Your bible study videos all have their "problem verses" section. I'm wondering if when you arrived at the three body problem, or attempted to square the circle, did you determine at that point that maths were invalid? Or did you reflect on the first principle of education that the intersection of apparent contradiction becomes the teachable moment? From a strict materialist perspective we can all acknowledge evidence of mass extinctions, principles of cause and effect, theories of human psychopathology etc... Why then does it seem strange to you that the same axiom which governs all theses cold realities is the same axiom which governs your most warm and cherished values?
This is a book where you really start to get sarcastic and it is comedy gold. “Joshua and God we’re having a conversation about how to get more time to continue their genocidal behaviors…” 🤣😂🤣
Wtf does god need treasure for? "But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money!" - George Carlin
I don't watch a lot of religious movies, but there IS one that impressed me, I think it was The Ten Commandments, with Dougray Scott, which actually ACCURATELY shows the scene where Moses is horrified that his army brought slaves back instead of killing ALL the people they invaded...and so he grabs and sword and starts chopping down helpless prisoners right in front of everyone! More religious people should see this, it's one thing just reading words, but actually SEEING these things done is another matter entirely...and theists can't complain about it, it's right there in their own book!
The fact that they brought back slaves alone shows that these people are dumber than rocks, and I wonder, are these really God's chosen people? Couldn't He have made a better choice? Did inbreeding since the days of Adam and Eve affect them _that_ badly?
Love your "I am so done. It fails, it fails, it fails, it fails!" One thing (among many) you make clear with your analysis is something I've always thought really puts the nail in the Judeo-Christian coffin. It's crystal clear Old Testament theology accepts and endorses polytheism. Yaweh never says other gods don't exist. He just says he's the most powerful among them. Modern Christians claiming other gods don't exist and never did simply contradicts their own religious teachings. Just another in the long list of contradictions which make their belief system impossible to swallow.
@@MindShift-Brandon It's a crowded room full of keening conflicted voices. But take heart. Yours is among the clearest. BTW, thank you for never cussing. Me, I don't care but my hyper-religious sister, who needs your content SO much more, would dismiss you out of hand for a single "fuck!"
There was an old Hannah Barbera cartoon series I think was called "Tales from the Bible." There's an episode about the battle of Jericho and yes, they conveniently leave out the massacre of the people after the wall come down. As a child I thought the point was to show that god could do something miraculous like winning a battle without fighting. It wasn't until later when I actually read the book that I realized how wrong I really was.
kinda similar with veggietales "josh and the big wall", the walls come down, a few peas who were on top of them hop away to off-screen, and it's just a pile of rocks and dust- no indication that this was an inhabited city that the "people of god" brutally massacred, can't be having the kids see that!
God: “I am the only god! There are no other gods!” Also god: “Don’t worship any other gods.” Once you get out from under religion, it’s so obviously fake. That’s how powerful indoctrination is. Another fantastic video, thank you for all your hard work!
I'm pretty sure the "don't worship others before me" is JUST vague enough that it actually does allow for the worship of other gods...just so long as Yahweh gets the lion's share! After all, that commandment clearly wasn't enough to stop Solomon and other kings and their people from worshipping other gods later on...
Ok this one is a sticking point for me. Just because the Bible says don't worship any other God doesn't mean that the other gods exist. People could worship something completely fake. I mean, people believe in fake stuff all the time, right? 😊
@@aprilaronson1012sure but then why would this god that is totally real and is the only one that does and has ever existed need to say it? Just prove it.
The astronomical stuff is important. The sun and moon standing still or running backwards are not negligible things. You would think if something like that happened, every people group around the world would have stories of it. I remember learning the book of Joshua in Sunday school when I was a little kid. Needless to say, they glossed over the brutality. XD
right! its not just the bad science, its the fact that everywhere there would be record of that crazy day that lasted longer than usual lol. And yes sunday school was all Joshua was a mighty warrior for god with great faith. Be like Joshua!
Christians just say god can make anything happen and that just explains all the unscientific stuff in the bible which still often doesn't make any sense. Like how snails melt apparently.
The biblical apologist could claim that it was a strictly local phenomenon, accomplished by god simply bending the sun and moonlight so that they appeared to stand still over that one valley. Everywhere else on Earth they continued to behave normally.
@@MindShift-Brandon And like you pointed out in a plethora of your other videos, it's not faith if Moses and Joshua saw and spoke directly to god. That would be (if true which it's not) direct evidence of god, negating that need for faith.
I remember being really confused by people who literally see the power of God before them and are still like "but what if he isn't real?" The actions of the Israelites make more sense if God isn't real but they are using an entente to justify their actions and use that same entente to explain why things aren't going their way. IE: we lost because God is mad at us.
"God loves child sacrifice. It's the entire way we have the gospel message." Wow that shocked me when I heard that, but then I had to laugh because you are right, LOL. God loves child sacrifice... Won't see that pronounced very prominently.
Thank you for reasoning through all these stories that are more far-fetched than Grimm’s Fairytales. Putting voice to your reasoning in a clear, concise way is very helpful to me! 🤙
Interesting idea: plaques for home, and stickers for cars that say “The Lord threw Down Heavy Stones From Heaven on Them .” Now there is something to comfort you when you have had a bad day! Lol
Thank you for mentioning the connection to modern-day militancy. I wonder if the historical events that inspired these legends involved a powerful local warlord who arose out of the chaos of the Bronze Age Collapse and went on to form a coalition of displaced Semitic peoples. It's easy to imagine a powerful individual promoting his own patron deity to the top position both to test the loyalty of his followers and to provide a unifying myth for the movement. We tend to assume that ancient politics was as simple as ancient technology, but these people weren't measurably different from modern folks. The values Joshua promotes aren't exactly those of fascism, but they're within shouting distance.
One thing I noticed about the story of Ai was how Joshua initially sends around 3000 men to take the city. Ai is said to have 12000 people total. Even if 75% of the city is women, children and elderly, it’s very possible for 3000 to lose against another 3000 on their home territory. Meanwhile after Achan is killed, they come back with 30,000 men and take the city without issue. The entire scenario makes sense without attributing Achan’s sin to the defeat and his death to the victory. Based on the text, another extremely plausible explanation for this event is that the leaders are finding a skapegoat to cover up a military blunder.
Note the reference to "stones" is to hailstones. We know from current history that even baseball to softball sized hailstones can be fatal during a severe weather event. They don't have to be boulder sized.
Brandon, I have previously thought about there being no "free will" whenever the Bible specifies that God "hardened someone's heart". However, I never thought about EVERY single time God supposedly interfered by answering a prayer for someone or influenced who wins a war... the person he acts upon is losing their free will. Thanks for the insight. I wish I could redo an argument I had with a Christian when she used "free will" as an excuse for why God allows suffering on Earth. She actually told me that God couldn't intervene in a rape because it would interfere with free will!!! What about the woman's "free will" not to be raped??? Whose free will was God chosing to enforce... the rapist's or the victim's? They can't both have free will operating at the same time when their will conflicts. Luckily, I did have the forethought to bring up all the suffering from bad things that happen that have nothing to do with free will, like: tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, etc. But I also didn't think about how many times the Bible proclaims God did actually intervene in something. Thanks again!
@@MindShift-Brandon and if God is punishing this man by getting his fiancé raped, is God overruling the free will of the rapist? Was this guy going about his business and then God shows up, commanding him to rape this woman? Is the rapist committing a sin if it’s executing Gods judgment?
No free will👉 : 6:44 john. 44No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ 📖 Romans 8:29 Verse Concepts For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;📖 Romans 8:30 Verse Concepts and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.📖 2 Thessalonians 2:13 Verse Concepts But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.📖 Ephesians 1:4-5 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will………………………………….And there is maaaany more about (NOT HAVING FREE WILL …. And acording to this :salvation is not about believing and having fait unless god would choose you to .🤯 supposedly from his good will and love……. God of the bible is evil, selfseeking, not about equality, unfair, jalous, angry, bloodthirsty, a liar, desiever, cruel, power hungry, rasist.
Pedo-viles have and use their free will. Their small victims have no choice, no will for them. That's the big nail in the god free will argument for me. Thumbs down on yahweh favoring might over peace.
For sure. Magic is always their answer. Did god use his magic on every single person alive to not notice it also as no where in history did anyone else on earth record the day that went too long.
Whenever I bring up the Pharaoh or other characters and their hearts that God hardened, apologists will always say something like "God was simply strengthening their inner desires" or "God was speeding things up", like that's supposed to be an excuse for God hardening the hearts of people when he also could've just... you know... softened their hearts instead.
I've seen it argured that the sun and moon stopping in Joshua 10 was originally Yahweh commanding the sun and moon as gods to show Yahwehs dominance as celestial bodies were believed to be actual divine beings in ancient times. This was heavily glossed over in later times, but there are verses that mention the sun, moon, and stars being worshipped.
Thanks for explicitly addressing the giants/Nephilim issue. When ever I hear/see a claim that Goliath was a giant associated with the seed of the fallen angels I always point out that this would mean one of the humans on the ark would have to have been a giant. Unless a breeding pair of them stowed away on the ark unbeknownst to Noah (and God). I also like to point out that, being that all the species alive now were purportedly on the ark (except fish, ocean going mammals etc.), and that bacteria and viruses are species, then the humans on the ark would have had to have been infected with smallpox, AIDS, leprosy, herpes, gonorrhea, etc. (unless evolution is actually a thing).
In my church they always said that Satan sent his fallen angels to Canaan. The angels made giants with human women because Satan knew the israelites will come and he wanted to set back God's plan for his chosen people :D
the story of rahab definitely hits different now... without the lens of "she was a heroine of faith!", she looks an awful lot like someone who betrayed her whole city to save her own hide... maybe not so heroic after all
@@MindShift-Brandon I've made it into judges in the OT on this playthrough but then someone said something stupid about Luke so I started reading the gospels again and got distracted. The conquest feels so epic like this is just really good storytelling and these videos make me want to go back and start reading the OT again.
Ha, well one thing has taken a hit and thats my amount of exercise. Mindshift Brandon is much, much heavier than Brandon's Bookshelf Brandon lol. But working from home as afford me the flexibility to do this and still have family time, and reading time etc. If I were still in an office, it would be impossible
Brilliantly done. You've shown how the OT god, at least at this point in the story, is nothing more than one war god amongst many, who doesn't love all people but just his team, and needs obedience, treasure and foreskins or you're not on his team. Modern apologists don't want people reading this stuff, I honestly don't know why they included it when it debunks itself. btw, if you haven't seen it "Jesus he Knows Me" by Genesis 1991 is a brilliant satire of the televangelists like Joel Osteen and Ken "Demon face" Copeland.
@@MindShift-Brandon What I don't get is the people who say they became Christian AFTER reading the bible. They cling to the happy clappy hippy Jesus image, and ignore all this OT stuff.
Yes. I cant know for sure but to me those examples are typically very ill, displaced, depressed, lost people and they have no context of the bible. Then they read john 3:16 and feel loved and then a friend or new pastor shows up for them and explains a few more versus and a year later their testimony is, i read the bible and was saved.
Sounds similar to a discussion I had with one of my uncles. I was discussing some stuff about the bible to him (without revealing that I'm not a christian) and he said that he don't care to research all that stuff and that all he needs to know is that Jesus died for him. Uuuuuuuuugghhhhhhh. So many ignore so much stuff that makes explaining things to them really difficult.@@MindShift-Brandon
In my house growing up in the 90s, we had a book of modern “proofs” of the Bible, on the level of “Jericho was a real city therefore everything Joshua says about it is true,” but my favorite now has to be the one about the “missing day.” Supposedly NASA was doing some calculations and they kept coming up just a bit off, stars weren’t quite where they should be, everyone is checking and rechecking the math and can’t figure it out. Then somebody “realized” that they needed to account for the day when God held the Sun still and WHOA it all fits now! I’ve also seen this passed around the internet, but we actually had it in a printed book
So... where did this info come from? Is this NASA story pure fabrication? I heard the same story growing up but now of course I wonder how they came up with it.
My partner and I were just traveling and getting back into our routine absolutely includes catching up on your videos 😎Can't miss any of 'em! Really enjoying this series, I was always interested in biblical study but found the actual STUDY part lacking no matter how many groups I joined. It ended up being focused on the individual, emotional response to a diluted passage, and very generalized messaging every time, rather than what I wanted which was an in-depth analysis of the content itself without applying it to the self. Would absolutely love a video that details the Top 10 of the books on your bookshelf reserved for the topic of theology and apologetics, etc., the one you mentioned in your "Answering Tough Questions" video.
Joshua has always been one of my favorite books of the Old Testament and your review did not disappoint Brandon. To me viewing the book from a more secular perspective now I have even more respect for it.
All your SBS are great, and I wonder if you have read or heard of a 2 book series called Athiest Handbook to the old testament by Joshua Bowen. They are so good! For some reason, as a christian I had no problem not believing in the literal genesis story of Adam and Eve, but I never knew how problematic the exodus story is! Never heard in church that this story wasn't true! So much evidence that proves it didn't happen at all the way the OT says! It's a good read full of science and archeology.
Hello Joshua. I am 71 years old. I have read the bible cover to cover 10 times plus here and there uncountable times. I agree with your conclussions. And have since I was in my 20's. I keep trying to make sense of the whole thing, or to put it another way. I keep trying to figure what is going on. I enjoy your work. Keep up the good work.
Brandon, this channel just so pisses me off! 😂. I’m pissed that I actually tried for years to make this nonsense make sense. I’m pissed that I have friends that are no longer friends because of this nonsense. I’m pissed that there are still millions of people who still cling to this absurd belief system. Brandon, your thought processes and delivery are just fantastic. I truly hope that you are able to keep this pace up and store this material here for as long as this platform survives so that at least there is a chance that others will come to see how illogical this religion is.
28:00 One of the many negative future influences of this book is that Joshua 10:13 was used to try and convict Galileo, creating an immeasurable chilling effect on subsequent scientists (and others).
I would encourage everyone interested in the archeology of the period and when this section of the bible was written down to listen to a series of discussions at the Albright Institute with Israel Finkelstein. Each discussion is about 30 minutes and there are 26 discussion in the full playlist.
Another great expose, Mindshift! I remember reading the bible cover to cover and wondering why atheists don't reference Joshua more - all the genocides and hardening of hearts! Well, Judges next, right? That one is a comedy of god errors for sure.......the chosen people are constantly backsliding against god's commands it's ridiculous.
The needing a few days after the circumcision thing is an interesting detail. When my grandpa was older, he had some issues, and the doctors decided that he needed to be circumcised. It put him down for several days afterward.
4:21 such a common trope throughout much of the Old Testament. But if I had seen god do the things that the Bible claims he did, I’d be afraid of farting too loud for fear of drawing his attention and being turned into a greasy spot on the dirt. How could they bring themselves to do anything against such a tyrannical god?
Kay Kenyon in her scifi series The Entire and The Rose has a religion in which the adherents pray that their God take no notice of them because if you're unlucky if he does bad things happen... 😆
Thank you. Appreciate you watching. If you need more ammo. I have a whole video on free will and also these first five books of this series are chock full with more examples. Thanks again.
@MindShiftSkeptic No problem! I'm gonna go back and watch all the ones from Genesis - Deuteronomy now because I enjoy the format you have for the videos on these books! Also, I am definitely gonna check out that vid on free will.
Interesting. Talking about the Joshua verse where God no longer forgives, the fact that holiness and jealousy are placed almost side by side is quite the most hilarious thing for me here.
11:35 Another example that might carry a bit more weight than Harry Potter is Troy. Archaeology has shown that Troy was a _real_ city. It even seems like the Trojan War itself was based on real events. But does that mean that the _Iliad_ has been proven true? That the war started because a mortal prince judged a beauty pageant of three goddesses? That the gods themselves fought in person for one side or the other? That the war ended with infiltration by a great wooden horse while Cassandra wailed her prophetic warnings unheeded? Well... no. Those are probably just stories, even if loosely based on real events. And to my knowledge, archaeology doesn't even support the conquest of Canaan to _that_ level, let alone full validation.
im going throught all those bible studies and to me the most unpleasent thing is see God, the most powerful being and love do such horrible things to their own people and creation just because they desobey him, even if its the slighest. Thats not love, especialy if love comes with the condition of obedience, which to be honest, if it was me as an israelite, i'd have pure fear (and the bible says fear is the opposite of love) and doubt what God does and just obey cuz He is a crazy person who will smite me just cuz I doubted him 1 inch.
Before you do Jonah, you should read the chapter in Moby Dick. I think it's called the sermon. (If you haven't already) probably my favorite sermon ever.
I will say as i don't often have the patience to read more than surface skimming, I was always of the misconception most of the figures were noble and flawless rather than bumbling constant failures To be clear I say this with amusement not question or argument
My take on this is that there were wars. There have always been wars between people. And when the people recorded their antics, they attributed them to their god. Who was not really there. Because if there actually was a god in attendance, it wouldn’t have done such stupid things. These are just exaggerated tales of the Hebrew people. Passed down over generations. They formed their god to fit into the stories.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏I don't know if you will read this, but I just want to thank you. I'm from Brazil (so forgive my bad english please) and I was not a christian (my mother was agnostic and my father was an atheist and I just didn't think too much about religion except to think that all religions are a manipulation for political and economics intentions. I used to say that I was agnostic and a lazy one). But last christmas I saw the 3 first seasons of The Chosen and I was attracted to the idea of Jesus (please, can you talk about that show one day? Because I think that there's something REALLY strange, I mean mind manipulation for real, about that show). Well, so I went to read the bible and... I was SO confused, SO super shocked and thinking EXACTLY what you are saying in all of your videos... But I thought that my critical mind was the problem, so I still try something absolutely against my nature: to pretend that I don't saw what I saw. Then I was more confused, especially when I saw the huge popularity of that show around the world. It's an absolute relief for me to listen to you. Is like get out of a hypnosis (one that I could avoid all my life and suddenly caught me when I'm old - maybe because we get more scared when we are old? I don't know...). And is so weird to see people fanatically believing in such awful story, full of absurdities... Thank you for bring me back my sanity 🙂 (and I do like when you read verses and passages, because I can recognize what I read whitout critical thinking and then I get to follow your clear thoughts👍).
I am finally done with joshua, I needed a longer break after the last one. the sheer amount of artistes in this book is staggering, is just dont get how this is supposed to be the moral compass of the world. I am so glad I am done with this train wreck of a religion! great video my man, hope you are doing well :) now judges next, and from the title of your video I guess its a bad one :P oh great more moral codes from the great tyrant
At the risk of opening an insanely fraught can (or bucket) of worms, it's worth noting that the Book of Joshua lays out the first unambiguous Israelite (and specifically Judahite) claims to Gaza in 13:3 and 15:47, followed by Judges 1:18. I say this as a cultural / secular atheist Jew vehemently opposed to Israel's genocide and to the ideology of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible / Old Testament) which spawned it. If it has any saving grace (pun intended), it's only that it provided a cohesive and unifying force for a historically oppressed people group during the Common Era, and also that most of it didn't actually happen as far as we know.
If you just take God out of the old testament, the story makes way more sense. Just start with saying, "We don't know where the heavens and the Earth came from, but we're sure glad they're here."
Damn, you are right. I left that out. I also left out the camels that were not yet around in Josephs caravan back in Genesis. You know the bible is flawed when i cant even keep track of all the issues!
I think he was more referencing the multiple accounts in Joshua of Iron Chariots which were not likely in the Levant at that time. But yes bible issues everywhere lol!
@@JamesRichardWiley That story has been debunked for years now If I remember correct its part of Ron Wyatt garbage(the guy who claimed to find Noahs ark along with a lot of pseudoscience nonsense)
Yes, ... Jesus's literal name would have been Yeshua ben Yosef (and I am mixing my transliterations here in the interest of simplicity) which would translate as Joshua son of Joseph, Joshua being a popular name at the time I'm sure...
As to trying to hide spoils from God...I dunno, knowing people, I might actually be with the bible on this one. People IRL do dumb, irrational things all the time, often with little or no chance for success, I think I could actually buy this one! God def overreacted to that one, tho...Guess Ananias and Sapphira got off relatively easy!
yes, right again. humans are so dumb BUT still. God is just walking around camp and knows everything anyways, and you have seen him literally smite people for less like last book gathering sticks. He would be the height of human stupidity. Still possible.
My biggest problem with the Rahab sequence is that it clearly says her house in on the wall of the city. But then we see the walls all coming down. How was her house located in the rubble? A red thread? Please. And how come they didn't all die in that house? Even if it were not up on the battlements but merely attached, it would become a puke of rocks adjacent or under the wall rock. Doesn't line up. At all.
Have you noticed that many of the stories in the Bible seem to be retelling of other stories? For instance, Joshua was the leader of twelve spies, and he became a hero or a deliverer of the promised land to Israel. Joshua was not his name. In Hebrew it was Yeshua! Then we have Jesus, leader of twelve disciples, who was the deliverer of the promised land (heaven) to the Jews. Jesus was not his name. It was Yeshua! And then the story of Sodam and Gomorrah where a crowd gathers outside Lot's house demanding he send out his guests, and Lot offers them his daughters. (nice guy). This story is mirrored by the Levite who is traveling with his concubine, they stay the night at a man's house in the city of Gibeah. A crowd gathers outside demanding the Levite come out, but instead he sends out his concubine and they hang rape her all night. (incredibly cowardly)
Unfortunately Christians already have several apologies for that. One that I've heard the most is, "of course stories are repeated because the OT was the backdrop, the setup for the NT. It was God's way of getting people ready for what was going to happen with Jesus." Of course this ignores an obvious fact which is that since the NT authors KNEW about the stories they could easily make up contemporary stories using the old ones as a model, with a historically ignorant audience none the wiser. It's difficult to reason with people when they have "an answer" for everything.
Joshua stopping the sun is amusing to me for one reason: Most miracle stories have God telling his prophet what he's gonna do, and the words/actions they need to do to "trigger" it. Joshua is the ONLY guy who just straight-up TELLS God what to do, and God is, like: "Uh, what? Stop...the sun? Well...okay, sure, I guess that DOES show how awesome I am! I like the way you think, my guy!" (BTW, I've seen many folks point out the logical/scientific effects of actually stopping the sun/earth in their orbits, but you're honestly kinda wasting your time when all the apologist has to say is, "IF God is powerful enough to stop a celestial body in its orbit, THEN he's also powerful enough to suspend all the negative side effects of that action!" ...And where can you go from there? If you have an answer to that, I'd love to hear it, otherwise maybe it's best just to avoid trying to reason with them on this point...)
no you are right, i think about that all the time. None of what any atheist ever says matters at all in that same regard then, becasue the christian answer can always just be magic. BUT i think it helps to still point holes in the thinking of the time. It was these kinds of details that helped me eventually identify the bible as manmade. If they believed the sun went around us, and we know it doesnt, but god wrote the bible and would have known this then....
@@MindShift-Brandon "But he was giving a world view that they could understand back then!" I would still call that LYING then. Teachers don't teach little kids math they can't understand, but when you CAN comprehend algebra, you don't suddenly realize that basic arithmetic was "wrong". God wouldn't have to get into specifics scientific jargon, but he *could* have said something like "there are nine worlds, you are on the third, but can only see five for now, but one day you will be able to see all of them"; just that amount of info would have gone a long way and would have blown scientists minds when it turned out to be true! And it sounds no less fantastical than the world model they already had...
i would straight up believe if there were verses in the bible like that. And you have a great answer to that christian objection of "for their time" but its an after the fact issues anyways. God, in these examples, wasnt trying to teach anyone anything or be of their time. Its just dialogue. They went to this mountain, they all got circumsized, the sun stood still. They were reporting the facts around them as they saw them. Its just that one of these cant be a fact.
@rboland2173 Yep, but again, see above for the pat excuse: "If Divine Magic can cause the situation, then Divine Magic can stop the bad consequences you describe just as well." I honestly don't even know what to say to that...
I've always called God of the Old Testament gangster. God, But he was also a Dick. I can imagine him showing moasis. The promise laughing at him that he couldn't go in.
The more you read the bible and study it historically the more you see it is less and less meaningful and helpful to you. I don't think I even have a bible in my house anymore, If I do Iwould knot know where to find it. I throw one out with the trash years ago. As a Child I was told the story of blowing the horn to bring down the walls and though it was "neat" or whatever words I used 65 t0 69 years ago to define an interesting story. Of course I also heard the old song about the walls comming down. Later of course looking at the bible historically I got a new door of understand and logic opened to me. In college I had to take some religious courses as it was a Methodist College. I was lucky to have a professor that attended Vanderbilt University for his PHD and took actual bible history courses. I had doors opened to me. Sadly all the Fundamentalist colleges are crap and only look at the bible with Christian apologist eyes. For years without actually formally knowing the different ways to study the bible (historically vs christian apologist) I knew in my mind when I was hearing buIIshlt. I find your topics interesting. Good job. They are very useful to those that want details. I was there at one point in my life. I remember the struggles with evolution when I was in school. They subject didn't really come up that much in high school but I did spend time examing the issue and believed it to be accurate. But college is where you came face to face with the truth and had to lay aside the old propaganda for facts. At ages (16 25)is when I looked deep into the historical facts and the science facts that crumble some parts of the bible. Now I just say F**k it. If you can't prove the supernatural events then I have no use for your apologist propaganda. I am happy were I am since I excaped the bondage of religion. I find it funny how Christians react me now. They have no clue as how to deal with someone straight forward and upfront and positive. They ask something like "Come to Church with me Sunday and I will set with you" Me saying " Thank you but that is no longer my faith and I reject it. I have no interest in going to Chruch. They are use to being being timid and they see it and prey on the victim. I don't give them the opening.
Sadly for Joshua the Exodus never happened which kind of cancels out Joshua's story as an accurate narrative. Even so, the story of Joshua is fun to read for those who are interested in reading ancient stories of genocide and slavery.
To anyone who believes in 6 day creation, global floods, and gods parting seas and rivers, the objections to the sun standing still in the sky story are inconsequential. Any god with the power to do all those other things, could keep the oceans from sloshing about, and everything on the surface in place when they stopped and started the earth’s rotation. Or god could have just put a big lens in the sky to bend the sun and moon light so it just looked like the sun and moon were standing still over that one valley.
you are right of course, but in this same way, it would be silly to ever argue against the theist as they can always just say, "Magic!" But overtime these kinds of details really helped in my deconversion and also its one thing for god to manipulate the sun and moon, but the fact no other culture records that one day when time went on too long is more evidence, and the only way out of this one for god is more imposition on free will.
lying is part and parcel of being a good catholic and others. not because we were taught better, quite the opposite, we learnt thru religious indoctrination that lying is what you do, often, and often when there's not any need for it whatsover. religion is morality and reason breaking, whilst only on cover promising otherwise. quite like many other political movements that pretend to save children, but in reality just spreading lots of hatred and harm. being able to evaluate things properly beyond lofty written promises, is the proper way to evaluate the bible. As in, it's a book for political ends, within a religions context. Trying to cherry pick and interpret the bible in some context of goodness on jews or humanity, is to miss the real historical/political significance. Like trying to insist that "one million mums" is really about good meaning moms trying to improve society.
There are two Books of Joshua one from Tribe of Ephraim and one from Tribe of Judah. Joshua Son of Nun was from Tribe of Ephraim. Born in Egypt. Everyone agrees the Tribe of Judah's Book of Joshua is not Jesus the Christ. Anyone read the Tribe of Ephraim's Book of Joshua? It's called the Samaritan Chronicle. Extra: did you know Joshua Son of Nun was originally named Hoshea Son of Nun? Moses changed his name with the implied meaning "May God save you from the conspiracy of the scouts".
For god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son a hand throwing rocks at its inhabitants? Guess i can't be expected to understand . After all, as an atheist I've no morals.....
What denomination tries to say that Old Testament stories are ties to Jesus? I was Apostolic and don't remember them making those stretches. And we were a cult essentially.
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thine neighbor" Is not "Thou shalt not lie" The 10 commandments are cool with lying, just not lying to the priests about your fellow Jew.
Hey Brandon, I have the perfect video for you to review and do a video on. I keep trying to post the link but i think it keeps getting deleted. How do i send it to you?
@@MindShift-BrandonWhat I should have added was since Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods baloney in the '70's the whole Nephillim/Giants story was shifted from the Religious (God/angels/demons/etc) to the Secular. Now what's all the rage is the notion Bible relates how extraterrestrials did all this, the Annunaki, the Extraterrestrial Nephillim mixing it up with human women brought forth the Giants! 😆 Equally ridiculous!
I have an issue with the simplicity of your description of the Crusades. The Levant had been controlled by the eastern Roman Empire from Byzantium for a long time. There were native Christians because of this. The peoples of Arabia claimed that they were compelled by Islam to invade and conquer the Levant. They did so and instituted their own religious influence. In order to be treated equally, you had to be Muslim, so people switched. I think most adults know that the Arab invasion was not for Allah, but an excuse for human greed. The eastern Romans went to the western European kingdoms and pointed out how these former Christian holy lands had been invaded and its peoples turned into heresy. The Byzantines were notorious for greed, so this was probably more about the loss of power than religion. The Europeans had many reasons for going on the Crusades, but the leaders most probably acted out of greed. The Fourth Crusade was known for the west Europeans deciding to take a detour and despoiling the Church of Holy Wisdom of Constantinople, the center of Orthodox Christianity. I hear a lot of people pointing to the Crusades as if the idea popped into evil Europeans' heads out of nowhere. It completely ignores the history of the Levant. Before it was Muslim, it was Christian. Before it was Christian, it was devoted to many pagan pantheons. The Levant was part of a long, long history of one of the most violent places on Earth. Empires rode back and forth through it like it was a street. It is peculiar to choose only one of those invasions as evidence of immorality. Yes, the Crusades weren't moral, but neither were the Islamic invasions.
All you have to do to free yourself from the fear of Jesus is say FUCK THE HOLY SPIRIT, he doesn't scare me anymore because in my torture I will blaspheme the Holy spirit with every chance I get for eternity and there is nothing Jesus can do to stop me. If he makes it so that I can not speak, I will think it as loud as possible and this omnipotent god is powerless to stop that, he has no choice but to hear my blasphemy forever.
Happy SBS day. So excited to share Joshua with you all!
Your bible study videos all have their "problem verses" section. I'm wondering if when you arrived at the three body problem, or attempted to square the circle, did you determine at that point that maths were invalid? Or did you reflect on the first principle of education that the intersection of apparent contradiction becomes the teachable moment?
From a strict materialist perspective we can all acknowledge evidence of mass extinctions, principles of cause and effect, theories of human psychopathology etc... Why then does it seem strange to you that the same axiom which governs all theses cold realities is the same axiom which governs your most warm and cherished values?
You can't just presuppose your god exists based on zero evidence and expect anyone else to believe it. @@andrewferg8737
This is a book where you really start to get sarcastic and it is comedy gold. “Joshua and God we’re having a conversation about how to get more time to continue their genocidal behaviors…” 🤣😂🤣
@Jon45678 lol!!
Wtf does god need treasure for?
"But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money!" - George Carlin
Wonderful quote! Thank you.
RIP George 😂
Or sheep or goats or bulls or cows or rams etc. etc. etc.!
I don't watch a lot of religious movies, but there IS one that impressed me, I think it was The Ten Commandments, with Dougray Scott, which actually ACCURATELY shows the scene where Moses is horrified that his army brought slaves back instead of killing ALL the people they invaded...and so he grabs and sword and starts chopping down helpless prisoners right in front of everyone! More religious people should see this, it's one thing just reading words, but actually SEEING these things done is another matter entirely...and theists can't complain about it, it's right there in their own book!
i'll have to check it out.
As a theist (Puns Lol) I actually agree and am not complaining!
The fact that they brought back slaves alone shows that these people are dumber than rocks, and I wonder, are these really God's chosen people? Couldn't He have made a better choice? Did inbreeding since the days of Adam and Eve affect them _that_ badly?
Just spit my coffee all over the keyboard hearing you say: God is going to throw rocks on people - he is very engaged in the community! 🤣
lol, it comes out of no where too. Its crazy to me we dont talk about these wild verses more.
Haha.
Love your "I am so done. It fails, it fails, it fails, it fails!" One thing (among many) you make clear with your analysis is something I've always thought really puts the nail in the Judeo-Christian coffin. It's crystal clear Old Testament theology accepts and endorses polytheism. Yaweh never says other gods don't exist. He just says he's the most powerful among them. Modern Christians claiming other gods don't exist and never did simply contradicts their own religious teachings. Just another in the long list of contradictions which make their belief system impossible to swallow.
You said it. I just wish i could get everyone in one room and show them some of these things clearly lol
@@MindShift-Brandon It's a crowded room full of keening conflicted voices. But take heart. Yours is among the clearest. BTW, thank you for never cussing. Me, I don't care but my hyper-religious sister, who needs your content SO much more, would dismiss you out of hand for a single "fuck!"
There was an old Hannah Barbera cartoon series I think was called "Tales from the Bible." There's an episode about the battle of Jericho and yes, they conveniently leave out the massacre of the people after the wall come down. As a child I thought the point was to show that god could do something miraculous like winning a battle without fighting. It wasn't until later when I actually read the book that I realized how wrong I really was.
kinda similar with veggietales "josh and the big wall", the walls come down, a few peas who were on top of them hop away to off-screen, and it's just a pile of rocks and dust- no indication that this was an inhabited city that the "people of god" brutally massacred, can't be having the kids see that!
God: “I am the only god! There are no other gods!”
Also god: “Don’t worship any other gods.”
Once you get out from under religion, it’s so obviously fake. That’s how powerful indoctrination is. Another fantastic video, thank you for all your hard work!
I'm pretty sure the "don't worship others before me" is JUST vague enough that it actually does allow for the worship of other gods...just so long as Yahweh gets the lion's share! After all, that commandment clearly wasn't enough to stop Solomon and other kings and their people from worshipping other gods later on...
Exactly, this is why i am so excited to get to each and every book. When all together, the issues are astounding!
Thanks, Lori! yes love that contradiction right there. thank you!
Ok this one is a sticking point for me. Just because the Bible says don't worship any other God doesn't mean that the other gods exist. People could worship something completely fake. I mean, people believe in fake stuff all the time, right? 😊
@@aprilaronson1012sure but then why would this god that is totally real and is the only one that does and has ever existed need to say it? Just prove it.
These stories keep reminding me of something you'd find in a Conan the Barbarian story
Ha no doubt! Hollywoodesque either way
The astronomical stuff is important. The sun and moon standing still or running backwards are not negligible things. You would think if something like that happened, every people group around the world would have stories of it. I remember learning the book of Joshua in Sunday school when I was a little kid. Needless to say, they glossed over the brutality. XD
right! its not just the bad science, its the fact that everywhere there would be record of that crazy day that lasted longer than usual lol. And yes sunday school was all Joshua was a mighty warrior for god with great faith. Be like Joshua!
Christians just say god can make anything happen and that just explains all the unscientific stuff in the bible which still often doesn't make any sense. Like how snails melt apparently.
The biblical apologist could claim that it was a strictly local phenomenon, accomplished by god simply bending the sun and moonlight so that they appeared to stand still over that one valley. Everywhere else on Earth they continued to behave normally.
and it would be just as foolish as all the other excuses.
@@MindShift-Brandon And like you pointed out in a plethora of your other videos, it's not faith if Moses and Joshua saw and spoke directly to god. That would be (if true which it's not) direct evidence of god, negating that need for faith.
I remember being really confused by people who literally see the power of God before them and are still like "but what if he isn't real?" The actions of the Israelites make more sense if God isn't real but they are using an entente to justify their actions and use that same entente to explain why things aren't going their way. IE: we lost because God is mad at us.
Exactly! And if this god were real and these people and the disciples were still sinful and bad and dumb and doubting around him, what hope do I have?
"God loves child sacrifice. It's the entire way we have the gospel message." Wow that shocked me when I heard that, but then I had to laugh because you are right, LOL. God loves child sacrifice... Won't see that pronounced very prominently.
Thank you for reasoning through all these stories that are more far-fetched than Grimm’s Fairytales. Putting voice to your reasoning in a clear, concise way is very helpful to me! 🤙
Glad to hear that! Thanks for being here!
" more far-fetched than Grimm’s Fairytales" and don't contain any of the moral lessons that fairytales do.
Some moral lessons if you read it as a what not to do guide.
@@MindShift-Brandon True dat.
@@MindShift-Brandon Oh well, yes, I guess!
Interesting idea: plaques for home, and stickers for cars that say “The Lord threw Down Heavy Stones From Heaven on Them .” Now there is something to comfort you when you have had a bad day! Lol
Ha. Right? Why dont we ever quote those verses.
well that explains the broken windshield
With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil - that takes religion.'
Thank you for mentioning the connection to modern-day militancy. I wonder if the historical events that inspired these legends involved a powerful local warlord who arose out of the chaos of the Bronze Age Collapse and went on to form a coalition of displaced Semitic peoples. It's easy to imagine a powerful individual promoting his own patron deity to the top position both to test the loyalty of his followers and to provide a unifying myth for the movement. We tend to assume that ancient politics was as simple as ancient technology, but these people weren't measurably different from modern folks. The values Joshua promotes aren't exactly those of fascism, but they're within shouting distance.
Excellent point and just fascinating to think about!
One thing I noticed about the story of Ai was how Joshua initially sends around 3000 men to take the city. Ai is said to have 12000 people total. Even if 75% of the city is women, children and elderly, it’s very possible for 3000 to lose against another 3000 on their home territory. Meanwhile after Achan is killed, they come back with 30,000 men and take the city without issue. The entire scenario makes sense without attributing Achan’s sin to the defeat and his death to the victory. Based on the text, another extremely plausible explanation for this event is that the leaders are finding a skapegoat to cover up a military blunder.
Fantastic point. Assuming any of this is true at all, that kind of explanation is well aligned.
Note the reference to "stones" is to hailstones. We know from current history that even baseball to softball sized hailstones can be fatal during a severe weather event. They don't have to be boulder sized.
I always thought that sounded like a volcanic eruption
Brandon,
I have previously thought about there being no "free will" whenever the Bible specifies that God "hardened someone's heart". However, I never thought about EVERY single time God supposedly interfered by answering a prayer for someone or influenced who wins a war... the person he acts upon is losing their free will. Thanks for the insight.
I wish I could redo an argument I had with a Christian when she used "free will" as an excuse for why God allows suffering on Earth. She actually told me that God couldn't intervene in a rape because it would interfere with free will!!! What about the woman's "free will" not to be raped??? Whose free will was God chosing to enforce... the rapist's or the victim's? They can't both have free will operating at the same time when their will conflicts. Luckily, I did have the forethought to bring up all the suffering from bad things that happen that have nothing to do with free will, like: tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, etc. But I also didn't think about how many times the Bible proclaims God did actually intervene in something. Thanks again!
Or how bout the Old Testament curse where the one who disobeyed god would have his fiancé or wife raped. Rape was a punishment from god.
@@MindShift-Brandon and if God is punishing this man by getting his fiancé raped, is God overruling the free will of the rapist? Was this guy going about his business and then God shows up, commanding him to rape this woman? Is the rapist committing a sin if it’s executing Gods judgment?
No free will👉 : 6:44 john. 44No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ 📖 Romans 8:29
Verse Concepts
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;📖 Romans 8:30
Verse Concepts
and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.📖 2 Thessalonians 2:13
Verse Concepts
But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.📖 Ephesians 1:4-5
just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will………………………………….And there is maaaany more about (NOT HAVING FREE WILL …. And acording to this :salvation is not about believing and having fait unless god would choose you to .🤯 supposedly from his good will and love……. God of the bible is evil, selfseeking, not about equality, unfair, jalous, angry, bloodthirsty, a liar, desiever, cruel, power hungry, rasist.
I bring up to Christians that God directly intervenes over and over and they just say no or it's out of context
Pedo-viles have and use their free will. Their small victims have no choice, no will for them. That's the big nail in the god free will argument for me. Thumbs down on yahweh favoring might over peace.
This was great. I love how you point out the small obscure mentions that people build so much off of. Like giants and the Sun standing still lol.
Always glad to see you here, thanks man!
Christian response to why stopping the sun and moon for a single day would be catastrophic to human life: "That's why it's called a miracle."
For sure. Magic is always their answer. Did god use his magic on every single person alive to not notice it also as no where in history did anyone else on earth record the day that went too long.
Whenever I bring up the Pharaoh or other characters and their hearts that God hardened, apologists will always say something like "God was simply strengthening their inner desires" or "God was speeding things up", like that's supposed to be an excuse for God hardening the hearts of people when he also could've just... you know... softened their hearts instead.
I've seen it argured that the sun and moon stopping in Joshua 10 was originally Yahweh commanding the sun and moon as gods to show Yahwehs dominance as celestial bodies were believed to be actual divine beings in ancient times. This was heavily glossed over in later times, but there are verses that mention the sun, moon, and stars being worshipped.
Excellent work
Learning so much 😅
Totally agree that the exit to the Christian faith is in the very words of the Bible if you just READ IT
Thank you!
Thanks for explicitly addressing the giants/Nephilim issue. When ever I hear/see a claim that Goliath was a giant associated with the seed of the fallen angels I always point out that this would mean one of the humans on the ark would have to have been a giant. Unless a breeding pair of them stowed away on the ark unbeknownst to Noah (and God).
I also like to point out that, being that all the species alive now were purportedly on the ark (except fish, ocean going mammals etc.), and that bacteria and viruses are species, then the humans on the ark would have had to have been infected with smallpox, AIDS, leprosy, herpes, gonorrhea, etc. (unless evolution is actually a thing).
YEs Yes Yes! these theist cant have their cake and eat it too is what it all boils down to. Thanks for the comment.
In my church they always said that Satan sent his fallen angels to Canaan. The angels made giants with human women because Satan knew the israelites will come and he wanted to set back God's plan for his chosen people :D
oh brother.
@@aronjanosov9046Oh Satan, you knucklehead!! 😆
the story of rahab definitely hits different now... without the lens of "she was a heroine of faith!", she looks an awful lot like someone who betrayed her whole city to save her own hide... maybe not so heroic after all
Yes exactly
Brandon, you are the best Bible teacher!
Thanks so much, Maria!
Thank you!@@MindShift-Brandon
I shall share your videos on my debates. The best I have available.
I've been looking forward to hearing you cover the most genocidey book of all! You didn't disappoint.
Glad to hear it! I actually felt like I didnt harp on it enough lol but it was getting so long, so appreciate that.
You are an animal actually cranking out one of these every week.
ha, thank you! It helps that i really enjoy doing it. Lets see how long, I can keep it up.
@@MindShift-Brandon I've made it into judges in the OT on this playthrough but then someone said something stupid about Luke so I started reading the gospels again and got distracted.
The conquest feels so epic like this is just really good storytelling and these videos make me want to go back and start reading the OT again.
For all its faults, the OT stories are anything but boring, thats for sure!
@@MindShift-Brandon I genuinely don't know how you keep up with your upload schedule, I just assumed you don't need sleep.
Ha, well one thing has taken a hit and thats my amount of exercise. Mindshift Brandon is much, much heavier than Brandon's Bookshelf Brandon lol. But working from home as afford me the flexibility to do this and still have family time, and reading time etc. If I were still in an office, it would be impossible
Brilliantly done.
You've shown how the OT god, at least at this point in the story, is nothing more than one war god amongst many, who doesn't love all people but just his team, and needs obedience, treasure and foreskins or you're not on his team.
Modern apologists don't want people reading this stuff, I honestly don't know why they included it when it debunks itself.
btw, if you haven't seen it "Jesus he Knows Me" by Genesis 1991 is a brilliant satire of the televangelists like Joel Osteen and Ken "Demon face" Copeland.
Will check that out asap and thank you! yes the very fact these books were ever canonized shows the morality of the day in which they were accepted.
@@MindShift-Brandon What I don't get is the people who say they became Christian AFTER reading the bible. They cling to the happy clappy hippy Jesus image, and ignore all this OT stuff.
Yes. I cant know for sure but to me those examples are typically very ill, displaced, depressed, lost people and they have no context of the bible. Then they read john 3:16 and feel loved and then a friend or new pastor shows up for them and explains a few more versus and a year later their testimony is, i read the bible and was saved.
Sounds similar to a discussion I had with one of my uncles. I was discussing some stuff about the bible to him (without revealing that I'm not a christian) and he said that he don't care to research all that stuff and that all he needs to know is that Jesus died for him. Uuuuuuuuugghhhhhhh. So many ignore so much stuff that makes explaining things to them really difficult.@@MindShift-Brandon
In my house growing up in the 90s, we had a book of modern “proofs” of the Bible, on the level of “Jericho was a real city therefore everything Joshua says about it is true,” but my favorite now has to be the one about the “missing day.”
Supposedly NASA was doing some calculations and they kept coming up just a bit off, stars weren’t quite where they should be, everyone is checking and rechecking the math and can’t figure it out. Then somebody “realized” that they needed to account for the day when God held the Sun still and WHOA it all fits now!
I’ve also seen this passed around the internet, but we actually had it in a printed book
Oh yes. That was a huge one in my childhood and i proudly used it also. Uggg
So... where did this info come from? Is this NASA story pure fabrication? I heard the same story growing up but now of course I wonder how they came up with it.
My partner and I were just traveling and getting back into our routine absolutely includes catching up on your videos 😎Can't miss any of 'em! Really enjoying this series, I was always interested in biblical study but found the actual STUDY part lacking no matter how many groups I joined. It ended up being focused on the individual, emotional response to a diluted passage, and very generalized messaging every time, rather than what I wanted which was an in-depth analysis of the content itself without applying it to the self. Would absolutely love a video that details the Top 10 of the books on your bookshelf reserved for the topic of theology and apologetics, etc., the one you mentioned in your "Answering Tough Questions" video.
You are both so great to watch all these. Hope your travels were wonderful. Your description of the typical christian bible study is SPOT ON!
Joshua has always been one of my favorite books of the Old Testament and your review did not disappoint Brandon. To me viewing the book from a more secular perspective now I have even more respect for it.
Glad you still found it enjoyable! thanks for watching.
Well...one thing for sure...I wouldn't want to know any of those jerks...and on top of all that behavior...they would all smell really bad.
All your SBS are great, and I wonder if you have read or heard of a 2 book series called Athiest Handbook to the old testament by Joshua Bowen. They are so good! For some reason, as a christian I had no problem not believing in the literal genesis story of Adam and Eve, but I never knew how problematic the exodus story is! Never heard in church that this story wasn't true! So much evidence that proves it didn't happen at all the way the OT says! It's a good read full of science and archeology.
Thank you so much and no i have not. I keep hearing Bout Bowen. I will have to spend some time and dig in. Thanks for the rec!
Hello Joshua. I am 71 years old. I have read the bible cover to cover 10 times plus here and there uncountable times. I agree with your conclussions. And have since I was in my 20's. I keep trying to make sense of the whole thing, or to put it another way. I keep trying to figure what is going on. I enjoy your work. Keep up the good work.
Loving your BS, haha no pun intended 🤣 Great series!
Ha. Love that! Thanks so much.
Looking forward to the story of Samson.
me too, its so wild!
I recommend Grant Green's certain of "Joshua fit the Battle of Jericho" as background music for this vid! 😊
Thanks, Brandon!
👍🏾💯Excellent!!!
Thanks, Lance!
Really been enjoying this series, keep up the good work!
Glad you enjoy it! will do.
Brandon, this channel just so pisses me off! 😂. I’m pissed that I actually tried for years to make this nonsense make sense. I’m pissed that I have friends that are no longer friends because of this nonsense. I’m pissed that there are still millions of people who still cling to this absurd belief system.
Brandon, your thought processes and delivery are just fantastic. I truly hope that you are able to keep this pace up and store this material here for as long as this platform survives so that at least there is a chance that others will come to see how illogical this religion is.
Me too, man. A truly justified anger and regret and also sadness for so many that still are in it like you said. Thanks for all your amazing support.
Themes : Fear (still active in Christianity) and Self Righteousness (in the name of God)
28:00 One of the many negative future influences of this book is that Joshua 10:13 was used to try and convict Galileo, creating an immeasurable chilling effect on subsequent scientists (and others).
Always the best Bible lessons
Thanks so much!
I would encourage everyone interested in the archeology of the period and when this section of the bible was written down to listen to a series of discussions at the Albright Institute with Israel Finkelstein. Each discussion is about 30 minutes and there are 26 discussion in the full playlist.
It's really helpful when you say how Christians defending it and then oppose it
Another great expose, Mindshift! I remember reading the bible cover to cover and wondering why atheists don't reference Joshua more - all the genocides and hardening of hearts! Well, Judges next, right? That one is a comedy of god errors for sure.......the chosen people are constantly backsliding against god's commands it's ridiculous.
Thank you much. Yes I am equally excited and annoyed for Judges lol.
Thanks for book 6. Enjoying the series
Love to hear it! My pleasure.
Thanks for mentioning the God throwing rocks 🪨 thing. Why couldn’t this deity throw some rocks at Hitler, or Stalin or Pol Pot, etc.?
Eactly!!
Ha! Good point! 😂
I’m new here, catching up, but I wanted to say thank you for making this series. One of the best secular pages I’ve seen on UA-cam.
Great work bro.
Thats so very kind. Thank you! And welcome!
Another great study. Can't wait for your take on Jephthah in the book of Judges.
Preview- its inexcusable! ha. thank you!
@@MindShift-Brandon Nice. The righteous anger will be epic.
An enjoyable, thorough, and informative analysis, as I've become used to from you. Looking forward to the next video already.
So kind! Thanks and glad you enjoyed
The needing a few days after the circumcision thing is an interesting detail. When my grandpa was older, he had some issues, and the doctors decided that he needed to be circumcised. It put him down for several days afterward.
4:21 such a common trope throughout much of the Old Testament. But if I had seen god do the things that the Bible claims he did, I’d be afraid of farting too loud for fear of drawing his attention and being turned into a greasy spot on the dirt. How could they bring themselves to do anything against such a tyrannical god?
Exactly! Just goes to show they are simply just stories.
Kay Kenyon in her scifi series The Entire and The Rose has a religion in which the adherents pray that their God take no notice of them because if you're unlucky if he does bad things happen... 😆
Dude your point about the free will was awesome! Definitely bringing that up next time im in that conversation
Thank you. Appreciate you watching. If you need more ammo. I have a whole video on free will and also these first five books of this series are chock full with more examples. Thanks again.
@MindShiftSkeptic No problem! I'm gonna go back and watch all the ones from Genesis - Deuteronomy now because I enjoy the format you have for the videos on these books! Also, I am definitely gonna check out that vid on free will.
Appreciate the support. Hope you enjoy!
'How much for the woman and the little girl?'
-Jake Blues
(...but he was joking)
Well, he WAS "on a mission from God", sooo...
@@HandofOmega😆😆😆👍👍👍👍
Interesting.
Talking about the Joshua verse where God no longer forgives, the fact that holiness and jealousy are placed almost side by side is quite the most hilarious thing for me here.
11:35 Another example that might carry a bit more weight than Harry Potter is Troy. Archaeology has shown that Troy was a _real_ city. It even seems like the Trojan War itself was based on real events.
But does that mean that the _Iliad_ has been proven true? That the war started because a mortal prince judged a beauty pageant of three goddesses? That the gods themselves fought in person for one side or the other? That the war ended with infiltration by a great wooden horse while Cassandra wailed her prophetic warnings unheeded?
Well... no. Those are probably just stories, even if loosely based on real events. And to my knowledge, archaeology doesn't even support the conquest of Canaan to _that_ level, let alone full validation.
im going throught all those bible studies and to me the most unpleasent thing is see God, the most powerful being and love do such horrible things to their own people and creation just because they desobey him, even if its the slighest. Thats not love, especialy if love comes with the condition of obedience, which to be honest, if it was me as an israelite, i'd have pure fear (and the bible says fear is the opposite of love) and doubt what God does and just obey cuz He is a crazy person who will smite me just cuz I doubted him 1 inch.
"And yet ""GOD"" is a ""GOD" of love""
Comment for the UA-cam algorithm 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Thanks, man!
You are always so close to being right on things. The Nephilim were the CHILDREN of the angels who came and hooked up with human women.
Sun stopped in the sky!!!!!!
There you have it, they can't justify it to themselves but they want to do it, add a God and Bob's your uncle!
Before you do Jonah, you should read the chapter in Moby Dick. I think it's called the sermon. (If you haven't already) probably my favorite sermon ever.
I know it well! MD is one of my top 10!
20:00 Joshua - Jesus. Yes, and Jesus "... is the English derivative of the Greek transliteration of 'Yehoshua' via Latin". (Wikipedia)
I will say as i don't often have the patience to read more than surface skimming, I was always of the misconception most of the figures were noble and flawless rather than bumbling constant failures
To be clear I say this with amusement not question or argument
Someone needs to make an actual, biblically accurate movie about the bible. It would be a horror movie, and god would be the villain.
The TV show Supernatural does entertain the idea of God being the ultimate evil.
Nice.
Thanks!
My take on this is that there were wars. There have always been wars between people. And when the people recorded their antics, they attributed them to their god. Who was not really there. Because if there actually was a god in attendance, it wouldn’t have done such stupid things. These are just exaggerated tales of the Hebrew people. Passed down over generations. They formed their god to fit into the stories.
Yes thankfully none of it is true.
Even native Americans have giant stories
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏I don't know if you will read this, but I just want to thank you. I'm from Brazil (so forgive my bad english please) and I was not a christian (my mother was agnostic and my father was an atheist and I just didn't think too much about religion except to think that all religions are a manipulation for political and economics intentions. I used to say that I was agnostic and a lazy one). But last christmas I saw the 3 first seasons of The Chosen and I was attracted to the idea of Jesus (please, can you talk about that show one day? Because I think that there's something REALLY strange, I mean mind manipulation for real, about that show). Well, so I went to read the bible and... I was SO confused, SO super shocked and thinking EXACTLY what you are saying in all of your videos... But I thought that my critical mind was the problem, so I still try something absolutely against my nature: to pretend that I don't saw what I saw. Then I was more confused, especially when I saw the huge popularity of that show around the world. It's an absolute relief for me to listen to you. Is like get out of a hypnosis (one that I could avoid all my life and suddenly caught me when I'm old - maybe because we get more scared when we are old? I don't know...). And is so weird to see people fanatically believing in such awful story, full of absurdities... Thank you for bring me back my sanity 🙂 (and I do like when you read verses and passages, because I can recognize what I read whitout critical thinking and then I get to follow your clear thoughts👍).
The "conquest" of Canaan is told completely differently in Joshua and ??Kings.
I am finally done with joshua, I needed a longer break after the last one. the sheer amount of artistes in this book is staggering, is just dont get how this is supposed to be the moral compass of the world. I am so glad I am done with this train wreck of a religion! great video my man, hope you are doing well :) now judges next, and from the title of your video I guess its a bad one :P oh great more moral codes from the great tyrant
At the risk of opening an insanely fraught can (or bucket) of worms, it's worth noting that the Book of Joshua lays out the first unambiguous Israelite (and specifically Judahite) claims to Gaza in 13:3 and 15:47, followed by Judges 1:18. I say this as a cultural / secular atheist Jew vehemently opposed to Israel's genocide and to the ideology of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible / Old Testament) which spawned it. If it has any saving grace (pun intended), it's only that it provided a cohesive and unifying force for a historically oppressed people group during the Common Era, and also that most of it didn't actually happen as far as we know.
If you just take God out of the old testament, the story makes way more sense. Just start with saying, "We don't know where the heavens and the Earth came from, but we're sure glad they're here."
thats a fun point!
You should have mentioned the iron chariots and explain them.
Damn, you are right. I left that out. I also left out the camels that were not yet around in Josephs caravan back in Genesis. You know the bible is flawed when i cant even keep track of all the issues!
Of the 600 chariots in Pharaoh's army only one chariot wheel has been found at the bottom of the Red Sea.
But don't give up yet - just keep looking.
I think he was more referencing the multiple accounts in Joshua of Iron Chariots which were not likely in the Levant at that time. But yes bible issues everywhere lol!
@@JamesRichardWiley That story has been debunked for years now If I remember correct its part of Ron Wyatt garbage(the guy who claimed to find Noahs ark along with a lot of pseudoscience nonsense)
@@JamesRichardWiley he was alluding to the iron chariots, which were god's kryptonite. 😂
To your points around 20:10, it's my understanding that "Jesus" is just the Greek version of the name "Joshua" (itself a version of Yeshua).
Yup! I meant to mention that. Thanks for adding in.
Yes, ... Jesus's literal name would have been Yeshua ben Yosef (and I am mixing my transliterations here in the interest of simplicity) which would translate as Joshua son of Joseph, Joshua being a popular name at the time I'm sure...
As to trying to hide spoils from God...I dunno, knowing people, I might actually be with the bible on this one. People IRL do dumb, irrational things all the time, often with little or no chance for success, I think I could actually buy this one! God def overreacted to that one, tho...Guess Ananias and Sapphira got off relatively easy!
yes, right again. humans are so dumb BUT still. God is just walking around camp and knows everything anyways, and you have seen him literally smite people for less like last book gathering sticks. He would be the height of human stupidity. Still possible.
Excavations at the site known as Khirbet el-Maqatir indicate that it is a likely site for the biblical Ai of Joshua 7 and 8.
cool, yes lots of these places existed for sure.
Wait I thought the Nephilim were the offspring of Inarius and Lilith? They can do double damage after they reach a 10 kill streak!
Lol equally untrue
My biggest problem with the Rahab sequence is that it clearly says her house in on the wall of the city. But then we see the walls all coming down. How was her house located in the rubble? A red thread? Please. And how come they didn't all die in that house? Even if it were not up on the battlements but merely attached, it would become a puke of rocks adjacent or under the wall rock. Doesn't line up. At all.
one of the many, many issues here for sure!
Have you noticed that many of the stories in the Bible seem to be retelling of other stories? For instance, Joshua was the leader of twelve spies, and he became a hero or a deliverer of the promised land to Israel.
Joshua was not his name. In Hebrew it was Yeshua!
Then we have Jesus, leader of twelve disciples, who was the deliverer of the promised land (heaven) to the Jews. Jesus was not his name. It was Yeshua!
And then the story of Sodam and Gomorrah where a crowd gathers outside Lot's house demanding he send out his guests, and Lot offers them his daughters. (nice guy). This story is mirrored by the Levite who is traveling with his concubine, they stay the night at a man's house in the city of Gibeah. A crowd gathers outside demanding the Levite come out, but instead he sends out his concubine and they hang rape her all night. (incredibly cowardly)
yes, it all fits so well together sometimes, even to its own falsehood, its clearly on purpose / manmade!
Unfortunately Christians already have several apologies for that. One that I've heard the most is, "of course stories are repeated because the OT was the backdrop, the setup for the NT. It was God's way of getting people ready for what was going to happen with Jesus."
Of course this ignores an obvious fact which is that since the NT authors KNEW about the stories they could easily make up contemporary stories using the old ones as a model, with a historically ignorant audience none the wiser.
It's difficult to reason with people when they have "an answer" for everything.
Joshua stopping the sun is amusing to me for one reason: Most miracle stories have God telling his prophet what he's gonna do, and the words/actions they need to do to "trigger" it. Joshua is the ONLY guy who just straight-up TELLS God what to do, and God is, like: "Uh, what? Stop...the sun? Well...okay, sure, I guess that DOES show how awesome I am! I like the way you think, my guy!"
(BTW, I've seen many folks point out the logical/scientific effects of actually stopping the sun/earth in their orbits, but you're honestly kinda wasting your time when all the apologist has to say is, "IF God is powerful enough to stop a celestial body in its orbit, THEN he's also powerful enough to suspend all the negative side effects of that action!" ...And where can you go from there? If you have an answer to that, I'd love to hear it, otherwise maybe it's best just to avoid trying to reason with them on this point...)
no you are right, i think about that all the time. None of what any atheist ever says matters at all in that same regard then, becasue the christian answer can always just be magic. BUT i think it helps to still point holes in the thinking of the time. It was these kinds of details that helped me eventually identify the bible as manmade. If they believed the sun went around us, and we know it doesnt, but god wrote the bible and would have known this then....
@@MindShift-Brandon "But he was giving a world view that they could understand back then!" I would still call that LYING then. Teachers don't teach little kids math they can't understand, but when you CAN comprehend algebra, you don't suddenly realize that basic arithmetic was "wrong". God wouldn't have to get into specifics scientific jargon, but he *could* have said something like "there are nine worlds, you are on the third, but can only see five for now, but one day you will be able to see all of them"; just that amount of info would have gone a long way and would have blown scientists minds when it turned out to be true! And it sounds no less fantastical than the world model they already had...
i would straight up believe if there were verses in the bible like that. And you have a great answer to that christian objection of "for their time" but its an after the fact issues anyways. God, in these examples, wasnt trying to teach anyone anything or be of their time. Its just dialogue. They went to this mountain, they all got circumsized, the sun stood still. They were reporting the facts around them as they saw them. Its just that one of these cant be a fact.
@rboland2173 Yep, but again, see above for the pat excuse: "If Divine Magic can cause the situation, then Divine Magic can stop the bad consequences you describe just as well." I honestly don't even know what to say to that...
I've always called God of the Old Testament gangster. God, But he was also a Dick.
I can imagine him showing moasis. The promise laughing at him that he couldn't go in.
The more you read the bible and study it historically the more you see it is less and less meaningful and helpful to you.
I don't think I even have a bible in my house anymore, If I do Iwould knot know where to find it. I throw one out with the trash years ago.
As a Child I was told the story of blowing the horn to bring down the walls and though it was "neat" or whatever words I used 65 t0 69 years ago to define an interesting story. Of course I also heard the old song about the walls comming down.
Later of course looking at the bible historically I got a new door of understand and logic opened to me.
In college I had to take some religious courses as it was a Methodist College. I was lucky to have a professor that attended Vanderbilt University for his PHD and took actual bible history courses. I had doors opened to me. Sadly all the Fundamentalist colleges are crap and only look at the bible with Christian apologist eyes.
For years without actually formally knowing the different ways to study the bible (historically vs christian apologist) I knew in my mind when I was hearing buIIshlt.
I find your topics interesting. Good job. They are very useful to those that want details. I was there at one point in my life.
I remember the struggles with evolution when I was in school. They subject didn't really come up that much in high school but I did spend time examing the issue and believed it to be accurate. But college is where you came face to face with the truth and had to lay aside the old propaganda for facts.
At ages (16 25)is when I looked deep into the historical facts and the science facts that crumble some parts of the bible.
Now I just say F**k it. If you can't prove the supernatural events then I have no use for your apologist propaganda. I am happy were I am since I excaped the bondage of religion.
I find it funny how Christians react me now. They have no clue as how to deal with someone straight forward and upfront and positive.
They ask something like "Come to Church with me Sunday and I will set with you"
Me saying " Thank you but that is no longer my faith and I reject it. I have no interest in going to Chruch.
They are use to being being timid and they see it and prey on the victim. I don't give them the opening.
Thanks for sharing all this. A mini deconversion story. Appreciate your input.
Sadly for Joshua the Exodus never happened which kind of cancels out Joshua's story as an accurate narrative.
Even so, the story of Joshua is fun to read for those who are interested in reading ancient stories of genocide and slavery.
ha, indeed!
If the Exodus never happened, then you're going to have to explain where the first annually Passover festival or feast took place.
To anyone who believes in 6 day creation, global floods, and gods parting seas and rivers, the objections to the sun standing still in the sky story are inconsequential. Any god with the power to do all those other things, could keep the oceans from sloshing about, and everything on the surface in place when they stopped and started the earth’s rotation.
Or god could have just put a big lens in the sky to bend the sun and moon light so it just looked like the sun and moon were standing still over that one valley.
you are right of course, but in this same way, it would be silly to ever argue against the theist as they can always just say, "Magic!" But overtime these kinds of details really helped in my deconversion and also its one thing for god to manipulate the sun and moon, but the fact no other culture records that one day when time went on too long is more evidence, and the only way out of this one for god is more imposition on free will.
lying is part and parcel of being a good catholic and others. not because we were taught better, quite the opposite, we learnt thru religious indoctrination that lying is what you do, often, and often when there's not any need for it whatsover.
religion is morality and reason breaking, whilst only on cover promising otherwise. quite like many other political movements that pretend to save children, but in reality just spreading lots of hatred and harm.
being able to evaluate things properly beyond lofty written promises, is the proper way to evaluate the bible. As in, it's a book for political ends, within a religions context. Trying to cherry pick and interpret the bible in some context of goodness on jews or humanity, is to miss the real historical/political significance. Like trying to insist that "one million mums" is really about good meaning moms trying to improve society.
There are two Books of Joshua one from Tribe of Ephraim and one from Tribe of Judah.
Joshua Son of Nun was from Tribe of Ephraim. Born in Egypt.
Everyone agrees the Tribe of Judah's Book of Joshua is not Jesus the Christ.
Anyone read the Tribe of Ephraim's Book of Joshua? It's called the Samaritan Chronicle.
Extra: did you know Joshua Son of Nun was originally named Hoshea Son of Nun? Moses changed his name with the implied meaning "May God save you from the conspiracy of the scouts".
For god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son a hand throwing rocks at its inhabitants?
Guess i can't be expected to understand . After all, as an atheist I've no morals.....
Lol. Love this.
25:00 not only is this god genocidal, he isn’t even good at it!
What denomination tries to say that Old Testament stories are ties to Jesus? I was Apostolic and don't remember them making those stretches. And we were a cult essentially.
What denomination tries to say that Old Testament stories are ties to Jesus? I was Apostolic and don't remember them making those stretches.
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thine neighbor"
Is not
"Thou shalt not lie"
The 10 commandments are cool with lying, just not lying to the priests about your fellow Jew.
Hey Brandon,
I have the perfect video for you to review and do a video on. I keep trying to post the link but i think it keeps getting deleted. How do i send it to you?
Just tell me what to search or email it to me. My email is in the description. Looking forward to taking a look!
Thank you for dissing all the nonsense about the Nephillim and Giants! That seems to be a BIG thing in the last 10 to 15 years ... ridiculous!
My pleasure!
@@MindShift-BrandonWhat I should have added was since Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods baloney in the '70's the whole Nephillim/Giants story was shifted from the Religious (God/angels/demons/etc) to the Secular. Now what's all the rage is the notion Bible relates how extraterrestrials did all this, the Annunaki, the Extraterrestrial Nephillim mixing it up with human women brought forth the Giants! 😆 Equally ridiculous!
Ridiculous is an understatement. These guys were supposedly like 4000' tall. How does that work with a human woman 😅😊😂
I have an issue with the simplicity of your description of the Crusades. The Levant had been controlled by the eastern Roman Empire from Byzantium for a long time. There were native Christians because of this. The peoples of Arabia claimed that they were compelled by Islam to invade and conquer the Levant. They did so and instituted their own religious influence. In order to be treated equally, you had to be Muslim, so people switched. I think most adults know that the Arab invasion was not for Allah, but an excuse for human greed.
The eastern Romans went to the western European kingdoms and pointed out how these former Christian holy lands had been invaded and its peoples turned into heresy. The Byzantines were notorious for greed, so this was probably more about the loss of power than religion. The Europeans had many reasons for going on the Crusades, but the leaders most probably acted out of greed. The Fourth Crusade was known for the west Europeans deciding to take a detour and despoiling the Church of Holy Wisdom of Constantinople, the center of Orthodox Christianity.
I hear a lot of people pointing to the Crusades as if the idea popped into evil Europeans' heads out of nowhere. It completely ignores the history of the Levant. Before it was Muslim, it was Christian. Before it was Christian, it was devoted to many pagan pantheons. The Levant was part of a long, long history of one of the most violent places on Earth. Empires rode back and forth through it like it was a street. It is peculiar to choose only one of those invasions as evidence of immorality. Yes, the Crusades weren't moral, but neither were the Islamic invasions.
All you have to do to free yourself from the fear of Jesus is say FUCK THE HOLY SPIRIT, he doesn't scare me anymore because in my torture I will blaspheme the Holy spirit with every chance I get for eternity and there is nothing Jesus can do to stop me. If he makes it so that I can not speak, I will think it as loud as possible and this omnipotent god is powerless to stop that, he has no choice but to hear my blasphemy forever.