Yeah but if someone thinks a different god than mine made the universe then they deserve to die so I can prove it was actually my god. Religious people for the last 50,000+ years
That’s the difference. Religion has caused more pain and suffering than anything else ever, period, and I’m tired of pretending it hasn’t. More than the Holocaust, more than any non religious war, more than any government. Humanity simply can’t survive unless we leave religion behind.
Protip: Its possible to acknowledge scientific realities without diminishing your religious beliefs. In fact if your religion requires you deny reality it might be a good idea to ask why.
If you’re cherry picking your good book according to modern scientific advancements to the point where your worship is completely heretic from the point of view of a priest from 400 years ago, and would be completely different from the theology of someone like you 400 years from now, it’s time to reevaluate why you’re even bothering in the first place
Is the rest of it even worth trusting
You can’t know and you shouldn’t care
Either live by the whole book the way they used to or drop the book and be normal
Critical bible study does not mean cherry picking in the sense that you ignore certain passages and pretend they don’t exist.
There are more ways of reading the bible than “this is literally 100% word for word what god is saying and unless especially noted a literal depiction of reality.”
Basically read the Bible in the context it was written in to better understand its meaning instead of taking the reactionary approach where you work backwards from what you already believe.
There’s a very similar format in saying 29 in the Gospel of Thomas which is one of the most interesting things in all antiquity IMO:
If the flesh came into being because of spirit, that is a marvel, but if spirit came into being because of the body, that is a marvel of marvels.
Yet I marvel at how this great wealth has come to dwell in this poverty.
For context, this was at a time when there was a major debate in philosophy between intelligent design (Plato, theological circles) and evolution (Epicureans).
While extra-canonical, it’s pretty wild to have a quote being attributed to Jesus that’s not only entertaining but straight up calling the idea of the mind/spirit arising from naturalism as more amazing than arising from intelligent design.
Though its conclusion ends up a bit dissimilar from OP, in finding the mind, not physical embodiment, as the greatest wonder in the universe.
Humility is the only virtue.
Sure but truth matters
