I don’t know much about the Bible but it strikes me as a pretty poor citation for anything.
It’s a great citation for what Jesus Christ was credited as saying in the Bible.
“Was credited as saying.”
Indeed.
Yeah, but the Bible is the Christian holy book, so when talking about what Christians believe that Jesus said, it’s a great citation.
For those that read it, you’re probably right.
Even most Christians that haven’t read the Bible will probably tell you that they believe in the Bible
Sure, but in their mind, the Bible is a book about this guy:
so I think it’s fair to bring it up when talking about what Christians believe or claim they believe.
It’s fair, but there are limits. Christianity is ultimately whatever Christians say it is, and if what modern Christians believe directly contradicts the Bible, then it’s the Bible that’s not adequately describing modern Christianity, not the adherents.
But then you’re just picking your favorite stereotype to malign.
We were talking about Christians who claim to adhere to the Bible’s teachings without actually knowing a word of that Bible. The subject was already narrowed to such a specific subgroup that there weren’t many stereotypes left to pick from.
I think most Christians would say fidelity to the teachings of the Bible are most important. That most fall short is a normative observation but not helpful for any deeper discussion with those same people.
Falling short of the teachings is qualitatively different than “can’t be bothered to find out what those teachings are” IMO.