You have heard it was said… But I say to you…
Most “common knowledge” of the Bible comes from hearsay and rumor. People grow up hearing about the Bible and its teachings without actually reading and studying the Bible to see what it says. Atheists hear something bad about the Bible and just believe what they heard, never researching or testing to see if it’s what the Bible actually said. Christians are guilty of this as well. How many people sit in a pew, listen to the guy up front, and just trust that what he says is true? Or, how many Christians simply believe a favorite author or radio personality?
Here are a few misconceptions of the Bible that I often receive as arguments and proofs against it. These are things people frequently think and say about the Bible, but just a little bit of study and thought proves them untrue.
The Israelites Built the Pyramids
Atheists often argue the Bible is fake because scientists have proven the Israelites didn’t build the pyramids of Egypt. They send me numerous links to internet articles, archaeological papers, etc. to prove their assertion. They believe they have a slam-dunk argument against the Bible. After all, they have numerous scientific papers to prove their point.
I tell them the Bible never said the Israelites built the pyramids…
The book of Exodus records the Israelite slavery and oppression in Egypt. Chapter 1 of Exodus tells us what work the Israelites were forced to do during their enslavement:
1. The Israelites performed construction work in the cities of Pithom and Raamses (Exodus 1:11)
2. The Israelites worked with brick and mortar (Exodus 1:14)
3. The Israelites worked in the field (Exodus 1:14)
One only has to read the first two paragraphs of Exodus to find out what work the Bible says the Israelites did during their enslavement in Egypt. And what work does the Bible say the Israelites performed? The Israelites worked with brick and mortar, they did construction in the cities of Pithom and Raamses, they farmed, and they did general labor. But, there is no mention in the Bible of the Israelites building the pyramids of Egypt.
So, it is completely possible that archaeologists have proven someone other than the Israelites built the pyramids of Egypt. And, that fact has absolutely no bearing on the truth and accuracy of the Bible.
Money is the Root of all Evil
Another accusation I often receive against the Bible goes like this:
P1 The Bible says that money is the root of all evil
P2 But, we know there are other causes and motivations of evil than money
C1 So, the Bible is wrong
Well, the Bible doesn’t actually say money is the root of all evil. This is a common mis-paraphrase of a sentence fragment from the Bible. What the Bible actually says is:
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1 Timothy 6:10)
When we accurately quote the verse, we see its point is that the desire for wealth is a cause of many types of evil behavior. Driven by greed and materialism, many people will engage in evil acts to acquire the money they desire. People will lie, cheat, steal, kill, swindle, and commit all sorts of deplorable acts to get money. This is what we are warned against, and we’re cautioned that even believers who get consumed with a love for money can wander away from the faith.
Even quoting this one verse isn’t enough. We really need to study the entire letter of 1 Timothy to fully understand its message. But, just by reading the actual verse we can already see the error in its common paraphrase.
Faith is Belief Without Evidence
A common misunderstanding of faith is that it’s “belief without evidence”. This is the entire premise of Richard Dawkins’ “God Delusion”. I’ve had atheists send me links to the video version of “The God Delusion” and, yes, I watched it all the way through. Dawkins asserts that faith is “belief without evidence” as his opening premise, and the rest of the video is him attacking this idea of people believing without evidence. Well, this is not what faith is; so, Dawkins’ entire book/video is attacking a strawman…
A proper definition of faith is sincere, wholehearted, belief in something. To have faith is to be so thoroughly convinced of a thing that we will act on it as if we’re convinced it’s true. Lack of evidence is not a component of what it means to have faith; we can believe something is true with evidence to support our faith in it. And, when it comes to the Bible, we were never told to have blind faith or to believe God and the Bible without evidence.
Abraham didn’t “believe without evidence”. God directly spoke with Abraham and made very clear promises to him (Genesis 12). God appeared before Abraham, Abraham washed God’s feet, and Abraham ate and conversed with God (Genesis 18). Abraham lived his entire life experiencing a relationship with God, speaking with God, and witnessing God’s power. There was no blindness or lack of evidence in Abraham’s life.
When we read the Bible we see that no prophet or apostle ever “believed without evidence”. They all heard from God, witnessed God in action, experienced the blessings of God, etc. The consistent message of the Bible is:
If you seek God, you will find Him
If you obey God, He will bless you
If you call to God, He will respond to you
The Bible makes many definitive statements regarding our interactions with God, and many are in an “if/then” format. So, it’s easy to test the Bible and see if we get the promised results. It’s easy to put the Bible into practice and observe the outcome. It’s not at all blind or without evidence; the book is clearly laid out as “do this and get X, or do that and get Y”.
Because of its very definitive statements and promises, the Bible is the easiest spiritual text to test. And if you genuinely test the Bible’s statements then you don’t have to rely on blind dogmatism.
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