More Statements Every Bible Believer Must Agree With

For my definition of “Bible believer,” please see my first post in this series here: https://voluntaryjapan.com/2023/04/24/statements-every-bible-believer-must-agree-with/

Without further ado, here are even more statements every Bible believer must agree with, which result in big problems for proponents of the faith.

1. It is wrong to pray long prayers like “Gentiles”. In this verse (Matthew 6:7) Jesus directly admonishes his followers: “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do…” for the Christians that take issue with the translation of the Greek “ethnikoi,” please see here: https://biblehub.com/matthew/6-7.htm#lexicon. The term clearly means “non-Jews” or “other ethnic group.” Even if one rejects this clear definition, Jesus still says it is wrong to pray any other way than his concise “Our Father, who art in heaven…” prayer.

2. We must pray long prayers that are not the “Lord’s Prayer”. In fact, Christians should pray all the time. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 states: “Pray without ceasing”. Is the author unaware of what the Christ figure said earlier? Jesus said very clearly, in Matthew 6:8, “Don’t be like them [the Gentiles praying incessantly]. Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

3. It is okay for Christians to have slaves. Ephesians 6:9, a verse written supposedly after Christ’s “new covenant,” says nothing about slavery being immoral, but simply encourages those who own other humans to treat them nice. Surely an all-loving, all-knowing god outside of time would have made a little note somewhere that slavery is indeed wrong. If there’s any doubt that Yahweh, Paul, and Jesus are cool with owning humans, have a look at the multiple other verses about it (point #6 in the first post in this series).

4. Disabilities and diseases are sometimes shameful things caused by demons or unclean spirits, or Yahweh himself, and are not just natural disorders or the results of trauma and abuse. Luke 13:11,12 Luke 11:14 Mark 9:25 Leviticus 21:16-23. Very interestingly, in 2 Samuel 12:15, God “strikes” King David’s infant son with a deadly illness because of David’s affair which caused the child to be conceived. The Bible emphasizes elsewhere that God DOES NOT punish sons for the sins of their fathers! (See points 12 and 13 on the previous post in this series).

5. Human beings are sinful from birth/conception. Psalm 51:5 Ephesians 2:3

6. Human beings ARE NOT sinful from birth/conception. Romans 9:11 Deuteronomy 1:39

7. God punishes people (“whips” and “scourges” and kills them) for sin even after Jesus supposedly took all their sins away. Hebrews 12:6 Acts 5:1-10

8. Anything you ask for in faith you will receive! Matthew 21:22 Mark 11:20-23 Matthew 18:19-20 James 5:15 These verses are hard proof that Jesus, and the Bible itself, are liars. Many sick people have been prayed for in faith and not been healed. It’s a fact. So the promises given by the Jesus character and the author of James are bullshit. Technically, we should be able to ask for anything if we believe enough, like a Ferrari or 20 million dollars, according to Biblical logic. But the Christian god cannot even grant earnest prayers about people’s health or dire needs even though the book makes such promises.

9. The Old Testament law is still in effect and you should mutilate your body if it helps you obey it. Jesus said it himself. Matthew 5:17-19 Matthew 16:27 Some folks will argue that the Jesus character here is just trying to illustrate how impossible it is to get into heaven by relying on our own righteousness, as it were. But this is an extra-biblical assumption. No such caveat is made even after advising people to dismember themselves to stay pure in chapter 5, verses 29 and 30 and also again in Matthew 18:8 and 9! People have actually done this, by the way — maimed and dismembered themselves to avoid “sin.” Surely an all-knowing, all-loving “Son of God” would have foreseen such things coming and mentioned he was speaking metaphorically. But, he didn’t. Again and again it is clear the Christ character is modeled after the myriad Galilean insurrectionist radicals of the time. Even more dismemberment is encouraged in Matthew 19:12, where Jesus addresses self-castration for the sake of “the kingdom.” Jesus could not make it more clear:

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 18He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 20The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

10. Humans can live inside whales/large fish for three days. Jonah 1:17 Matthew 12:40 Spoiler: No they fucking can’t. Of course, the Christian will say “all things are possible with god.” Okay, whatever.

11. Donkeys and serpents can talk. Numbers 22:28 Genesis 3:1 Sorry, no, they can’t. That is, unless one is under the influence of some drug, or in an otherwise altered mental state. Again, the Christian will say: “God opened the donkey’s mouth!” But this is just more baseless circular appealing to the supposed miracles of the fairytale. I could make up my own fairytale, too, and appeal to it, but none of you lot would accept that as evidence. So you are in a position of self-contradiction.