"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matthew 7:13-14

A street-preacher offered for a scoffing atheist named Bruce to get up in front of a microphone to have a discussion together, and the atheist said the following:
"Anybody who reads the Bible, really reads the Bible, will become an atheist, I guarantee..."
-Bruce (atheist), "Atheist Lies to Crowd to Cast Doubt on Bible," CLE Youtube Channel (Older, closed channel that is no longer being updated), July 6, 2011, [https://youtu.be/H16Is1bJ9kc]

In this context, a guarantee is a promise to make sure, which means that Bruce is claiming, with absolute certainty, that anyone who reads the Bible will become an atheist like him. That is a very extraordinary claim under any circumstance or subject matter, and of course, that did not happen to me because my hearing of God's law brought me to repentance (i.e. grief and godly sorrow) and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
-Mark 1:14-15

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
-Galatians 3:24

So I was curious about what Bruce was referring to, and I wanted to hear him give an example of what made him an atheist. He continues to say:
"If one person came back [presuming he is referring to a prophet] and said, 'Okay humankind, wash your hands', it's God--it's God's gift to wash your hands, think about how many hundreds of millions of people would have survived because they wouldn't have any dysentery anymore. God's Word is not here! Because if it was, we would have scientific proof that God had said somethine worth while."
-Bruce (atheist), "Atheist Lies to Crowd to Cast Doubt on Bible," CLE Youtube Channel (Older, closed channel that is no longer being updated), July 6, 2011, [https://youtu.be/H16Is1bJ9kc]

In summary, Bruce is preaching his belief that the Word of God is a lie because the Bible never told people to wash their hands. So from Bruce's speech, using simple evidence from Scripture, we can draw one of two conclusions about Bruce; either...

Bruce has not read the Bible, and he lied to everyone when he told the crowd that he had read it multiple times. Or... Bruce has read the Bible, but he intentionally lied about what is in it to turn the crowd away from the Word of God.

The reason I have presented only two options is because in the Bible, God very clearly instructed the Jews to wash their hands. In fact, He not only told them to wash their hands, but also their clothes and bodies in very specific instances.

For example:

And whomsoever he toucheth that hath the issue, and hath not rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
-Leviticus 15:11

The word 'issue' has a number of meanings, and today, we most often use it in reference to subject matter, but it's general meaning is "to go out" or "to proceed out."

issue (n): the act of passing or flowing out; a moving out of any inclosed space; applied to water or other fluid, to smoke, to a body of men, etc; we say, an issue of water from a pipe, from a spring, or from a river; an issue of blood from a wound, of air from bellows; an issue of people from a door or house
(See 'issue', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Jan 3, 2019, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

In this context, the issue is concerning someone's open wound, in which blood would be flowing from their broken skin. In fact, if you go back and read the entire context of Leviticus 15, you will find that God even commanded that if any made has an issue of blood, the things he touch (e.g. saddles, pottery, etc) would be "unclean," which we understand today would be caused by the spreading of germs and bad bacteria.

Thus, the problem was not that God never instructed people to wash their hands because He did indeed instruct them to do so, and much more. The problem is that atheists like Bruce, because of the wickedness of his heart, and his desire to justify the lusts of his flesh, does not want to heed God's Word, nor does he want anyone else to heed God's Word.

This is what the Bible calls a 'fool', which is a man who cannot be reasoned with:

fool (n): one who is destitute of reason... in scripture, fool is often used for a wicked or depraved person; one who acts contrary to sound wisdom in his moral deportment [behavior]
(See 'fool', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Jan 3, 2019, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
-Psalm 53:1

Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
-Proverbs 26:5

As God has also taught us, the foolish atheist (like Bruce) has all the evidence he needs for the existence of God, but he denies the truth in his unrighteousness:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
-Romans 1:18-22
(Read "Everything You Need to Know About Atheism" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Here are some more example where God taught basic sanitation practices:

And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days.
-Leviticus 14:8

And whosoever toucheth his bed [in this context, it was a diseased man who laid in his bed] shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even.
-Leviticus 15:5

And when he that hath an issue is cleansed of his issue; then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.
-Leviticus 15:13

But it shall be, when evening cometh on, he shall wash himself with water: and when the sun is down, he shall come into the camp again.
-Deuteronomy 23:11

So as we can clealy see, by "really reading the Bible," that God had commanded basic sanitation, and not just basic, but He commanded to Jews to go above and beyond what we commonly do today. Of couse, it is common for an atheist to ignore the fact that they were in error, refuse to confess their wrong, and attack with another false argument, claiming "But they did not have soap because it did not exist!"

Again, this is foolish because soap has existed for thousands of years, and the Bible certainly mentions it. In Jeremiah, God was rebuking the Jews because, though they washed with soap, He told them they were unclean inwardly, in that they would wash their outside, but not clean out their hearts:

For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.
-Jeremiah 2:22

As a side note, the 'nitre' referred to here is a type of soda, which is not referring to a fizzy soda-pop, which is for drinking, but rather, it is a different fizzy substance used for cleaning, and many people do not realize that it is still used today. Most people have heard of "baking soda", which is sodium-BIcarbonate, but there is also something you can find in stores called "washing soda," which is sodium-carbonate, which is what is being referred to in the Bible as "nitre," demonstrating that soaps and cleansing powders were used thousands of years ago.
(See Mary M. Leverette, "What Is Washing Soda and How Is It Used?" The Spruce, Oct 28, 2019, retrieved Jan 3, 2020, [thespruce.com/what-is-washing-soda-2145888])

In another example, God taught the Jews that if they handle a dead body, they were to wash their hands:

And whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.
-Leviticus 11:25

The reason I want to emphasize this verse in particular is to demonstrate how arrogant men like Bruce really are, namely because of his statement about looking for "scientific evidence." Since Bruce has every intention to lie about what the Bible says, let's look at the history of what happened to Ignaz Semmelweis, an Hungarian physician.

In Semmelweis's day (i.e. 19th century), all throughout Europe, it was a common practice in hospitals for nurses to handle a dead body, and without washing their hands (as the Bible instructed the Jews), they would immediately be called over to the maternity ward to deliver babies. Because of this, baby mortality rates in hopsitals was extraordinarily high, and Semmelweis discovered that by instructing his nurses to wash their hands before going into the maternity ward, it drastically decreased the amount of child deaths in the hospital.

So how did the atheistically-minded scientific community react to this? Most of them ignored it, just like they ignore Scripture. Few places in Europe took Semmelweis seriously. Because of the arrogance of the medical community, in which doctors would have to realize that they were personally responsible for the deaths of so many children because they refused to see something so simple, they rejected Semmelweis's discover, and his book teaching on the subject, along with attacks against his character and profession.

Semmelweis became depressed as he was rejected and attacked repeatedly, began to drink heavily, and eventually was lured into an insane asylum by his collegues. When he realized the deception, he tried to leave, but was beaten by the guards, bound in a straitjacket, and put in solitary confinement. They continued to tortue him in various ways over the next two weeks, and due to an untreated wound, he died from blood poisoning due to an uncleaned wound that became gangrenous.

Now that cleanliness has become more readily accepted in English-speaking societies, the atheists now, in their arrogance, claim that it was them all along who discovered the truth about sanitation. They lie and deceive, lifting themselves up in their pride, and by professing themselves to be wise, they become fools.

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
-Romans 1:22

This is why, continuing in Romans 1, the heart of unbelieving and wicked men, like Bruce is described. This is God revealing the true nature of their corrupt hearts, what they are really like on the inside, and

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. -Romans 1:28-32

Atheists do not reject God's Word because of their science; rather, they reject His Word because of their sin. They do not rejected God because of their logic; rather, they reject Him because of their lust. Atheism is one of the most absurd religious beliefs that has ever existed because it impossible for an atheist to justify the existence of reason, logic, science, math, good, evil, or morals in general, and if you want to learn more about their hopeless circular reasoning, I highly recommend reading "Everything You Need to Know About Atheism" here at creationliberty.com.

🔍