Truth—Does It Matter?
An American Atheist Challenges Religious Beliefs
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Is the bible a perfect book, written by authors who were inspired by God? If so, it must have remained unaltered for thousands of years. The truth is that when this claim is made by the general public it shows their ignorance of bible history, and when it's made by clergymen it shows their intent to deceive the faithful. The truth is that both the old and new testaments have been subject to debate and alteration for two thousand years. The protestant church did not agree on which books were inspired by God until 1647, at the Assembly of Westminster. The truth is that the old testament is nothing more than "a collection of writings of unknown date and authorship rendered into English from supposed copies of supposed originals unfortunately lost." (Mangasar Mangasarian 1859-1943) Moses was not the author of any part of the old testament. In fact, there is absolutely no historical evidence that Moses ever existed. In ancient Iron Age days, a tribe of nomads who were roaming the desert area of the middle east invented their own god to explain natural events that at the time were inexplicable. They had no contact with other nations, no written language, and were illiterate. They never intended their god to be the god of any other tribe or culture, about which they knew nothing. Their beliefs remained buried in their oral history for more than two thousand years. Eventually some of the stories were written down by various and unknown men. Since there were many writers, there was no complete text. In other words, there is no complete and original text of the old testament in existence. The old testament consists of nothing more than random fragments of oral stories told by nameless men somewhere between 1000 and 50 BCE and pieced together by rabbis.
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About the Book
“What I have against religion is that the Judaeo-Christian mythology is not true. The simplest yet most exalted attribute of our species is the acute, persistent, unquenchable craving TO KNOW. Do you realize that to many men (and women) it makes a vast and a profound difference whether or not the things about them are as they appear?”
—H.P. Lovecraft
Does truth matter?
For those who follow a religious path, truth may be secondary to comfort.
But for many of us, there can be no comfort in untruths.
In the author’s experience and opinion, religion is responsible for a great many sins.
In the name of religion—the pursuit of knowledge has been hampered.
In the name of religion—women have been vilified.
In the name of religion—countless acts of barbarism have been committed.
Make no mistake, such things are still alive and well in the twenty-first century. Through the exploration of some of Christianity’s most enduring mysteries and questions, Does It Matter? encourages you to re-examine your beliefs.
Did Moses write the Old Testament?
Was Jesus Christ the founder of Christianity?
Do angels ever appear as female or children?
Does the Bible say that the soul ascends to heaven or hell immediately after death?
Was Mother Teresa really a godly woman?
Has an actual miracle ever happened outside the Bible?
What’s more important, faith or truth? The answers may surprise you.
About the Author
Diane Rogers has a master’s degree in elementary education from Illinois State University and a postgraduate specialty in language arts. A retired teacher, she has spent the last year researching and writing, in the hopes of persuading readers to replace their Jesus fish with a Darwin fish.