Atheists, are there any parts of the Bible that you find appealing?

I find appealing the story from the New Testament about how Jesus kicked out the money-changers from the Temple in Jerusalem. "You have made my House a hangout for thieves" etc. Now there's a meaningful moral lesson for our times.

Song of Solomon is kinda like soft-porn, but it'd be better if the mythical god parts (there aren't many there, but there are a few) were tossed out.

Some of the translations into English done by the scholars assembled by King James are quite lyrical, especially in Psalms and Proverbs. It's actually a fascinating look at 17th Century English compared with today.

Other than that...not really.

I don't "adhere" to any philosophies, I make up my own mind about things. I like to learn from what other people have thought or written, but following any such thing as "gospel" is pretty silly -- I'm my own unique person.

Peace.

"Atheists, are there any parts of the Bible that you find appealing?"

Sure... the word at the end of Revelation, "amen".

"Do you adhere to any secular philosophies that have a biblical parallel?"

I am a forth generation atheist - I come from a long line of courageous people who had NO need for invisible space chappies.

I live in Australia and there are laws that I live by; if I live by those laws I will remain 'free'; I like being 'free'.

~

The lamb laying down with lion is just so cute and cuddly. But the thing is, I really don't remember seeing much of that in the bible. I would find that most secular philosophies have biblical parallels, how do you think the philosophyies of the bible came to be?

One of the things I like in the Bible was why I got in trouble in Sunday School. When the guards come for Jesus one of the disciples (I think Peter) whips out a sword and chops one of their ears off. I thought that was cool.

I also though the moral of the prodigal son, was that you're better off leaving the religion, have a fun partying life, and then come back. 'Cuz you get a party and the guy who stayed the whole time gets nil.

Basically, I took the Bible in the exact way they didn't want us to. So, I didn't really get much out of it.

I like some of the OT stuff; Psalms, Genesis, etc. I like the stories but dismiss them as allegory -- supreme beings, devils and other fictitious characters never actually existed and unreal events never occurred.

Some of the people mentioned are likely accurate depictions of actual historical figures mixed with creative story telling. The rules it contains are a good base for societal values. Overall a worthy tome; just don't take it too literally...

Many atheists find appealing things in the bible. Those that don't most probably haven't read it or don't want to hear the truth. And killing isn;t justified in the bible. Read carefully.

Read Thomas Jefferson's Bible. His University was left with a simple statement--I will not Lie, Cheat or Steal.

Jesus said some good stuff. There are a lot of passages about why love and caring are good, but that's nothing we couldn't have figured out on our own. It's pretty simple. Adding all that genocide and slavery stuff kinda negated the good part.

Read a Jeffersonian Bible sometime; all the teachings without the dogma and Paulian voodoo and magic acts.

Turns out Jesus was a Buddhist...