by indoubt 17 Replies latest jw friends
I am trying to find a good book which would explain why the bible cannot be inspired by God.
(For example, a book that would dissert the bible and illustrate its contradictions, etc.)
I know there are lots of those out there, but which one did you enjoy reading?
Thanks!
indoubt
The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0939040158/qid%3D1092775067/102-0301861-1503328
Midwest Book Review
Consider this book as a kind of consumer protection guide to religion, a big step forward toward religious literacy. Readers will explore myths, origins, fundamentalism, television ministries, the identical stories of Stellar/Pagan/Christian beliefs, unfounded doctrines, child abuse, the Year 200, and women's rights. It's entertaining and readable, with a sense of humor reflecting the absurdities of fundamental religion -- while being inoffensive. The approach is one of not hitting the reader over the head with "you're wrong", but rather "consider this". The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You To Read contains many interesting, unknown facts such as there being no mention of Jesus Christ is the Dead Sea Scrolls; the oldest story in the world (predating Christianity by millennia) being that of a virgin mother bearing a newborn baby; God finding out about the Trinity from the Catholic Church in 325 A. D. ; and Christmas being a pagan holiday with December 25th shared as a birthdate by many other crucified saviors. Contributors include Steve Allen, Dan Barker, Edd Doerr, Robert Eisenman, Annie Laurie Gaylor, Grace Halsell, Gerald Larue, Jordan Maxwell, and Arthur Melville.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
I liked "The bible unearthed"
Here are some others on the same topic. The only other one I read of these was "101 Myths of the Bible" I didn't care for it much as it made many statements without much proof to back up.
The Bible is the best book for proving the bible wrong.
That may sound like a quip or a smart-alec response. But, it is a true statement.
In Western civilization, there has been a non-stop word of mouth propaganda from the mouths of mother's to their babes in arms that the Bible is the word of God almighty.
Infants, small children and adolescents (whether they grow up to be religious or not) have their wellspring of reason poisoned by the implantation of that imperishable idead: The Bible is the word of God.
One of the mechanisms that keeps the bible from slipping into obsolesence is the tireless work of apologists for thousands of years. The best, the brightest, the most sincere minds through the ages have labored mightily to prop up every creaky passage that doesn't pass the sniff test of even the most modest intellect.
Besides, most people who defend the bible with the loudest voices don't actually read it. The average Christian reads books ABOUT the Bible. They read the works of apologists. The bible is the finest soporific known to mankind. ( sleep inducing www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn)
What is required to PROVE the bible is not the word of God is to understand the actual problem. By defining the problem clearly; you are half way to solving it.
1.Disprove the bible? To who? (or "whom" if you prefer). To prove/disprove anything to anybody requires that there be a person who is objective and intellectually honest who will consider only the facts and disregard any emotional attachments to a particular outcome.)
2.The language of the bible is not the language of objective speech. I'm not even speaking about the Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic aspect of original writings. No, I'm talking about the very "sense" of words themselves.
A. In everyday language words have actual meanings. In the bible, the words have conceptual, general and empty resemblance to meanings. Just as the Hebrew text had no vowels and the sound had to be supplied by the reader; so too, the content of the actual words is supplied by the reader according to their subjective viewpoint and not based on a non-varying standard. Example: God told Adam that in the day he ate of the fruit he (Adam) would surely die. That could not be any clearer, could it? But, the "day" wasn't a day. And "die" wasn't die. How do we know? Because Adam did not die on that day! So, did God lie? Yes. IF the words had objective meaning! But, if you fill in your own personal explanation for why the consequence of eating didn't lead to DYING that DAY, then you are in the business of RELIGION.
B.Quantities do not represent actual mathematical entities; they represent whatever you want them to represent. They can be symbols of "largeness", they can be abstract mystical constructs or they can be physical exactitudes. You supply the context and the content yourself.
3. Just as there is no Bible Chronology without the support of data from secular historians, archeologists and rabbinical scholars; there is no "there" there as far as a data base of supernatural knowledge content. There is never a divine piece of information given in the bible that was not already available from the mind of men living at the time.
4.Prophecy is giving advance information about events BEFORE those events transpire in such detail as no fudging is possible to misunderstand the meaning and intention of the details. Archeology and scholorship informs us when the likely date of writing of bible books took place. There is no sound evidence that any prophecy was recorded BEFORE the fact of any event written about in the Bible.
5. Anybody can use weasel words to suggest the coming of an event which may be interpreted as having happened but is not subject to physical verification. The New testament is filled with such weasel word prophesy. Earthquakes, food shortages, marriages, war, rumors of war---the list is endless. These things occur with such regularity that it becomes impossible to use them as a marker of anything other than imagination.
I would personally suggest you read the following books.
WHO WROTE THE BIBLE? by Professor Richard Elliott Friedman
THE BATTLE FOR GOD (A History of Fundamentalism) by Karen Armstrong
The MYTHMAKER (Paul and the Invention of Christianity) by Hyam Maccoby
Also, on the web, visit and read the writings of Farrell Till and his debates
Instead of just asking for a book to tell you what you want you want to believe, why not consider both sides of the issue, away from the JWS? Here are some links that deserve some attention when considering faith in God?s Word:
http://www.lnhg.org/biblical_archeology.htm
http://www.reformed.org/apologetics/
And this information really addresses Terry's rants:
http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/menus/debates.html
I encourage reading the books The Road Less Traveled and Further Along the Road Less Traveled, By Dr. Scott Peck.
Keeping the Faith....
The one that made me first question the Bible, was The Age of Reason, by Thomas Paine. It was written over 200 years ago, and some issues he had have been resolved by the Dead Sea Scrolls discoveries, but it is a really good read..................all the more interesting because it was written so long ago. It is full of just common sense stuff. Sure made me stop and think.
Excellent book, Mulan. I read that when I first got out and couldn't put it down. After I read C of C, I was convinced the WTS was corrupt but still wanted to believe the Bible was true. The Age of REason put all that belief into perspective.
jazbug
Thanks for all your replies!
ThiChi: Thanks for your links. I will most definitely look at them. I am a recently "inactive" JW, and I am starting to explore different beliefs for the first time in my life. Do I believe that the bible is inspired by God? Do I believe in God? I don't even know yet. This is why I want to look at different points of view. Thanks again!
indoubt
I would go with Mulans suggestion, The Age of Reason. Another good thing about it's age is that it no longer holds copyright, and is therefore public domain: you can download the entire piece free from the net. Google for it!
Greven
I just finished reading The Jesus Puzzle by Earl Doherty. Also, some of the atheist web sites may have more books listed.
Devon
