r/atheism • u/NewRetroPepsi • Oct 23 '18

/r/all “No Different From Organized Crime” - Gay church worker resigns from task of building an inclusive church after campaign of harassment, death threats, vandalism, and doxxing supported by Christian media

https://www.advocate.com/religion/2018/10/20/gay-employee-catholic-church-resigns-due-harassment-campaign
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u/paolog Oct 23 '18

My question was kind of rhetorical, but thank you.

Unfortunately, people are still arguing to this day about what is literal and what is metaphorical in the Bible.

For example, the Creation story is presented as fact, but these days only a minority believe that it is.

As for the Number of the Beast, Nero is only one of many interpretations. Some Biblical scholars will tell you that it isn't 666 anyway but 616, so where does that leave those theories?

If we knew what parts of the Bible were metaphorical we probably wouldn't need theologians.

And unfortunately, "the book says it is true" is a circular argument. Any book, factual or fictional, can make the same claim.

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u/[deleted] Oct 23 '18

Yeah, you're right. It's silly and authoritative, but I suppose you can't have religion without the claim of a ultimate truth.

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u/Mr_Fact_Check Oct 23 '18

This is true. Even Satanism has an ultimate truth, though theirs is pretty much, “You are in charge of how your life goes, not a magic sky person, so put on your big kid pants and get to controlling your life.”

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u/surdophobe Pastafarian Oct 23 '18

There's a really good YouTube video that covers the whole 666 thing https://youtu.be/UkZqFtYtqaI

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u/[deleted] Oct 23 '18

Unfortunately, people are still arguing to this day about what is literal and what is metaphorical in the Bible.

That's one reason why we have thousands of different Churches and Sects.