Unholy Writ:: An Infidel’S Critique of the BibleDuring 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
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Page 14
... moral positions by using “God as an unconditional sanction, with no court of appeal, as a “categorical imperator.””3 However, the validity of their claim to moral superiority is dependent upon the truth of the proposition that the Bible ...
... moral positions by using “God as an unconditional sanction, with no court of appeal, as a “categorical imperator.””3 However, the validity of their claim to moral superiority is dependent upon the truth of the proposition that the Bible ...
Page 15
... moral pronouncements and giving the appearance that their prejudices have divine approbation , Christian fundamentalists have exploited their duplicitous and relativistic approaches to Scriptural exegesis in order to maintain the ...
... moral pronouncements and giving the appearance that their prejudices have divine approbation , Christian fundamentalists have exploited their duplicitous and relativistic approaches to Scriptural exegesis in order to maintain the ...
Page 16
... moral authority . And it is this view of the Bible as a holy book with supernatural messages for mankind that enthralls believers but perplexes skeptics . The skeptic's confusion is deepened when he reads the biblical admonition to ...
... moral authority . And it is this view of the Bible as a holy book with supernatural messages for mankind that enthralls believers but perplexes skeptics . The skeptic's confusion is deepened when he reads the biblical admonition to ...
Page 24
... moral guide ( 2 Tim . 3:16 ) , it is in actuality merely the repository of a broad spectrum of false beliefs . The most egregious of which is its nonsensical claim to divine authorship . This assertion only serves to affix a bogus ...
... moral guide ( 2 Tim . 3:16 ) , it is in actuality merely the repository of a broad spectrum of false beliefs . The most egregious of which is its nonsensical claim to divine authorship . This assertion only serves to affix a bogus ...
Page 36
... moral sense chiefly , and sometimes the allegorical or typical , are they whereof the church has most use : not that I wish men to be bold in allegories , or indulgent or light in allusions ; but I do much condemn that interpretation of ...
... moral sense chiefly , and sometimes the allegorical or typical , are they whereof the church has most use : not that I wish men to be bold in allegories , or indulgent or light in allusions ; but I do much condemn that interpretation of ...
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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