why do people treat the bible as a text book.

@DrSunnyTheSkeptic exactly

@DrSunnyTheSkeptic The biblical stories teach complete obedience and total loyalty to the Boss (God, the chief priest, the emperor, the king, the family father). Disobedience to any of them can result in an immediate death sentence. The stories do not teach morality.

@Diotrephes I sense bitterness, although I am an atheist I still admit that at least partially the bible tries to teach something "So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." For instance I like this verse, it doesn't teach loyalty to God, but teaches people not to judge others harshly as if they're perfect.

@DrSunnyTheSkeptic The Bible does not teach moral lessons. All of the stories teach obedience and loyalty to the Boss. They are all based on the real Ten Commandments, Exodus 34:11-26, except for a few in the Apocrypha. The miracles are based on Exodus 34:10, which is why there hasn't be any for thousands of years.

In the story you cited, the Jesus character had been flapping his jaws about how he was so super special, being God's son and that he had the power to answer people's prayers and how he could cure the sick and drive out demons and how he would whack people upside their heads and toss them into the fire to be burned up if they didn't obey his commands.

The woman was not caught committing a sexual act. She was caught worshiping Jesus, which was a violation of the First Commandment (Exodus 34:11-16, specifically verse 14). He had no choice but to wimp out because, after all, he was supposedly God's begotten son and sinless. Therefore it was his responsibility to cast the first stone. In the Bible the word "adultery" is used to describe the act of worshiping another deity other than the traditional one of the Israelites/Hebrews/Jews.

The Bible is loaded with such verses which the writers included as clues to show that it was all an elaborate hoax. And since the Bible didn't exist as a book before they wrote it in the 680s-early 690s they were able to get away with it. When you read such passages they sound reasonable until you actually think about them. And when you give it some thought you will get the clever jokes.

@DrSunnyTheSkeptic Christians are not supposed to judge non-believers. They are supposed to judge other Christians and kick the bad ones to the curb. After all, they will judge angels so surely they can judge each other, right?

@DrSunnyTheSkeptic [quote]The bible is a collection of moral lessons that aim to teach, it's not a biography[/quote]

Serious question: If you believe in the Bible why are you still alive? After all, consider how many times in your life you have worked on the sabbath, which specifies that you are to be stoned to death.

How many times have you committed major sins and haven't cut off your offending body parts or gouged out your eyes? Why do you disobey Jesus if you believe in him?

Why are you still living with your family instead of running up and down the roads preaching the gospel? Jesus said that you should hate your family members and love him and follow his commandments. Why are you so disobedient?

Jesus said that if a person has faith that the person can command a tree to uproot itself and to jump into the sea. If you can't do that then it's obvious that you lack faith in Jesus so why do you continue to fake it?

@DrSunnyTheSkeptic [quote]The bible is a collection of moral lessons[/quote]
A lot of it totally immoral.

@DrSunnyTheSkeptic [quote]I still admit that at least partially the bible tries to teach something[/quote]
It's possble to cherry pick a few good bits but that's true of just about any book.

@DrSunnyTheSkeptic [quote]I still admit that at least partially the bible tries to teach something [/quote]

There are some useful bits of information that is timeless and of benefit to most people at one time or another but they are not in the stories. The books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom, and Sirach are well worth reading and thinking about.

In fact, the best advice you can ever give a child is found in Proverbs 1:8-19 = https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+1%3A8-19&version=NLT

Even if you hate everything in the Bible you should teach your children that one passage because it could save their lives.

@Diotrephes [quote]Remember the classic = "You shall not murder." It's quickly followed by commands to invade other people's lands and to kill all of them.[/quote]
Immoral and contradictory.

@Sharon Of course it is. Some people claim that the Bible teaches morality. It does not.