God vs. other storybook characters
Okay... so far, the only "evidence" I have ever been able to get from a theist for the existence of God is the Bible says that God is real, therefore, God is real.
Okay... let me make a demonstration to theists. This demonstration will show exactly how rediculous the claim of the reality of God on this basis really is.
First of all let's get something out of the way...
We have to know what you're talking about before we can take your claims seriously. So...
First...
What is the Bible?
You may say "the word of God" but that really has no meaning. What is it LITERALLY.
Well, lets take a look at that.
Bible comes from the latin root "Biblio" which means "Book." So, the Bible is a book. If you pick one up off a library shelf that will become obvious to anyone.
So, what is this book comprised of? A quick scan will reveal that the Bible is comprised of many stories. I.e the Bible is a storybook.
Let's consider the implications of your "evidence."
Okay... so a storybook says that a character named "God" is real... therefore he is real.
Okay... so if God is real because a storybook says so... let me propose this:
Harry Potter, Edward Cullen, and Alice [the fictional Alice in Wonderland, thanks Galen for correcting that.] are real. So are Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, and Aslan.
Now I can already hear the next thing out of your mouth: "You're insane." But I would say, "Why?"
NOTHING that happens in these books is any more fantastic than the events depicted in the Bible.
Harry Potter can do magic? Jesus can do miracles that look a lot like magic.
Edward Cullen is a vampire? Well, I hate to burst your bubble but Jesus rose from the dead too.
Alice went into an impossible world with strange creatures that don't exist? Well, the bible mentions Giants and Unicorns... do those exist? What about sea monsters like the levathion? Or 7-headed monsters ridden by prostitutes? Do those exist?
Aslan is a talking animal and those don't exist? Well what about the talking snake in the Bible? Does that not exist either?
Okay, so your next argument is probably "Well, those books had authors that admitted that they wrote them, so they were written by humans." Well... how about this... The Bible had human authors that are unknown but ALSO human editors that decided what went in and what went out. And the authors and editors have been confirmed! Try again! You still haven't convinced me that Harry Potter, Frodo, and Aslan don't exist.
You may say next... "Well, the Bible is not supposed to be taken literally."
Okay then... can you present us with an instruction manual written by it's authors that tells exactly how to interpret it right? No?
Well how interesting!
Tags: Book, Storybook, a, bible, character, fiction, god, is
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by elaine kilshaw on -
Thank you for more ammunition for me to face my religious friends. Straight to he point as usual and so, so true. So why can't these questions be asked in schools all over the World, as I believe our young people have so much more information than ever I did, and question more..
I have been saying for some time that if in a few thousand years time, someone digs up a Harry Potter book they can then start a new religion,
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Permalink Reply by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on -
as I believe our young people have so much more information than ever I did, and question more..
Knowledge is the eternal enemy of revealed-truth religion.
The upsurge in scientific advances and the sharing of these scientific advances will most likely explain the recent spike in the number of people abandoning organized religion.
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Permalink Reply by Bruce Williams on -
That is truly a good comparison.
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Permalink Reply by James on -
I've been thinking the same thing for a while now. But very good blog. Sadly, this logic will rarely work on the illogical, but it should certainly make the 'fence-sitters' think.
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Permalink Reply by Galen on -
Just to be a nitpicker...
...and Alice [from Alice in Wonderland] are real...
She was. The character of Alice was based entirely on a real little girl that the author knew and loved. Alice Liddell.
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Permalink Reply by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on
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Thank you for the correction Galen [always want to keep my facts strait]. I attempted to rectify this by revising this phrase to and Alice [the fictional Alice in Wonderland, thanks Galen for correcting that.] are real.
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Permalink Reply by Christopher McGuire on -
That's a rather fun way of looking at it. I kinda like this argument. I'll try it as soon as I am able.
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Permalink Reply by ZachsMind on -
...the bible mentions unicorns?
Giants. Okay. Genesis. I'm right there with ya. But I don't recall unicorns in the bible.
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Permalink Reply by Mario Rodgers on -
"9Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?
10Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
11Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?
12Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?"
From Job 39.
A Bible apologist website describes the unicorn as possibly being an extinct rhino called Elasmotherium and uses that as ammunition to explain the Bible's "truthfulness". However this is utter crap because the Elasmotherium was an Ice Age animal that died out around 125,000 BCE, many millennia before even the Wooly Mammoth. It wouldn't have seen anything remotely resembling the modern animals boarded onto Noah's Ark.
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Permalink Reply by ZachsMind on
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ah. ok. thanks for the heads up. There now I know more about the bible as an atheist than I did as a theist. yay. lol
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Permalink Reply by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on
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Find all kinds of rediculous bible nonsense at this site:
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/
Bonus! It's written in the King James Version!
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Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on -
I was kind of hoping, based on the title, that this was going to be a cage match. Like a Jesus vs. Gandalf UFC match.
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