Skeptic's Annotated Bible

[[File:Skeptics Annotated Bible.jpeg|thumb|right|165px|The print edition]]
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The '''Skeptic's Annotated Bible''' (SAB), a harsh criticism of the [[Bible]], is written by Steve Wells.<ref group=note>Wells is also the author of ''Drunk With Blood: God's Killings in the Bible,'' SAB Books, 2013. ISBN 0988245116.</ref> Wells spent some 20 years researching the [[Bible]], the [[Qur'an]], and the [[Book of Mormon]] to generate his ''Skeptic's Annotated Bible''. It analyses the [[King James Version]] of the Bible and is particularly useful against [[King James only]]-fundamentalists. Wells analyzes a variety of issues that non-Christians and thinking [[Christian]]s often find untenable with the more common presentation of the [[biblical literalism |Bible as literal truth]], and of the Bible and [[YHWH |God]] as "good and peaceful". As with other annotations, it provides ongoing commentary about what passages mean, their context, and their function.  

Because the work focuses only on the King James version, it has some limitations when arguing with people who use other translations, but those can usually be worked out by reading the given verses in a different translation at a site like [https://www.biblegateway.com/ ''Bible Gateway'']. 

Wells's criticism itself is most effective against those who see the Bible as both [[fundamentalist |inerrant and non-contradictory]]. It's also interesting to read the juicy violent and [[sex]]ual bits that are so often ignored in [[church]] services and {{wpl|Bible school}} classes, especially in a version with annotations that cut through all the goofy euphemisms in the King James Version.

==Cute labels==
The site looks for and labels (with cute little icons) any biblical reference to: 
*Absurdity
*Injustice
*Cruelty and Violence
*Intolerance
*Contradictions
*Family Values (ironically, of course)
*[[Women]]
*[[Science]] and [[History]] (again, a focus on that which is bad science and wrong history)
*Interpretation
*[[Sex]]
*[[Prophecy]]
*[[Language]]
*[[Homosexuality]]

And just for fun, they have an icon for "Good stuff" as well, parts of the Bible that teach a good moral message or are otherwise laudable.

==Other sacred texts==
The site has expanded to pages addressing the Qur'an, the Book of Mormon, and the Bhagavad Gita. The site's copy of the Book of Mormon adds two new icons, one for [[plagiarism]] of passages from the [[King James Bible]] and one for Changes from the original 1830 version.

==Criticism==
The website has received a lot of criticism, unsurprisingly from Christians. Many point out that most of the notes he makes do not take the historical or textual context of the passages into consideration.

The site does make extreme leaps in interpretations, and sometimes pushes common understanding a bit too far for the quick joke, but it still provides insight and a way to begin an argument with a fundamentalist, if you have the patience for that argument. Some of Wells' comments are simply him making snarky jokes; in general the SAB should be viewed as a tool for strengthening and entertaining skeptics rather than for deconverting hardcore fundies. While a great source of discussion points, this SAB’s sassy attitude makes it for critics, not Christians.

Wells keeps track of several sites criticizing the SAB,<ref>[http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/christian.html Christian Responses to the SAB] ''The Skeptic's Annotated Bible''.</ref><ref>[http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/christian.html Christian Responses to SAB Contradictions] ''The Skeptic's Annotated Bible''.</ref> but it is unknown how much he takes them into consideration and updates his website to respond to their claims.

==See also==
*[[EvilBible.com]]: Very similar; both sites reference each other quite a bit.
*[[The RationalWiki Annotated Bible]]

==External links==
*[http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/ The Skeptic's Annotated Bible]
*[http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/index.htm The Skeptic's Annotated Qur'an]
*[http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/BOM/index.htm The Skeptic's Annotated Book of Mormon]
*[http://www.berenddeboer.net/sab/index.html The Author of the Skeptic's Annotated Bible Answered]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

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[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Skepticism]]
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Categories: Bible analysis, Christianity, Skepticism, Websites