One reason why Atheists can read the Bible and further affirm that they're justified in not believing, is because the Bible in English, is very unlike the Bible in Hebrew, or in Aramaic I should say. (Of course there are other reasons as well)
I've heard Atheists say that the bible is bull , because it claims that God is omnipotent. So, that would mean God knows that in 3 minutes, this particular person will molest a child, & since he sits idly by when he knows and can prevent it, he is not in fact a loving God. The thing with that is.. The bible in English may say "omnipotent", but in it's original text in Hebrew, the word is "shadday" which simply means "almighty" or "all-powerful". "All knowing" is not one of the definitions of "shadday".
Also, another thing that Atheists find laughable is the concept of Heaven and . The destination for people of God, is not a realm in the sky or cosmos where God resides, in fact, the destination is Earth, or after apocalypse "New Jerusalem". What the bible says (from Hebrew text), is that when people die, they rest until judgement day. That's not acceptable for the Catholic church though, they want people to feel that they'll have instant results.
As far as " " goes. There are two Hebrew words, and two greek words that translate to the English " " in the Bible. Sheol (which means grave), Gehenna (which was an actual geographical location in the Judea area at that time, a place where they would take trash and burn it), the greek Tarturus (which means dark place, & is only used once when referring to the dwelling place of Lucifer), and finally Hades, which also means grave, or underworld. First of all, the common idea of is fiery torture, non-stop with crazy demons... No, that's Dante's version, which the Catholic church adopted. In the bible, it states that when someone is judged on the final day, if they led a wicked life, they receive the "second death" the death of the soul/spirit. That is that, there is no eternal torment, there is only annihilation. The first death is of the body, and the second death is of the soul, that is annihilation, ceasing to exist. It can't be any clearer.
These are two things that if I were to state to a priest or pastor, I'd be labeled a heretic. But that in fact is just fundamental orthodox Christianity.
I understand that those two aspects are not going to convert an atheist, nor would I want to. My religious values are important to me, but I think it's great that people can read the bible for themselves, and choose not to believe in what they read. All I'm saying is that with this information super-highway, people should know the truth of it before making their decision. I feel that it doesn't get a fair chance otherwise, although I know most Atheists would still consider it a joke, but at least know in this case, the devil is NOT in the details. :p
By the way, science is amazing, and we'd be nowhere without it.
I don't feel that not believing would make someone more intelligent or less intelligent.
I came from an unreligious household, but my mother became Christian when she approached old age, and I became a Christian when I actually began reading the Bible out of curiosity, and from then on I had to know everything about it, including reading it in Hebrew.
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