Despite the fact that the bible is the holy book of scripture for nearly two billion people and the source of their religion, a staggeringly small number of those who claim to follow its teachings have actually read it, from cover to cover (as opposed to cherry-picked fragments when that suits them). That might seem odd to you, but anyone who has tried to wade through the massive tome has found (as I have) the world's most popular novel of all time to be incredible boring, dense, repetitive and all-round difficult to read. Its trivia, genealogies, irrelevant stories and laws are close to a cure for insomnia. (That's not including the bits that are absurd and hysterically funny, but they pale into insignificance compared to all the crap that's to be found there.)

"Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived."
 — Isaac Asimov; Asimov's Guide to the Bible (1968/9)

As for me, I have attempted to do so at least twice (including with a copy of the Geneva Bible, which has the added complication of being writ in Middle English, not that that would usually stop me). I never made it past Exodus. As for any believers who actually take up the challenge, they face one other problem: The church leaders of their faith tell them that they should read the so-called "good" book in order to strengthen their faith, but long and repeat exposure to its bullshit is likely to do one thing, which is weaken their belief. That, in itself, seems like a compelling argument for persevering in reading it: Why make an effort to undermine and shoot holes in Christianity when the faithful are encouraged to do so themselves (except, of course, that they are too weak-willed to take up the challenge)? This is pretty much why actually reading the Bible is left to clergy, who cherry-pick passages for their sermons (or hateful PoSs who quote it to justify their bigotry and judgemental attitudes). Although they leave out the bad/unflattering bits and present only a fraction of it, they have plenty of material to use, since the Bible is a considerably large volume (even if you don't include the apocrypha and heretical texts).

The question one might ask, then, is why aren't the unused "bad" (repetitive, tedious, irrelevant — and often contradictory) passages removed? Well, they have been, by Thomas Jefferson (but his informational pamphlet-sized work never really caught on with wider Christianity). The problem is that many Christians are literalists, believing that the entire text is the inspired work of their god and created by him, that each and every passage contains a message from their god and, therefore, must remain. (These are probably people who've read little to none of it, IMO, since they'd quickly realise it's anything but that, the delusional ramblings of Bronze-Age nutters trying to pass themselves off as prophets and sages.) They also rely on the false notion that when the book appears to be anything other than beautiful, good, perfect or true, the fault lies not with the Bible itself, but their interpretation/understanding of it.

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible (SAB), in contrast, written by a former Christian who realised that "the word of God" is largely bullshit with diamonds in the dung heap, attempts to right those wrongs. In it, he does so by going through the King James version of the Bible with a critical eye and calling out the nonsense for what it is (particularly the bad/embarrassing bits), like a drunk relative at a wedding (although the author seems far more lucid). Fortunately for me, I happen to have a copy. Since Christians want everyone to have a copy of the Bible, this (the SAB) is the one I recommend (although Asimov's version may serve just as well; I've yet to read it). It shows the Bible for what it is; a mostly homophobic, misogynistic, racist, unjust and sexist bigot's polemic with barely any relevance to the modern world (to identify only some of its aspects). The SAB is, I feel, a book of which Asimov would be proud. I suggest you read it, since the author describes it like this:

"The SAB will help those who believe in the Bible to honestly reconsider that belief. It will help those who are unfamiliar with the Bible to resist the temptation to believe. And it will help those who have already rejected the Bible defend their position.

It is time for us all to stop believing in, or pretending to believe in, a book that is so unworthy of belief."
 — The Skeptic's Annotated Bible (2012); "Introduction"; pp. pg. 12; Steve Wells

"But isn't there some good stuff in the Bible?"

"Well yes there is, although surprisingly little for such a big book. Indeed, if the bad, boring, and useless passages were removed from the Bible and only the good retained, the bible would be nothing more than a small pamphlet. But Bible-believers are unwilling to edit the Bible. So the good verses, when not invalidated by their immediate context, are contradicted elsewhere in the Bible. There is not a single good idea in the entire Bible that is taught consistently throughout. Consequently, it is worse than useless as a moral, philosophical, political, or scientific guide.

[...]

"There are a lot of books that come close to inerrancy, but the Bible is not one of them. And its errors are not confined to missing exponents or poor choice of words. Of all the books that I know of, the Bible is the most errant. It is by far the worst book I've ever read (with the possible exceptions of the Quran and the Book of Mormon). I know of no other book, for example, that commands you to kill homosexuals, Sabbath breakers, nonbelievers, rape victims who don't cry out loud enough, relatives if they believe differently than you, etc. These are serious errors; they should be taken seriously, especially since [approximately] two billion people believe the Bible to be the inerrant word of God."
 — Ibid; "About the Categories"; pp. pg. 15-16

I'm leaving comments open, so that the Bible-bashers who feel compelled to wave their red flags can do so and get blocked. Have fun, you deceitful, dishonest, homophobic,  hypocritical, incestuous, misogynistic, racist and vengeful fuckers ...

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