“Your mistake is that you don’t know the scriptures” ~Jesus, Matthew 22:29

You will often hear it asserted that atheists are more proficient in the Bible than Christians. This statement can be impeached in less than 30 seconds. If the premise of your assertion is wrong, your conclusions are also wrong.

What atheists think they know about the Bible is the problem. Atheist knowledge of the Bible consists of imagined difficulties concerning alleged problematic texts of the Bible. Here is the atheist problem: during the past 2,000 years that the Bible has been subjected to intense scrutiny, not one of these alleged problems that atheists assert, have been proven valid. I have published over 3,200 essays, and 33 books—proving by evidence—the New Testament testimony about Jesus is absolutely true and reliable.

In 248 AD, Greek atheist philosopher, Celsus, attempted to impeach the reliability of the eyewitness testimony about Jesus that is found in the New Testament. First Christian Apologist, Origen, successfully impeached all of Celsus’ assertions.[2] These are the same alleged difficulties that modern atheists assert today.

There are no valid difficulties with the texts of the New Testament that are capable of impeaching the testimony of these first century texts. I know this because I have spent the past 47 years in Biblical scholarship, proving these texts are truthful, reliable, and accurate.

See The Evidence That Impeaches Every Atheist Assertion

All of the alleged difficulties that atheists think they know, are wrong. There are no contradictions, difficulties, or other issues that impeach any of the texts of the Bible.

Impeaching A Primary Atheist Argument: Contradictions In The Bible

A Pew Research Essay Is The Basis Of The Atheist Assertion; They Know The Bible Better Than Christians

This morning an atheist gave me a link to the following article, which he asserts, proves that atheists know more about the Bible than Christians. Read the article carefully and notice who is being targeted in these questions, and what they are being asked:

Survey: Atheists, Agnostics Know More About Religion Than Religious
September 28, 20102:50 PM ET
JJ SUTHERLAND

“The Pew Forum on Religious Religion and Public Life released a survey on religious knowledge today. Atheists and Agnostics scored higher on it than anyone else, closely followed by Jews and Mormons.

That’s overall, but when you get into specific religions it does show a startling lack of basic knowledge by practitioners. From the report:

More than four-in-ten Catholics in the United States (45%) do not know that their church teaches that the bread and wine used in Communion do not merely symbolize but actually become the body and blood of Christ. About half of Protestants (53%) cannot correctly identify Martin Luther as the person whose writings and actions inspired the Protestant Reformation, which made their religion a separate branch of Christianity. Roughly four-in-ten Jews (43%) do not recognize that Maimonides, one of the most venerated rabbis in history, was Jewish.

The study also showed that Americans have a fairly poor understanding of religions other than their own. Only about half of the people surveyed know that Martin Luther inspired the Reformation, the Dalai Lama is Buddhist, and Joseph Smith was a Mormon.

Why are Atheists and Agnostics better informed? The Los Angeles Times quotes one of the researchers who has a theory:

American atheists and agnostics tend to be people who grew up in a religious tradition and consciously gave it up, often after a great deal of reflection and study, said Alan Cooperman, associate director for research at the Pew Forum.

“These are people who thought a lot about religion,” he said. “They’re not indifferent. They care about it.”

Also interesting is that Black Protestants and Latino Catholics scored at the bottom of the survey.

Did you notice anything interesting about this article?

1. Catholics were the primary target of this survey
2. Protestants were asked about church history, not the Bible
3. Christians are described as having poor knowledge of other religions, not the Bible
4. Based on the above four tests, atheists and agnostics (they say), have better knowledge of Religion
5. This survey has nothing to do with the knowledge Biblical Christians have concerning the Bible

Atheists use this article with the intent of demonstrating that they they know more about the Bible than Christians. The survey was not directed at Bible-believing Christians; the questions were not about the Bible, but religious doctrine and the beliefs of other religions.

The only thing we learn from this article, which is based on a narrow survey, is that the people who were asked these questions, were chosen on purpose—because it was known ahead of time—they would not know the answers to the questions they were asked. This survey was obviously, purposeful.

People who were not chosen, Christians who are taught the Bible, were not a target of this inquiry.

If You Ask Narrow Questions To A Narrow Group Of People, You Get Narrow Answers

The people who were asked these questions by Pew Research, were predominantly Catholics who are not taught the Bible. The questions asked these Catholics concerned doctrines their church has taught them regarding the teachings of the Catholic church.

Catholics do not believe in “Sola Scriptura,” that the Bible is the final authority.[1] Catholic leaders teach that the Pope is the final authority, not the Hebrew and Greek scriptures. This is why it is an error to ask people questions about the Bible, who are not taught the Bible, and do not believe in its authority. Why didn’t Pew Research ask Biblically trained Christians these questions? It appears that there was an intended result desired in this survey; to demonstrate that people who claim to know the Bible, don’t know it.

It is well known amongst people in churches where the Bible is taught every week, that Catholics don’t know the texts of the Bible with any proficiency; so why ask them questions about Bible knowledge? It is clear that there was a premise for asking these questions to predominantly Catholics; they would not know the answers, because the Catholic Church doesn’t teach their members the Bible.

The intent of this survey was to show that atheists, and agnostics know more about the Bible than religious persons. This premise is often true, because the religious, i.e., Catholics place no emphasis on reading, studying, and knowing the Bible.

This Article Cites A Survey Conducted With The “Religious,” Not Biblical Christians

Atheists don’t know the difference between the “religious,” and New Testament Christians. There is a profound difference. Religion is a creation of man, and the existence of so many different denominations and religious groups demonstrates how widespread this phenomenon has grown. Jesus never told anyone to become a religious person. Jesus never told anyone to become a “Christian.” He said: “Follow Me.”

The only place in the New Testament where the followers of Jesus are called, “Christians”  is in Acts 11:26. This was a title given to the followers of Jesus, by men at Antioch, not God. The early followers of Jesus were historically described as: “people of the way,” and “people of the book.”

• Jesus said He is “the Way, the truth, and the life,” His followers were known as people of the way.
• The early emphasis on the guiding principle of Jesus’ words in the New Testament, caused people who knew that John called Jesus “The Word,” to describe His disciples as “people of the Word.”

Jesus was very careful to warn us about the pitfalls of “religion” that people create, and the dangers of allowing things in this world to pull us away from Him.

If a person reads the words of Jesus in the New Testament they will quickly learn that He stood in opposition to the religious and their institutions. When Jesus entered the Temple that God provided for people to come and find Him, a place that men were using to sell items and make money, He overturned their tables and threw them out of God’s House. When the Pharisees used their power and prestige as religious leaders to oppress, enrich, and control people—eight times Jesus condemned these men (Matthew 23:13-36).

Atheists and agnostics cite articles like the one reference above, in an effort to demonstrate that Christians know less about the Bible than they do. The problem is that this survey was not directed at Bible trained and Bible-believing Christians. The entire premise of the survey is directed at the “religious,” who have no real training in the Bible.

Why did Pew Research ask this narrow group, and not include people who are in churches where the Bible is widely taught from Genesis to Revelation?

The answer is clear; these questions were directed towards people who were known to have very little training in the Bible, so that the answers would give the desired result. The intent was to demonstrate that atheists and agnostics know more about the Bible than Christians, but the survey was not directed at Bible-educated Christians.

If this was a credible survey, and the persons asking the questions really wanted an unbiased and accurate result, they should have asked persons who attend churches where the Bible is taught in its entirety.

The Premise Of This Article Is Atheists vs. The Religious

The church I first attended in 1975 as an atheist, taught through the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation. If anyone in this particular church was asked the questions put forth in this survey, they would have known the correct answers.

The only thing that this essay reveals is that the questions were intentionally directed towards a group of religious people, who the surveyors knew would not know the correct answers. Notice the premise of the article: “Atheists, Agnostics Know More About Religion Than Religious.”

Biblical Christians are not included in this group. Never have the followers of Jesus been called the ‘Religious.” This is a term that people in the world assign to anyone who belongs to a religion. The true followers of Jesus have never been a part of the group known as the religious.

There is no record that any of the Apostles or Disciples of Jesus, calling the followers of Jesus, “the religious.” Even the term, “Christians,” is only found once in the New Testament, by people other than the believers of Jesus.

Today the term, “Christian,” has been hijacked by many people and groups that use Christianity for their own evil and deceitful purposes. The true followers of Jesus are known as Christians today, but they should not be confused with those who say and do things that Christ never said or did, nor would He condone their words or practices.

A person who is a true Christian, should live their life in the same way that Jesus lived His life, and speak in the same way that Jesus spoke. People who do not, are not a part of Him, no matter what they may claim about themselves.

“But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.” ~1 John 2:5-6 (NLT) 5

The Following Are A Few Of The Resources Available At This WebSite That Prove The Testimony About Jesus In The New Testament Is The Truth And Can Be Trusted

• Evidence For God
• The Primary Issues Of New Testament Criticism
• Were The Gospels Written By Eyewitnesses?
• When Were The Gospels Written?
• Can We Prove The Bible, By The Bible?
• Historical Evidence That Proves The Resurrection Of Jesus
• Legal Analysis Of The Four Gospels As Valid Eyewitness Testimony
• Why The New Testament Is a Valid Historical Narrative
• The Four Gospels Were Not Written Anonymously
• Alleged Textual Variants Of The New Testament Do Not Change The Narrative
• Examining The New Testament For Reliability And Eyewitness Accounts
• The Historical Record Of Jesus Is The Largest In All Of Antiquity
• The Internal Evidence Of The New Testament Proves Its Integrity And Reliability
• Archeological Discoveries That Confirm The New Testament Narratives Of Jesus
• First Century Manuscript Evidence For Jesus
• How Forensic Evidence Proves The New Testament Is Historical And Reliable
• The False Assertion That The Gospel Writers Borrowed From Mark Or The “Q” Document
• Evidence The Four Gospels Are Separate And Distinct Narratives
• Does Jesus Live In The Believer? How Jesus Communicated A Remembrance Of All He Had Done To The New Testament Writers
• New Testament Reliability: Eyewitnesses And Liars
• The New Testament Passes Every Literary Test of History
• The New Testament Is Intended As Historical Accounts
• Proving The New Testament Is A Reliable Narrative Of Jesus’ Crucifixion And Resurrection From Evidence
• Table Of Extant Greek New Testament Manuscripts
• Non Biblical Sources For Jesus in the Historical Record
• How Does Criticism Of The New Testament Relate To Its Reliability?
• Evidence Of New Testament Reliability: Reliance Upon The Old Testament
• Truth And Lies Regarding New Testament Reliability
• The Truth Of The New Testament Is Not Defined By Opinion, Bias, Or, Doubt, But By Historical Evidence
• The Historical Records Of Jesus’ Life, Death, And Resurrection Are Unimpeachable
• How Liberal New Testament Scholars Deceive The World Today
• When A New Testament Scholar Is Not
• Jesus Authenticates The New Testament As Scripture
• The New Testament is Written by Jews, About Jews, For Jews
• Empirical Integrity of the New Testament
• Biblical Inerrancy And The Errors Of Critics
• The Reliability of the New Testament
• The Historical Record Proves That God Exists
• Old Testament Law: A Lesson In God’s Nature Not Understood Today
• Are The Old Testament Laws Applicable Today?
• The Greatest And Most Astute Scholar In History Said That Jesus Is God And Messiah
• The Historical Documentation For Jesus’ Death And Resurrection
• The Death and Resurrection of the Messiah Predicted by the Old Testament
• If You Just Read The New Testament For Yourself, You Will See That It Is True
• How Peter Knew the Birth of Jesus Church Was a Fulfillment of Prophecy
• New Testament Evidence, Jesus is “Yahweh” of the Old Testament
• Principle Differences Between Jesus And All Other Gods And Religions
• Proving The Exodus Happened, And Moses Wrote The Pentateuch
• These Things Were Written: An Expositional Treatise Of The Life, Death, And Resurrection Of Jesus
• How Faith And Evidence Work Together
• Impeaching The Idea That The New Testament Is Not True
• It Is Very Easy To Deceive An Atheist

The Need For Salvation

• What Jesus Can Do For You That No Religion Can
• Why We Need A Savior
• Does God Harden Hearts?
• Change Your Life
• The Suffering of God at Man’s Unwillingness to be Saved
• Where True Wisdom Originates
• Why Jesus is Hated by the World and Rejected by Israel
• 10 Reasons Why Atheists Will Not Believe In God
• Receiving Heaven, Depends on the Condition of Your Heart
• 10 Important Differences Between The Believer And The Atheist
• If You Reject Jesus And Become His Adversary, God Will Prohibit You From Understanding Him In The Future.
• Examining The Claims Of Those Who Once Believed In Jesus: What Caused Their Unbelief?
• God’s Message To Former Christians Who Make Themselves His Enemies

NOTES:

[1] Sola Scriptura is the theological term that means the Bible is the final authority in all matters that concern Christianity.
[2] Greek Philosopher, Celsus: Second Century. First Christian Apologist, Origen wrote a complete impeachment of all Celsus’ attempts at refuting Jesus in the New Testament in 248 A.D. Often Origen quoted Celsus verbatim, often paraphrasing, frequently referring to the New Testament letters that existed at that time, where Celsus attempted rebuttal. Origen restates many of Celsus’ arguments, with his refutation. Accuracy was crucial to Origen’s refutation of The True Doctrine, leaving history with the reliable source for what Celsus said, and how easy it was for Origen to refute every assertion that atheists presented at such an early date.

1. Celsus derided Jesus in his writings, His origin, and those who followed Him.
2. Celsus makes comments about statements that are made in the Hebrew Toledot Yeshu, further confirming that the Jews also recorded Jesus in their texts.
3. We can reconstruct nearly the entire text and narratives of the New Testament, just from the commentary and rebuttals of Origen. This is substantial evidence that the New Testament was fully intact by 248 A.D., and regarded as accurate and reliable testimony about Jesus, His death and resurrection.
4. When we examine the extensive work of early Christian Apologist, Origen, we can document that he knew the identity of each author for all 27 books of the New Testament, by 240 A.D.

Categories: A poor representation of Jesus, Abhorrent teaching about Jesus, Agnostics and Skeptics, Alleged Contradictions, Archeological Confirmation, Atheists uneducated observations, Contradictions in the Bible, Controversy, Defending the Gospel, Errors of the Christian Church, Going to Church but unsaved, Historical Validity of the New Testament, How Salvation Occurs, How The NT Writers Remembered, Jesus Church, Jesus is the Messiah, Mary's Correct Role, Origin of the four Gospels, Pretend Believers, Robert Clifton Robinson, Studying the Word of God, The Catholic Church, The Four Gospels, The Historical Jesus, The Historical Jesus, The Jesus People, True Repentance, What is required for Heaven?, Why Jesus had to die

Tags: Apologetics, Did Jesus claim to be God?, Errors of the Catholic Church, New Testament Criticism, Origen, The errors of Atheists