Reply #10: I see what you are getting at, and at some level it makes sense, however... [View All]

If you don't believe the stories in the bible, how do you know what "christ" would be like? It seems that would lead to cherry-picking, and if you know enough to be able to cherry-pick, why would you need the bible in the first place? The only reason I could see for doing this would be if you wanted to be a part of a christian community, but were afraid that it would lead to trouble if you just joined them as an open atheist.

I guess if you wanted my advice, I would say that if you admire what ethics you can discern in the bible (after having cherry-picked and eliminated the repeated threats of hell and all that), you might be able to simply live them without identifying them as the property of jesus or buddha or anyone.