"Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived."

~Isaac Asimov from a letter written in 1966

I have heard many variants on that theme over the years. Here is a smattering of stuff from Asimov:

Asimov was an atheist: "I am Jewish in the sense that if an Arab wanted to throw a rock at a Jew, I would qualify as a target as far as he was concerned. However, I do not practice Judaism or any other religion." (March 17, 1969 letter). Asimov called himself "an orthodox, practicing atheist" (April 29, 1988 letter). He also observed, "I must say that I stand amazed at the highly intelligent people who have taken so much of the Bible so seriously" (Oct. 28, 1966 letter). "Nobody but a dedicated Christian could possibly read the gospels and not see them as a tissue of nonsense" (Nov. 1, 1966 letter). "I would not be satisfied to have my kids choose to be religious without trying to argue them out of it, just as I would not be satisfied to have them decide to smoke regularly or engage in any other practice I considered detrimental to mind or body" (Aug. 22, 1963 letter). "I am prejudiced against religion because I know the history of religion, and it is the history of human misery and of black crimes" (March 27, 1976 letter). Elected in 1985 as president of the American Humanist Association, Asimov rejected an offer to support "Jewish" humanism: "I want to be a human being, nothing more and nothing less" (June 21, 1985). (All letters cited from Yours, Isaac Asimov, a Lifetime of Letters, edited by Stanley Asimov, 1995). Asimov noted that "it is an excellent sign that the right wing is trembling before a few thousand Humanists. We are weak and yet feared. Let's give them more cause to fear!" Upon his death at age 72, he had written more than 470 published books, covering every category in the Dewey Decimal System, fiction and nonfiction. Asimov was married twice, and had a son and daughter. Isaac's death from heart and kidney failure was a consequence of AIDS contracted from a transfusion of tainted blood during his December 1983 triple-bypass operation. He died April 6, 1992.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Robert Green Ingersoll, the Great Agnostic of the 19th century:
"All that is necessary, as it seems to me, to convince any reasonable person that the Bible is simply and purely of human invention, of barbarian invention, is to read it. Read it as you would any other book; think of it as you would of any other; get the bandage of reverence from
your eyes; drive from your heart the phantom of fear; push from the throne of your brain the cowled form of superstition then read the Holy Bible, and you will be amazed that you ever, for one moment, supposed a being of infinite wisdom, goodness and purity, to be the author of such
ignorance and of such atrocity."
The Gods, 1876

The famous atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair used to say that back in the '60's. Frankly, reading the bible cover to cover back in the 60's is what first shook my faith.

My dad attended seminary and came out agnostic. So, yeah.

Like this?

Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived ~ Isaac Asimov

His meaning from what I understood was that most get a filtered view of religion through whatever sect someone subscribes to. Unfiltered, reading from Genesis to Book of Revelation, the unfiltered view will disgust most people, having them question "This is what I believe in?". Hey, you take just Old Testament and god is a big asshole.

I’ve heard this from a couple of people such as bill Maher and Steven fry. Yea the Bible is violent, barbaric, just plain stupid. One of the problems is that more people haven’t actually read the Bible.

That's what made me an atheist!

I find deconversion stories fascinating and have listened to several dozen. One of the most common themes is deconverting after reading the many passages in which violence, cruelty, and intolerance are condoned. Preachers often avoid sermonizing on these.

The "good book" is full of outrageous assertions, conflicting narratives, and backward mores. It is obviously the product of many writers, editors, and translators of dubious qualifications and/or twisted political agendas. One would think that any omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent god worth his/her salt would at least be able to assemble a competent public relations staff. Or at least farm the work out to a good Madison Avenue agency. But apparently not in this case. The inconsistencies are enough to test the faith of a saint.

The Bible is the gateway to the occult - beware! I heard that seminary will make an atheist out of the most ardent believer.

No the Bible promotes things like Grimm's Fairy Tales. Maybe you could say it also promotes inconsistency. Don't you think if there was a God he would at least be consistent in all teaching?

Why would I want to waste my time reading such fat incoherent useless book? Beats me

If it do or don't does not matter to someone that do not believe in god. As I see it. I am not searching on the bible to argue with a scientific method. I simply do not believe in god... with no back up or wingman needed. No bible was ever necessary.

Reading the bible cover to cover was what made me stop trying to believe in my parents religion (Mormonism).

I think it only promotes atheism in educated and intelligent people though.... peopel who think for themselves rather than let others think for them.

I am so dissapointed with atheists and agnostics in this site... always talking about god. Always talking about religion, always reading the bible, always mentioning church. THAT IS IRONIC. Wonder if jehova witnesses are always talking about atheist this and agnostic that. Just Wondering.... umhm. I used to go weeks and weeks without hearing the word god. Whatever happened to absence of god? Reckon next atheist mentioning god I will say "You just could not ignore the Pink Elephant in the room, couldn't you?" Me, I don't do god, in any manifestation... you guys seemed to be slaved by the word and fascinated by it too. He, he, ha, he, ha. Ironic, ironic. This place is turning into a church. Looking for volunteers for bible reading?

I think there is a strong correlation.

Definitely, I say it all the time too. I would modify it to: the surest way to make a staunch atheist is to make a smart kid read the whole bible. I was made to study it in depth too. I memorized every common flowery pretty verse you can think of, but in addition to christian school and church several times a week I was the kind of dork who would voluntarily study the Bible and pray in his free time as a young kid. It didn’t bring me to any immediate realizations at the time but it sure raised a lot of questions when you read those extra verses pastors never talk about. There’s just no way to read the whole thing, understand it, and not notice all kinds of impossibilities and inconsistencies as a thinking person. Sometimes it takes a while to sink in but if you’ve read much of it you have enough info to digest and determine its lunacy.

When I got older and began questioning everything and studying comparative religion, I was very familiar with the parts that make sense and are beautiful, but also the parts that are batshit crazy and impossible. Having studied the Bible more thoroughly than most everyone except seminary students, Ive got plenty of ammo for refuting their nonsense and finding the inconsistencies. There’s no way to go back to believing that nonsense once you study some of the Hebrew and Greek behind it and see how bonkers it was to begin with, not to mention how poorly translated and interpreted.

Worked for me and I make this claim.

Reading the bible and especially trying to understand the mental gymnastics great theist "thinkers" have gone through for centuries is an excellent path towards unbelief.

If only more religious people took their holy scriptures seriously

Christians rely on cherry-picking the bible to avoid all of the truly horrendous things in there. Actually reading the entire bible has created more Atheists than any other thing.

People are saying such things. I think that reading the Bible critically might relieve you of your childhood indoctrination, and if you had had a childish concept of God you might start saying that you were an atheist.

However, reality is one huge mysterious enigma. As for me, my relationship to that enigma is total bewilderment. Arguing over whether something out there in that dense fog should be labeled “God” seems inappropriate and shallow to me. Call it what you want, but there really is a great unknown.

I believe there is some truth to that.

Seems Atheism is promoting the bible.