The Skeptics Annotated Bible (798 page)

16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but
he that believeth not shall be damned.

(16.16)
“He that believeth not shall be damned.”
304 Is Salvation by faith alone?
359 How are people judged by God?

(16.17-18)
The signs of true believers

17 And
these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

(16.17)
“These signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; “
344 Who can cast out devils in the name of Jesus?
421 Is casting out devils a sign of a true Christian?

18
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

(16:18)
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

19 So then
after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven
, and
sat on the right hand of God.

(16.19a)
“After the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven.”
428 When did Jesus ascend into heaven?

(16.19b)
“He … sat on the right hand of God.”
349 Is Jesus God?

20 And they went forth, and preached every where,
the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.
Amen.

(16.20)
“The Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.”
360 Did Jesus perform any signs?

If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
—
Luke 14.26

Highlights:

• God strikes Zacharias dumb for doubting the angel Gabriel’s words.
  1.20
  
• John the Baptist says that Christ will burn the damned “with fire unquenchable.”
  3.17
  
• The genealogy of Jesus given here is entirely different than that in Mt
  1.6-16
  .
  3.23-31
  
• The people of Jesus’ hometown (Nazareth) tried to kill him by pushing him off a cliff. But Jesus got away.
  4.28-30
  
• Peter and his partners (James and John) abandon their wives and children to follow Jesus.
  5.11
  
• People who are rich, well-fed, happy, or respected are going to hell.
  6.24-26
  
• John the Baptist, who is about to die, is still unsure about Jesus.
  7.19
  
• Jesus speaks in parables so “that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.”
  8.10
  
• He falsely predicts that some of his listeners would live to see him return and establish the kingdom of God.
  9.27
  
• Entire cities will be violently destroyed and the inhabitants “thrust down to hell” for not “receiving” his disciples.
  10.10-15
  
• The disciples are thrilled that “even the devils are subject” to them. To this Jesus replies, “I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions … and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
  10.17-19
  
• Jesus thanks God that only the ignorant and foolish will listen to him.
  10.21
  
• He insults his mother (the Most Holy Blessed Virgin Mary).
  11.27-28
  
• He calls his critics fools, thus making himself, by his own standards (Mt 5.22), worthy of “hell fire.”
  11.40
  
• He blames all the deaths of the prophets (from Abel to Zacharias) on his generation.
  11.47-52
  
• He says that we should fear God since he has the power to kill us and then torture us forever in hell.
  12.5
  
• The unforgivable sin: blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.
  12.10
  
• God is like a slave-owner who tortures and chops his slaves in pieces.
  12.46-47
  
• Jesus says that his disciples must hate their families (mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, children) and themselves. 14.26
  
• If you want to be a disciple of Jesus, you must abandon everything, including your family.
  14.33
  
• “That which is highly esteemed among men [love, wisdom, honesty, courage, etc.] is an abomination in the sight of God.”
  16.15
  
• Abandon your wife and family for Jesus and he’ll give you a big reward.
  18.29-30
  
• God is like an unjust king who takes what is not rightly his, reaps what he didn’t sow, and has those who don’t want to be ruled by him slaughtered in front of him.
  19.12-27
  
• Jesus says that everyone will hate Christians, and some Christians will be killed, yet no Christian will be harmed in any way.
  21.16-18
  
• He says that all that he describes (his return, signs in the sun, moon, and stars, etc.) will occur within the lifetime of his listeners.
  21.32