In a desperate attempt to remain relevant after a period of being out of print, Newsweek Magazine's Christmas cover story by Kurt Eichenwald titled "The Bible: So Misunderstood it's a Sin" claims the Bible is corrupted and that Christians, having never actually read it nor understood it, are "God's frauds, cafeteria Christians who pick and choose which Bible verses they heed with less care than they exercise in selecting side orders for lunch."
For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:
Atheists Demand Ban: Bible Says Kill Gays & Non-virgin Women
California School Bans Books by Christian Authors
Marquette University Bans Conservative Professor, Like a Terrorist
Liberal Media Pounce on Evangelical Liberty University
Also read about the latest myriad attacks on Christmas in schools around the nation.
And read about an Iowa newspaper editor who was fired for being Christian, and about a University of Iowa journalism professor who said "ignorant Iowa Jesus Freaks" have no business choosing presidential candidates.
And read New York Farmers Guilty & Fined for Being Christian
In addition, read President Obama's Christmas: Behold, a Message is Born
-- From "Newsweek finds Christianity again with its latest cover" by Tom Kludt, CNNMoney 12/30/14
Newsweek's latest cover story represents the first time in a year the magazine gave top billing to an examination of Christianity.
Critics have contended that Eichenwald was out of his depth. RedState editor-in-chief Erick Erickson, who enrolled in seminary earlier this year, said that Eichenwald "displays staggering ignorance to attack Christianity."
Eichenwald, for his part, told CNNMoney that he had been working on the story "for basically three decades." He said he pitched the idea to Newsweek in October and that personal matters dictated the piece's Christmas publication.
Eichenwald also brushed off the criticism of the piece.
"There is no doubt that fundamentalists would not accept this, particularly since the point was, many of those Christians who say the Bible is the unerring word of God pick and choose what they want to believe," he said. "Which is why the primary part of the piece is asking questions."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "The Bible: So Misunderstood It's a Sin" by Kurt Eichenwald, Newsweek 12/23/14
They wave their Bibles at passersby, screaming their condemnations of homosexuals. They fall on their knees, worshipping at the base of granite monuments to the Ten Commandments while demanding prayer in school. They appeal to God to save America from their political opponents, mostly Democrats. They gather in football stadiums by the thousands to pray for the country’s salvation.
They are God’s frauds, cafeteria Christians who pick and choose which Bible verses they heed with less care than they exercise in selecting side orders for lunch. They are joined by religious rationalizers—fundamentalists who, unable to find Scripture supporting their biases and beliefs, twist phrases and modify translations to prove they are honoring the Bible’s words.
This is no longer a matter of personal or private faith. With politicians, social leaders and even some clergy invoking a book they seem to have never read and whose phrases they don’t understand, America is being besieged by Biblical illiteracy. . . .
The Bible is not the book many American fundamentalists and political opportunists think it is, or more precisely, what they want it to be. Their lack of knowledge about the Bible is well established. . . .
Newsweek’s exploration here of the Bible’s history and meaning is not intended to advance a particular theology or debate the existence of God. Rather, it is designed to shine a light on a book that has been abused by people who claim to revere it but don’t read it, in the process creating misery for others. . . .
No television preacher has ever read the Bible. Neither has any evangelical politician. Neither has the pope. Neither have I. And neither have you. At best, we’ve all read a bad translation—a translation of translations of translations of hand-copied copies of copies of copies of copies, and on and on, hundreds of times.
. . . [skipping past thousands of critical words about the Bible] . . .
So why study the Bible at all? Since it’s loaded with contradictions and translation errors and wasn’t written by witnesses and includes words added by unknown scribes to inject Church orthodoxy, should it just be abandoned?
No. This examination is not an attack on the Bible or Christianity. Instead, Christians seeking greater understanding of their religion should view it as an attempt to save the Bible from the ignorance, hatred and bias that has been heaped upon it. If Christians truly want to treat the New Testament as the foundation of the religion, they have to know it. Too many of them seem to read John Grisham novels with greater care than they apply to the book they consider to be the most important document in the world.
But the history, complexities and actual words of the Bible can’t be ignored just to line it up with what people want to believe, based simply on what friends and family and ministers tell them. Nowhere in the Gospels or Acts of Epistles or Apocalypses does the New Testament say it is the inerrant word of God. It couldn’t—the people who authored each section had no idea they were composing the Christian Bible, and they were long dead before what they wrote was voted by members of political and theological committees to be the New Testament.
The Bible is a very human book. It was written, assembled, copied and translated by people. That explains the flaws, the contradictions, and the theological disagreements in its pages. . . .
To read all of this extremely long opinion column above, CLICK HERE.
From "Newsweek on the Bible — So Misrepresented It’s a Sin" by Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 12/29/14
Newsweek magazine decided to greet the start of 2015 with a massive cover story on the Bible. For decades now, major news magazines have tended to feature cover articles timed for Christmas and Easter, taking an opportunity to consider some major question about Christianity and the modern world. Leading the journalistic pack for years, both TIME and Newsweek dedicated cover article after article, following a rather predictable format. In the main, scholars or leaders from very liberal quarters commented side-by-side those committed to historic Christianity on questions ranging from the virgin birth to the resurrection of Christ.
. . . Eichenwald appears to be far outside his area of expertise and knowledge. More to the point, he really does not address the subject of the Bible like a reporter at all. His article is a hit-piece that lacks any journalistic balance or credibility. His only sources cited within the article are from severe critics of evangelical Christianity, and he does not even represent some of them accurately.
In a predictable move, Eichenwald claims to base his research on “works of scores of theologians and scholars, some of which dates back centuries.” But the sources he cites are from the far, far left of biblical studies and the most significant living source appears to be University of North Carolina professor Bart Ehrman, who is post-Christian. Even so, he makes claims that go far beyond even what Bart Ehrman has claimed in print.
But Kurt Eichenwald’s essay is not ground-breaking in any sense. These arguments have been around for centuries in some form. He mixes serious points of argument with caricatures and cartoons and he does exactly what he accuses Christians of doing — he picks his “facts” and arguments for deliberate effect.
Newsweek’s cover story is exactly what happens when a writer fueled by open antipathy to evangelical Christianity tries to throw every argument he can think of against the Bible and its authority. To put the matter plainly, no honest historian would recognize the portrait of Christian history presented in this essay as accurate and no credible journalist would recognize this screed as balanced.
To read the entire opinion column above, CLICK HERE.
From "Newsweek on Christianity: So Misinformed, It's a Mockery" by Kristi Burton Brown, Christian Post Op-Ed Contributor 12/31/14
The article presents a mocked and misrepresented Jesus, claiming that He would be "horrified" by thousands of Americans gathered together to pray and that, "to Jesus, family was an impediment to reaching God." . . .
The article also makes the outlandish claim that Evangelicals "don't like to talk about" the books of Psalms, Job, Exodus, and Isaiah because "monsters and magic" are present in all of them. . . .
Scripture must indeed be taken in totality…no, a person is not condemned to Hell solely on the basis of a homosexual act, just as a person is not condemned to Hell solely for adultery or solely for a lie. (Christians do commit these acts.) But Scripture is clear that our sin does condemn us to Hell, unless we rely on Christ alone for salvation. Scripture is also clear that, while we are not saved by our good works, our good works – and choices to stop sinning – prove to the world that we are saved.
Newsweek also strangely attempts to claim that "Christians are believed to have massacred more followers of Jesus than any other group or nation." But who exactly "believes" that? The facts certainly don't prove it. This can be seen on a basic level simply by evaluating who the author is including as "Christians." . . .
To read the entire opinion column above, CLICK HERE.
Also read Gay Agenda will be Complete when Christians are Muzzled, Say Homosexualists as well as Senator Ted Cruz Says the Gay Agenda Ends Christian Liberty
