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. |
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Page 19
... thing called revealed religion ? Nothing that is useful to man and everything that is dishonorable . . . . What is it the Bible teaches us ? rapine , cruelty , and murder . What is it ... things as they are , free from superstition [ is 19.
... thing called revealed religion ? Nothing that is useful to man and everything that is dishonorable . . . . What is it the Bible teaches us ? rapine , cruelty , and murder . What is it ... things as they are , free from superstition [ is 19.
Page 20
... things not seen " ( Heb . 11 : 1 ) . Indeed , for him ultimate truth can not be derived directly from sense experience . Rather , it can only come indirectly from a book purportedly containing God's extraordinary communications to man ...
... things not seen " ( Heb . 11 : 1 ) . Indeed , for him ultimate truth can not be derived directly from sense experience . Rather , it can only come indirectly from a book purportedly containing God's extraordinary communications to man ...
Page 28
... things , which , though they carry his name agrees not with his doctrines . This is not surprising , since that we have often proved that these things have not been written by himself , nor by his apostles , but that for the greater ...
... things , which , though they carry his name agrees not with his doctrines . This is not surprising , since that we have often proved that these things have not been written by himself , nor by his apostles , but that for the greater ...
Page 35
... things signified by the words have themselves also a meaning . ' And Origen ( 184-254 ) insisted that " the Scriptures contain many things which never came to pass , interwoven with the history , and he must be dull indeed who does not ...
... things signified by the words have themselves also a meaning . ' And Origen ( 184-254 ) insisted that " the Scriptures contain many things which never came to pass , interwoven with the history , and he must be dull indeed who does not ...
Page 46
... things, by whom also he made the world” (Heb. 1:2). Later in the same chapter, while still talking about Jesus, it says: “And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine ...
... things, by whom also he made the world” (Heb. 1:2). Later in the same chapter, while still talking about Jesus, it says: “And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine ...
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 |
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