Do Atheists know how to read the bible?

I know how to read quite well.

The second most popular book in history is the Sayings of Chairman Mao. It's been around for a much shorter time, so I think if you consider sales by year it's much more popular. Does that mean that it contains eternal truth? Does it mean that it came from heaven? Should people use it as a guide to life because of its astounding value? Or does it just mean that a large group of people considers it a necessary thing to have in the house, therefore accounting for large sales volume?

The Upanishads have been around quite a bit longer than the Bible and are still read in many languages. Guess what that means.

Oh, by the way, the Bible says that the earth will never pass away:

Psalm 104:5

Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.

Ecclessiastes 1:4

One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

Oops.

This question is ludicrous. Many Atheists were brought up Catholic or Protestant, which is why they became Atheists in the first place. The Bible is filled with commands to slaughter every living thing in a conquered city. It commands people to wreck pagan temples and shrines (no religious tolerance here). It tells fairy tales like Joshua stopping the Sun. If this event had ocurred, consider this: The Earth rotates on her axis at about 26,000 miles per hour. Like a speeding automobile coming to an abrut halt, everything in it is still travelling at the same speed, so everything goes hurtling forward. I mention this because the movement of the Sun is actually the movement of the Earth around the Sun. Stopping either the Earths rotation or revolution would have caused all the oceans of the Earth to go hurtling East, probably even over high mountains. It would also have caused Earth splitting earthquakes. Since none of this happened, ever, the story is mythology.

The question should not be Why don't Atheists know how to read the Bible, but Why can't bible thumpers learn the simplest facts of science?

"Atheists say the bible is a fairy tale and lies, if that were so why is the bible the best selling book of history?? It is an international book with different languages and so many people read it!"

---- Then Harry Potter must be true or Don Quixote.

"Throughout history, people have discredit, insult, burn, spit, trample it under foot....and in fact, Christians literally have gotten tortured, arrested, even killed for carry the bible! Yet after thousands of years, the bible is still HERE making changes of our lives!"

----- Throughout history, scientists and non-believers (till this day and age) are tortured, insulted, discredited, burned, etc, etc, etc. Think Galileo perhaps and who ended up being right?

"NO OTHER BOOK HAS ever endured such event and still exist. Unless the bible came from Heaven, it wouldn't last this long! "

----- You clearly show your lack of education. Please refer to: Instructions of Shuruppak, Epic of Etana, Pyramid Texts, Code of Urukagina, Palermo Stone, The Wisdom of Ptah-Hotep, En-hedu-ana’s Hymns, The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Code of Ur-Nammu, or the Coffin Texts to name a few.

"Jesus said this 2000 years ago and it is still being fulfilled today. . . Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” Isaiah 40:8, Matthew 24:35"

-----So does literature, music, arts, etc. and other texts. Again, lack of education.

"Do Atheists even know how to read??" ---- Yes. That's why a lot of us hold PhD's.

"If the bible was nothing but a fairy tale, do you think it would last this long!?!?" -----Please refer to other texts and literature. Again, lack of proper education.

Such brain you have, a waste really. Guess your parents procreated you when they were really tired and hungry...

Have you ever checked out the Amazon Top 100 Books? It is based on actual sales on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/best-sellers-books-Amazon/zg...

Notice that the bible is not in there at all. Sure, there are a few religious books but the bible itself is not there. So, it is not the best selling book on Amazon.

Now, look at Barnes and Noble top 100. Also based on actual sales.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/Bestseller-Books/3...

Not there either. Hmmm. Maybe you ought to consider the idea of the bible being a best selling book. Sure, if you look at all of the purchases done by groups so they can hand them out or leave them in places it can up the amount that the book is sold but in actual individual sales it is not popular at all.

Now, if you carefully read the bible and pay attention to it you will find that it is loaded with inconsistencies and errors. Most christians ignore these and those who do not generally make up explanations for them like calling them translation errors or something like that.

As for the "NO OTHER BOOK HAS ever endured such event and still exist. Unless the bible came from Heaven, it wouldn't last this long! ". That statement is just a fabrication on your part. You cannot find anything to back up your beliefs so you just make up stuff. It is very possible for the bible to survive history because of the the meaning that some people have placed on it. However, that does not mean the book itself is magical in any shape or form. In fact, if you look in history you can see where it has been edited and even funnier are the examples of some of the typos that have popped up in bibles. Check out the Sinner's Bible as an example.

First, a piece of historical fact. For most of those 2000 years, the Bible was the only book people ever saw. And, you can track the rise in humanism in past centuries to the rise in literacy and atheism in the last few decades to the rise in information technology.

Second, have you ever watched the Oscar's and been amazed that some crappy movie won? Or the Grammys? Emmys? Often, the winner is something that is popular, while better, more thoughtful entries lose, or are sometimes not even nominated. And, how common it is that the movies, TV shows, and songs that are really innovative remain part of the zeitgeist, while the winners become forgotten, or sometimes dated anachronisms. Your 'popular' Bible is a data anachronism. Welcome to the new world.

The reason we atheists believe people buy the bible is simply because a large chunk of the population is theist and therefore believes it important to have a bible. this explains why it is frequently sold.

The reason this book has lasted so long is not because it came from heaven, it lives on because of those who believed in it. If it were not for those people nobody would have cared to keep it. there is no holy thing keeping the book alive, just the people.

Didn't god or something promise an apocalypse how many years ago? he is trying to kill us all, why would you believe in such a crazy thing? XD its been years! we are supposed to be dead now!

Yes, we can read. Darwin could read. like I explained above it depends on what you believe. I am thinking with the head my mama (not god) gave meh!

and here's something for you thiests to think about, if god created man all perfect, then is athieism one of his flaws in creation? no, cause he made us perfect. think about it.

How about this question, do Christians know how to read the Bible better than atheists?

For the most part, I pray it is so. When I consider this though who needs the Bible more?

I think anyone can learn from a book full of words to live by. Even if the person may not repent of sins and become forgiven and walk with our savior Jesus Christ.

Yes an atheists can read the Bible and I hope they do this often.

And your proof that Jesus said those words are in a video, right? Seriously, a book written 2,000 years ago by a bunch of doped up wanna be writers is just no proof at all. There are hundreds of contradictions in the bible. It has resulted in numerous different religions, each one claiming to be the true religion. It encourages persecution, violence, discrimination and racism. People who claim to be worshippers are the most judgmental people that I have met. Not to mention that they lack tolerance. Sorry, I just can't believe a book that is supposed to about a loving deity but instead has created so much division and violence in this world.

Appeal to popularity is illogical. "The Da Vinci Code" was a best-seller as well, and it is absurd "gou pi". The Vedas and Upanishads of India, the "Tao Te Ching" and "Analects" of China have been in existence much longer than the Bible that did not appear until the 4th Century C.E. By your bad reasoning, Hinduism, taoism and Confucianism are much more true than Christianity, because they have existed much longer. You are "hoist upon you own petard!" Jesus never existed, and he did not actually predict anything correctly. he said he would return while some people hearing his sermons were still alive. They were fictional characters who would have all been dead nearly 2000 years by now, if they has actually existed, so he was quite wrong. We atheists can read much better than Christians can. Would the Vedas and Upanishads last much longer than the Bible if they were fairy tales? Your own flawed reasoning says Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism and other religions are more valid than Christianity, because their holy books have lasted much longer than the Bible has.

Ive learn the bible in many instances, from begin to conclude. I have got to say despite the fact that it does not make me consider a reference to God/Jesus/Jehovah so I bet I learn it with out perception in it, despite the fact that first of all as I was once christened a RC it was once a valuable "software" to again up RE courses. Now I am older and wiser I can see that extracts that have been used have been taken out of context, however I nonetheless do not fully grasp how any one might worship a person that was once side of a global in which toddlers have been killed and different matters equivalent to genocide , treachery, and so on.... Why compliment a character like that? We do not compliment the Al Queida can we?