Why did the God of the Bible create hell (before the foundation of the world)?
Why did the God of the Bible create people who are capable of sinning?
Why does the God of the Bible let children suffer?
Is prophecy real, was it written after the fact, or is it something completely different?
Who decided what would be in the Bible and what about the other Christian books?
What are the contradictions in the Bible?
Why didn't the Apostle Paul mention the virgin birth?
Why is "Christ" not mentioned in the Old Testament?
Why does religion often end in hatred?
Why did religious men oppress and enslave women in the Bible?
How did God become perfect?
"Conversion stories are a dime-a-dozen in religious bookstores; deconversion stories--that is, stories about how someone religious changed their mind and gave up their religion--are rare. Gary Lenaire has written a compelling account of how he went from a deeply religious and fully committed Christian to a secular "infidel," or someone without faith in religion. No Christian can accuse Lenaire of not being a true believer, or of dishonesty, or of being tempted by Satan, or any of the other excuses offered when someone leaves the fold. Gary Lenaire is an honest man with integrity and character who left the church because it no longer made rational sense to him. And that is a perfectly legitimate reason. All believers should read this book; if nothing else, they can at least test their faith, but along the way perhaps they will also test their rational capacity to think, surely a good thing to do."
-Michael Shermer, Publisher of Skeptic magazine, monthly columnist for Scientific American, author of Why Darwin Matters.
An Infidel Manifesto exposes the reasons why many “real” believers lose faith. Gary Lenaire explores hard questions such as, “Why would a merciful God, who loves people so intensely, create souls who will die eternally in torment?” Or, “Why do children suffer while a good God exists? Lenaire answers these questions while revealing contradictions and inconsistencies in the Bible. He discusses the fact that other “gospels” were excluded from the New Testament; and that the Bible was originally produced by a money-funded vote. The book examines the confusing concept of Christian faith. Lenaire discusses the progression of multiple imperfect pagan deities that have been transformed over time into one perfect God. This transformation produced the evangelical fundamentalist idea of a perfect Word of God (the Bible) that is allegedly inerrant. An Infidel Manifesto is a powerful and honest first-hand view of Christianity and its paradoxical influence. |