Penn Jillette stated that when he was 16 years of age he read the entire Bible but rejected it, and thus rejected YHVH, because the Bible was so “anti-family.”
Examples? Yes, he offered two:
1) YHVH told Abraham to sacrifice his son.
2) Jesus said to leave your family and follow him.
He claims to have rejected the Bible’s “anti-family” because it conflicted with the way in which he had been raised.
Thus, to begin with, note that he rejected the Bible and YHVH (and any generic “God” for that matter) because the Bible conflicted with his preconceived notions: the Bible does not agree with the persona opinions of a 16 year old and so, it must not be true.
Yet, as the Bible states, “let no one despise your youth” (1 Timothy 4:12)—do not commit the ad hominem aka genetic fallacy attempt to discredit the source of an argument rather than the argument itself. In short, at whatever age he stated it, he did stated it. We are not despising the young Penn Jillette but rather, the adult and misinformed Penn Jillette.
The Bible also states, “test all thing, hold on that what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21), it states, “‘Let us reason together,’ says the LORD” (Isaiah 1:18) also “Casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5) and that “sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:15).
What of his arguments?
Firstly, he is, in essence, morally or, rather, ethically condemning the Bible and yet upon what basis?
Well, as an Atheist he really has one option, “personal preference.” And upon what are these personal preferences based? Upon personal preferences. And these, in turn, upon other personal preferences until we realize that the Atheist has nothing to offer but a bottomless pit of assertions: it is just personal preferences all the way down.
But what of his specific arguments?
1) YHVH told Abraham to sacrifice his son.
This is an ubiquitously promulgated well-within-the-box-Atheist-group think-talking point-de jour. It is actually surprising that people who, quite literally, pride themselves on being more evolved than thou and the very height or erudition keep brining this up without even knowing that of which they speak.
In case you are not away ponder this: if Abraham sacrificed Isaac when he was still a boy with no children of his own how it is that YHVH is the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” and that thus, Jesus’ genealogy includes Isaac (Matthew 1:2)?
Well, because not relying on childhood memories would uncover that Abraham does not sacrifice Isaac. But did not YHVH command him to do so? Yes. So Abraham disobeyed YHVH and is thus some sort of neo-Atheist ethical hero?
No, this is when critical thinking skill come into play whereby we do not simply have emotional reactions but actually educate ourselves and compose thoughts. We do this by reading the text and considering historical context, cultural context, grammatical context, etc. In other words, we do that which very many people do not want to do—which does not stop them from, for example, going on a national radio show and promulgating utter falsehoods in the name of the faith-based religion of Atheism.
YHVH commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham knew quite well what was, ultimately, going to happen since he did state to the men traveling with them, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you"—they will both go and both come back.
Abraham was just getting to know YHVH and thus, prepares to sacrifice Isaac without question because according to the worship systems de jour this was standard operating procedure.
Abraham sets out to carry out the sacrifice but YHVH tells him to not do it.
Thus, YHVH, the God of the Bible, proves from the outset in His dealings with the Father of the Hebrew Israelites (and by extension, Christianity and by further extension, Islam) that He is not like the other (and false) gods and does not accept human sacrifice.
Thus, Atheists take an event which for the rest of human history marked the time when YHVH once and for all discredited human sacrifice and turn it upside down, inside out and backwards.
For many more details of this, including its prophetic nature, see:
Atheism, Ritual Human Sacrifice in the Bible, and EvilBible.com, part 1 of 5
2) Jesus said to leave your family and follow him.
Simply stated, Jesus never stated this.
Based on his childhood memories, he appears to be mixing up two texts.
We must, of course, begin with historical context, cultural context, grammatical context, etc. whereby we note that Jesus came from the very theological background which emphasized filial piety.
In Mark 7:10 Jesus reiterates that “Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
Matthew 4:18-19 states:
Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
This is, apparently, whence comes his fuzzy memory of “follow him.”
Too bad he did not remember Luke 14:26 because that would have made for some good radio!:
If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.
Simply stated, since we apply historical context, cultural context, grammatical context, etc. we realize that this statement is hyperbolic, exaggerated for emphasis, meant to pack a punch.
And yet, moreover, in Matthew 10:35 Jesus said:
For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Oh, that is even juicier! The historical context, cultural context, grammatical context, etc. is that His message, the gospel (good news) would cause division even amongst family members.
Many of us, this writer included, could tell you stories of our Atheist and Agnostic relatives (including fathers and mothers) who treated us terribly simply due to the fact that we did not accept their faith-based views.
Thus, overall, Penn Jillette talks a good game if you do not know what he is talking about (he certainly does not) and especially if you are too busy reacting emotionally and not bother to actually exercise honest skepticism to see if what he claims is so.
It is no wonder that he has refused to debate, see:
Sye Ten Bruggencate's debate challenge to Penn Jillette
Atheism - The Positive Affirmation of Penn Jillette
Thus saith Penn Jillette: the ten commandments for atheists
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