Things Christians say, part 26: Evidence of the bible

A weekly series of responses to the things Christians say to atheists, based on the video reproduced here on 30th January 2012.  The aim is to tackle one every weekend, to give both a moderate, polite response to each question ('Piano'), followed by a more forceful rebuttal of the same question ('Forte'). 

All the evidence you need is right here in the bible.

Piano

The only polite way that I can respond to this is to suggest, respectfully, that you might go and read something else.  Something modern would be a good starting point.  By 'modern' I really mean almost anything written in the last 200 years.  I think you will find that there is a lot of human knowledge that is not contained in the bible.

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Forte

This is one of the most worthless and (frankly) irritating arguments used by Christians.  The strange thing is that it is true - albeit not in the sense that it is meant.

Just open your bible and read it.  Yes - really!  I don't mean to suggest that you just read all the nice fluffy bits of the bible that you are told about in church on a Sunday.  I mean read it properly and compare its different parts.

There is no need for me to point out specific inconsistencies, but just to take one rather large and obvious example that ought not to take you too long, especially if you are a bible-reading Christian.  Just read all four gospels and compare them.  In particular, compare and contrast:

• The consistency of stories contained in each of the gospels
• The order of events (in the cases where the same stories are told in several places) - each gospel weaves the stories into a narrative of its own
• The 'historical claims' as against the archaeological facts that form historical evidence - such as the non-existence of the town of Nazareth at the time.
• The key events (e.g. the resurrection) that are not told in all gospels
• The huge differences in the character of Jesus in each

Having done that, and without even looking at any of the epistles or the Old Testament, you might have spotted that there is no shortage of disagreement.  The more of the bible you read, the more desperately you have to cling to faith in order to rationalise the cognitive dissonance that you are feeling.

Just admit it!  The evidence of the bible is very clear - it more-or-less proves that the bible was not inspired by God!


Last week: I have a personal relationship with Jesus - it is not a religion
Next week:  Atheists just don't want to be held accountable for their own actions