The Other Shoe
In a prior post, I said some unkind things about Christians, and I wanted to follow up with a post on what I hate about atheists, but my heart just has not been in it, and I have avoided the topic for several weeks. I actually had a lot of specifics in mind, but ultimately I am just going to say that I find the arrogance and bitterness of militant atheists (that is, atheists that want you to also be an atheist) to be off-putting, and quite frankly, if being right means being like them then I would rather be wrong.
I understand that that is not a rational argument, but it is what I have.
Instead I will share a thought that I had with no real conclusion: The Bible was obviously written (or at least, written down) by literate people in a time when literacy was far from the norm. Education and intelligence are not the same thing, of course, but there is some correlation there. So, while the skeptic might conclude that the greatest supporters of the Bible are not necessarily the finest minds of today, it would be a mistake to assume that held true throughout history. Basically, what I am saying is that there is a high chance that the authors of the Bible were smarter than you or me.
I think had the authors of the Bible actually possessed the collection of books in their entirety ( Bible) and had the sort of context to work with that you and I do, (ie philisophical and scientific arguments for the non existence of anything supernatural, historical perspective, etc) these great thinkers would very possibly reject their belief in their God. I think you underestimate your own intelligence as I think the authors of the Bible were delusional at best. You are not delusional and are clearly much more intelligent than someone who claims (according to Jewish tradition) to have been swallowed by a large fish and live to tell about it. Jonah is just one example. Should I list other Biblical authors of who I feel are less intelligent than many of us?