Even Agnostics Treat the Scriptures Fairly More than Some Christians

Intersectional dialogue between believers in Christ and unbelievers needs to find a middle ground that isn’t as hostile to the other side of the issue. I realized that sometimes unbelievers have less of a bias than Christians on biblical topics.

Today, I watched someone in the Booktuber space go over his journey in seeking the Bible’s contents and was impressed by his genuine approach.

That it was genuine curiosity stirred away from having a set frame of mind about an issue.

He understood the many references to the Bible within the stories he loves from fantasy authors in a novel way that made my soul light up. While not everyone who writes fantasy is doing it in the style of C.S. Lewis (myself included in most respects), it was a delight to have someone understand why the Bible has shaped history in the way it has.

He even came out of the experience not believing the Bible is trying to teach us about a literal days of creation time period being six days, and YEC (young-earth creationism) viewpoints.

Someone who did not know the depth of the Scriptures came out of it without a preconceived scientific or theological bias and realized hyper-literalism and counting the ages of the patriarchs is a lost cause.

It is refreshing to see how a Bible tourist (not being disparaging here) came to the text.

Jesus isn’t a literal hippie or a wizard, but I get what the conclusion signifies.

Fundamentalists are quick to call people like this out for being vile sinners beguiled by Satan’s fossils (or, you know, God created dinosaurs before mankind) and blackened in the heart.

I wish more biblical creationists of the young-earth variety would come to science with the same respect and care that this individual did to the sacred texts of Christianity and Judaism.

The late Michael Heiser was one such person who helped shape my view on the divine realm of the cosmos beyond our existence in everyday life. He was open to scientific explanations and that the Bible contradicts nothing that science says about existence.

We should all strive to be far more understanding beings toward each other and our differences in philosophy and walks of life.

Sometimes I feel I am quite harsh on Christianity on this site, but seeing as this is not neutral and work-related writing, I’m freer to pull the trigger on some things that I might otherwise avoid.

I am always going to be blunt about topics and theology relating to the Bible. Without preconceived notions, someone with a blunt perspective usually holds to the following ideas:

* The Bible does not teach bigotry toward others, save for acknowledging any other God but Yahweh Himself. There might be other lowercase ‘g’ gods, but they are angelic beings and not worthy of our due worship.

* The Bible does not teach that the world is only 6,000-10,000 years old. You might have an IQ of 70 or less if you believe that.

* We are not currently in the end times, no matter how much you want to make the pieces fit current events. I’ll be the first one to change my tune once the actual end times begin (unless, you know, I’m dead by that time).

* Sin is breaking the Torah’s commandments. Proverbs is not the standard of the Torah, and neither is a prophet’s writings above the Torah. Think of the rest of the Bible as commentary on the Law of God when thinking about sin. The New Testament helps us apply the Torah in the New Covenant of Christ.

* The Bible does not contradict any science that I know of. Whether evolution got us here is not the point of the Scriptures.

* Curse Israel? Get cursed. I didn’t say it. Good luck.

* Atheists can still be moral people. The horror of that statement!

* Scientists might sometimes hate religion, but here we remain (though I’m not religious so much as a follower of Christ). Show them some respect and see how things change.

* We should be kinder to others and better than you might think they deserve, because God Himself has been that way for us. He treats us better than we deserve all the days of our lives.

* If you don’t believe in prophecy or the gift of prophecy, you are not a real Christian.

* If you don’t believe God speaks to us today, you are not a real Christian.

These are a few topics on which I’m quite blunt and set in my dealings with other Christians.

The reason being?

They should know better.

Atheists don’t have a relationship with Yahweh.

You’re supposed to.

Higher standards for the higher calling.

The Bible also says that we who teach on these matters will be judged more harshly. That worries me sometimes, but I press on.

It was refreshing to see an “outsider” come to a fair conclusion from their frame of reference.

Now if only we believers could do the same….

Shalom!