Youtuber ProfMTH has done a lot of very good videos. What makes his perspective special is the fact that he used to be a Fundy Christian, and is now an atheist. In other words, he really knows and understands the bible.
In the following video he points out the problem bible literalists have. For example, the NT clearly states that one could actually move mountains into the sea if he had faith. Of course, even the most Fundy of Christians dismiss this as complete allegory ("Jesus didn't really mean that"). Why? Because it is impossible to move a mountain into the sea presently in real time, no matter how much faith one has.
See, if something is written in the bible, and it can be falsified in present real time, it HAS TO BE ALLEGORICAL, but if the bible writes about a past miracle or supernatural event (like a talking snake), then to the Bible literalist, the event must be true.
Of course, science falsifies the idea of a young earth created in 6 literal days, and man being poofed here as man less than 10,000 years ago, but again, this is nothing that can be falsified in real time (unless the Fundy isn't wilfully ignorant about science, which is almost impossible).
Even evangelical Christians who say they take the Bible literally do not take the Bible and what their "god said" literally. They twist and turn the meaning to whatever they want it to be. The t-shirts in the video that the woman is selling should say "what I want to believe my god said."
ReplyDeleteFor instance, most Christians do not take the book of Leviticus literally even though it contains specific direction as what to do with smartmouthed children (stone them to death), adulterers (stone them to death), etc. Thank human goodness and the laws of civilized countries, these things "god said" are ignored or written off as "that was just meant for the society in which it was written." My question to believers then is "so your god chose only one era in time to send his messages for people to write down to pertain to that one era in time and nothing before and after?"
Christians, THINK about that. Your god communicates in "one era" in all of time, and an ignorant and superstitious era at that, but fails to communicate in our advanced era with all of our scientific equipment and laboratories. And we are supposed to simply believe in a god of ancient men, from ancient times (but never mind all those other gods from ancient days, and those other ancient texts...those aren't real.
Hindus have ancient texts, Muslims have ancient texts, ancient texts and writings are written about the Greek gods, the Egyptian gods. Does that make their gods real? So why would an ancient book make your god any more real than their's? It's all a matter on what you choose to believe.