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Maybe you were born to Christian parents and raised as a Christian. Or maybe you are just a part of a Christian nation.Â You might have attended church regularly, or maybe just on special occasions.Â If asked, you say that you believe in God, but you really never thought about what that means exactly.Â You are a well-educated person who accepts the idea of Biblical miracles, but only the more "reasonable" ones.Â You have read some of the Bible, mostly just parts of the New Testament, but never committed to reading the Bible cover to cover.Â You are a good person who admires the many "Christian values" as demonstrated by Jesus Christ.Â But something does not feel right.

* Science tells us that the universe is 13.7 billion years old, but the Bible tells us it's 6,000 years old.

* Science tells us life is the result of emergent properties in combined molecules, and we have evolved from a very primitive life form, but the Bible says that God made us, as is, from dust, and blew life in our noses.

* You see a world where little bunnies burn to death in forest fires, and wonder why an all-good and loving God would allow such a thing to happen.

* You pray to God and you realize that sometimes your prayers are answered, and sometimes they aren't – just as if you didn't pray at all.

* You hear about other religions and wonder why your religion is right and every other religion on the planet is wrong.

* You have a real problem with the idea of all your non-Jesus-believing friends and family spending eternity in Hell.â¨

In fact, the more you look around, the more you see a world absent of this perfect image of a perfect God.Â As much as you want to avoid critical thinking and "just let go and have faith", you find that you cannot believe in something contrary to your logic and reason – no matter how much you want to.Â This might lead to feelings of guilt, insincerity, and/or hypocrisy. Yet you just can't imagine living life without God, and you don't have to.

When you start asking serious questions about God and religion, you begin to see through the stories of people living inside the stomachs of big fish, 900-year-old men, and bodies coming back to life after three days, and understand how man created God, and not the other way around. By daring to question "sacred" religion, challenging your childhood beliefs, and risking eternal damnation (okay, so there might be a minor side effect to reading this book), you will discover an appreciation for religion on a new level, as well as a renewed appreciation for the human race.

Through a unique blend of science, philosophy, theology, and a touch of humor, you will see how you can trust your logic and reason, be true to yourself, and embrace God – not as a being, but as a concept – The Concept.

Sujets

Religion

Christianisme

Christian Theology

Philosophie et théologie

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Publié par	eBookIt.com
Date de parution	05 novembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781456600006
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0350€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

T HE C ONCEPT
A Critical and Honest Examination of God and Religion

Written By
B O B ENNETT

www.GodTheConcept.com

eBookIt.com
365 Boston Post Road, #311
Sudbury, MA 01776

First printing - January 2011
eBook Version 4 - Oct 12, 2018

publisher@ebookit.com
http://www.ebookit.com

Copyright 2011–2018, eBookIt.com
ISBN: 978-1-4566-0000-6

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

~~~~~
This book is dedicated to God. Without the concept of him, this book would be pointless.
~~~~~

~~~~~
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
— Robert Frost
~~~~~

Table of Contents
Preface
PART I: WHAT AND WHY
Chapter 1: Science, Philosophy, and Religion: Do We Really Need All Three?
Chapter 2: Theists, Atheists, and Agnostics, Oh My!
PART II: ARGUMENTS
Chapter 3: The Meaning of Life
Chapter 4: Where Does Logic Come From?
Chapter 5: Argument from Ignorance / God of the Gaps
Chapter 6: Does the Universe Point to God?
Chapter 7: The “Fine-Tuning” Argument
Chapter 8: What Have We Been Up To These Last 250,000 Years?
Chapter 9: Common Ground and Circular Arguments
Chapter 10: Objective Moral Values: Do They Exist?
Chapter 11: Dying for the Faith
Chapter 12: Creationism, Evolution, and Intelligent Design
Chapter 13: Is Religion Child Abuse?
Chapter 14: It’s a Miracle!
Chapter 15: A Closer Look at a Modern-Day “Miracle”
Chapter 16: Freewill and Determinism
Chapter 17: Does Society Need the Threat of Hell and the Promise of the Reward of Heaven?
Chapter 18: Pascal’s Wager: The Epitome of Irrational Rationality
Chapter 19: America the “White Christian Nation”
PART III: BELIEF
Chapter 20: Belief and Christianity
Chapter 21: Crazy or a Really Faithful Christian?
Chapter 22: ‘Cause I Gotta Have Faith
Chapter 23: Atheists, What Proof of God Do You Require?
Chapter 24: Having an Open Mind
Chapter 25: Just Wishful Thinking?
Chapter 26: One Billion Christians Are Wrong
Chapter 27: Spirituality: Not as Crazy as it Seems
Chapter 28: How Would Your Life Be Different?
Chapter 29: You’re In Good Company
Chapter 30: Yet Another Life After Death Study Media Frenzy
PART IV: QUESTION EVERYTHING
Chapter 31: What Do You Really Know?
Chapter 32: Anthropocentrism — Really?
Chapter 33: Heaven is “Up”?
Chapter 34: Heaven: It’s Not What You Think It Is
Chapter 35: What the Hell?
Chapter 36: What Makes You, You?
Chapter 37: Where is Hitler Now?
Chapter 38: Would You Slaughter Babies? Are You Sure?
Chapter 39: Prayer. Is There a Point?
Chapter 40: Prayer, Safety, and Planes
PART V: GOD
The Benevolent Almighty Advisor
Chapter 41: You Need To Know the Whole Truth
Chapter 42: Presuppositions About God’s Existence
Chapter 43: What Makes God, God?
Chapter 44: Praise God!
Chapter 45: Is it God We Need? Or the Idea of God?
Chapter 46: God of the Past vs. God of the Present
PART VI: THE BIBLE
What if There Were No God?
Chapter 47: 10 Things You Need To Know About the Bible
Chapter 48: Biblical Interpretation: Who’s Right?
Chapter 49: Do Biblical Contradictions Exist?
Chapter 50: What About All the Fulfilled Biblical Prophecies?
PART VII: CHRISTIANITY
Chapter 51: The Growth of Christianity
Chapter 52: Born to Be Bad?
Chapter 53: It’s All or Nothing, Baby.
Chapter 54: What’s Wrong with Traditional Christianity?
Chapter 55: What’s Right with Traditional Christianity?
PART VIII: JESUS
Chapter 56: The Jesi
Chapter 57: Who Was Jesus if Not God?
Chapter 58: Was Jesus Superman or Batman?
Chapter 59: Why Do Jews Reject Jesus?
Chapter 60: Is the Jesus Story Unique?
Chapter 61: The Story of Jesus: What Really Happened and Why — According to Me
PART IX: MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL
The Carrot Stick Man
Chapter 62: Does God Exist?
Chapter 63: Conclusion
Letter To God
Bibliography
About The Author
Book Description

Preface
Growing up, church was about as enjoyable as being thrown naked into a tub of red ants. The only time I enjoyed church was when we heard someone pass gas during the silent prayers. Or when I was hungry and got to eat that wafer thing. From high school on, I went to church only when necessary (weddings, funerals, exorcisms, etc.) and thought that anyone who believed what was being preached at church must have a few screws loose somewhere. It wasn’t until about 25 years later that I would start to reevaluate my position.
My spiritual/intellectual journey began as a result of a lifetime of unanswered questions combined with a moment of reflection — I realized that many of my good friends, family members, and associates were Christian. These are intelligent and rational individuals, so how in the world, I asked myself, can they seriously believe in all the ancient myths, superstition, and supernatural events associated with the religion? Can Christianity be true? After all, I really never devoted much time to it and I never really read the Bible. Even if it were not true, who am I to take away a worldview that is apparently working for so many people? And the most important question, is humanity better off without Christianity? These are questions I had to seriously consider before “going public” with my views.
I devoted countless hours to studying religion — Christianity in particular, which included reading the entire Bible cover to cover (New International Version). I have listened to over 1000 hours of religious debate, read many books written by both atheists and Christians, and completed dozens of courses from the world’s leading universities on Christianity, Catholicism, Theology, Biblical Studies, Argumentation, Historical Jesus, Cosmology, Neuroscience, Human Behavior, Biology, Classic, Quantum, and Particle Physics, Philosophy of Religion, and even Apologetics.
While I am far from an expert in all these fields of study, my area of expertise is in the arguments for and against the existence of God as well as the arguments for and against the truth of Christianity. It wasn’t long before I became passionate about religion and had a whole new appreciation and respect for Christianity as well as for those who embrace Christianity — but only for the right reasons .
Studying the faith as an outsider has given me what I believe to be a unique perspective in which I am certain both the atheist and theist will find enlightening.
This isn’t the first time I have become obsessed with a topic. In 8th grade I became obsessed with martial arts and achieved my black belt in Kempo Karate four years later, then my second-degree black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do several years after that. In 2001 I became obsessed with public speaking, joined Toastmasters , and completed all 40 speeches for their prestigious Distinguished Toastmasters Award in a record six months. Electric cars, computer programming, podcasting — all topics in which I became obsessed, as well as a recognized leading expert. I should also mention that my adolescent obsession with making money resulted in me selling my company for $20 million at age 29. Financial freedom is what has allowed me the opportunity to obsess full-time on the topic of religion and Christianity this last year.
Obsession, when properly directed, can be a great asset.
So what’s my view on God and Christianity? Well, that is what this whole book is about. In short, I do not accept the supernatural beliefs commonly associated with Christianity as being true. I studied and read the Bible with an open mind and an open heart. I prayed as suggested by my Christian friends to allow the “Holy Spirit to enlighten me” (just to make sure I was following all the rules). I carefully evaluated arguments for and against Christianity and the evidence (and lack of evidence) has led me to the conclusion that God certainly does exist, but not as a being, but as a concept. While this idea may appear to invalidate all of religion, I will argue that religion, specifically Christianity, still has quite a bit to offer the human race.
This is a subject about which I am extremely passionate, so while I might appear tough on some of the Christian beliefs, it needs to be made clear that it’s the belief I have a problem with and not the practicing Christian.
This journey of mine began not by seeking God or Jesus, but by seeking truth . This does not mean I was searching for the “lack of Jesus” either. I was simply searching for a better understanding of the universe, my fellow humans, and the meaning of life. If truth led to God, so be it. If truth led to a world without God, so be it.
I am fortunate enough to live a wonderful life with a loving family. I don’t have any spiritual voids that require filling and I do believe that if there is a God, he gave us everything we need to solve our own problems. My purpose for devoting this stage of my life to the study of God started out from personal curiosity alone and soon developed into a desire to share what I have found with others.
My intent is not to harm Christianity in any way, but encourage more critical thinking using reason and logic. If I am “against” anything, it’s the ignorance of basing one’s life on a set of beliefs that he or she cannot even begin to justify. It’s the accepting of ideas hammered into your head from childhood without critically examining those ideas with an adult mind. It’s the idea of being so committed to something being true that one loses all ability to reason and think logically. And I am not just referring to those who are religious.
My goal for this book is to make you think about certain ideas harder than you ever did before. I want to make you question