Is the Bible reliable as the authentic Word of God, or is it just another holy book written by men? Many people today have this question, and some never go deep enough to really answer it. I have posted here my sermon message from last Sunday. For a serious answer to this question about the Bible, click play below. The run time is about 25 minutes. You will have to pardon the couple seconds of dead air shortly after I begin, it will pick back up again soon after. Enjoy!
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You don't need a PhD to know the Bible is false
ReplyDeleteInstead of reading scholarly responses to (Bart) Ehrman as recommended, he (Gary) renounced faith. ...The pastors at Gary's former church were concerned as he sparred with capable disciples of Ehrman that he had not yet come to an understanding of Lutheranism. His formation as a Lutheran required time and inculturation. So, yes, in this sense I failed to form him as a disciple of Jesus and for that I am sorry. ---my former orthodox Lutheran pastor
My former pastor is not alone in his assessment that my lack of knowledge is the source of my problem. Many a Lutheran pastor and layperson has accused me of not fully understanding Lutheran doctrine and teachings as the cause of my loss of faith and deconversion from Christianity. What's fascinating is that many an evangelical pastor and layperson has accused me of not understanding "true Christian" (evangelical) doctrine and teaching as the cause of my deconversion. Both groups have given me long lists of apologists (from their respective denominational flavor of Christianity only, of course) to educate me in the truths of Holy Scripture (as they read and understand it).
But here's the thing: I don't need to understand the nuances of the Doctrines of Baptismal Regeneration, the Real Presence, Predestination, or Justification by Faith Alone, to know that the Bible is a book of nonsense. All I need is a high school education and a functioning brain.
Here are the cornerstone beliefs of orthodox Christianity:
1. The first human was created by an ancient middle-eastern god blowing air into a pile of dirt.
2. Death, disease, and all the pain and suffering in the world are the result of the first humans eating an ancient middle-eastern god's fruit.
3. This same ancient middle eastern god soon had pity on humans for inflicting horrific suffering and death upon them for eating his fruit, so he decided to send himself to earth, in the form of a human being, to sacrifice himself, to appease the righteous anger of...himself.
4. This ancient middle-eastern god sent himself to earth in the form of a human being by having his ghost impregnate a young Jewish virgin, giving birth to...himself....as a divine god/man.
5. This divine god/man grew up to then preach the news of eternal redemption and forgiveness for ancestral forbidden-fruit-eating; "good news" meant for all the people of earth...by going to one desolate, sparsely populated, backwater corner of the globe where he taught in riddles that not even his closest followers could understand.
6. Even upon his death his closest followers had no clue what he was talking about. This god/man left no written instructions regarding what he required of mankind, only his confusing, often contradictory oral riddles. However, he allegedly left the job of written instructions to four anonymous writers, three of whom plagiarized the first, and, one bipolar, vision-prone, Jewish rabbi, who concocted contradictory wild tales of resurrections and ascensions into outer space.
Dear friend: You do NOT need to read the books of Christian apologists, theologians, and pastors to determine if these assertions of ancient, middle eastern facts are true. No. All you have to do is use your brain. And what does your brain tell you: It is all superstitious nonsense.
NO ONE in the 21st century with a high school education should believe these ancient tall tales.
Hello there,
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to comment on this post. It's been a while since I had given this talk, but I do remember the high points. Rest assured, I won't tell you that you simply haven't studied hard enough or read enough books!
It sounds like you DO know enough to make an argument in favor of what you reject. I do see that maybe many of your points above reflect an idea that this couldn't be true because it would be "unlikely." These arguments work, as long as we are certain that what is being described in these accounts are just myths. If God really did show up in ancient Palestine and conducted teaching through parables, then it doesn't matter in the slightest how likely we think His methods are or aren't. It would still have happened.
I suppose that is my short version of a rebuttal, but please do accept that my intent isn't to convince you that you are under studied. When I first began to study this stuff myself, if I had seen that there truly weren't any sound philosophical or scientific arguments to support faith, I would probably have dropped Christianity like a hot potato. This, however, was not the case. Like it or not, I came to accept that a Jewish guy with long hair who lived 2,000 years ago changed the world forever. It would probably have made things easier if he hadn't.
Thank you for reading though. Please stop back-