I really should be clear about something here.

I’m a Christian.

No. Really. Honestly. I am.

I’ve studied the lessons and life of Jesus and I do my best to live my own life by his example. I’ve found his teachings to be inspirational and educational. He’s one of the Three Men I Admire Most.

But there’s this thing I’ve come across… I mean, it’s always been around, but I honestly cannot believe it’s still around. This whole, “The Bible is Perfect and Without Error” thing. How can anyone with any sense of history buy this?

The Bible was constructed at the Nicene Convention. Constructed by men. It was voted upon. And the standards they used were not based on reason or logic or history.

The methods they used were based on specific beliefs they had to justify. Beliefs that did not come from the Bible.

For example, let’s ask this question: did Jesus have a brother?

Well, yes. We know he did. In fact, we know he had many brothers. But the most famous brother, the guy who actually competed with Paul for control of the church, was James.

The Bible mentions James by name (and a few others, as well).

Galatians 1:18
Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days; but I did not see any other apostle except James, the Lord’s brother.

Here’s Paul trying to justify his taking over the ministry of Jesus:

Galatians 2:9
and when James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me…

Here’s James in the Big Books:

Mark 3:31-32 (also Matthew 12:46-50; Luke 8:19-21)
Then his [Jesus’] mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him. “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.”

Mark 6: 3 (also Matthew 13:55-56)
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?

John 2:12
After this he [Jesus] went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers and his disciples…

John 7:3-5
So his [Jesus’] brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing, for no one who wants to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world” (For not even his brothers believed in him).”

Now, this raises a problem. You see, at the time, there was this belief going around that not only was Mary a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus, but she was a perpetual virgin. Some Christians believed it, some didn’t. When the Convention met, they decided that Mary was indeed a perpetual virgin and that these other siblings must have come from a previous marriage.

Did you hear that? They decided. Without any evidence at all, they just decided! Because these holy documents, which must be correct because they come from God Himself, men decided that Christ’s siblings must have come from a marriage Jesus’ dad had before he met Mary.

In world design seminars, we call this “retroactive continuity.” Of course, in Bible study courses, we call this “divine revelation.”

I call it “bullshit.”

We cannot trust the Bible. We have to analyze it. We have to look at it for what it is: not a historical document at all, not the divine and revealed word of God, but a document designed by men to promote a specific doctrine of faith.

All of this has a point.

I apologize to you if I’ve made you feel like I think you’re a moron for believing in God, Jesus, or the Bible. You’re not. I have a lot of very intelligent friends who are religious. I respect their faith, I respect their devotion.

But I have to point out things like this. I just have to.

I was raised Catholic. I was taught the Bible was the infailable Word of God. When I asked questions about the inconsistencies I saw, I got smacked. So, I stopped asking questions. I also quit the Church.

Asking questions hurts. But losing faith in the Bible shouldn’t question your faith in the validity of Jesus’ teachings. They’re good teachings. The ones, I think, actually come from Jesus rather than the ones put in his mouth.

Jesus doesn’t hate fags. He doesn’t hate sinners. He doesn’t hate adulterers, he doesn’t hate the weak or the strong, the rich or the poor.

The Jesus I believe in taught forgiveness, peace, mercy, tolerance, and justice. There wasn’t an ounce of hate in his body. THAT is the Jesus I believe in.

But you won’t find that Jesus in the Bible. Especially if you listen to Paul.

(More on that prick later.)