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 The 17th century painting Judith Beheading Holofernes, by Artemisia Gentileschi, depicts a biblical scene.
February 25th, 2012
10:00 PM ET
My Take: Stop sugarcoating the Bible
By Steven James, Special to CNN (CNN) - The Bible is a gritty book. Very raw. Very real. It deals with people just like us, just as needy and screwed up as we are, encountering a God who would rather die than spend eternity without them. Yet despite that, it seems like Christians are uncomfortable with how earthy the Bible really is. They feel the need to tidy up God. For example, look in any modern translation of Isaiah 64:6, and you’ll find that, to a holy God, even our most righteous acts are like “filthy rags.” The original language doesn’t say “filthy rags”; it says “menstrual rags.” But that sounds a little too crass, so let’s just call them filthy instead. And let’s not talk so much about Jesus being naked on the cross, and let’s pretend Paul said that he considered his good deeds “a pile of garbage” in Philippians 3:8 rather than a pile of crap, as the Greek would more accurately be translated. And let’s definitely not mention the six times in the Old Testament that the Jewish writers referred to Gentile men as those who “pisseth against the wall.” (At least the King James Version got that one right.) CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories The point? God’s message was not meant to be run through some arbitrary, holier-than-thou politeness filter. He intended the Bible to speak to people where they’re at, caught up in the stark reality of life on a fractured planet. Dozens of Psalms are complaints and heart-wrenching cries of despair to God, not holy-sounding, reverently worded soliloquies. Take Psalm 77:1-3: “I cry out to God; yes, I shout. Oh, that God would listen to me! When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted. I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help” (New Living Translation). And rather than shy away from difficult and painful topics, the Old Testament includes vivid descriptions of murder, cannibalism, witchcraft, dismemberment, torture, rape, idolatry, erotic sex and animal sacrifice. According to St. Paul, those stories were written as examples and warnings for us (1 Corinthians 10:11). So obviously they were meant to be retold without editing out all the things we don’t consider nice or agreeable. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter I believe that Scripture includes such graphic material to show how far we, as a race, have fallen and how far God was willing to come to rescue us from ourselves. God is much more interested in honesty than pietism. And that’s what he gives us throughout Scripture, telling the stories of people who struggled with the same issues, questions and temptations we face today. Peter struggled with doubt, and we hear all about it. Elijah dealt with depression; Naomi raged with bitterness against God; Hannah struggled for years under the burden of her unanswered prayers. David had an affair and then arranged to have his lover’s husband killed. Noah was a drunk, Abraham a liar, Moses a murderer. Job came to a place where he found it necessary to make a covenant with his eyes not to lust after young girls (Job 31:1). It’s easy to make “Bible heroes” (as Protestants might say) or “saints” (as Catholics might refer to them) out to be bigger than life, immune from the temptations that everyone faces. I find it encouraging that Jesus never came across as pietistic. In fact, he was never accused of being too religious; instead he partied so much that he was accused of being a drunkard and a glutton (Matthew 11:19). Jesus never said, “The Kingdom of God is like a church service that goes on and on forever and never ends.” He said the kingdom was like a homecoming celebration, a wedding, a party, a feast to which all are invited. This idea was too radical for the religious leaders of his day. They were more concerned about etiquette, manners, traditions and religious rituals than about partying with Jesus. And that’s why they missed out. That’s why we miss out. According to Jesus, the truly spiritual life is one marked by freedom rather than compulsion (John 8:36), love rather than ritual (Mark 12:30-33) and peace rather than guilt (John 14:27). Jesus saves us from the dry, dusty duties of religion and frees us to cut loose and celebrate. I don’t believe we’ll ever recognize our need for the light until we’ve seen the depth of the darkness. So God wasn’t afraid to get down and dirty with us about life and temptation and forgiveness. And grace. Only when the Bible seems relevant to us (which it is), only when the characters seem real to us (which they were), only then will the message of redemption become personal for us (which it was always meant to be). We don’t need to edit God. We need to let him be the author of our new lives. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Steven James. soundoff (5,744 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Editor's note: Steven James is the author of more than 30 books, including 
No other topic on the face of this Earth gets more "critiics"than God and The Bible. So there is this;
There are millions of humans that are just "fruity" and no brains,hearts or souls to believe in such "nonsense"
or there are millions of people that are in a heap-o-trouble that don't.
The scary thing is that God does not and refuses to "force" anyone to believe. He is the Good Shepherd and leads people
not drive or force them
Some "good" shepherd ya got yourself there, not. Which animal did you you should sacrifice and burn an animal today to please your "god", like the bible demands of you very explicitly? Apparently the smell of flesh burning makes your sicko Christian sky fairy happy. No, you don't get to use the parts for food. You burn them, a complete waste of the poor animal.
Yes, the bible really says that, everyone. Yes, it's in Leviticus, look it up. Yes, Jesus purportedly said that the OT commands still apply. No exceptions. But even if you think the OT was god's mistaken first go around, you have to ask why a perfect, loving enti-ty would ever put such horrid instructions in there. If you think rationally at all, that is.
So get out your sacrificial knife or your nasty sky creature will torture you eternally. Or just take a closer look at your foolish supersti-tions, understand that they are just silly, and toss them into the dustbin with all the rest of the gods that man has created.
Please, stop referencing that Christian book of nasty, AKA the bible, as a guide to, well, anything.
Ask the questions. Break the chains. Be free of religion in 2012.
http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/
@Bob
Bob, you're getting nowhere with Old Testament animal sacrifices. Christians don't do these things and its a thing of the past, even with God. God required it for a while as a means of having his people honor him and to make atonement for their sins. It wasn't because God loved to have animals killed just for the sake of killing them and burning them as you try to portray it. The animals had value to the average Hebrew and as such were a sacrifice of their own personal wealth, and these animals were an offering to God, and the sacrifice was a symbol of respect towards God.
Later, Jesus Christ became the atoning sacrifice for the sins of mankind, and it is the son of God that has offered himself, once and for all, as the final sacrifice, to visibly demonstrate his love and respect for God the father, and all of humanity.
"Christian Faith", your comment is bogus. Why would a god need to sacrifice anything? Your whole Jeebus story stinks of B-S.
godlife.com
that sounds kind of...wrong.
Posted this as a reply to a post a few pages back then realized it would probably never be seen. I always enjoy RESPECTFUL discussion on relgion vs science, so I'm just going to repost, so sorry for the redundancy if you've seen this already.
I'll start off by saying I'm a scientist (DNA analyst) that would claim to be agnostic for reasons that will remain my own. I agree with NVRWRNG that something needs to be proven before it can be disproven. Everything begins as a theory, that theory is rigorously tested, and if nothing disproves that theory, it is generally accepted as truth. Ignoring that, I'll play Hispanic Man's game and offer what I consider to be evidence of evolution and science as opposed to creationism.
First, some background info in as plain of terms as I can come up with. Everybody has two copies of every gene in the DNA sequence, one from your mother, one from your father. Assuming Adam and Eve were what we call heterozygous (have different copies of each gene, as opposed to the same copy twice), there are four total versions of any gene. In DNA, we have seen many more than 4 possible versions of a gene. Genetic mutations can account for some of this, but I highly doubt mutations alone can account for the genetic diversity that is seen in todays population (mutation rates exist, but I'm too tired to look them up and do the math to have the numbers to back this claim up, so for now I will just state this is my opinion).
Similarly, there is a DNA profile used in forensics called the Y-STR profile. This stands for Y-chromosome short-tandem-repeat. The Y chromosome is only found in men, and as such it does not change when passed from father to son (since women have no Y chromosome, they can't pass any of this along). If we were all descendants of Adam, we would all have the same Y-STR profile. In reality, there are several thousand Y-STR profiles, and I again think that genetic mutations cannot account for that much diversity.
I won't say this proves one argument over another. I am simply offering this as support that at least the Adam and Eve portion of the bible is not entirely accurate.
i hope you will choose yeshua. when money well dries up and your on a mountain stuck in the ice, you need Christ. at end of day everythign can be taken from us due to evil one. Jesus loves you and wishes you to be saved. may Lord give you dreams of Himself. amen
Most bible scholars don't take the Adam and Eve thing seriously, (literally). It was hijacked from other Near East mythology. Not only is your an'alysis unnecessary, but Quantum Physics and Cosmology have made it totally implausible.
awww i hope you get saved sir. i know scientisst that are saved.
An Interesting comment, Scientist. Perhaps the scientific evidence is no wholly conclusive to the point of total certainty. The thing that I've always appreciated about science is that it questions its own findings. We are now, for instance finding that a pillar of physics — that nothing can go faster than the speed of light — appears to be smashed by an oddball subatomic particle that has apparently made a giant end run around Albert Einstein’s theories.
Scientists at the world’s largest physics lab on Thursday said they have clocked neutrinos traveling faster than light. That’s something that according to Einstein’s 1905 special theory of relativity — the famous E (equals) mc2 equation — just doesn’t happen.
Is science flawless? Is mankind flawless? Perhaps we should proceed with caution when considering the merits of science as being wholly indisputable.[And I do love and appreciate science, by the way]
@Christian Faith – the faulty cable has been located that was causing the erroneous reading. There are still no confirmations of superluminal particles.
The bible is a load of garbage. I do agree with the article that people need to actually read the bible for what it actually is. A collection of ridiculous stories calling completely evil acts good. It shows "god" as a complete idiot incapable of doing anything right the first time, being a pathological liar and the most evil monster of the entire fairy tale. Contradictions and impossibilities, events presented as fact that never happened, and complete fabrications about the world as it actually is. It's a book of fiction nothing more. Like the Iliad except someone forgot to tell people that it was.
Yes, and why this is not clear to more people is beyond me. But I guess if you start indoctrinating little children very early many of them end up believing the delusion is real.
The Bible can hardly be reduced to simply being called fiction and nothing more. To say that their are absolutely no facts or truths in the Bible whatsoever is to make a sweeping statement about the character of the Bible that is easily proven wrong and is absolutely lacking of serious intellectual reality.
The Bible doesn't need to be sugar-coated or artificially sweetened. The unabridged and unadulterated truth is useful just as it is, and it is submitted in the pages of the Bible, without apology, and without need for apology.
The beauty of the Bible is that it shows the raw image of humanity as it really is, and it graphically illustrates the tragedy of sin, and the resulting chaos and suffering that ungodliness has long brought to humanity ever since it was introduced to this world. The Bible demonstrates the utter hopelessness and unfailing depravity of mankind when it is willfully separated from God by lawlessness and disobedience.
The Bible makes the case for the superior practicality and necessity for God's system of order versus the alternative system of order: because, In the absence of an abiding spirit of love and compassion, there is a natural human inclination towards destruction and disorder of every kind. If you need any examples of this, read the news on any given day, and you will quickly see that the present order of this world is hanging by a thin strand of a thread, and that the government of mankind is one day soon coming to an unfortunate end of its own making.
The beauty of the Bible is that God allows you to kill your children for disobeying you, kill your daughter for sleeping with her high school boyfriend, go to the next city over, kill everyone in it, take a hot chick back, shave her head and if you don't like her in bed, dump her on the streets. Slaves are not just legal, but encouraged, polygamy is a beautiful thing, and retarded people aren't allowed in church. I'm surprised there are more people rushing to join.
Here ya go....Yahweh Sabaoth, the "lord of hosts", or better translated, the "god of the armies".
......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlnnWbkMlbg
So, "... Faith" have you sacrificed and burned an animal today just as the bible demands? Apparently the smell makes your sicko Christian sky fairy happy. No, you don't get to use the parts for food. You burn them, a complete waste of the poor animal.
Yes, the bible really says that, everyone. Yes, it's in Leviticus, look it up. Yes, Jesus purportedly said that the OT commands still apply. No exceptions. But even if you think the OT was god's mistaken first go around, you have to ask why a perfect, loving enti-ty would ever put such horrid instructions in there. If you think rationally at all, that is.
So get out your sacrificial knife or your nasty sky creature will torture you eternally. Or just take a closer look at your foolish supersti-tions, understand that they are just silly, and toss them into the dustbin with all the rest of the gods that man has created.
Please, stop referencing that Christian book of nasty, AKA the bible, as a guide to, well, anything.
Ask the questions. Break the chains. Be free of religion in 2012.
http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/
@Bob
"So, "... Faith" have you sacrificed and burned an animal today just as the bible demands? Apparently the smell makes your sicko Christian sky fairy happy. No, you don't get to use the parts for food. You burn them, a complete waste of the poor animal."
Some of you may have noticed that Christians do not any longer burn or sacrifice animals to make atonement for their sins, and that this system of Biblical tradition was long ago done away with by the SELF-sacrifice of the son of God, Jesus Christ.
This is God. Please don't make fun of me anymore. I just can't take it. And by the way, yes, my real name is "God."
Go stuff it, God. 🙂
i reported you. have more respect for Lord.
I thought your real name was El. Or one of the hundred other gods that eventually got rolled into what became Yahweh, Jealous, Jehovah, Allah, or any other composite.
God doesn't stuff it. God stuffs YOU!
Someone, don't forget, I know your name. And have reported you. To myself.
Correction Eric, it was El Shaddai. Then I realized El Shaddai means "the breasted one," and I changed my name.
God, this is Lord. Please tell someone to knock it off!
@Someone: You cannot report to any higher authority than Gawd, aka, Da Lawd, so shut up or Gawd might send a thunderbolt your way.
i reported you and i know your name
you are very disrepectful and acting in bully spirit saying God wants to smite peopel and all this junk and that is disrepectful. stop being abully. i am standing for yeshua so you dont keep saying bad things about him
"Anderson Cooper, etc." Tell me then, what is my name?
Isn't it funny how their god can be used to threaten, but not to heal?
Four holy men stood at the base of a holy mountain, each standing in one of the four directions; N, S, E & W. Each holy man then declared he was the one that truly understood the truth and that his view of the mountain was the only true view. And to this day they are still arguing about who is right.
They may not be right, but one of them's definitely Left.
You're right! Or maybe I"m right, or am I left of you...
It's so confusing...
godlife.com
Lawdie, lawdie, praise Jeezez.
wow this chat has gotten really weird. time for cnn to set up login user names.
i dont like when you say bad things about God. so offensive. name of Yeshua is so precious. so offensive and bullying. for real.
Many of these people are simply lost in their own world of sadness and confusion, Book of Ruth, and they are striking out against the very God and savior that loves and cares for them. The Apostle Paul was once such a hater of Christians. I do pray that God will make some of these haters into apostles as well. With God, all things are truly possible.
I enjoyed Steven's article, and it's right on the money.
God is "revised" on a daily basis in order to serve what suits our immediate needs, and whatever our society accepts as the "spiritual flavor of the month." When people change or interpret the Bible to what has now become a politically correct CYA club in the name of tolerance, then it's a sad reminder of how many of us fall so terribly short from His glory.
If only god could people from misusing his word. It's almost like the bible is just another myth book like all the other "holy texts."
You make a very good point, Sal. Some people have distorted God's word to their own ends. But this has been done from the beginning, and without success in obstructing God's ultimate purpose.
Yet, God remains true and faithful to those that sincerely seek him with all their heart. And to those that care to know him as he truly is, God reaches out and reveals the truth to them, planting it firmly in their heart, by such a faith that can't be shaken or distorted by any man, or by any means. You will know the truth, and it will indeed set you free.
Hmm.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2105714/Secret-14million-Bible-Jesus-predicts-coming-Prophet-Muhammad-unearthed-Turkey.html#ixzz1nRDuztyc
Keep on your state of Denial;
Secret £14million Bible in which 'Jesus predicts coming of Prophet Muhammad' unearthed in Turkey
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2105714/Secret-14million-Bible-Jesus-predicts-coming-Prophet-Muhammad-unearthed-Turkey.html
Vatican 'wants to see' 1,500-year-old ancient script
Has been hidden by Turkish state for 12 years
Handwritten in gold-lettered Aramaic
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:14 PM on 24th February 2012
A secret Bible in which Jesus is believed to predict the coming of the Prophet Muhammad to Earth has sparked serious interest from the Vatican.
Pope Benedict XVI is claimed to want to see the 1,500-year-old book, which many say is the Gospel of Barnabas, that has been hidden by the Turkish state for the last 12 years.
The £14million handwritten gold lettered tome, penned in Jesus' native Aramaic language, is said to contain his early teachings and a prediction of the Prophet's coming.
I declared that God does not exist. And there was no one up at that late hour of the night to refute me.
Yawn... I guess because they are waiting for your proof of your declaration.
Mark,
You can't prove there is no 1957 Chevy orbiting Pluto.
God Is Imaginary! If you all realize that, the world be a better place!
God exists regardless of your or any other declaration. Its truly amusing and astounding to imagine how people blindly suppose that the vast complexity and infinite order of this entire universe just came about ever so randomly.
>>>"You can't prove there is no 1957 Chevy orbiting Pluto."
I do not remember making such a declaration, but our friend here stated that he made a declaration and wondered why no one challenged him, so I figured that he was going to post proof of his declaration.
Actually, Its truly amusing and astounding to imagine how people blindly suppose that the vast complexity and infinite order of this entire universe just came about by some mythological creature that no one since 1,400 BCE has seen or heard from (other than lunatics), so, perhaps THAT'S saying something, right there.
Wow this got a lot of comments. Very good points made by Steven. The criticisms of the article and the Bible are from those that I can have never spent time researching out its origin. These do not impress or have an inpact on someone who has taken the time (years) to look into both sides of the arguments.
English! Please
@ Jeff,
No. I believed in the bible and studied for almost 50 years. I am an atheist BECAUSE of what the bible says.
A freakin MEN!!! As a Christian, doubt has visited me many times. Somehow, God always brings me back. I declared from my lips that Jesus was my Savior and now He wont let me go no matter how much doubt I have. I can't explain it and if you don't except Christ as your Savior you wont get it. It took me years to get to here and here can be very dark at times, but with a hope that is unexplainable and a Holy Spirit that does not give up on us.
“Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”
― Oscar Wilde
That future is Jesus Christ!
I can say the exact same thing, but later I started having doubts when the good and bad in my life were affected by MY doings. I never saw any evidence of a god existing so I simply said "I'm open to believe if you present some evidence to me, but until that time, I'll rely on myself for guidance." I guess god didn't care to let me go, and that was over 15 years ago.
be filled with SPirit.
godlife.com
As I see, you have written "except" instead of "accept". It is clear that you must be a religious person. Have fun with that!
Overly religious people are produced by one or more of the following causes:
1) Ignorance. 2) Foolishness. 3) Illness (physical or mental). 4) Severe trauma, usually during their childhood or early youth. 5) Pure evil. 6) Other diverse genetic factors, for which they cannot be held reponsible. 7) Acceptance of limiting paradigms, due to historic and geographic constraints. And that's all!
I have to agree with you Liqmaticus, and I have also had doubts, and intellectual bouts with the Bible that challenged me to question its authenticity and authority, yet I found that faith is nevertheless a very real and powerful force greater than intellectualism and human deduction. Faith, and God, are neither a simple placebo or a delusional fairy tale, because the living God is able to miraculously transform the lives and hearts of people in such a manner that is undeniable and otherwise unexplained and unexpected, and it is the power of this living God that has created a vast and complex universe of intricate order.
If your completely wrong about everything you just said, does it matter? No. It still brings you happyness...
give freedom to be able to give opinion but dont be a bully or hurt the Lord and his name. Dont say bad things about christ! we stand for him and this is christianity. if you dont like it it will be reported if you say bad htings about God.
I second that. We will report it to God. Surely you will feel his WWWRRRAAATHHH!!!! (2 Kings 1:10)
reported. why say bad things about God. we dont say bad things about your name or you. Dont cuss please
Reported right back atcha bro! By "we" do you refer to many within one, or many individuals?
Your 'god' is a weak god. A fake god.
Prophets Adam, Abraham, Noah, Aaron, Jesus, Moses, David, Jacob Solomon were all righteous men. – excerpt from Quran !!!!!!!!!!
Too bad you missed the part where Jesus declared himself the Son of God and that He is the ONLY way to His Father's kingdom. Jesus IS the ONLY way and Jesus made this VERY clear.
Liqmaticus .. well if Jesus said it about himself then It MUST be true!! I'm going to have to try that myself!
Liqmaticus,, so that's all I have to say to be special..
What did you think they were going to say that Jesus said ? Using the babble to support the babble is CIRCULAR !
Well, A Belief is all you can ever have. When you consider that Josephus, Philo-Judæus, Seneca, Pliny the Elder, Arrian, Petronius, Dion Pruseus, Paterculus, Suetonius, Juvenal, Martial, Persius, Plutarch, Pliny the Younger, Tacitus, Justus of Tiberius, Apollonius, Quintilian, Lucanus, Epictetus, Hermogones, Silius Italicus, Statius, Ptolemy, Appian, Phlegon, Phædrus, Valerius Maximus, Lucian, Pausanias, Florus Lucius, Quintius Curtius, Aulus Gellius, Dio Chrysostom, Columella, Valerius Flaccus, Damis, Favorinus, Lysias, Pomponius Mela, Appion of Alexandria, and Theon of Smyrna – every major First and Second Century historian, and not ONE of them wrote a single word of this wondrous Jesus of Nazareth. Isn't that odd, with all of the miraculous claims made about him by his followers?
Its strange that people in America, of all places, should feel so threatened and angry about another person's peaceful beliefs, and especially Christianity, a religion that's obligated to love and to help others. We're not the crusaders or the inquisition of Spain. We're not sacrificing animals in fires or burning witches at a stake. We're people that genuinely care about the welfare of others and often help others in our communities.
The truly sincere Christians among us live their faith in peace with those around them; but like all faiths, we sometimes have those among us that misrepresent us and the sacred ideals of what we profess to aspire to, and this may cause others to dislike us.
Like most people of good will, we want to live in peace with our neighbors, and we genuinely strive to respect those that agree or disagree with us. Perhaps this is a day when many of our neighbors do not any longer wish us well, but we will nevertheless do our best to be good citizens in good standing, even when we are persecuted and hated by those that should otherwise be at peace with us.
Liberace gay take your imaginary friend and stick it up your ass fiction deserves no respect in a modern world
Brian, don't forget to thank your brother George.
Thank you George! :-* :-*
@aguest9: "every major First and Second Century historian, and not ONE of them wrote a single word of this wondrous Jesus of Nazareth."
None of them were Christians, so why would they write about something that was apparently of no interest to them? Besides, Christians were being persecuted and imprisoned at the time in many parts of the Roman Empire and it was hardly safe to be a Christian. I doubt they wrote about Confucius or Buddha, other Gods or faiths of other cultures they had no faith in either. What does your comment really prove any way? It proves nothing but an elusive and baseless argument that has no tyeeth and means absolutely less than zero.
BLOND
I's gwyna repots ANYONE who don't say thank you bahoogahooga Jebus mahalakalahrathiansala wootangnatchanolappaloomie!
To Nick-Why was Mary Magdaline's Gospel not included? Because, if you look at the Gospels, they all revolve around the story of Jesus. Other characters' gospels are not included. It wasn't part of some diabolical plan. Lighten up. =)
It was simple. She was a woman. It was the Bronze Age. Even the "ever-virgin" Mary (with several other children) was considered "just a vessel", and if you consider the wedding at Cana – a nag, as well. M. Magdelene was a harlot by most accounts, and the wife of Jesus, by others. What chance did she stand?
Scientist:
Just a thought bout your comment. God speaks into existence the Heavens and the Earth and Created man from the red dirt from the ground He does not need all the "mumble-jumble" that scientist have labled things. He" takes things that
are not and makes them as they are." Believing in God is not forced on anyone. isn't it strange the amount of posts on this subject?. Can you say that about "atheists?" no because the definition of an atheist is not "One that does not believe in God'..
such as the dictionary says but an atheist is one that REFUSES to believe in God. Big difference.
upon, Merriam-Webster: Definition of ATHEIST
: one who believes that there is no deity
Of course they are going to word it that way. The vast majority of people in the world believe in some god, energy source, etc. The dictionaries are printed by publishers, who stay in business by selling their books. They certainly aren't going to "offend" the majority of their customers to be truthful, are they? Business is business.