You, Me, and the Bible

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There’s You.

There’s Me.

And there’s the Bible.

You believe the Bible. You believe it is God’s Word. You believe it is inspired, inerrant, infallible, and supernatural.

I don’t.

You believe the Bible is God’s divine road map.

I don’t.

You believe the Bible is God’s moral and ethical rule book.

I don’t.

You believe the Bible gives us everything we need for this life.

I don’t.

You believe the Bible is truth.

I don’t.

You believe the Bible is the rule by which we are to measure all things.

I don’t.

You assume everyone thinks like you.

I don’t.

When you quote the Bible to me, please remember what I have written here.

I know what the Bible says.

I know Christian theology

I can quote the Bible.

In fact, I have likely read and studied the Bible more than ninety-nine percent of American Christians. My rejection of the Bible is not due to a lack of knowledge or understanding.

I am more than happy to talk to you about what the text of the Bible says.

I am more than happy to talk to you about theology.

But, please remember this is an academic exercise for me.

I don’t have your beliefs about faith, God, the Holy Spirit, and the afterlife.

What faith requires, I do not have.

I am a permanent resident of Missouri.

Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

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Comments

7 responses to “You, Me, and the Bible”

July 10, 2020

paaniinnet

yes,it is the truth of god’words.

Reply
July 10, 2020

BJW

Yeah. It really shakes people up that there are people who are agnostic, atheist, or non-Christian around here.

Reply
July 10, 2020

Dorothy Putz

My personal addition:

You make correlations (of God’s handiwork).
I don’t.

Reply
July 10, 2020

ObstacleChick

My husband and I were discussing yesterday that if so many people didn’t think of the bible as a holy book supposedly written by a deity, they would admit how horrible some of the content is, and the fact that much of it is beyond boring. Most evangelicals must not even read the whole bible or else they wouldn’t try to force it on school age kids.

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July 10, 2020

missimontana

A science text, written in the past 10 years, thoroughly researched and peer reviewed: rejected as secular or a tool of Satan.
The Bible, written by mostly unknown authors about a time they never saw. Based on old legends and myths. Most of it disproven by science and archeology. Most values taught are cruel and outdated. Theologists and various denominations cannot agree on interpretations or even which version should be used for study. But, it’s the perfect Word of God!
That’s not faith. It’s willful ignorance.

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July 12, 2020

Barbara L. Jackson

Is there anything in the bible about respecting and living around an “other” group who differs from the bible group? Not necessarily what evangelicals think but in the actual text? I realize there are many discontinuities in the bible text since it actually was probably written by many people over a long time. I always think about the good samaritan text in this view. It would be good to know these texts also so they could be used as examples when people argue with me about my agnosticism.

Thank you

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July 12, 2020

Brian Vanderlip

Well. Luke is a fine instance, I’d guess. You know the verse about loving God with all your heart and mind and soul? And then, after you have committed to deluding yourself, then (it continues), and love your neighbor as yourself.
Now please explain to me how I can do my neighbor any good at all when my self-love is total abdication and worship of a fantasy being? But this is what Christians do: They embrace Christianity and then want to force everybody else to be happy just like them and in fact, they should get the ultimate reward for hating others as they do themselves. Perhaps I’m missing something? Luke makes me cringe.

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