I have yet to meet a bible believer who does not beg the question by their very existence.
The reason a bible believer can look at scriptures like those quoted by didgeridoo, and not realize that they depict an evil, sadistic egomaniac of a god, is that they decided at some point to believe that the bible is the word of a loving god first, and after that complete assumption, then and only then did they start to look for evidence that the bible is the word of a loving god. Then, horror of horrors, to make matters worse, to prove the bible is the word of a loving god, they began to look into that book to see if they could use the book in question itself, to prove itself! And from there leads all attempts to make the bible seem like the word of god.
Bible believers are already totally lost, so far in this argument. So, if you are a bible reader just stop now. It'll only give you a headache. Non-bible believers continue for my input on this intriguing thread.
Bible believers are incapable of understanding the point that to prove the bible is the word of god, you must get verification from a disinterested party or at least another source. Of course the bible says that the bible is the word of god. That's a given. I've even had people say, after I asked them to prove that the bible is the word of god, they turned to 2Tim. 3:16 (is it?) All scripture is inspired of god... "You see/ It says right here in god's book that this book is god's book!" (sigh...)
What is happening here is a number of things:
1. The bible believer always uses relatively current science news as a template to judge the bible's validity. The problem with that is that science is constantly changing its stance on things (the light gets brighter I guess.) And the bible always seems to match with what mankind believes he has been able to prove in the absolute sense (undeniable) scientifically speaking (although in many ways bible readers have always been behind the times and out of touch as well as antagonnistic towards the scientific community).
When western european bible readers read the bible, they read that the earth is a circle. So, since nobody in the west had actually encircled the earth yet, to positively disconfirm the flat earth belief, linear 2 dimensinal bible readers thought that the earth was a flat circle. At that time bible readers felt so superior that their god revealed to them the truth about the flat earth, and they felt that that was proof of god's authorship of the bible. "Pagan nations think the earth is a sphere! HAHAHAHAHA. Those primitive pagans do not have the true god. If they did they would know about the flat earth!" (Never mind that most of the pagan planet knew for thousands of years that the earth was a sphere.) Bible readers, who always seem to be a little behind the times, thought that the earth was a flat circle, not a sphere. When the science became incontrovertible and undeniable, bible readers had a revelation! A circle really means a sphere! Now the same scripture used to prove a flat earth for thousands of years proves the earth is a sphere! MY, how convenient. Yet this is the very nature of all the so-called "proof" of the bible's inspiration.
2. Another way bible believers beg the question is that "Belief Came Before Evidence." Most people got their notion of god from their parents. They were raised from infancy to believe in god, and in the bible. Most people never think to scrutinize their religious beliefs or what they were handed down by their parents. In other words, most people do not learn so much about the bible that they are considered bible scholars. Most of their beliefs are just mimicking their parents or other religious leader who may have studied the bible at an advanced level.. most people can't even come close to defending the existence of god or the inspiration of the bible. So their belief is based on complete assumption that their parents and religious leaders are correct about religious matters.
Those few that do study the bible and are considered scholars, still have believed in the sanctity of the bible from long before they ever decided to be expert in all matters biblical. They were convinced of the truth of the bible before they mounted their study of it. at no moment did most bible scholars ever read the bible as if it were just a book. Every single ridiculous, unprovable fact is viewed through "eyes of awe" as if they are reading the book of god himself. Any human inclinations they have to question or doubt are quickly dispatched. At this stage they are experiencing cognitive dissonance (for example, the sun standing still in the sky). They know it is impossible, but since they already made up their minds about the bible, long before they ever could read, or at least before they ever cracked it open, it is either admit that you are wrong, (and you've been wrong all along and maybe there is no god afterall) or come up with a way to explain away all your dissonance. You must save your lifestyle above all, so you dig and scratch and fiddle and pace back and forth and twist and turn and stretch until you finally come up with some rational explanation, (or rational to you. not to other people.)
Their reseach (experiments) is null and void because the outcome was decided before the study even started. You are never going to believe that the bible is false, not because the evidence is or isn't there, but because you can't admit you are wrong, or perhaps you cannot face your own mortality or you cannot face the idea that we might be completely alone in the universe. It's not about evidence at all for the bible believer, it's about faith, the thing they run to cowardly every time they are confronted with disconfirming evidence. Frankly I don't know why there is such a thing as a bible scholar, because it doesn't even matter what the bible says, no matter how ridiculous. You have pre-decided to believe it on faith (whatever that is) and so you will assume the bible is correct if there is any charge of falseness made against it.
A rational person who believes the bible is the infallible word of god, would drop that book in a hot second the moment they find disconfirming evidence of even a single tiny fact. Infallible is infallible right? One mistake, and it isn't infallible anymore. It isn't even true as a book if it has so much as one tiny mistake.
I believe it was snowbird that said even in spite of all disconfirming evidence, she still believes the bible, and then she put a smiley face modicon in the text, trying to be cute I guess. well, it's not cute when an adult refuses to see the obvious disconfirmation of his beliefs and admits openly that even if she were proved wrong she would still believe. that is the height of immaturity and makes for dangerous people that I don't trust personally. There is nothing funny about compliant resignation to ignorance and stupidity.
Because of the preceding facts I just cannot take any bible believer seriously. It's a joke but it is not funny at all. It's terribly sad. For us to evolve we must reject all false holy books. Only then will we be able to actually experience reality in its fullness, as whole receivers of inspiration, all of us.
