The Pinoy Atheist in Multiply

Recently, I have a very bad conversation with a certain Christian who calls itself “tutti”. I think this fellow really does not have any idea what an atheist is. He keeps giving me Bible verses to prove his point. It is not really a surprise.

Majority of Christians that I have met used the Bible in their argument as if the Bible is the epitome of truth and answers. Well if you think that the Bible is the word of a certain omnipotent, omniscient deity, you will take its word as certainty. Remember, Christian fundamentalism accepts the Bible as a credible source in science and history. If you really like to hear idiotic responses, try talking to a Christian fundy about the Bible.

Opinions about the Bible vary from different atheists, but majority think that biblical criticism is futile. The American Atheist Center even feels that it is demeaning to an atheist to argue with a Fundy over his “holy” book. The problem about Bible topics is that the book is by faith, not reason. Oh sure, a person cannot be swallowed by a fish, yet the Bible said so. Man cannot walk on water, but the Bible said so. Water cannot supernaturally change to wine but the Bible said so. An egg cannot “sit” in a castle wall, but Humpy Dumpy said so. Wolves cannot dress up like Grandma, but Little Red Riding Hood said so. You see when we talk about the Bible, we are entering the Christian fundy’s fantastic realm of gods, angels, demons, messiahs, dungeons and dragons. You cannot win a logical discussion when Peter Pan and the Fairy God Mother confront you.

Then why will a Christian Fundy like “tutti” use its chapters and verses when discussing to an atheist? What is the point? I really do not have the slightest idea why Christian fundies use the Bible to an atheist. Maybe because they think that atheism is also a religion or that an atheist will accept his/her verses because the “holy spirit” is on their side.

A Christian can also use the biblical descriptions of sin and hell. Surely, it will scare an atheist out of his wits. In the first part of tutti’s response, he did not forget of putting sin, salvation and the damnation in hell first. I remember when I am still a Born-Again Christian; I also use a lot of this scary concept to discourage free inquiry in relation to biblical subjects. However, is it effective?

Let me put this straight. Atheists do not sin. Surprised? It is easy to explain. You see, according to Christian belief, sin is the transgression of god’s law. Since an atheist does not believe in the existence of a god, VIOLA! Sin does not exist too. Therefore, what is the point of talking about sins? What is the point of talking about salvation from sin? Moreover, what is the use of the concept of hell? So what is the point of using the Bible to justify your belief to an atheist?

Here is another problem about the Bible. It seems Christians have a divided issue when it comes to Bible interpretation. I am not really in the position to say who the real Christian is or who is not. So let us say, all these Bible fanatics are Christians. According to their belief system, Christians trust the infallibility of the Bible yet it seems there is a big problem in interpreting the book. There is really a wide range of different Bible hermeneutics. For example, suppose I am talking to three Christians belonging to three different Christian sects. Now one person is explaining to me about the trinity. The other two might disagree with him. It might even end as a debate between the three Christians.

Roman Catholic can justify their stones and wooden saints using the Bible, yet fundamentalist Christians can castigate the Roman Catholics for worshipping graven image using the Bible. The Iglesia ni Cristo can wage war of words to Eliseo Soriano’s Church of God, International using the Bible.

Do you know that different Christian sects interpret a single verse like John 1:1 in different ways?

Now what truth and answer shall I derive from that?

If these Christians cannot even reconcile their differences, then why will they expect a heretic like me to take their claim seriously?