Courtesy of the Friendly Atheist:
For a few years now, Pastor Justin Vollmar has been releasing YouTube videos in which he explains biblical concepts and answers theological questions — all in sign language — as part of his “Virtual Deaf Church.”
But his latest video came as a shock because of the secret he revealed: He’s now an atheist.
in short, Vollmar explains that he enrolled in seminary to obtain his masters degree in Theology.
But his intense study of the Bible didn’t strengthen his faith. It led him away from it.
"A profound, wonderful change occurred in my life." I LOVE hearing that!
You know we always say that the best way to turn a Chrisitan into an Atheist is to have them REALLY read the Bible.
I think a lot of people assume we are simply being snarky.
But nope, we're not.
Serendipity exists; God, the source of all that exists, does not.
ReplyDeleteDuh, the more you learn the more you know.
ReplyDeleteDuh, the more you know, the more you realize you don't know--- yet, if you're interested in learning purposefully.
DeleteAnd the more you know the more you become confused until you realize that's the whole point!
ReplyDeleteAnd THAT is the doorway.
May I humbly recommend the book "Ken's Guide to the Bible" by Ken Smith? Very cheap investment, and a lot of fun to read! It's a quick summary of the verses of the Bible, including all of the ones the bible thumpers would rather you didn't know, such as:
ReplyDelete> "And Joshua killed everybody in the land and left nothing alive, as the Lord God had commanded" -- Joshua 10:40
> "A curse on he who keeps his sword from bloodshed, and is lax in doing the Lord's work" -- Jeremiah 48:10
And many more, such as the chapter-and-verse citation that shows that when Jesus died, Jerusalem was invaded by zombies. No, really! They never told you that in Sunday school?
Tom, in FL
Zombies?!?!?! They told us it was Assyrian vampires.
DeleteAnd "they say" the Koran is full of bloodshed and violence. Most of them have not read their own bible.
DeleteThanks for sharing this. It's where his journey led him and there's something in the silence that makes you want to learn more about him and his views since he reached this conclusion.
ReplyDeleteAll snark aside: that is EXACTLY what turned ME into an Atheist:
ReplyDeleteI READ THE BIBLE
I read the King James version,
then I read the Douay-Rheims version
then I read The Book of Mormon
and the Quran
and many, many books of the Apocrypha
and on and on...
And you know what?
There are truths in all of those Bibles:
Don't lie
Don't cheat
Don't steal
Don't murder
DON'T BE GREEDY
For God's sake - DON'T BE GREEDY
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
It really is just that simple.
All the rest - the parables, the virgin birth, the apostles, the myths...
all of that is just flash and dazzle meant to get your attention and impress...
The real pity is that so many people think the flash and dazzle is the religion and never get the message.
God, that's sad.
G, you are enjoying this altogether too much. -:)
ReplyDeleteOMG! Praise be unto almighty Zeus!!
ReplyDeleteThat was awesome!
Thanks, Gryphdude, for sharing this video.
Perhaps there is hope for us afterall.
Hey Gryph, 'm smelling something a bit fishy. That MA was at Liberty U. You might want to check it out before posting more. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rev-justin-vollmar/25/262/66
ReplyDeleteCould be nothing.... but.
More: http://www.clergyproject.org/
ReplyDelete