EvilBible.com

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EvilBible.com is a website started in 2003 by Chris Thiefe[1] that highlights biblical contradictions, hypocrisies, and various nasty passages (hence the site's moniker). Although it hasn't been updated since 2010, it remains one of the most comprehensive sites on all things messed up in the Bible. For obvious reasons, it's super useful when arguing with/trolling fundies, Young Earth Creationists, and Bible literalists.

Though the articles on the site are unattributed since they have been edited and modified by several different people,[2] a number of essays about the End Times, the relevancy of the Old Testament, and various Christian talking points were originally written by someone named "Charlotte", who hosted them on the now-defunct site "Theists Suck"[1]

Views on Christianity[edit]

God and Jesus[edit]

If the "Evil Bible Quote of the Day" feature, the fact that they have articles like "Evils of the Torah" and "Jesus is a False Messiah", and the name itself didn't tip you off, EvilBible.com heavily leans towards maltheism. Its logo proudly proclaims that the site is "Fighting Against Immortality in Religion", and part of its introduction on the homepage reads, "For far too long priests and preachers have completely ignored the vicious criminal acts that the Bible promotes. The so called God of the Bible makes Osama Bin Laden look like a Boy Scout."[3] This God of the Bible, according to EvilBible.com, is a murderous bastard who demands followers burn animals and humans in his name[4] and kills plenty of people, men, women, and children alike, for absurd reasons.[5] Not only do his teachings promote murder, the EvilBible.com argues, but they also condone rape[6] and slavery, which the site insists absolutely includes beating slaves and treating as chattel.[7]

The site also has some choice words regarding Jesus. Not only does it contend that Jesus was a false prophet[8] who spouted lies about the power of prayer,[9] but it also believes that the real answer to What Would Jesus Do should be "Advocate child abuse, murder, and other cruelties", stating that "Jesus’ loving nature [is] a joke but so are the Christians who worship him."[10]

EvilBible.com also advocates atheism; it openly states in its about that they wish to "promote atheism by revealing the wicked truth about the Bible and religion."[2] Naturally, it has a few articles on the subject. For example, "Why I am not a Christian" holds that believing in God is not only philosophically unsound (for example, if choosing to disobey God means eternal punishment, then is it really free will or coercion?), but morally bankrupt,[11] while "Definition of Atheism" attempts to create a rigorous definition of atheism, as contrasted with belief and agnosticism.[12]

One of the more interesting pieces is "God is Impossible". As the title suggests, it presents the idea that a perfect, all-knowing, omni-benevolent God is inherently illogical. Its main argument is that if God is perfect, then he could not have created such an imperfect universe, because perfection cannot beget imperfection. Said imperfections include theological conundrums like "if God knew that some humans would wind up in hell, then why did he create them in the first place?" and "how could a perfect God promote his teachings through an imperfect book that can be both hard to understand and self-contradictory?"[13]

Creationism[edit]

The site also hates Young Earth creationism. For example, the list of "Top Ten Signs You’re a Fundamentalist Christian" includes "You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old."[14] It reserves some particular ire towards day-age creationism. "A Day is a Day" argues that based on the original Hebrew text, the "day" described in Genesis refers to a day as in a 24-hour period, and interpreting it as some spanning millions of years leads to (even more) contradictions.[15]

Other beliefs[edit]

EvilBible.com finds the idea that God hates abortion patently absurd, pointing to verses like Hosea 9:11-16 and Numbers 5:11-21 that describe the Lord performing or recommending the death of a fetus.[16] Regarding the Ten Commandments, EvilBible.com is actually pretty fine with people posting them in public...if they also show the long list of punishments for breaking them.[17]

The site also believes that the Holocaust was caused by Christian fundamentalism, to point of calling it a "modern inquisition", and that Adolf Hitler was a real Christian.[18] This is where it really falters. To give them some credit, it does try to establish a link between Christianity and Nazism beyond "some Nazis were Christians, therefore Christianity caused Nazism", but it fails in other areas. Its sourcing is really spotty, and EvilBible.com fails to back up some of its more outrageous claims, such as that German soldiers were forced to be sprinkled with holy water and listen to a Catholic sermon before going into battle or that there was a secret police who persecuted heresy. It does cite some relevant passages from Mein Kampf where Hitler depicts himself as a Christian waging war against Jews, but it doesn't comment on passages that attack Christianity,[note 1] and some of its selections are questionable: how does "the fall of man in paradise has always been followed by his expulsion" or him commenting on the motives of an anti-Semetic Christian movement support the notion that Hitler used Christianity to justify his hatred of Jews?

Reactions[edit]

As you can imagine, just from its name alone and its arguably incendiary articles, the site also catches a lot of heat from fundamentalists and other conservative people who like to pretend these passages never existed. The folks at Militant Atheism Exposed abhor it, of course, and attack Thiefe and Co. as arrogant.[19] There is not one, but two blogs dedicated entirely to "debunking" the site, though one has pretty much gone inactive,[20] and the other posts very sporadically and has moved to other popular apologist targets.[21]

See also[edit]

External links[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. If this seems confusing, then you're not alone. Hitler's religious beliefs are still hotly debated to this day, precisely because the evidence is often inconsistent and contradictory. See Positive Christianity and Adolf Hitler for more.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 About EvilBible.com (Archived September 10, 2015) EvilBible.com
  2. 2.0 2.1 About EvilBible.com, EvilBible.com
  3. Evil Bible Home Page, EvilBible.com.
  4. Ritual Human Sacrifice, EvilBible.com
  5. Murder in the Bible, EvilBible.com
  6. Rape in the Bible, EvilBible.com
  7. Slavery, EvilBible.com
  8. Jesus is a False Messiah, EvilBible.com
  9. Jesus Lied, EvilBible.com
  10. What Would Jesus Do, EvilBible.com
  11. Why I am not a Christian, EvilBible.com
  12. Definition of Atheism, EvilBible.com
  13. God is Impossible, EvilBible.com
  14. Top Ten List, EvilBible.com
  15. A Day is a Day, EvilBible.com
  16. God is not Pro-Life, EvilBible.com
  17. Ten Commandments, EvilBible.com
  18. Hitler Was a Christian, EvilBible.com
  19. EVILBIBLE.COM: BIBLICAL IGNORANCE EXPOSED By Michael Caputo Militant Atheism Exposed
  20. Debunking "EvilBible.com"
  21. A Rebuttal to EvilBible.com