Why is it that reading the Bible strengthens some people’s faith and destroys others?

Leo: Why is it that reading the Bible strengthens some people’s faith and destroys others?
Some people, in actually fully reading the Bible through and learning what it says, completely lose their faith as they fail to comprehend how people can worship a God that does the things mentioned in the Bible. Others, when reading the Bible, by contrast, their faith is strengthened and they become even more religious.

As an atheist having observed both scenarios, this confuses me somewhat. Why does the Bible strengthen the faith of some, but blow the faith of others out of the water? Is one party missing something obvious? Is one party ignorant of something or other?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Graham
“Is one party ignorant of something or other?”

The Holy Spirit is the primary “difference”. He attests the Living Word to the believer’s spirit.

Answer by Super Nugget 3000
Well, it really depends.
Are you gullible or not?
If they are–believers. followers. conformists. blind.
if they’re not—well, you get it?

Answer by G C
As with anything it is the bias that one brings that either builds or destroys. if one comes to evidence and Scripture with the bias that God is true and man a liar, they will get much from it. If one comes at the evidence and Scripture with the bias that man is true and God a liar, then they will believe whatever man says.

Answer by Don Simon – With juicy bits!
HAHA i was a christian as a child, one day i learnt to read and decided to read the bible. That is why i am no longer a christian.

Answer by Muldah
that’s exactly why God sent his word – to separate the sheep from the goats

Mat 10:34 ¶ Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

The sword is the Holy Bible word of God

Hbr 4:12 For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Isa 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.

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1Cr 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.

Answer by Anthony D
The more literalistic somebody is, the more likely they are to end up an atheist – especially when it finally gets through to them that (for example) Genesis 1 can’t be a scientific text.

The more somebody scratches below the surface, and finds out what is really being said, the more likely they are to remain a Christian.

Answer by G
Faith comes by “hearing”.
Some people don’t hear so good.

Answer by Central N.Y. Guy
Some embrace truth and some reject it. Some would rather live in darkness than light.

Answer by SBR32277
There is two ways to read the bible. One is trying to make what you read fit your beliefs. The second is reading it just like you would any other book. The second way regardless of whether you have faith or not, points to purely man made and prompts many believers to leave christianity, whether it be for another religion or no religion. It is when you read the bible with the opinion that it can’t be wrong, that you assume it is your understanding that must be flawed.

Answer by Jeff
It is written:

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

So to a true believer chosen by God, it is the words of mercy and forgiveness and life, for the unbeliever, it is the words of judgment and death.

Go to www.ebiblefellowship.com for more info

Answer by [email protected]
Trust. The scriptures (test; there is a difference between ‘Bible’ and scripture in USA currently), anyway, some accept the words and actions of a higher being; while others may not ‘accept’ the actions of a higher being.

Answer by skepsis
There are many approaches to reading the Bible. Some have already decided that everything in it must be true before they ever open it. These will find ways to defend, excuse or add extra context to even the most difficult parts of Scripture.

Others read having already assumed the experience will be terrible, and are not disappointed. Every element that can be regarded negatively is so regarded, regardless of context.

Still others read it with an open mind. But since the Bible is so very old, they are bound to become confused by ancient cultural assumptions and obscure linguistic idioms. They have the choice to either faithfully live with uncertainty about the nasty parts or reject parts or all of it in frustration.

Literalism is perhaps the greatest obstacle to understanding. The composers of the Bible started with folk tales, full of symbolism and meaning for themselves, dealing with issues we don’t have. Their original audiences could tell when they were presenting a heroic story or a tale about a bad example.

For example, Abraham is a noble figure in the Bible, always choosing to follow God. His nephew, Lot, does similar things but always reluctantly and with the wrong motivations, a sort of comic relief. The original listeners would get the message: be like Abraham, not like Lot. But listeners of our time assume that because God is involved, everyone is a hero, right? They assume that Lot is another good guy who just has a little more trouble than most. Unless we understand what a farmer, a shepherd, a Samaritan, a Midianite, etc. meant to the original listeners, we are likely to misunderstand what a story means.

It is also important to understand that the Bible was written by many different people with different viewpoints, and that these viewpoints were later edited together into a single national narrative. One voice considers the prophets to be the exemplars of the faith, to see God as a being transcendent and remote, reachable only on sacred mountaintops. Another considers the kings to be the models for Judaism, to see God as intimate and approachable, worshiped by sacrifice in the Temple of Jerusalem. Still another regards God as the god of order, and fills in dates and genealogies, and clarifies ambiguities about God’s goodness, while yet another relentlessly harps the message: those who are faithful to God will become rich, healthy, fertile and old, while those who do not will die young, poor and childless. If a reader can spot these voices as they arise, the reader can better understand what the writers’ various intentions were.

There is heroism, treachery, foolishness, redemption, joy, irony, revenge and sobering wisdom in the Bible. Its voices come from different ages, with different understandings and concerns. To read it as one flat epic is to misunderstand it. Those who don’t understand it have the choice to reject it, or to blindly embrace it, warts and all. The latter would seem to be the worse response.