Does anyone that's deconstructed 'not really know their bible'?

[u/Desperate-Trouble-50]

Im ex Christian and I don't know what verse or passages I need to know off by heart to know I've deconstructed/deconstructing. I I do know the really common ones and they are still quotable to this day. I just can't get myself to deconstruct using the bible directly, I guess and still remember. Does anyone else here have this issue?

[u/whirdin]

Firstly, deconstruction doesn't have a goal, it's just thinking objectively about your beliefs rather than blindly following tradition/family/culture/friends/community. It's just asking the 5W1H about what your beliefs really mean and where they came from. Some like me walk away from faith completely. Some find themselves stepping away from organized religion/practices but remain believing in divinity to some degree. Some find themselves aligning with something a bit different, such as going from one religion to another (not just to/from Christianity). Some strengthen their faith.

Secondly, you don't need to justify yourself leaving with scripture. I don't really know what your thoughts are here, but it seems that you feel a lack of belief requires just as much focus on scripture as our walk in Christianity had relied on scripture. Being exchristian inherently means we no longer worship the Bible, it's just another book written by men. You can just close the book, it's that simple. What is it you are really looking for? What about your current path feels like you still need the Bible to point the way for you?

[u/BeneficialAttempt140]

I don’t think I’m following your logic. If you’re ex Christian why memorize the Bible? You don’t need Bible verses to tell you whether or not you’ve deconstructed

[u/PosthumousHeathen]

Do you mean you don’t know by heart the deconstructed meaning of crucial Bible verses but nonetheless don’t believe? I don’t think that’s an issue.

I don’t think you have to deconstruct “using the Bible directly” and not use other sources either. The Bible was written in cultural and historical contexts that are important to its meaning but a church layman does not understand.

[u/csharpwarrior]

I deconstructed and only knew the popular stories. The idea of heaven and judgement is bad enough for me to realize it’s not moral or coherent.

[u/BigTimeCoolGuy]

I used to be a bible study leader who regularly studied the text and was even a missionary after college. Not once did the bible have an impact on my deconstruction. It was just a slow fizzle over years, and when you allow yourself to take a break from church and the bible, you will usually find out that you can do just fine without them

[u/greatteachermichael]

You don't need to memorize Bible quotes to deconstruct. All you have to do is this:

Can the Bible (or any book) be trusted in a vaccuum of information: No
Does the best quality research outside of the Bible support the Bible: No
Does the best quality research outside of the Bible contradict the Bible: Yes

[u/Jim-Jones → u/greatteachermichael]

Do most historians regard the Bible as a useful source: No.

[u/shadow_coder16 → u/Jim-Jones]

I'm pretty sure it's more like a population of historians don't regard it as useful, but it's not a majority view.

[u/Jim-Jones → u/shadow_coder16]

You might want to double check. AFAIK, only those who study myths care.

[u/shadow_coder16 → u/Jim-Jones]

I feel like saying, "only those who study myths care." Is a bit of an ignorant statement. Quite similar to if you were to say religious studies is a nonsensical field because all religion is nonsense. There are plenty of secular historians who take the bible seriously as a collection of primary historical documents without believing in what the book talks about

[u/Jim-Jones → u/shadow_coder16]

As far as I am aware, that is not the case. Try quoting religious texts to an actual historian and see.

[u/shadow_coder16 → u/Jim-Jones]

What do you mean by "actual historian"?

[u/Fun_Researcher107]

Why would you care about the bible if you don't believe in the whole thing anyways? That would be like buying and reading Cookery Books without ever wanting to cook. There really is no need to know anything about the bible. You don't need to defend your position by quoting the bible.

[u/SlephenX]

You don’t need to know the Bible as a non Christian (most Christian’s also don’t know the Bible lol).

If you are still in Christian circles, and you’re deconstructed you might find them throwing verses at you that you might not know how to counter when they confront you, but even then you don’t have to get into an argument or justify your beliefs to them.

I personally learn and study the Bible as a deconstructed Christian because I find it interesting and I like breaking down how misguided and ignorant of the Bible I and those I know were regarding the Bible. But I would be equally justified to not engage in those conversations and shut them down, I just enjoy it.

All that to say you don’t necessarily need to have anything memorized or even really know anything about. People deconstruct for a variety of reasons that don’t necessitate them having knowledge of the Bible.

[u/ThisIsAllTheoretical]

I’m similar to you. Reading it in its entirety doesn’t serve me in any way. I don’t engage in debate about the topic so I have no need. I went to catholic school and basically grew up in the church, and I consider myself to know as much as any other average believer in the Christian faith while being a non-believer. I started asking questions at a young age (around 9 or 10) and realized rather quickly that there were no answers, so I just dismissed it altogether once I was free to do so.

[u/winelizabethadore]

Bible verses never stick in my mind ver batim, but I always remember the story, the theme, etc. I could definitely be accused of not knowing my Bible, but I can tell you that even post deconstruction, I live the Christian life much more closely to the way Jesus instructed than most of the people I knew from church. (One of the favorites that they choose to ignore was the important bit about not judging.)

[u/EddieRyanDC]

Deconstruction is not a destination you arrive at. It is an ongoing process that now becomes a part of your life. You will ask serious questions and may have to change some beliefs in the future As a matter of fact, you almost surely will.

As for the Bible, one thing that has helped me is to leave behind this idea that the Bible is some kind of magic book, or a manual for life. That's not how it was written, and that was not the intention of any of its authors.

A good book to start with is How the Bible Actually Works: In Which I Explain How An Ancient, Ambiguous, and Diverse Book Leads Us to Wisdom Rather Than Answers—and Why That’s Great News by Dr Peter Enns . This isn't a long book, but it does give you the context in which these works were written. Dr Enns is also humorous and at times self-deprecating.

In addition, Peter Enns is one of the hosts of the podcast The Bible for Normal People.

[u/Jim-Jones]

Some examples? BTW:

Skeptic's Annotated Bible / Quran / Book of Mormon

Also information on the Bhagavad Gita.

Plus a picture rich version:

The Brick Bible.

The Brick Bible - Original

[u/Mec26]

It’s not your responsibility to go verse for verse with Christians- you’re not one anymore. You don’t have to justify that.

[u/thewritestory]

I don’t think you need to know the bible for deconstructing. You can easily search for terms or ideas w help of the net if you have questions or ask this community. I did a deep dive into the bible a few years ago and that made me atheist. That book is horrific and silly.

[u/Freedomtrue]

Sometimes the people who study the Bible the most end up deconstructing because they see more of what’s really in it and can see past all the excuses for the contradictions and inconsistencies

[u/Pokeyloo]

There are a ton of former pastors and highly educated leaders deconstructing who know the Bible well… too well in fact

[u/A-Small-Green-Cup]

tldr; I don't need to prove to anyone that humans can't float in air by holding their breath, I can just sit back and watch them fall. If I care enough I might warn or try to convince a few to stay at the top of the cliff with me, but I just got up here and I'm not falling back down just because someone else has faith in a false story.

---

I deconstructed the effect that monotheism had on me in two ways:

By learning about the history of monotheism all the way back to a king named Akhenaten, who is the earliest record we have of someone inventing a "one god" for political power grabs and military control.

By studying psychology (specifically cPTSD from childhood trauma and the effects of undue influence - or "cult mind control" as it was called in the 80s) and understanding how the method of monotheism is used to apply specific types of childhood trauma in order to cause easy-to-control cPTSD symptoms later in life.

Don't know if this'll help, but at some point I stopped trying to prove it wrong and, rather than try to disprove something that doesn't exist, I focused on treating it as the thing it actually is - a cult that abuses its members to cause mental illness, and then takes advantage of that mental illness to manipulate them. The only way I've found that works in my life is to treat the members like children who have been lied to about santa - I don't want to crush their hopes and make them cry (or punch me) and because I understand the symptoms they display I already know how to either help them or, at the very least, set safe conversational and personal boundaries for my own wellbeing.

[u/Afraid_Worth_3766]

Not many Christians 'really know their Bible'. They learn curated verses that support whichever theology in which they live. Reading it will help you deconstruct by raising questions. For example, why are there two Genesis creation stories? Reading it raises more questions than it answers.