Unholy Writ:: An Infidel’S Critique of the BibleAuthorHouse, 2011 M11 7 - 824 pages During our brief and perilous journey ex irritum ad irritum, how are we to find, what the German philosopher Martin Heidegger (Sein und Zeit) would call, the true approach to being? How do we answer the question posed by the Apostle Thomas when he asked how can we know the way (Jn. 14:5)? In other words, how should we fill that parenthesis of infinitesimal brevity, which James Joyce (Ulysses) maintained, demarcates each of our lives? The Bible has often been put forth as a supposedly infallible guidebook charting the correct path to an authentic existence (e.g. 2 Tim. 3:16-17). According to its proponents, Scripture is an absolutely dependable life-manual because it is the word of God (Summa Theologica, First Part, Q. 1, Art. 10). However, close inspection of the Bible calls into question its divine authorship; and, thus, its reliability as an accurate roadmap for the soul. In fact, under close examination it proves to be nothing more than a mundane and cobbled together collection of archaic superstitions beginning with the outlandish speculations of Moses concerning the creation of the world and ending with the maniacal ravings of John regarding its destruction. Exposing the true nature of Holy Writ was the main purpose for writing Unholy Writ. The modus operandi for this expos involved a thoroughgoing critical analysis of Scripture. The results from such a careful consideration of its contents clearly demonstrated that any claim that the Bible is some sort of sacrosanct ethical vade mecum is completely invalid. Specifically, the multiple contradictions and absurdities contained in the Bible confer an unreliability upon it that undermines its function as a guide for anything, let alone as some sort of moral map for the journey through life. Furthermore, many of the ideas that are promoted in Holy Writ are actually spiritually harmful. In addition, unless the condoned misogyny, violence, intolerance, injustice, and cruelty can be removed, then it is difficult to view the Scriptures as anything like an unwavering celestial beacon that clearly lights the way through the moral fog that at times engulfs our lives. Moreover, the many errors that it contains, including those about the natural world, undermine the pivotal claim that the Bible is divinely inspired. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 87
Page 14
... divine imprimatur' is used by fundamentalists to gain the moral high ground in all cultural debates. This purported divine sanction also has the effect of precluding any rational discourse on important social problems. Besides the ...
... divine imprimatur' is used by fundamentalists to gain the moral high ground in all cultural debates. This purported divine sanction also has the effect of precluding any rational discourse on important social problems. Besides the ...
Page 15
... divine approbation , Christian fundamentalists have exploited their duplicitous and relativistic approaches to Scriptural exegesis in order to maintain the illusion that the Bible is a divinely revealed , sacrosanct , and inviolable ...
... divine approbation , Christian fundamentalists have exploited their duplicitous and relativistic approaches to Scriptural exegesis in order to maintain the illusion that the Bible is a divinely revealed , sacrosanct , and inviolable ...
Page 16
... divine guide to ethical conduct or believing it to be the product of divine inspiration . In the course of using the verses themselves in discussing such topics as biblical errancy , bible - based morality , the character of the ...
... divine guide to ethical conduct or believing it to be the product of divine inspiration . In the course of using the verses themselves in discussing such topics as biblical errancy , bible - based morality , the character of the ...
Page 20
... divine revelation . Human knowledge , our storehouse of testable truths , grows and expands incrementally by means of reasoned inquiry and careful observation . Being grounded in reality , its expansion is hindered by irrational ...
... divine revelation . Human knowledge , our storehouse of testable truths , grows and expands incrementally by means of reasoned inquiry and careful observation . Being grounded in reality , its expansion is hindered by irrational ...
Page 33
... divine communication was aided by the fact that many of the congregants in the early Church were illiterate. This served to further mask the profane nature of the Bible since its esoteric contents had to be presented and interpreted to ...
... divine communication was aided by the fact that many of the congregants in the early Church were illiterate. This served to further mask the profane nature of the Bible since its esoteric contents had to be presented and interpreted to ...
Contents
12 | |
27 | |
45 | |
Melting Snails and Other Absurdities | 121 |
The Ravings of a Maniac | 158 |
False Prophets and False Prophecies | 170 |
Breaking the Commandments with Impunity | 187 |
Cruelty Mayhem Murder | 200 |
God Omnipotent Loses a Wrestling Match | 310 |
Deus Caritas Est a Contradictio in Adjecto | 319 |
God as the Source of Evil | 325 |
the Transmogrifying God | 344 |
Believe or Be Damned | 355 |
Dear Einstein God Plays with Loaded Dice | 362 |
Salvation Damnation and the Immortality of the Soul | 370 |
Salvation through the Passion | 441 |
the Bible as Gods Rap Sheet | 212 |
the Bitter Water Test | 227 |
Sexual Ethics or the House of him that hath his Shoe Loosed | 243 |
the Craving for a Community of Worship | 265 |
As a Drunken Man Staggereth in his Vomit | 274 |
Cloven Footed Cud Chewers and Road Kill | 282 |
Stoning the Ox | 294 |
Such Language Less than Edifying Biblical Imagery | 303 |
Theophagy and other Scripturally Based Rituals | 449 |
Creationism and Intelligent Design | 457 |
Beshrew the TwoBacked Monster | 495 |
Phinehas Javelin Throw | 520 |
Thoughts of an Unregenerate Apostate | 533 |
An Apologia for Religious Infidelity | 566 |
Postscript | 586 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
according Acts animals appears Arthur Schopenhauer atheist Augustine believe Bible biblical body Book of Mormon brain cause Chicago Christ Christian Church claimed concept contradicts David dead death divine downloaded earth editor-in-chief Edward Gibbon Encyclopedia Britannica eternal evil example existence Ezek fact faith father Friedrich Nietzsche Furthermore God’s gods Gospel hand hath heaven hell Holy human idea immortality Israel Israelites Jean Meslier Jesus Jews John kill king living Lord matter means mind moral Moses nature neurons Nietzsche Old Testament passage Paul person priest prophets punishment Qur'an R. M. Hutchins reason religion religious resurrection Schopenhauer Scripture sense soul spirit Summa Theologica thee things Thomas Aquinas Thomas Paine Thou shalt told translated truth unto verse Walter Kaufmann Western World woman women words wrote www.gutenberg.org