Current Events > Even if you are an atheist, the bible has some great wisdom/advice.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I have been looking through the Old Testament and it is still applicable today.

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Proverbs is legit af

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There is a reason that it's the birth of morality.

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i like jesus

but i doubt there's a heaven hell reward system for this shit

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I agree.

Also even if you are open or are a sceptic of the supernatural, the bible has some relevance as well.

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Inb4 edgy atheist saying thats a ridiculous take

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So do Dr. Seuss books.
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too bad they stole most of it from the people who came before them.

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This is my favorite verse from the Old Testament tbh

2 Samuel 12:1-25

The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.

Then Nathan said to David, You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your masters house to you, and your masters wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.

This is what the Lord says: Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.

Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.

Nathan replied, The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.

After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriahs wife had borne to David, and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

On the seventh day the child died. Davids attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, While the child was still living, he wouldnt listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.

David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. Is the child dead? he asked.

Yes, they replied, he is dead.

Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

His attendants asked him, Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!

He answered, While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live. But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah (Loved by the Lord).

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Unsugarized_Foo posted...

Proverbs is legit af

Proverbs is like applesauce.

Simple, and you can enjoy it whether you're a baby or gray haired.

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^ wait, so David didn't like the rich guy killing that dude's lamb, so God had his boys fuck his (David's) wife and kill his son?

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DuranOfForcena posted...

lol, it's not

Of course it did. Care to point out older texts?

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IHeartRadiation posted...

Proverbs is like applesauce.

Simple, and you can enjoy it whether you're a baby or gray haired.

Makes for good shit too

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It's still outdated and in need of mental gymnastics to use as wisdom.
You can get better advice off of those Minions + Lame Inspirational quote memes that boomers love way too much than the bible.

Truth is, if you're atheist you were probably Chritian once and have moved way past any need to force outcomes from that dated brick of a tome.

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I can't tell if topics like this are serious or bait.

DrizztLink posted...

^ wait, so David didn't like the rich guy killing that dude's lamb, so God had his boys fuck his (David's) wife and kill his son?

I don't think you understand it lol.

Bathsheba was married to Uriah. David loved her so he put Uriah out to the front lines, and he was killed. The lamb story is in reference to that.

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lol

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Damn_Underscore posted...

I don't think you understand it lol.

Bathsheba was married to Uriah. David loved her so he put Uriah out to the front lines, and he was killed. The lamb story is in reference to that.

Ok, yeah, definitely didn't.

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DrizztLink posted...

^ wait, so David didn't like the rich guy killing that dude's lamb, so God had his boys fuck his (David's) wife and kill his son?

No, God gave David a kingdom (or something) and David sinned anyway. David tried to atone but God took his son anyway

Not really a very good or meaningful story imo

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Some atheists on this board are so insecure.

It's okay if you derive wisdom from the Bible. I am not Christian and I derive wisdom from the Bible. Jesus is really against hypocrites and the Gospels are full of stories of him rebuking hypocrites. You can definitely derive wisdom from that. If you can't, don't insult people who can and do.

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Yup.
Never talk to snakes.

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I too look to the Bible for wisdom. I mean how else would I know who gets stoned to death and who doesn't?

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KINDERFELD posted...

Yup.
Never talk to snakes.

Sometimes the best way to deal with them is to let them talk.

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IHeartRadiation posted...

Sometimes the best way to deal with them is to let them talk.

All I know to do is blow on them till they cry.


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Damn_Underscore posted...

Some atheists on this board are so insecure.

It's okay if you derive wisdom from the Bible. I am not Christian and I derive wisdom from the Bible. Jesus is really against hypocrites and the Gospels are full of stories of him rebuking hypocrites. You can definitely derive wisdom from that. If you can't, don't insult people who can and do.

It's not hypocritical: It's mindful rejection.

For a lot of us, we have a firm conviction that maintaining half-arsed respect for the book and it's associated fanclubs is holding a lot of people back and is the driving force backing a resounding amount of prejudice in the world.

Like it or not, the bible is the isntruction manual for a lot of homophobia. Homophobia is offensive, yet apparently you're not allowed to crticise the insitituion back if you're American.

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DrizztLink posted...

Ok, yeah, definitely didn't.

lol I didn't realize that the verse lacked context >_>

The previous chapter tells the story of David and Bathsheba

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DeadlyNinjaBees posted...

It's not hypocritical: It's mindful rejection.

For a lot of us, we have a firm conviction that maintaining half-arsed respect for the book and it's associated fanclubs is holding a lot of people back and is the driving force backing a resounding amount of prejudice in the world.

Like it or not, the bible is the isntruction manual for a lot of homophobia. Homophobia is offensive, yet apparently you're not allowed to crticise the insitituion back if you're American.

So you don't believe the Bible is true yet you read it literally when criticizing it. That actually does sound like hypocrisy to me.

But even if you reject the Bible and say it is bad for humanity, there are still verses that you can derive wisdom from. Furthermore, not everyone/every believer reads the Bible literally or sees it as an instruction manual for homophobia.

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Damn_Underscore posted...

So you don't believe the Bible is true yet you read it literally when criticizing it. That actually does sound like hypocrisy to me.

That's nice.

It's a book full of actual LIES. It's purposefully misleads the reader yet people live their live and govern their countries by it.

I don't care what you think.

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DeadlyNinjaBees posted...

That's nice.

It's a book full of actual LIES. It's purposefully misleads the reader yet people live their live and govern their countries by it.

I don't care what you think.

Someone get me a bandaid, I cut myself on all this edge

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the Bible is great for reference on human behavior.

they dealt with the same personality types we deal with today, so you can relate to a lot of shit, and identify certain behaviors once they see them.

I think people interested in psychology can find a lot of use in that book as well. I sure did even before I took my first psyche course.
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Definitely, if you steal the luted cups from the temple Cyrus gonna get ya

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Damn_Underscore posted...

This is my favorite verse from the Old Testament tbh

2 Samuel 12:1-25

The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.

Then Nathan said to David, You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your masters house to you, and your masters wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.

This is what the Lord says: Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.

Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.

Nathan replied, The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.

After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriahs wife had borne to David, and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

On the seventh day the child died. Davids attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, While the child was still living, he wouldnt listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.

David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. Is the child dead? he asked.

Yes, they replied, he is dead.

Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

His attendants asked him, Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!

He answered, While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live. But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah (Loved by the Lord).

So uhh, what's the moral of the story?

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Gal_Gadonut posted...

Someone get me a bandaid, I cut myself on all this edge

That's not how being edgy works, Gonads Gadot.

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Damn_Underscore posted...

This is my favorite verse from the Old Testament tbh

2 Samuel 12:1-25

The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.

Then Nathan said to David, You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your masters house to you, and your masters wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.

This is what the Lord says: Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.

Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.

Nathan replied, The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.

After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriahs wife had borne to David, and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

On the seventh day the child died. Davids attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, While the child was still living, he wouldnt listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.

David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. Is the child dead? he asked.

Yes, they replied, he is dead.

Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

His attendants asked him, Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!

He answered, While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live. But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah (Loved by the Lord).

Oh yeah, I remember this episode of VeggieTales

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DeadlyNinjaBees posted...

That's nice.

It's a book full of actual LIES. It's purposefully misleads the reader yet people live their live and govern their countries by it.

I don't care what you think.

Not to mention, 2 months ago I was at a restaurant and had to listen to a drunk piece of trash use the bible to legitimize racism. Thankfully they threw her ass out, but it was quite alarming to hear that craziness.

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Gurifisu posted...

Oh yeah, I remember this episode of VeggieTales

yo that episode was pretty fuckin lit except all the fucks in my Sunday school kept saying I looked like the tomato but it literally wasnt even my fault I got poison ivyd

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DeadlyNinjaBees posted...

That's nice.

It's a book full of actual LIES. It's purposefully misleads the reader yet people live their live and govern their countries by it.

I don't care what you think.

This is exactly what I just talking about. If you don't believe the Bible is true, then why in the world would you take it as a true historical record? Many believers (and this doesn't only apply to the Bible) take it essentially as a collection of divinely inspired verses, and there probably isn't much agreement on how literally true the Bible is outside of the people who believe it is all literally true and the earth is 6000 years old, etc. For example, I think it's fair to say that most Christians either ignore the Old Testament or at least treat it as secondary to the New Testament. Or take someone like me who doesn't accept the full truth of any part of the Bible, but I am still able to read it and gain philosophical wisdom, some amount of religious wisdom, and also it is significant as a piece of literature.

You aren't going to accidently become a Christian by reading the Bible. You can read it and accept it for what it is. If your goal is to mindfully reject the Bible in a public way, you are probably more of an antitheist than an atheist.

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Damn_Underscore posted...
Yeah don't bother with him, he has history with this topic.

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FLOUR posted...

So uhh, what's the moral of the story?

My two takeaways are:

1) Don't be a hypocrite
2) David's quote at the end "But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again?" has a lot of application in real life. Sometimes the best thing you can do is accept life for what it is and adapt to it.

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Damn_Underscore posted...

why in the world would you take it as a true historical record?

whenever they were written the texts should at least be noted for their attitudes toward certain subjects.

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Genesis 19:32

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Damn_Underscore posted...

This is my favorite verse from the Old Testament tbh

2 Samuel 12:1-25

The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.

Then Nathan said to David, You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your masters house to you, and your masters wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.

This is what the Lord says: Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.

Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.

Nathan replied, The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.

After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriahs wife had borne to David, and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

On the seventh day the child died. Davids attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, While the child was still living, he wouldnt listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.

David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. Is the child dead? he asked.

Yes, they replied, he is dead.

Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

His attendants asked him, Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!

He answered, While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live. But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah (Loved by the Lord).

Dang, never read this
its crazy knowing what happens to Jesus and then reading this.


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any examples other than damn_underscore's verse or the entirety of proverbs?

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DespondentDeity posted...

whenever they were written the texts should at least be noted for their attitudes toward certain subjects.

A famous story in the Bible is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. A well-known explanation of this story is that the actual sin of the Sodomites is that they raped travelers and outsiders, not that they were gay. But by now we have lost the context of this.

It doesn't really matter though because some people are going to use the Bible or another holy book to push their own views. People used the "Curse of Ham" at one time to justify racial slavery and racism in general. I reject and disagree with those who use holy books to justify treating other people poorly, and there are plenty of people who think this.

But regardless of this argument, this doesn't mean you can't derive wisdom from the Bible or see its historical and literary significance. If you're an atheist who believes none of this is true anyway, you aren't going to get rewarded for rejecting the Bible. I'll never understand why some atheists are proud to know nothing about the Bible, because the more you know about the Bible (or whatever holy book) the stronger your religious beliefs, or lack thereof, can become.

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PMarth2002 posted...

any examples other than damn_underscore's verse or the entirety of proverbs?

The Book of Job is very highly regarded as an epic poem. It's a pretty tough read, though.

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Ill still say the good Samaritan parable is better than anything the anti-racists have given us.

It is simple and universal

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Gal_Gadonut posted...

There is a reason that it's the birth of morality.

If by birth you mean the two hundredth iteration sure..

And yeah, the Gospels are full of good quotes and stories.

Take the parable of the workers in the vineyard. The moral of the story is that everyone is going to get the same reward from God no matter how long they started accepting him. It's reminiscent to the modern argument that if you are going to forgive student debt, then you also have to give a bailout to people who already payed off their debt or forgive mortgages, etc. and the arguments used against that argument.

Obviously the parable has nothing to do with student debt, but you can still make that connection.

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Damn_Underscore posted...

The Book of Job is very highly regarded as an epic poem. It's a pretty tough read, though.

leaving aside its quality as an epic poem, I find the book of job pretty abhorrent from a moral perspective.

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