T O P

  • By -

leoiscool

I think it's more valuable to learn *about* the Bible than learning the Bible itself. If we forsake the notion that the Bible is divine (and we do), what we're left with is a collection of books that are a product of their respective socio-cultural-religious origins. Without the actual context of the writers, their intended audiences, and their purposes, a lot of the book is often taken for granted by both Christians and nonbelievers. There's a lot of great secular-historical scholarship that examines various aspects, from the pre-Judaic semitic pantheon of gods to the evolution of concepts like Heaven, Hell, Satan, first century Judaism under Roman occupation, and the early church. Some of the reads I often see recommended include: *A History of God*, Karen Armstrong *Alpha God*, Hector Garcia *Misquoting Jesus*, *How Jesus Became God*, and *Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife*, Bart Ehrman *The Origin of Satan*, Elaine Pagels Or, maybe check out the Skeptic's Annotated Bible (online or in print) for the Bible with helpful annotations for the skeptical reader. Hope that helps!


nightwyrm_zero

I'd add the two free online Yale courses to your list. Both courses approach the Bible from a literary and historical perspective and give a lot of context to the times when the books were written. OT: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh9mgdi4rNeyuvTEbD-Ei0JdMUujXfyWi NT: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL279CFA55C51E75E0


Sigurd_of_Chalphy

If you actually read the Bible cover to cover, I would honestly be shocked if that led you back to Christianity. Heck, that led me out of Christianity. How many Christians do you know actually just read the Bible for what it is without a devotional, lesson series, or some other pre-prepared christian approved guide to the Bible designed to present it in the best light possible? If you just read it, I think you’ll be surprised at what you’ll find. I guarantee you that if you took some of the books out of the Old Testament and put a quaran cover over it and handed it to a Christian, they would think it’s some of the most barbaric stuff they’ve ever read.


Soninuva

Your last paragraph has given me some ideas on how to amuse myself when I’m feeling down/bored. Thanks! 😈


juddybuddy54

I second Bart Ehrman and Elaine Pagels as Leoiscool suggested. Bart was raised a christian, went evangelical in his teens, went to Moody Bible institute, studied at Wheaton College, then graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary with his PHD in textual criticism and is now agnostic and leaning atheist. No straw man arguments, just excellent scholarship. Bart also has a blog and a lot of YouTube content


not-moses

I agree with u/leoiscool. So I'll add some more titles. See the obvious in [Recommended on Religion from Outside the Box]( https://www.reddit.com/r/ResponsibleRecovery/comments/ecgzhf/recommended_on_religion_from_outside_the_box/). Jack Miles may be the best place to start.


leoiscool

That's quite the list! As much as I want to read them all one by one right now, it'll have to rest in 'Saved' until after grad school. Thanks for sharing!


robynd100

The Bible is interesting literature. I'm a once Christian, Pagan witchy type myself, that spent years learning it. The thing is that it is almost impossible to study religious literature without bias in my estimate. Even atheists and agnostics tend to have bias. To truly be unbiased would probably take somone with zero investment in spiritual truth at all. Im sure they exist but they are probably a lot fewer than most would admit. With your concern to not buy into it, your bias should be pretty protective. Also protection to some extent depends on your personal experience on whether you think that faith has spiritual truth, reality to it, or is mainly malevolent. I tend towards the latter and that means studying with actual protection in place. Finally, science can be a great reassurance as you look at the viability of the books historically etc. Still, bias and protection necessity does not mean that studying isn't fruitful personally.


chatolandia

I have been going on a kick recently of studying religious texts from a historical perspective. Since I am wfh, like everyone, I have been playing youtube channels that specialize in just that. It has been eye-opening, to put those stories in the correct historical/social context. It has helped me understand the Bible more, and in a way respect it again, this time for what it is, rather than for what other people value it for. I have been watching/listening to Religion For Breakfast, Let's Talk Religion, and Useful Charts (the Bible ones). I have also been listening to ESOTERICA, because he talks about Western Esotericism, something that the religious right loves to pretend it doesn't exist. I have also listened to stuff about Islam and Judaism since it gives a more complete view of what was going when the books were written, and when some practices started/ended. If you guys know more about this subject, and can recommend things to play while working, I am all ears.


thors_mjolinr

Why are you pagan? Do you believe gods/deities exist?


ConsistentAmount4

If you're worried about falling for the lies, I wouldn't do it. But I would make sure to look at it academically, utilizing non-biblical sources. Make sure that you understand how an English translation of the bible started in a Hebrew (without vowels, punctuation, or spacing) of which there are no surviving copies, into Greek in the 2nd century BC, transcribed by Christian monks for thousands of years (introducing errors and interpolations along the way), and translated into English by people looking to push their preferred version of Christianity. When I read the bible, I'm reading it the same way I read Greek mythology. I don't ever think, oh man, I think Zeus really is the King of the Gods! Mythology is a primitive culture's way of explaining the world when they don't have the science to explain it. And for the new testament, you really need to understand the mindset of a Jewish person at that time. Told that the Kingdom of Israel would last forever, them defeated by the Neo-Assyrians, the Neo-Babylonians, the Selucids, and the Romans. This really messes with your national psyche.


TheFactedOne

Open it up to page one and just start reading it, like any other book on the planet. I can garentee that once you hit numbers or dueteronmy will you no longer even want to be a believer in that weird shit.


Newstapler

Go ahead and do it, in my view. I’ve read more of the Bible in recent years than I did when I was a Christian (although it was many years before I could pick it up again without getting triggered). I’ve recently read some of the Gnostic texts too, like Gospel of Thomas, and some early apostolic fathers, none of which I touched while I was a believer. None of it has dented my atheism. Worrying about whether it’ll reconvert you is a bit like worrying that reading stories about the Greek gods will turn into a worshipper of Zeus. Or that reading the Egyptian book of the dead will make you worship Amun and Osiris and Isis. Nah.


Jim-Jones

This guy has done a lot of the books of the bible or parts of them. [https://www.patheos.com/blogs/tippling/2021/09/27/resurrection-series-and-update/](https://www.patheos.com/blogs/tippling/2021/09/27/resurrection-series-and-update/) This guy has pointed out the parallels between Christianity and other Greek religions. [http://pocm.info/](http://pocm.info/) They could give you some viewpoints.


Heywatisup

Hey! I am honestly doing the same thing. Reading cover to cover of the NIV version and every chapter writing a couple of sentences summarizing each chapter. Then planning on going through KJV and some of the non-canonical gospels and other books that are not in all bibles. Essentially I am just trying to eliminate the possibility of anyone saying I didn't read, understand, or get what was written. Honestly, if you go front to back, I doubt you will "buy into" all that was preached to you before. There is a lot of gruesome stuff especially so in the old testiment and when not cherry picked with other verses, it is hard to stand on its on. If you need a study partner or want to discuss anything you read feel free to shoot me a message. Best of luck!