Atheists believe in the biggest miracle of all. That a mathematically rational, lawfully organized, finely tuned universe popped into existence out of nothing by pure chance.
We don't know where the universe came from and that's ok. The fact is, many of the gaps in our knowledge were once filled by gods: lightning, disease, stars, mental illness, etc. Saying "I don't know" is infinitely more honest than manufacturing magical beings.
Protestants specifically rejected the doctrine of transmutation.
Yes. Rather than converting a cracker into flesh, they just give you a cracker and tell you it's the body of christ.
Christianity as a whole does not boil down in essence to crackers. You are just selectivity complaining about the parts you don't like.
I promise, it has nothing to do with "like".
Ritual practice and belief is a big part of all of our lives.
Yes, but they aren't generally based on consuming the blood and flesh of magical beings.
So we are in agreement that all Christians are not required to believe everything in the Bible is literally true.
No, there is no "Final Boss" that makes Christians believe anything. The range is wide. There are pastors in AZ who are still preaching that all gays should be killed. At the opposite end of the spectrum is someone like James Talarico who finds support for transgenderism in the Bible.
It would have been great if the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the universe had been clearer on many topics...
Frankly, I can't see how anyone could treat the entire Bible as literal historical biography and scientific reporting.
Conversely, many people can't understand how one can't recognize the Bible as the perfect, inerrant word of God.
Of course, as time goes on, and we advance as a society, the number of Biblical literalists will decrease or the rationalization will increase.