Simple answer: Because the holy bible is among the most popular books of all time.
You should also read the holy bible because of the tremendous value (wisdom) that the bible provides to anyone who wants to live an upright life. Why should anyone be opposed to learning the wisdom of Solomon, for example? Atheists (anyone, really) could learn the following from the book of proverbs… Check some of these lessons out from below.
“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching,” “Turn your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,” “Do not be wise in your own eyes,” “Do not envy the violent or choose any of their ways,” “Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers,” “Whoever winks maliciously causes grief, and a chattering fool comes to ruin,” and much more.
The bible is more than proverbs. Ecclesiastes is a bible book about the bottom of the bottom. Its a book about emptiness… life for life sake’s is empty, or money for money’s sake is empty, as well. It’s about how vain life is, a topic that everyone should know in this world including you and me. It is full of poems and speeches, great ones de facto. You will find purpose in this bible book, even though the tone is a bit dark.
“For in much wisdom there is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow” (Ecclesiastes 1:18). “There is a time for everything under the sun,” (Ecclesiastes 3) and much more.
Ecclesiastes in particular discusses topics like the inevitability of death, oppression and evil of man, laziness, business failures, the forgetting of strong leaders, working for money for nothing, among many other lessons including the chances of getting wealthy and the importance of generosity.
The bible teaches us that there is more gain in lightness than in darkness. Its content has given us many of the idioms that we use today in American society, including:
“For everything there is a season…”
“From dust to dust…”
“There is nothing new under the sun…”
And many more.
I wonder why so many people choose to not read the bible? Is it because the bible is God’s word? So what! I’m a Christian, a non-pushing one… but I’m also a reader. If you like to read and gain wisdom, you should read the bible even if you are an atheist, agnostic, muslim, or pagan. Don’t underestimate the value that the bible provides to human beings.
I bet that if you choose to read the bible, you won’t regret it.
I’m an atheist and I’ve read the bible. I also read it as a Christian. I don’t find an “upright” life to consist of murdering my family if they have a different religion than I do, or abandoning them for a religion, or saying that anyone who disagrees with me should be murdered and sent to hell. I also don’t think it’s a good thing to say a child should be killed for disobeying their parents, or that a child should be killed for the actions of their parents. I also don’t think it’s good to tell slaves that they should only obey harsh masters, not try to escape or force a father to make a choice between staying with his family or remaining a slave.
It’s also rather pathetic that this god thinks that disabled people will “profane” its temple, especially if it is this god’s will that they are disabled as many Christians claim.
I do like some of Ecclesiastes. It indicates there is no silly afterlife, including the sadistic fantasy of hell. I also liked seeing that this god works with Satan with no problem. In Job, of course, when this god allows humans to be killed by Satan, and then in Revelation 17 where this god forces humans to work with Satan and then in Revelation 19-21 where this god intentionally releases Satan to corrupt the Christians that are left after Christ kills everyone else and reigns over then for an eon.
The few humane things in the bible didn’t originate there. the “golden rule” has been around much longer than this book of ignorance and fear.
I don’t regret reading the bible at all. It showed me that Judaism and Christianity are just as silly as any other religion and that pastors and Christians try to whitewash what it actually says.
Brother, the Bible is a book full of important life lessons for anybody, including the need to treat others with respect, to not live a greedy life, and that there is evil in the world. It also teaches us about the need to repent and remains humble, among many other lessons. There are so many human things in the Bible for those who want to see them.
Again, all ideas around far longer than your bible that is full of all of the disgusting things I listed.
Yep, there are a lot of human things in the bible since it was invented by humans.
It’s our Bible, brother. So we agree that there are human things in the Bible.
It seems you want to pick and choose what is from your god and is from humans. Is this correct? The bible is a collection of books that has few humane things in it and plenty of atrocities. Are you good with your god murdering a child for the sins of its parents?
Not really. Everything is from God brother. The Bible is good news and should be interpret as such, in my opinion. Even those who claim to not believe in God can benefit from God’s word, found in Ecclesiastes and the book of proverbs, as the article points out. I find the following useful to anyone who wants to live a good life, “A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.” It’s my opinion, of course. I wish I was a theologian to answer your second question. You may want to ask that question to them.
So, can people benefit from being told that it is okay to murder a child for the actions of its parents?
You’ve made a lot of claims as fact, Dr. Why is it that you now only have “opinion” when someone asks you questions?
I’m not a theologian brother, only someone who sees the good in life. I’m still of the position that anyone should read the Bible, even if she is an atheist because the Bible teaches many lessons including those found in the book of Ecclesiastes and proverbs. Let’s not forget that the title of the article reads, Why you should read the Bible even if you are an atheist,” not must read…
You don’t need to be a theologian to answer my question.