I first created this
site in 1999 in order to have a place to post my research on the
subject of Christianity so that I could
more readily make available to others what I discovered through my own
studies.
To make a
very long story short, I grew up within an evangelical, fundamentalist
form of Christianity. While studying and preparing to be a
minister, however, my studies made it completely obvious to me that I
had been misguided by my upbringing. The Christianity
that I inherited proved to be false. The Bible is demonstrably a fallible collection of
human writings, not "the perfect, infallible work of a personal
God." If taken literally and at face value, Christianity is
simply a lie, a fraud. It survives only because millions of
psychologically dependent people desperately want it to be true and are
either unwilling or unable to look deeply into it with any critical
eye. I wish to share my findings and the evidence with
any Christians who are open-minded enough to study dilligently, so that
fewer and fewer people will devote
their lives and energies in vain to outdated, fallacious, and harmful
ideas. My hope is that future generations will one day be free
from the weight of misguided ancient traditions.
Please read these
papers as
thoroughly as you are able, and let me know your reaction to the
information
presented. If you can find mistakes, any
at all, please make them known
to me, and
if you are aware of other helpful sources, please mention such. A link to my e-mail is below. Thank you.
[Those who are not really
familiar with the Bible and its stories may have trouble following some
of this
information.]
Some of My Papers:
My
De-Conversion From Christianity: A Narrative -
People have often asked me how I came to my conclusions.
This is a narrative answer to be read in addition to "Why I Rejected
Fundamentalist Christianity" (below) and the rest of these writings.
Old
Testament Chronological and Historical Problems -
This important paper uses the Bible itself to construct a time-line of
Old Testament events, and then
reveals, story-by-story, the mythological nature of much of the Torah
and the
foundations of the Judeo-Christian world-view. It takes the reader
through the
basic plot of the first five books of the Bible. [Update and Side
Issue: If a reader should want to explore what is known about the real
ancient Egypt, in order to compare a slice of real history with the
Bible, I started collecting information on Ancient History and the Bible.]
The Pre-Christian Jewish Concept of
the
Messiah -
Most Christians are able to maintain their faith because they do not
understand Jewish history or the Old Testament in its historical
context. This paper provides a nice survey of Jewish history from the
time of the kings to the development of Christianity, and it covers the
background and message of each of the prophetic books of the Old
Testament. It
explains Jewish prophecies of a messiah, what really happened in history, and it
reveals the misleading
twists put
upon the
Hebrew scriptures by orthodox Christians. Three of the most
important
sections of
the paper
are the following:
Appendix D: Christian
Misinterpretations of the Hebrew Scriptures
Appendix
B: The Suffering Servant
Epilogue: Why Jesus Was
Not the
Messiah, the Christ
But these sections are only properly understood by grasping the
information
presented in the main body of the paper.
Resurrection Discrepancies -
Christian sources disagree on some significant issues concerning what
happened
after Jesus' death. Examine these discrepancies and their ramifications
along
with other problems within Christian teachings about the resurrection.
The Words of
Jesus? - Copied from a February 2008 blog post of
mine, "The Words of
Jesus." - http://www.xanga.com/WindOnReed2/640522016/the-words-of-jesus.html.
Re: NT textual and
historical criticism, and the historical Jesus. The idea that the New Testament
Gospels contain the words of Jesus is a very problematic
assumption.
Why
I Rejected Fundamentalist Christianity? -
A list of points/problems intended to lay bare the shifty foundations
of
fundamentalist & orthodox Christian claims/beliefs.
Mind/Body Dualism and the
Problem
of Spirit and Matter -
Mithraism & Christianity
Compared
- (unfinished, un-updated)
Did Christianity borrow some of its teachings and practices from a
Roman
mystery religion? The highlight of this paper is the list of Parallels between
the two religions.
The Use of Special Numbers in the Bible
- (unfinished)
Have you ever noticed how often the Bible uses numbers like 3, 7, 12,
and 40? What is
behind this? Are such numbers a clue that these stories are myth and
symbol,
not factual history?
Even
Christian Morality Evolves: 2008-01-15 -
copied from a
blog post of mine - " The Evolution of (even Christian) Morality" -
Christian morality is NOT Absolute; Yahweh changes; Morals Change;
Atheism and Morality - also at http://www.xanga.com/WindOnReed2/637600035/the-evolution-of-even-christian-morality.html
Moral Relativism Is
Misunderstood: Format: MSWord doc. I frequently meet
people who mistakenly
think that moral relativism is bad, destructive, immoral, or
meaningless. Here are a couple of my
responses to
people who have tried to suggest to me that moral relativity is
groundless.
Yahweh:
The Ancient Jewish Storm God / Sky God - (unfinished)
Good Books for
Starters: Check out their reviews and buy them.
The
Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s
New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, by Israel
Finkelstein and Neil Asher
Silberman. 2002. Touchstone.
Who
Wrote the Bible?, by Richard Elliott Friedman.
1987.
Gospel
Fictions, by Randel Helms. 1988. Prometheus Books.
Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, by Bart D. Ehrman. 2007.
Incredible
Shrinking Son of Man: How Reliable Is the Gospel Tradition?, by
Robert M. Price. 2003.
From
Jesus to Christianity : How Four Generations of Visionaries &
Storytellers
Created the New Testament and Christian Faith, by L. Michael White (Dec 1,
2004)
New Testament Story: An Introduction, by David L. Barr (2001)
Other Information From the Web:
Some Reasons Why Humanists
Reject The
Bible (.doc format) - By
Joseph C. Sommer - http://www.holysmoke.org/sdhok/hum20.htm - Sommer
has written a good basic essay on why people should
not accept the Bible as their guide to truth.
Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Importance of the Subject
3. Contradictions
4. Cruelties
5. Teachings Inconsistent with the Laws of Nature
6. Teachings Inconsistent with the Structure of the Physical World
7. Unfulfilled Prophecies
8. Inaccurate Statements about History
9. Conclusion
The Argument from the Bible (1996) - By Theodore M. Drange (.doc format) - www.infidels.org/library/modern/theodore_drange/bible.html - A GOOD basic essay showing why no one should consider the Bible a legitimate source of religious truth or history. He covers the following topics, and I put an asterisk beside the ones I thought best:
1. Argument of Fundamentalists
2. *Alleged Fulfilled Prophecies
3. Unfulfilled Prophecies
4. *The Resurrection
5. *More Contradictions
6. *Factual Errors
7. *Ethical Defects
Bible Inconsistencies: Bible
Contradictions? - Compiled
by Donald Morgan (.doc format) - www.infidels.org/library/modern/donald_morgan/inconsistencies.html
- This
guy has put together an excellent LIST (with scripture references) of
contradictions and inconsistencies found in the Bible.
A few in the list are not that serious,
but plenty of them are major contradictions, and the list the LONG. There are definitely enough to prove
without any doubt that the Bible is FAR from inerrant, most certainly
written
by humans, and NOT inspired by any real “God.”
He
also has lists of
Questionable
Precepts and Teachings
in the Bible
Gospel Contradictions
from the
Passion to the Resurrection - by
Austin Cline
(.doc format) - http://atheism.about.com/od/gospelcontradictions/Gospel_Contradictions_Gospels_are_Full_of_Contradictions_Errors.htm -
Brief and contains some
not-so-important
material along with the big stuff, but I include it anyway.
Why Not Believe? Reasons Why Atheists
Don't
Believe in Gods - by
Austin Cline (.doc
format) - http://atheism.about.com/od/aboutatheism/p/whynotbelieve.htm
Who Made God?
- by Austin Cline (.doc
format) - http://atheism.about.com/od/argumentsagainstgod/a/design.htm -
People mistakenly assume that the universe “requires” a designer. Just because something is complex does
NOT mean it must have been designed.
This is a short essay.
Which Bible?
- by
Steven Carr (.doc format) - www.infidels.org/library/magazines/tsr/1997/6/976which.html -
Early Christians repeatedly re-edited their own scriptures. “The evidence of the earliest
manuscripts is that Christianity was split into many factions. Orthodox
views
did not win out until the fourth century or later. Until then, people
wrote and
rewrote the New Testament books, trying to put the correct spin on the
texts.
This happened extremely early.”
Godless Ethics, Morality, and Values:
Do
Godless Morals & Values Exist?
(.doc
format) -
by Austin Cline -
http://atheism.about.com/od/aboutethics/p/GodlessEthics.htm -
Some people have the mistaken idea that morality or goodness are
only
possible with faith in a personal god.
Morality is a necessary part of human society.
Every society will make laws/rules for the well-being of its
people, regardless of the religion(s) of the people.
Moral Relativism Is
Misunderstood: I frequently meet people who mistakenly
think that moral relativism is bad, destructive, immoral, or
meaningless. Here are a couple of my
responses to
people who’ve tried to suggest to me that moral relativity was
groundless.
Are People Sad and
Hopeless
Without the Christian “God”? -
a note by Jack Rivall (.doc format).
Does Life Have Meaning
Without
the Christian “God”?
-
an essay by James A. Haught (.doc format)
The
web site www.infidels.org has numerous
on-line
resources for investigating the topic.
Check out their on-line library (especially Modern Library: Theism: Christianity).
E-mail
me
at bodhi7442@hotmail.com