How can I convince someone to read the Bible?
I've got a little situation here.
There's this girl in my class, and she's really amazing! She's funny, pretty, smart, and all the other positive things a human could be, I guess.
But there's only one "problem": She's strongly devoted to God.
I asked her politely if she would like to read the Bible, just to show her that God really isn't that much of a great guy, but she just refuses to read the Bible. She says that she doesn't need some silly book to know her God is the only god and that he is allknowing, allpowerfull, etc...
But I really want her to "get to know" the God she's admiring so much. I want to convince her that he is a massmurderer, rapist, violence-loving kind of....man/woman/thing/beast, and not the loving God she thinks she knows.
What is the best way to convince her, without forcing her, of course?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ken Sorce on -
Maybe you can ask her if she likes to hear jokes. If she says yes, well you can tell her the bible is full of them and she might get a good laugh or two or 3,000. She sounds though like she might already know that most of the bible is crap and she just wants to sense god in her own way. Which is kind of like us atheists. We know the bible is crap and find our god as we see fit. What a wonderful world it could be if there were no bibles. Only theists who believe based on there own feelings and atheists who don't believe based on there's. No book to screw people's heads up.
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Permalink Reply by Jon Heim on -
how then does she know about her god? if she tells you about how he communicates with her, get her to understand that it doesn't make sense, and that there are other explanations.
dont worry about it man...if she is that devout, there is no way she will let you shake her beliefs. if you like her as a friend, you might as well just accept the fact that she will not change, as long as she accepts the fact that you wont either.
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Permalink Reply by Ava Wilson on -
How is she a real believer if she won't read the Bible? She isn't, by definition, even worshiping the same God as other Christians if that's true because she doesn't know what she's really worshiping. She's worshiping the notion of a God she's heard about.
Get a new female friend. Such a stubbornly religious mind is an indicator she's difficult in personality in general, even if you haven't seen it yet.
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Permalink Reply by Claudia Mercedes Mazzucco on -
Ah, this raises an interesting issue: how, indeed, do we know God? Is it through the mediation of scripture?
The mystics of Islam suggest that neither scripture nor The Cultus are necessary for a direct, personal knowledge of, and familiarity with, God. Those of us who are not mystics, however, would caution against the slippery slope of egostical subjectivism that becomes a real danger when not tied to something beyond ourselves, such as The Church or The Scriptures.
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Permalink Reply by David Kenneth Craggs on -
Ask her nicely why she thinks that everyone's own idea of god is conveiniently attributed with their attitudes towards on particular moral issues and values. Then ask her if she reckons she is doing the same. Explain that that's what people have done throughout the ages with regards to their own deities.
After that, humourously refer to the fact that when there is a storm, even chimpanzees can be seen snapping off branches and brandishing them at the sky... behaviour only seen in aggresion towards other chimps.
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Permalink Reply by Dustin on -
She isn't admiring God. She is admiring Jesus.
i went through the same thing with a friend of mine. She and I would hook up IN HER CHURCH, and then she would accuse me of taking 'advantage' of her.
She was pathetically devoted to Christ. Told me I would burn in hell, and whatnot. Then the same night she'd be in my bed.
When I finally got around to discussing the bible, and showing her passages from the O.T. (cause you know, the horny little christian girl apparently never read the O.T.), well ...
She began accepting that slavery was morally acceptable, and that dashing babies heads against rocks were acceptable if God commanded it ... and that God OBVIOUSLY (Duh!) had a higher purpose.
That's when I stopped speaking to her.
This girl sounds hopeless. Honestly brother, I'd give it up. Use the head that is above your shoulders to think with, not below.
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Permalink Reply by Cara Coleen on -
I would have to agree...
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Permalink Reply by Cara Coleen on
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People usually only lose their faith on their own. She doesn't want to NOT believe her god is good, so she's certainly not going to research it further if researching threatens the image she has in her mind.
In a way I agree that she doesn't need "some silly book to know her god is the only god (etc)"; if there were a god, he really wouldn't have to communicate through the Bible. She can believe that the god she believes in the THE god yet not really the god of the Bible. Of course, she shouldn't call herself a Christian if this is the case. And maybe, instead of trying to paint Yaweh as evil, you could subtly suggest she believes in another god entirely, or that what she believes is more on par with something like Buddhism (or Taoism, or whatever). Be more POSITIVE in your approach; don't try to take something away from her or make her favorite imaginary friend out to be an asshole. Just help redefine WHICH god she believes in, and that may set her down a path of exploration to find a religion that better suits the characteristics "her" god exhibits.
Very few suddenly realize the god they claim to believe in is evil. It's a process that requires intellectual honesty, which is not something she seems to have at this point. You've got to be patient; you've got to accept she may not EVER believe any differently than she does because she doesn't WANT to.
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Permalink Reply by Timothy Van Uytfang on -
Well, little update. I asked her to go to Bible study with me and she agreed! So I just hope her eyes will be opened, now. Thanks , everyone. :)
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Permalink Reply by Dustin on
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Bible study? LoL, all they are going to teach are the pretty stories.
Unless you get a REALLY good one, in which actually you may find some non christians are there as well ... people who actually want to STUDY the bible, not just be retold the 10% of the bible of which is 'somewhat' morally acceptable.
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Permalink Reply by Timothy Van Uytfang on
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Well, there ARE atheists in that study, so I don't think they'll only tell us the pretty stories. :p
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Permalink Reply by Aliqs Suguitan on -
Why does her god be in the bible? Why do we have to fight only with the god of the bible? Can you not fight her god wherever it may have come from? Are you afraid to fight her god if it is not the god of the bible?
Let her explain the attributes of her god and why she thinks that way. Then explain the illogic of her thinking without using the bible, and without getting illogical yourself.
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