1 Kings: Putting God to the Test | Secular Bible Study (Episode 11)

Secular Bible Study Playlist (All Episodes)

Today's episode is on the biblical book of 1 Kings.
I cover the following:
-Book Overview
-Authorship And Date
-Historical Background/Accuracy
-Literary Analysis
-Main Themes
-Reception And Influence
-Contradictions, Errors, & Misconceptions
-Problematic Verses

Quick Correction - My first contradiction listed is incorrect. I must have got my notes mixed up from my 2 Kings' planning. This should have been about Jehoiachin's age when he began to reign, which is 8 in 2 Chronicles 36:9 vs 18 in 2 Kings 24:8. I had a different note originally about Jeroboam that I decided to cut. Sorry for the error.

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A sincere thank you to this video's supporters:
*Iconoclast Tier*
-Jason Rollins
-Shawn Skaggs
*Atheist Advocate Tier*
-Jarrod Nichols
*Secular Scholar Tier*
-Anne Stephens
-Azho64
-Christopher J Knight
-Hannah
-Kristi Goff
-Ray Calabro
-Todd Hill
*Freethinker Tier*
-Ashley Shivers
-Dana Kendall
-Debbie Andrews
-Fredrik Sanfridsson
-Jonathan Sebastian
-Kami Ross
-Roland Watts
-The Merlin
*Skeptic Tier*
-Andy Wilce
-Beegee
-Brandon Michaels
-Composer Everett
-Drew
-Jed Wentz
-Lori Wieser
-Matthew Baird
-Ravyn
-SCO
-Scvanderhorst
-StarryNight
-T Rose
-Tony Maitland
*Rationalist Tier*
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Other Resources For You:

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
2:03 Book Overview of 1 Kings
11:40 Authorship And Date
13:09  Historical Background And Accuracy
14:45 Literary Analysis
15:59 Main Themes
18:01 Reception And Influence
19:50 Contradictions, Errors, Problem Verses23:07 Problamatic Verses
34:02 Final Thoughts

#secularbiblestudy #1kings #biblestudy1kings #mindshift #atheism #biblehistory #bibleaccuracy #atheistbiblestudy #biblebookreview #bible1kings

[MindShift-Brandon]

Lots to cover on this one! Sorry for the weird lighting issues. Happy SBS day!

[EzaleaGraves]

I've never read the entire Bible, but I've read a bunch of summaries and blurbs and all that. Some of the stories that I find the most strange are the ones where it says, "The King called his 400 advisors and prophets in to ask what he should do, and he didn't listen to Jeremiah, the prophet of God, because he's dumb."
And like, yeah no shit. If I've got 400 people trying to tell me what to do, it's unlikely that I'm going to listen to a specific one person. Especially if 200 are in agreement that I should do something else

[doggerybaw]

That passage about the lying spirit in the prophets was actually the final straw for my partner. He's been a true believer since childhood, and I finally came out to him as agnostic in 2020. He'd been a "progressive" christian I guess with social issues and whatnot, and definitely viewed his Christianity as a personal relationship rather than something he needed to constantly evangelize and whatnot. While I haven't tried to deconvert him, we had both come across Dan McClellan tiktok videos independently. I guess he covered that verse a few weeks ago, and that was the breaking point for my partner. He had always relied on the fact that the Bible is true because g-d wouldn't lie to the people who wrote it. But if g-d is willing to lie to his prophets, and admit to it as well, what's to stop him from doing it throughout the entirety of scripture.

[onlywayjesus]

I feel that this place is my safe space. Yesterday I went to youth group and they were talking about pride and how not to be prideful like god commands and I talked about how with his omniciesnce he knows whether some people leave the faith or some join but they talked about how it was my choice and my fault if I seperated of him and to never question his ways (because I brought the example of how many of the people in this world will end up in hell and the isolated tribes) but they were like "who knows? we can't tell you who gets saved and who's not"

Also I have problems with myself since I am in the closet and how they push the narrative that the Agenda 2030 is the revelation is the End Times and I am just scared not going to lie. Everything is so cult like, not saying they are bad people but I began to have questions that makes me doubt. Also the fact that they reference the bible for everything, because it is the word of god but it is a circular argument because I will get them saying "It is in the Bible" but how do I trust the Bible "Because it is the word of God" but how do I know it is the word of god? "Because it says in the Bible" like what? And they will use the "It is by faith you know it is the word of God" like a huge cope out.

I have so many problems with this because I have my doubts but my church keeps pointing to Israel seeing their activity as end times prophesies being fullfilled (they are dispensational pre-millenialist) and have this obsession with the rapture of the church.

I don't question much for the fear of hell or getting left behind it is just anxiety inducing. But then I salute you Brandon for your work, you bring peace to every deconstructer

My salutes from Puerto Rico

[CheknoEternity]

The hardest thing I ever did was challenging my beliefs, the greatest thing I ever did was walking away from it.

[duanethompson]

If the Christians think that their god is so good, I wonder what a not-so-good god would be like? Thanks for your wonderful analysis of 1st Kings.

[BluStarGalaxy]

When I was a Christian I was told that we would have an urge to read the Bible everyday and delve into his word as though it was a drink that we thirsted for. If we did not have this intense urge, something was wrong with us. It turns out it was something very right to not want to read the Bible all the time. The stories are horrific and tedious.

[violin]

Love the idea of secular bible study especially those of us who left. The world of the Bible is what is what my life was based on for decades great to have an honest place to explore that part of our life that is not a church

[beegee]

Each time another question pops into my head regarding something you share (me thinking, “Say what?”) - you answer it in the next few things you say! Anticipating those things that are conflicting, hypocritical or just plain nutty is what makes your videos so good! You are a natural teacher. We are lucky to have you doing this and your children are super lucky to have you for a dad! ❣️👨🏻‍🦰 Gingers rule!

[trina]

I have to be honest I read alot of the OT and made excuses for alot of troubling stuff but it was in fact the last verse you covered where God put a lying tongue in the mouth of the prophets that I closed my bible and said I'm done. True story. I was never the same after reading that.

[THFLCNx]

Concubinage was always a major red flag issue for me. Such a glaring inconsistency. And Solomon dabbling with the other gods after becoming the wisest man ever just strikes me as comical. And plus anyone else would have been killed for it. I guess it's good to be king. XD I like your breakdown of the subjectivity of the morality at the end too. ;)

[ambarlostinthewoods]

Man, no wonder i was so terrified not just of the devil, but very VERY terrified from God himself, he sounds just like an abusive parent😢(just like i have one) so I really really understand why this can cause fear to a kid and a grown adult as well.

Thanks for the videos Brandon, I'm almost catching up with you with this series, I've been loving your content so far, keep it up man, great content, this is really the word i wanna be hearing 😊

[rkane]

The story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal is

I’ve heard pastors use that as an example of god listening and showing himself. Conveniently they never mention the part where everyone gets murdered afterwards.

[SuzanneKvR]

I really enjoy the biblestudies. After 40 years of weekly church biblestudies, it is a joy to look at things from a different perspective. I really hope you will be able to do the entire bible.
By the way, i just love your sarcastic sense of humor!

[HandofOmega]

Don't undersell the Ahab story, it's even weirder than that in context: Ahab wants to know if God will approve a military action, so he calls on the prophets to see if He's ok with it (which is what he's supposed to do, right?); only there's one prophet who apparently hates him, because he always gives bad news. That prophet (who I think only shows up in this sequence) is even warned to go along with the positive accounts of the others, but does not. When the other prophets demand to know why he breaks with them, he tells the story related, which I THINK is meant to be an actual vision he claims to have had; iow, he saw behind the curtain into how the heavenly court works. This raises further questions: Did God want him to see this? Why would he, since it exxposes God's own duplicity? Surely, God wouldn't want him to tell on Him? And yet he does...So either they're all just making shit up, or God is deliberately entrapping people into doing wrong, even when they ask his guidance (and is powerless to stop a whistleblower from revealing this).

The real shame is that God's punishments trickle down to effect the people, who are just trying to live their lives, until they are ended or ruined by invading armies or plagues...If God is so displeased by Kings doing evil in his sight, then would it really be so hard to just punish THEM, instead of all the people who had no say in his decisions??

[Betttty]

I really hope we get bible stories some day

[JDrocksever]

I can’t wait for you marriage episode. That has been a huge problem for me for a long time. Jesus says that lusting in your heart after a woman is adultery, and under the law, that is punishable by death… how then is a David or a Solomon allowed to just overturn this rule and not be subject to death?? Favoritism? Yes. Picking and choosing? Absolutely. Inconsistent with Gods design of one spouse? Obviously. And worst of all, he decides when he wants to punish for it arbitrarily. So much for being the same yesterday, today, and forever. So much for “never changing”. That’s always been one of the main inconsistencies that’s stuck with me

[TheRatzor]

You know the biggest issue I have with the Bible is it never made me feel like God loved me, maybe God is love maybe not!

but every time I read it or open the book i read something awful rather than Good

I felt like i was more condemned by it than accepted by God!

It just didnt jar with me on a lot of stuff maybe that's why i don't read it! thank for doing the reading for me lol!

[HandofOmega]

Alan Moore once wrote a story about two superheroines fighting over the superpowers one of them stole from the other; this being a mystical book, the myth-echo of Solomon is summoned to rule on the issue, and he comes across as a infanticidal maniac, slavering over the prospect of slicing babies in half! His final ruling is to split the powers between the two, which the thief is fine with, but the true hero knows would be disastrous (for plot reasons) so she gives up her right to the powers so they will remain intact...Solomon then gives her the powers instead, remarking "See? I told you there's always a baby at the heart of every issue!" (Just telling the story, it seems a bit obvious, but Moore's talent is such that you really don't see this coming when you're reading it)
Anyway, I wonder if, even in the original story, "the baby" is a metaphor for something else...like, say, a certain kingdom that has been split in two...

[nicolasandre]

Thanks for this new bible study, as always, many great examples as to why people should definitely not rely on the bible, especially the old testament for moral guidance.

And the inconsistencies are definitely a sign of a man made myth, not a manifestation of divinity from a perfect being.