Bible study for the atheist

[Gawen]

The idea here is to read the Bible as literature; understand what all the passages mean, where they came from, how people took them literally and affected out history in real life based on these mythical stories. I'm not debating the merits of the stories or whether they make any sense. I figure that if I'm going to argue the bible doesn't make sense, I may as well understand why

This is an extremely tall order. I've read the Bible all the way through twice, the NT three times and read bits and pieces of almost every day for over 15 years. I still don't understand all of it...and who could?

You're not going to do this any time soon. Not that I would discourage you, far from it, but it's a very long...years long...process. And you're gonna need help by reading books and websites, listening to theists claims and doing the research to counter-argue back. Good luck!

[philosoraptor]

I did a year-long reading plan and read the entire KJV...as literature. I sort of regret not digging deeper into it WHILE I was reading it because you can bet your ass that won't happen again.

What, are you not a glutton for punishment? 

[Anne D.]

I got a lot out of Don't Know Much about the Bible: Everything You Need to Know about the Good Book but Never Learned by Kenneth C. Davis.

The title is kind of lame, but it's a really informative book.

[Sandra Craft]

So I recently decided to try reading the Bible just to see what the big deal was, and to see how far I could get. Not very far, it turns out. So I've been looking around for some sort of bible guide for the non-believer, which has been a bit of a challenge. I was considering Asimov's guide, though. Anyone here have a suggestion?

It's not a guide but Karen Armstrong's The Bible: a biography gives a lot of historical perspective on how and why the bible was written.  It's very interesting and I found it useful in understanding the bible better.

I didn't even know Asimov wrote a guide, I'm going to have to look that up.  My only suggestion is to stick with it.  The endless begots can be awful boring but also informative -- informed me that the Mormon fundamentalist practice of marrying of nieces to uncles really does have biblical backing.

[Crow]

I have read the KJV bible as well as a few other religious books, my views on the majority of those books now with one exception is "what a waste of time". the time I spent reading those books could have been spent reading more interesting works of literature or doing something more enjoyable, even though a few months ago I would have recommended reading them, now I can honestly say don't bother go do something fun instead with the time you would spend reading/studying them. I once thought it was a good reason to have the knowledge of those books so when conversing with someone of a particular faith you could try understand their reasoning, what I have learned is that their sense of reason is not the same as my own.

[Too Few Lions]

The Bible Unearthed is a really good book on the OT that shows how poorly the biblical narrative stacks up against the archaeology of Israel, and how anomalies in the biblical text give away that it was mainly written in the 7th and 6th Centuries BCE, pretending to depict figures and events centuries earlier.

It doesn't try to explain what any of the mythology means, but it does give you a good timeline of when the OT was written, who the major players were in its creation, and also the larger socio-political world of the Near East at the time that influenced the writers.

[Crow]

The Bible Unearthed is a really good book on the OT that shows how poorly the biblical narrative stacks up against the archaeology of Israel, and how anomalies in the biblical text give away that it was mainly written in the 7th and 6th Centuries BCE, pretending to depict figures and events centuries earlier.

It doesn't try to explain what any of the mythology means, but it does give you a good timeline of when the OT was written, who the major players were in its creation, and also the larger socio-political world of the Near East at the time that influenced the writers.

That book sounds far better and you might actually learn something from reading it. I will check it out.

[Dobermonster]

Watched this Hitchens lecture on the law books of the bible (basically a critique that's also a commentary on the frailty of using it as a source of morality). It might not be exactly what you're looking for, but it's entertaining and might give you some good verses and points to go on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUr_JKFckE4

Just my thoughts - if you're looking to study the Bible as literature, whatever version you go with (KJV would be my preference), you'll want a guide that studies it from the original Greek (not quite the original language, but the oldest) and Hebrew to get the purest understanding of its meaning.

[Recusant]

Like Gawen, I've read through the Bible twice, and have devoted a bit of study to selected portions of it, though I can tell from reading his posts here that I haven't put the work into it that he has! (By the way, Gawen, I haven't totally forgotten about your "Are you sure God does not exist?" thread; I've done some work on a critique of the OP, though I already know it'll be inadequate.) I agree with his analysis of the situation from an atheist perspective; it's a tall order. I also agree to some extent with what some others have said: for many people it's really a waste of time.

Since others have suggested different books which give interesting approaches to the Bible, I thought I'd throw out a suggestion of my own: God: A Biography, by Jack Miles. An informative, but also very entertaining read, in which Miles looks at the development of YHVH as a literary character through the Tanakh only.

[Too Few Lions]

The Bible Unearthed is a really good book on the OT that shows how poorly the biblical narrative stacks up against the archaeology of Israel, and how anomalies in the biblical text give away that it was mainly written in the 7th and 6th Centuries BCE, pretending to depict figures and events centuries earlier.

That book sounds far better and you might actually learn something from reading it. I will check it out.

It's well worth reading Crow, I've been rereading it over the past few days and was thinking of starting a few threads  based on it. Archaeology has shown Yahweh to just be a minor western semitic deity, and the Old Testament to be mostly a mythical creation of the late monarchy, exile and post-exilic age (7th-5th centuries BCE). And once you destroy Yahweh and the OT, I think you take away the foundation upon which the gods of Christianity and Islam are built.

[Gawen]

I have read the KJV bible as well as a few other religious books, my views on the majority of those books now with one exception is "what a waste of time". the time I spent reading those books could have been spent reading more interesting works of literature or doing something more enjoyable, even though a few months ago I would have recommended reading them, now I can honestly say don't bother go do something fun instead with the time you would spend reading/studying them. I once thought it was a good reason to have the knowledge of those books so when conversing with someone of a particular faith you could try understand their reasoning, what I have learned is that their sense of reason is not the same as my own.

Well, some of us DO enjoy reading the Bible. And just because I can spend 45 minutes researching the Bible today (just read parts of Deuteronomy) doesn't mean I can't also read parts of "Jutland" tonight before I go to sleep.

[Gawen]

And once you destroy Yahweh and the OT, I think you take away the foundation upon which the gods of Christianity and Islam are built.

That!

[Gawen]

I just lost my train of thought!!! Don'tcha just hate that? *muddle through...adlib, dammit*

So I go back to the OP...

So I recently decided to try reading the Bible just to see what the big deal was, and to see how far I could get. Not very far, it turns out.

I reckon your first problem was equating "Bible study" with "to see how far you could get." I doesn't work that way. I have not yet personally met a Christian that has read the entire Bible with the exception of a couple ministers. Vast sections are completely boring. We cannot see through the completely male dominated, misogynistic, superstitious eyes and minds of those that wrote the Bible. Context can be misleading, mistranslations, fatal flaws, contradictions, etc., etc., etc. will knock you around. But you will find very few of these without some sort of help. Even on this very discussion board an atheist told me I had taken verse out of context! (when it was made clear I did not), so you see, believers will tell other believers they are wrong and the same from time to time with nonbelievers. Even atheist Mythical Jesus believers are at odds with those atheists that think Jesus existed.

A few weeks ago, a coworker exclaims to me he's going to read the Bible. He never even got to the "begots"...*chucklin*. You need help. There are some very fine books out there, some already spoken of in this thread. There are hundreds of websites; just do a google search of "atheist Bible study" and you'll find some. I say "atheist" bible study because I've found that many of those sites are more interested in critical study without the bias a local church would call "bible study". We are not just wanting to know the meaning of something Paul or Jesus said. We want to know if Paul or Jesus really said such a thing - is it an interpolation, mistranslation, etc. That is what many call Biblical criticism.

And youtube has some extremely intelligent Biblical criticism and critical biblical history videos. Critical Biblical study is monumental - emphasis on the mental. It's not for everyone. I dare say very few people will put in the time and effort...and believe me when I tell you (Recusant gives me great praise and I appreciate it) I scarcely scratch the surface in comparison to those published writers, youtubers and (in recent years I have learnt most from) critical biblical hobbyist on websites and other discussion boards.

[Crow]

Gawen have you ever thought about applying your critical thinking to the Koran as well as the bible, I would certainly be interested to hear some of your thoughts on that.

[Gawen]

Gawen have you ever thought about applying your critical thinking to the Koran as well as the bible, I would certainly be interested to hear some of your thoughts on that.

Thought about it from time to time. I've read bits and pieces of the Koran, usually when some sort of idiocy or contradiction comes to light. But since I live in the U.S., Christinanity (not a typo) stays to the forefront. Honestly, I don't even have or could tell you who to read about it. I'll have to rectify that some day.