I can't even count the time Christians have told people on this board that they don't understand how to interpret certain passages from the bible because they don't believe.

It's also a common suggestion to pour your heart into reading the bible and talking to God because you never know when he'll speak to you. For some people he takes longer than others obv.

I just can't help but laugh at how funny it is that you have the gall to tell people this, when you yourself are so convinced your God is the one true God without ever practicing what you preach with other religions.

Perhaps Islam has it correct, but you will never know because you won't take the next few years of your life to pour yourself into that religion. I mean, without reading through that holy text and speaking to Allah with all your heart, how will you ever see the truth?
Maybe he will speak to you and show you that he is the one true God!

In before "I know my God is the one true God...I can feel it...so I don't need to look elsewhere."

"Let us begin with the specific claim that a given religion is true. There are two problems with arguing this. The first is that as Bertrand Russell pointed out, over a century ago, they can't all be true. I mean given the sheer diversity of religions on offer. Even if we knew that one of them was absolutely true. I mean even if we knew that this was God's multiple choice exam here; is it

A) Christianity,
B) Islam,
C) Judaism,

every believer should expect to wind up in hell purely as a matter of probability. It seems to me this should give religious people pause before they espouse their religious certainties. It never does but it should."

-- Sam Harris

Yeah, it doesn't make any sense at all because (as we know from the threads challenging them to do otherwise) the only evidence they have to support belief is the Bible.

In other words, you must understand the Bible in order to believe. And you must believe in order to understand the Bible.

I am surprised that you jumped on this fallacious bandwagon. Belief in God hardly requires the bible.

But of course Christianity relies on the bible as this is basically a collection of what Christianity is.

As it was pointed out in that thread, asking this of Christians is like me asking you to prove a math theorem without using numbers or letters.

Not the same at all. The math theorem can be proved, but Christianity cannot be proved.

Anywho, when are you going to start your 3-5 year hardcore study of Islam, Jib?

This is not a valid analogy. Letters and numbers are symbols of communication. The bible is a book of stories. They are not at all the same thing.

A proper analogy would be asking someone to prove a math theorem without reference to Principia Mathematica, or some other similar mathematical textbook.

lol didn't take long for it to happen again. flawless victory imo.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/13...hought-422572/

While the OP is pretty inflammatory, I do quite agree that when I hear someone saying someone "needs to be a believer to understand the Bible," it makes me /headdesk every time.

Now, where I'm coming from, it seems like there's quite a bit of ignorance about what the Bible contains, who wrote it, when, and why, among the general population, among both Christians and non-Christian groups.

What makes me *headdesk* is when you end up with a Christian bashing an atheist on their ignorance, when the Christian's ignorance is clearly on display, then justifying it by saying, "but I have faith to cover my ignorance!"

The Bible itself says that faith is good, but it's no excuse to be stupid. (I'm paraphrasing.)

If someone is ignorant, they should be called out on it, regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof. If they are called out, they should educate themselves, leave the conversation, or at least proceed with humility and an open mind.

Just my two cents, of course.

Belief in Christianity does, according to many Christians. Hell, I'd wager many Christians say "true" belief requires the Bible.

So there you go. I need the Bible to understand Christianity. If I also need Christianity to understand the Bible, then I am locked out.

What exactly do you mean by this? What evidence do you have for the existence of the Judeo-Christian God outside of the Bible?