Why do Atheists think that the bible is meant to be taken literally and not allegorically?

Why do Atheists think that the bible is meant to be taken literally and not allegorically?

Oh wait, that might actually require them to do some actual thinking instead of paraphrasing people on Leddit who paraphrase Richard Dawkins.

Maybe because the book claims to be the absolute word of God and gives no indication that it isn't literal?

Ok which one is which and why.

>the book needs to tell me it's not historical
Do you believe Lord of the Rings really happened?

Do you believe that anything in the Bible really happened? The book would have you believe every word. Also, LOTR and the Bible are similar works of fiction to you?

Its also funny how the bible and other religious texts became more and more metaphorical the more we learned about science.

I suppose the existence of god is also metaphorical?

The idea of the bible being metaphorical isn't a recent development you dingus.

>implying butt plugs are new
>ignoring the thousands of years old egyptian and chinese/japanese dildos made of ivory & jade
>forgetting the spanish inquisition's metal buttplug that spreads via screw and smashes your pelvic bone from the inside out

I thought liberals would be more up-to-date with their homo butt knowledge.

The Bible is not meant to be taken literally. It is meant to share real events in history, and for you to learn from them and apply their lessons and teachings in real life. The Bible is meant for you to think, not for it to think for you.

because some of us were forced to go to extremely shitty schools or churches that literally teach the bible word for word.

The southern baptist school i was forced to go to, taught us that what we read is fact and we need to obey it as such.
I'm now an edgy athiest because of all the shit i had to go through

we were also taught things like
>hurricane katrina was because of all the sin in that city
>the earth is 5000 years old at MOST (most teachers didnt even believe the world was at a minimum 6K years old)
>any music that isnt a hymn is literally satanic
>you MUST tell everyone about jesus even if they tell you to go away
>the KJV is the only true version of the bible yet we cannot tell you why because you wouldn't understand

i had a "bible class" every single day, and forced chappels every monday and thursday

we got detention for even saying "harry potter", along with pokemon, yugioh, beyblades, etc etc.

you could also get expelled for any of the following
>going to the movie theather because no one honestly knows if you went to see the R of PG movie
>willingly watching the movie "The golden compass"
>going to any music concert/festivle
>not cutting your hair to the proper length
>"personal displays of affection"
>being gay

what pisses me off the most is that my parents never even go to church or show any kind of ability of being christians
people were not born to hate christians

they learned to hate

really makes you think...

How am I supposed to take the great flood figurativly?

>Why do Atheists think that the bible is meant to be taken literally and not allegorically?

Because theists constantly insist on it

Ungrateful bastards, this is the thanks we get for trying to save you from a life of sin and degeneracy?

40% of Americans think the Earth is 6,000 years old.

Huh, maybe God is a metaphor for science/physics/etc as a whole.
>Created the universe
>Created life
>Influences everything

The Bible has to be taken literally or the whole thing breaks down.
If there's no original sin, or deluge, then Jesus is full of shit and the entire premise of the ransom is null.

Because christfags take it literally up until its not convenient

>had a preacher that kept stating the world was going to be destroyed by 2010 and we need to repent
>even went on the whole bannana rant
>scaring little kids into believing in a mythical sky being

just go fuck yourself

Oh no, that part is literal. It's just some other parts that are metaphors. You know, the crazy nonsense parts

>video-recording was invented more than 1k years ago

It is my belief that the Bible was written to be understood for people thousands of years ago. Can you imagine if they were really given the knowledge of how the universe works, atoms, physics, ecetera? So they told them in metaphors instead, so that it could be better comprehended, and the lesson and teachings of the Bible can last for eternity as their meanings will never lose their significance. That is just my view of how the Bible was written and it's impact on people today.

stop. the bible uses just about every rhetorical device ever invented. Some parts are clearly meant to be taken literal, others allegorical and still others are poetic, simile, metaphor, irony, etc, etc. You have to be pretty dense not to grasp the context.

where does it say that? God makes claim on his word. Most of the bible is not quotes from god, so the entire Bible cannot be his word, it contains his word if you believe that.

People have to understand that the most extreme "teachings" that people spread are not from the Bible, it is the person's interpretation of the Bible.

>Why do Atheists think that the bible is meant to be taken literally and not allegorically?

Because the majority of Christians I've met do.

So you're saying Jesus didn't really exist and it's just a made up story to teach us a lesson?

OK. THANKS! THAT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING.

>the existence of god is also metaphorical?
The true red pill. 'God' is allegory for the love, empathy, and generative spirit we should approach our lives with. An abstract platonic form of perfection and good to hold within our minds rather than an extant being. "God" is the vehicle of generative growth and love only insofar as we our "his" free acting agents living in according with "his" example. Sadly most religious folks seem to act like children with no personal responsibility for their own ethical dilemmas, no universal love and empathy, and no will to generate good in the world. God isn't some father in the sky that will sort it all out; we are all collectively "god's" good will on this earth. Jesus Christ is a model of this "god out of the man". Not a king or a figure to be worshiped but a man to follow by example.

There is no evidence that most of the bullshit in the bible ever happened though. For example, the (((Jews))) were supposedly in the desert for 40 years yet there is not ONE shred of archaeological evidence for that. No pottery fragments, nothing.

The bible is the ultimate Jewish lie and you are stupid for not knowing that.

If you go by the Pauline letters alone this is more or less the case.

>Expects to be loved for forcing bullshit on people

Kill Yourself

You sleezy kike....faggot ass cancer

Did you pull that claim out of your ass or Richard D's ass?

You know, this is kinda true. If you ever bothered to read what jesus himself says in the bible, and then read what the church interprets into it - well, the difference is pretty big. And many "important rules", are made according to what his apostels wrote while expanding their sphere of influence, but opposes jesus' own teachings.

Paul's even more literal than Jesus. Most of the early church conservatism is squarely from him (no homos, no women in positions of authority) although some of it was ignored (Paul was anti formal hierarchy, as is the early part of Revelation)

BASED LEAF KNOWS ALL

To the extent of my knowledge the Bible makes no such claim. It DOES state that it is inspired by God, but never the direct word of God, as far as I know.

God has not spoken to man in a way that is visible to all in nearly 2000 years

It's hard for people to still believe he's real

However, just because you never met your father does not mean that you never had one

I don't know that a nomadic people would leave much evidence behind that someone would stumble accross it thousands of years later and positively say, "This belonged to them!". It would be the ultimate needle in a haystack.

Something interesting is the Old Testament does make references to locations/landmarks that can "still be seen to this day". Which you can assume must have been there as of it's writing but are probably long gone now. Point being, the historical events that were discussed in the Old Testament were already aged by the time they were documented. What are the chances the were chronicled accurately? Probably pretty slim, but that doesn't mean there isn't something to take away from them.

I say, if someone took the time to write something down, it's worth my consideration; especially something that has withstood the test of time the way the Bible has.

Both are allegories with religious undertones. One is more widespread than the other. The fact that you are having difficulties comprehending this proves OPs point.

The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.

St Augustine published some of the earliest statements regarding biblical liberalism (as in don't do it) back in the 400s. Explicit biblical literalism came out of fundie dipshits in Canada in the 1800s. It is a comparatively new phenomena.

But expecting an atheist to be anything other than laughably ignorant on this topic is a bit of a stretch I guess.