Element Christian Church
NRABV* - One: Does the Bible Make Atheists?
Locations & Times
Element Christian Church
4890 Bethany Ln, Santa Maria, CA 93455, USA
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 10:45 AM
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https://linktr.ee/ourelement*without context
Week One: Does the Bible make atheists?
There are some Christians who say that those who don’t believe the Bible or trust in Jesus, “just need to read the Bible,” but what happens if they do read the Bible and it has the opposite effect? Could the Bible make people atheists if they read it cover to cover? Penn Jillete (from Penn and Teller fame) is an atheist and once said, “Reading the Bible is the fast track to atheism.” Instead of being outraged by the comment, we should instead ask what he means and why he said it.
There are many things in the Bible that are hard to understand without a clear cultural context; many Christians even assume the Bible says things that it does not because we fail to understand the context. There are helpful and unhelpful ways to think about approaching Scripture. Improving our Biblical literacy often means taking a look at the narratives throughout Scripture, understanding the cultural context, and considering single verses in the context of the whole passage. God calls us to be able to reason about the faith (the trust) we have. We must take our faith seriously enough to know what is in the Bible and (more importantly) WHY.
· How often do you think people (including Christians) misunderstand the Bible?
· Have you experienced, either with yourself or others, a skepticism toward what is in the Bible?
· What does it mean to you to have faith (trust)?
· How is your faith practiced, and not just informational?
· What is God’s grace, and how do you explain it to others? Do you explain it to others?
· Who in your life needs to hear of God’s grace?