with it with 'oh i see' and 'yeah i'm feeling that expression' etc its all rather pretentious, probably like the couple in noamis post, who were told this 'idea' about a gate and then adopted it into their ideology because it suits.