Question to Atheists

[Geckonidae]

"Geckonidae"
I bring up the stories of the Ark and Exodus specifically because I really know very little of what your bible actually contains. These happen to be two stories that I'm sure everyone is familiar with, and they seem totally implausible to me. The logistics of just don't work out unless you wave your hands and say God did it, magic, end of story.

So I'll ask again, and maybe someone less stubborn will answer. Are these two stories factual accounts, or are they allegories?

"OREZ"
I can be pretty damned stubborn alright but I can't tell you the answer to that. That's for you to think about... if you're interested... or not. I don't really think that it's the most important thing, actually. I wouldn't get hung up on it.

So you have this book with all the answers, and some of the stories might be factual/allegories/total BS or something in between, but I have to read it and figure out what it means to me personally and not worry about what (if anything) is actually true? Is that basically what it boils down to?

Do you not have a belief one way or the other with respect to the accuracy of these stories? If Noah's Ark was meant to be an allegory, why would it be so specific about the exact size of the boat, among other details? What about Genesis. Do you believe that the world was literally created in 6 days? Do you believe that a snake spoke to Eve or that Eve was made from one of Adam's ribs?

If some stories are allegories and others are historically accurate, does the bible provide any clue to tell the reader which is which? No matter how you slice it, there seem to be an awful lot of people in either camp who are incredibly wrong. Same book, totally different conclusions. That doesn't sound like a trustworthy source of information to me.

[Hmmm]

That's hilarious! This is an online discussion board...people jump into conversations...that's how it's done. If you have a problem with that, perhaps you should take a look at the topic of the original post. "Question to Atheists" Are you an atheist? Were you invited to join the discussion, or did you just jump in?

Whats hilarious is you thinking you can jump into a conversation, change the current topic and demand an answer. I have no issue with you or anyone jumping in, like you said, its a public forum. The point was, don't expect people to jump on your off topic question and than get funny about it when you don't get an answer.

As far the the OP topic goes, I don't know when or where it was derailed, but it was a long time ago, like every thread in this section. You can also ask what you asked, but don't start getting weird when you don't get an answer.,

I for one don't want to start discussing yet another topic that will illicit even more rushed, copy/paste google searches and than posted as facts.

[1nick]

[Geckonidae]

I for one don't want to start discussing yet another topic that will illicit even more rushed, copy/paste google searches and than posted as facts.

Are you suggesting that you would need to copy/paste information from Google searches to tell me if the Bible is a trustworthy source of information? That's just sad.

[OREZ]

So you have this book with all the answers, and some of the stories might be factual/allegories/total BS or something in between, but I have to read it and figure out what it means to me personally…

Yeah, pretty much – I know it sounds like a lot of work. What do you suggest? Perhaps you could absorb it by osmosis?

Do you not have a belief one way or the other with respect to the accuracy of these stories? If Noah's Ark was meant to be an allegory, why would it be so specific about the exact size of the boat, among other details? What about Genesis. Do you believe that the world was literally created in 6 days? Do you believe that a snake spoke to Eve or that Eve was made from one of Adam's ribs?

These are not bad questions… but why are you so adamant to know how I interpret them? I’m not asking you to share my beliefs - I’ve already expressed that its better if you form your own. What does any of this have to do with me? This is not my thread and its a long ways from the original topic.

If some stories are allegories and others are historically accurate, does the bible provide any clue to tell the reader which is which? No matter how you slice it, there seem to be an awful lot of people in either camp who are incredibly wrong. Same book, totally different conclusions. That doesn't sound like a trustworthy source of information to me.

Well there you go then. You’ve already come to your conclusion and saved yourself hours and hours of reading. Why not just be satisfied with that?
I suspect that the real reason behind your questioning is to provoke some sort of predictably, self-righteous and ignorant “christian” response which you could then ridicule but I hope I’m wrong. There's really nothing to be gained by asking questions for that reason. Nothing worthwhile anyways.

[Geckonidae]

And this is the reason why my dad left the Roman Catholic Church. Questions are bad and scary, just read the bible again and maybe you'll understand. You still have questions? Oh, just read it again.

I could read the Bible 100 times over, and it still won't provide me with any evidence to suggest that the stories are anything but complete fiction. This isn't just a book of moral codes and metaphors. There are claims that this book is historically accurate, including events that seem impossible unless you invoke magic. There are claims that this book contains prophecies that have come true. What I'm asking for is any clear evidence to suggest that this book is a trustworthy source of information.

Say you met someone who had never heard of the Bible or Christianity. You give them a Bible and tell them it's the word of your God. They ask "How do I know this book isn't a actually a book of fairy tales, how do I know any of this is true?"

How do you answer that guy OREZ or Hmmm? I realize you don't want to give me a straight answer...you see me as a hostile atheist trying to trap you with arguments I Googled or something. (I'm not BTW). So forget about me...I'm clearly too lazy to read your book. How do you convince that guy who has never heard of the Bible, that the Bible is a trustworthy source of information? How were you convinced?