Letter: Be as good a person as you can, but question the Bible

Editor,

I wish we had a fair, loving, all-powerful parent God who would rescue all who fervently prayed for help from war, starvation, cancer, addiction, tornadoes, drought, drunk drivers, rape, family violence, blindness, false charges, drones, torture and much more. Hundreds of millions of people throughout human history have prayed desperately to God the best they knew how and received no help.

Did Jesus of Nazareth actually live? If he did, did the writers of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Bible accurately tell Jesus’ teachings and actions? In centuries since, did those people who copied and translated the original writings do a good job and make no important mistakes? Huge questions! Who knows for sure?

The Bible says Jesus spoke after about God as a loving Father who would answer prayers and give what we ask for.

Matthew 7:11, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him.”

Matthew 18:19, “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”

Matthew 21:22, “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive if you have faith.”

If Jesus actually lived, and if he sincerely said these verses, he was sadly deluded about God and reality.

No matter how well-meaning, he was not telling the truth. Talk about politicians’ fake promises and companies’ false advertising to sell products! These verses are false advertising for God!

I am humbled to realize I swallowed and spread this false advertising for God for many years. I was a sincere Christian preacher in the 1960s. I had not yet learned to question the Bible deeply and to reject what is false. I thank many who helped me open my eyes.

Read the Bible with extreme caution always! Spit out its much dangerous poison! Take to heart its precious wisdom and aim to live it. The Bible’s precious wisdom calls us to love, forgive and do good to our enemies, to conquer evil with good, to apologize and make amend when we wrong others, to live simply, to reject addiction to money and status and to treat all people as we want others to treat us.

Don Schrader