The Bible Says, What?

By Michael L.L. Thompson

With the Bible being the most sold book in history, it is proportionately one of the least read. Only about ten percent of Christians have read the entire Bible. Many take certain social and political stances because of their religious beliefs, but are unaware of what their doctrine actually says about the subject. The Bible Says, What? is for those who believe in everything The Bible teaches, but have never been able to find the time to read it the entire book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael L.L. Thompson
• Release date: Jan 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301080700

Book preview

The Bible Says, What?

Michael L.L. Thompson

Published by Michael L.L. Thompson at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 Michael L.L. Thompson

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This book is dedicated to my childhood friend. I just want you to know that I’m sorry and that you were right. I wish I was able to remember your full name and contact you so I could tell you directly. It may have been an incident when we were pre-teens, but I still feel bad about it.

Table of Contents

Preface

Genesis

Exodus

Numbers

Joshua

Job

Jesus

General Topics

Conclusion

Contact

Preface

Like many people in the Western World, I grew up within a Christian household. I thought God was watching over me and everything would be okay as long as I kept Him in my heart. I never questioned my religion and I truly believed that no one even had the right to question God. He was the all-powerful creator of the entire universe, who were we, insignificant specks of dirt, to question Him? In my eyes, no one had that right. To do so, would be to spit in God’s face and evoke His wrath.

As I grew older and I started talking to fellow Christians my age, I developed my moral codes based upon The Bible. I believed anyone that didn’t believe in God not only would go to Hell, but deserved it. I believed that marriage was between a man and a woman. I believed that humanity wouldn’t even exist without Him and that we were nothing without God. But most importantly, I believed that I knew the truth and anyone that said otherwise was just an idiot or was denying something that was just so obvious. It was as simple as that. Only a fool would believe God didn’t exist or believed in the many false gods that were claimed to exist throughout history.

Eventually I became close friends with a girl in my neighborhood, who seems a lot like me. She and I would have a great time together and it seemed we had a solid friendship. We talked about everything except religion. I, like many others my age at the time, just assumed pretty much everybody believed in God. What reason did I have to think otherwise living in the Bible Belt of America?

One day, she was walking home from the store across the street and became furious as she noticed some local Christians were stopping everyone they came across to spread the good word. Believing everyone had their right to believe whatever they wanted, my friend spoke out against their actions. She argued with them about pushing their beliefs on to others. Curious of her motives, they asked if she believe in God, to which she replied no. They criticized and mocked her for her lack of belief. They told her she was going to Hell if she did not turn from her evil ways and accept Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. In the end, she walked away in tears from her anger and frustration with them.

As she explained what happened, I was shocked to know her beliefs. We had so much in common that it just seemed like it was a given. Probably thinking along the same lines, she came to me when she needed someone to talk to. She thought I would be there for her, but I sided with my fellow Christians.

She then proceeded to talk about several things in the Bible and what Christianity taught that were considered evil. She even said it condoned slavery, the mistreatment of women, as well as other things. I just knew she was lying and I felt like she was not only attacking my religion, but personally attacking me. I was quick to call her a liar and told her that she deserved to burn in Hell.

Today, I too, am an Atheist. How did I reach that conclusion after years of being a fundamentalist Christian? In my late teens, I was browsing through videos on the internet and I came across a man claiming the Bible and God were evil. Completely appalled by his claim, I watched the video to see what lies he was spreading in order to turn people away from their faith. He brought up a handful of topics about the ‘evils’ of the Bible and said where they were located. Noticing they were very similar to the claims my childhood friend made, I quickly looked them up in my Bible to prove him wrong and stop him from blaspheming God’s word. To my surprise, everything he said was true. I looked in all five of my Bibles and saw they all said the same thing. I wondered how I didn’t know about such things for so many years, though I considered myself a Christian. I thought there were just lies non-believers spread to fulfill their agendas, but I was wrong. I still regret not realizing this before my friend and I stopped talking.

It dawned on me, although I always considered myself to be a Christian, I never bothered to even read The Bible! I decided to read the entire Bible and by its end, I no longer wanted any part of Christianity. I felt betrayed. All these years, my church had intentionally misled me from an early age in order to remain Christian. Most of our church leaders know if we actually sat down and studied the Bible, most of us wouldn’t be Christian and they would be out of tax free money.

The purpose of this book is not to deter anyone of their faith. The purpose is to educate those who don’t know what they’re following. If you have never read the entire Bible, but agree with its messages and believe wholeheartedly in Christ, this book is for you. By the end of this book, if you wish to continue following your religion, that is your choice and yours alone, and nobody can take that right away from you.

Genesis

The first book of the Bible is where we get a handful of important stories from the creation of the universe, Earth, and life to the scattering of mankind. There are stories that are commonly known, but also parts some of us are not familiar with.

I’ll go in order through each story as they come up. However some points or similar stories may be found in later places. They will be sited, as will every other verse (from which I’m quoting the Catholic Bible) I use to illustrate a point. I’m also writing it as if it’s all completely true and none of it is allegory. I’m doing this because it’s hard to tell what’s supposed to be just a story and what’s supposed to be history.

Creation

Many of us are somewhat familiar with the creation story. God took six days to create the universe, Earth, all living creatures, and rested on the seventh day. However, when God was creating all of that, His method didn’t add up logically.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth; the earth was waste and void: darkness covered the abyss, and the spirit of God was stirring above the waters. God said Let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good. God separated the light from the darkness, calling the light Day and the darkness Night. And there was evening and morning, the first day. (Genesis 1:1-5)

This is pretty straightforward. There’s something wrong with the first day, but it doesn’t become apparent