I just don't believe in it. I have faith in my own convictions about the world, and I don't need a 2000 year old book of fictionary fables to tell me otherwise.
Believing in the Bible is a stumbling block for many people. They see parts of the Bible as being scientifically impossible, historically unreliable, and culturally regressive.
"We can't trust the Bible historically"
Rather than examining the historic accuracy of each part of the Bible, you should instead ask yourself whether you can trust the gospels to be historically reliable.
The following following reasons are why the gospel accounts should be considered historically reliable vs. legends:
1. The timing is far too early for the gospels to be legends.
Gospels were written only 40-60 years after Jesus' death and Biblical accounts of Jesus' life were circulating within the lifetimes of hundreds who had been present at the events of His ministry.
2. The content is far too counterproductive for the gospels to be legends. (i.e. Jesus' crucifixion, Jesus' cries to God about abandoning Him, women as eyewitnesses, weaknesses of apostles)
3. The literary form of the gospels is too detailed to be legend.
Ancient fiction was nothing like modern fiction. Modern fiction is realistic. It contains details and dialogue and reads like an eyewitness account. This genre of fiction, however, was unknown in the first century and was only developed within the last 300 years.
Therefore, the gospels written with so much detail at that time could not be fiction but could only come from actual eyewitness accounts.
"We Can't Trust the Bible Culturally"
More people now are especially upset by what they call the outmoded and regressive teaching of the Bible (i.e. slavery and the subjugation of women).
I would suggest that you slow down and try out several different perspectives on the issues that trouble you. Many of the texts people find offensive can be cleared up with a decent commentary that puts the issue into historical context.
We should make sure we distinguish between the major themes and message of the Bible and its less primary teachings...It is therefore important to consider the Bible's core claims about who Jesus is and whether he rose from the dead before you reject it for its less central and more controversial teachings.
I would also submit to you this.
If you pick and choose what you want to believe and reject the rest, how will you have a God that can contradict you? You won't! You'll have a God of your own making, and not a God with whom you can have a relationship and genuine interaction with. Only if your God can say things that outrage you and make you struggle (as in a real friendship or marriage) will you know that you have hold of a real God and not a figment of your imagination. So an authoritative Bible is not the enemy of a personal relationship with God. It is the precondition for it.