Growing up, what do you remember hearing or believing about the Bible?

Actually practically everything I heard about the Bible growing up, whether it was from a believer or a skeptic or a non-believer, was incorrect. But I believed that those who were older than I obviously knew what they were talking about, even though each often had conflicting ideas. These ideas had to somehow fit together, right? I mean, these people were "grown-ups" who knew stuff, who were educated. If they acted like they really knew something, then they did, right?

Upon growing up I devoted my educational course to languages and etymology. I took up fields in religious studies, Eastern and Western thought and philosophy. As for Scripture I studied manuscript development, conservative and critical analysis, Protestant and Catholic/Orthodox hermeneutics, along with Jewish conceptual thought, religious history, cults, and some basics in the field of parapsychology. I eventually became a writer in the field of religion.

After four decades of study I look back on what I remember hearing and believing about the Bible. What do I believe now? Am I left skeptical of anything?

What I am skeptical about is society and people and the way so many are so adamant regarding their beliefs about the BIble, regardless if these beliefs are for or against its authenticity. If there is anything I have learned from decades of research it's that there is always more and more to learn and that I will never catch up to grasp the vast plethora of information regarding Scripture that is out there.

But what do I find from the average person, like here in Yahoo! Answers? A lot of self-arrogant egotistical triumphalism, regardless of the position taken. There is little humility or modesty. Everyone is an "expert," each skeptic and each believer has "the truth," and yet few can either ask relevant questions or answer them well enough to pass a basic examination of the subjects they debate in an elementary college-level course.

So what am I really skeptical about? It's people that I'm skeptical of. It's people that I don't trust or believe. I can always check up what I read in Scripture and find at least a definite yes, no, or maybe as to the validity of its words. I can't do that with people.

When I was young, I always believed what I was told. As I grew older, once I became a teenager, I started having doubts. By the age of 19, I was an antichrist. I was angry at God. I was hateful towards Christians. I was also an atheist at one point. I grew up in a Christian home. Once I reached an age where I had the desire and the capacity to think for myself, I started questioning everything.

After a few years of soul searching, I came back to Christendom. I repented of my sins, and I became born again.

I still remain a skeptical person to this day. I take nothing at face value. All things must be questioned. That doesn't necessarily mean that everything is flatly false: it just means that we should be circumspect when considering claims that people make. I also think we should encourage people to question God and the Bible- I just believe that it is better to remain respectful when questioning them. Having deference for sacred things does not, a sycophant, make.

A healthy degree of skepticism can lead to enlightenment. As I said before, I still question things, including the Bible. There's nothing wrong with it. No one should just blindly believe everything that they are told.

EDIT:

I am not saying that my case is typical. I do not believe that we should characterize all atheists as angry and hostile. That is not fair. Most atheists are wonderful people. I am just saying that in my particular case, I was angry at God. I now see the error of my ways, and I love God again.

My grandmother was a fanatic (still is) and she scared with religion. My parents are skeptical Christians who are against organized religion and they never took my to church for this reason. I would as a young child (a sort of "rebellion" against my grandmother) make fun of pictures of Jesus and the whole thought of religion. It was never at the forefront of my mind, and to me it was just something used to keep me in check.

It wasn't until I was eleven that I realized I didn't believe in any of it, and I realized I was an atheist. This was the age I knew god was man-made.

I was a very agreeable kid. I never fully believed any of it, but I pretended to until I thought I did. I pretended that the answers they gave to my questions were enough for me, until they were.

When I started earnestly searching for the truth, all of that smothered disbelief and unanswered questions rose to the surface.

When I was a child i use to believe in stories. Santa and God went out the window together

I believed it, of course. But then I also believed in Santa Claus, boogiemen, fairy princesses, and Cookie Monsters. I have since lost some of my gullibility. Now I only believe in boogiemen and Cookie Monsters.

I believed and I still believe

I completly believed it without a doubt.

I actually believed. That gradually changed.

personally did not believe one word of it