Although I grew up in the ’Bible Belt’ of America, I had no religious upbringing whatsoever. Always having been curious about why people believed what they did, I finally decided to assess the claims of the Bible by reading it cover to cover. What I ultimately found was a host of irreconcilable fallacies, contradictions, and anachronisms which led me to the conclusion that the Bible is anything but the "inerrant Word of God."
My intrigue of people’s beliefs, however, compelled me to continue on what has now been a 10-year study of, not only the Bible, but also the Qur’an, the Tao Te Ching, the Book of Mormon, and various other religions and their texts. The more I read, the less I believed. Whether it was Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, or any other religion, my discoveries were the same: claims failed and answers were inadequate.
As I read, studied, and compared, my notes evolved into The Heathen’s Guide to Understanding Biblical Fallacies, Anachronisms, Contradictions, Non Sequiturs, and Other Sheer Impossibilities. This book tells of my path of discovery, the abundance of evidence which led me to my conclusion that there is no god (or God), what atheism is (and what it is not), and why atheists are not by default immoral, rudderless, and unhappy people.
A number of popular books have aided atheism as it has become more and more socially acceptable in recent years. Yet, while many of these are great sources of information, my experience has been that a lot of them are quite limited: scientists write about science; philosophers write about philosophy; ex-preachers write about morality and biblical errancy. There are few books, however, that cover all the aspects of atheism and free thought.
My unique take is that I’m nobody. I’m not a scientist. I’m not a theologian. And since it doesn’t take an advanced degree to be an atheist, why should we not have a source of information from the average person who decided to sit down and really dig into the material?
It will be surprising to many that I do not desire (much less expect) to entirely eradicate Christianity or any other religion. My main goal is to promote thought and to encourage an open discourse. There is nothing so sad as the person who blindly believes without any real thought as to why — or even what — he believes.
This is the key problem that I see within religion and what I hope to accomplish with this book. If someone is questioning his beliefs and can find freedom in atheism because of what I can share, I will be quite pleased. At the same time, I am just as happy when Christians tell me that I have given them something to think about — even if their beliefs remain just as strong.
The Heathen’s Guide is broken down into two parts:
The Heathen’s Desk Reference
There are plenty of books that will tell you about the problems within the Bible. When I was first reading the Bible, however, I didn’t want anyone’s opinion on what they felt it said; I wanted to read it and figure it out for myself. The Heathen’s Desk Reference originated as the notes I took while I read. While I explain where the problems lie, I don’t quote the verses themselves because I have no desire to cherry-pick the translation(s) that best suited each individual argument. My goal for you, as it was for myself, is to let you think for yourself. Don’t take my word for it — the verses are meticulously cited specifically so that you can read them for yourself!
The Gospel According to Jon
While it was a part of my path to atheism, dismantling the Bible is not the only piece of the puzzle. Since there was a lot more to be said—and since a cross-referenced index is, by itself, a little dry — The Gospel According to Jon represents the remainder of my journey. With chapters covering subjects such as truth and knowledge, morality, religious mythologies (Judeo-Christian and otherwise), evolution, the origins of the universe and life, et cetera, this section of the book covers the gamut of anti-religious arguments.
The Heathen’s Guide has immense potential as a tool for people who are questioning their religious beliefs, those who have left religion and still need support, those who simply enjoy learning, and those who enjoy contemplating (or are even willing to contemplate) their own beliefs
With your backing, I will publish my existing manuscript. Let’s share how the average person can find comfort and freedom outside religion.