5 Common Misconceptions About the Bible

[doggie]

I thought this was an excellent article on the bible. or the books that are the bible. Puts it in a whole other light.

 

 

When it comes to the Bible, modern Americans are at a distinct disadvantage. They know both too much and too little.

 

They know too much because they live in a society in which references to the Bible -- positive and negative -- are frequent, creating a false sense of familiarity. They know too little because they have not read it, or have read only selected portions of it, or have allowed others to read it for them through the filtering lens of later theological doctrines or political opportunism. And that's a pity because the Bible, by which I mean the 24 basic books common to all Bibles (equivalent to the Jewish Tanakh or Hebrew Bible and to the Protestant Old Testament) is deserving of the same careful attention and close reading that we regularly bestow upon other classic texts.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine ... 73965.html

[keen23]

The college I went to offered a few classes on reading the Bible as literature and not just as a religious book.

Bible Myths, Literature and Society

[GeoBQn]

I took a biblical literature class in college. It was the hardest class I ever took, in large part because the professor was so insistent that we examine it purely as a work of literature. Even students who weren't religious had a difficult time stepping away from preconceived notions that the Bible is unique or special from other books.

[BabyFullOfSin]

I took a biblical literature class in college. It was the hardest class I ever took, in large part because the professor was so insistent that we examine it purely as a work of literature. Even students who weren't religious had a difficult time stepping away from preconceived notions that the Bible is unique or special from other books.

I would love to take a class like that.. will have to see if my local Unis have one

[sparkles]

I've never read the bible--any bible and in fact, I'm not even sure what the bible consists of--one book or many? It's not something I'm necessarily proud of but whenever I've tried to start, I've found it very rough going and I just gave up. I'd love to take a class in the bible (or use a study guide) strictly from a non-religious viewpoint, just to gain a basic understanding before getting into specific interpretations. Personally, I don't believe one iota that the bible was handed down by anyone's god but I'm not sure that I can really appreciate where the fundies are coming from without some basic knowledge of the Big Book.

[GeoBQn]

sparkles, I recommend the book Back the Sources by Barry W. Holtz. It provides an introduction to the main bodies of Jewish texts (Torah, Talmud, philosophical works, etc.) and makes the case for why they should be studied as works of literature by Jews and non-Jews alike.

[Anxious Girl]

The college I went to offered a few classes on reading the Bible as literature and not just as a religious book.

Bible Myths, Literature and Society

How dare there by such a class that defy trolls such as geneibelle's and She Who Laughs's beliefsj people's beliefs and look at the Bible from a non-Christian, non-religious, non-spiritual viewpoint to get a better understanding of the Bible and how it influences the world? That's persecution! :naughty: Seriously, I wonder if some fundies view these sort of classes that critque the Bible and understand the difference between "Biblical" times and modern times while learning various languages (Greek, Hebrew, Latin, etc.) that the Bible was written in as "persecution".

[FeministShrew]

I've read the Bible through about 5 times, I guess, as a believer & as a skeptic. There's some scary, messed up shit there. I'm glad I'm not living my life (or trying to) by it anymore.

[pixydust]

I've read the Bible through about 5 times, I guess, as a believer & as a skeptic. There's some scary, messed up shit there. I'm glad I'm not living my life (or trying to) by it anymore.

I've read it all the way through (trying to be a believer!) and I've thought about reading it again (as a non-believer), but honestly, I'm a little worried that it will trigger my PTSD from my childhood, and my family doesn't need me a ragey mess, so I'll skip it.

[B5SnowDog]

I took a class in Western Literature which included the Bible; I wrote a term paper comparing the Book of Job to The Odyssey.

[2xx1xy1JD]

I took a biblical literature class in college. It was the hardest class I ever took, in large part because the professor was so insistent that we examine it purely as a work of literature. Even students who weren't religious had a difficult time stepping away from preconceived notions that the Bible is unique or special from other books.

I remember a high school teacher including it in a survey of archetypal patterns in mythology. At first, it was a shock to the system to think about comparing Absolute Divine Truth with Stuff that Other Cultures Pulled Out of Their Asses.

Later, in university, I took a course on Ancient Israelite History, which insisted on treating the Bible like any other source document. I remember half the class dropping the course after the prof made that clear.

What I would add to the list of misconceptions is the whole lack of context: most people are not familiar with the geography, nor with the surrounding nations/cultures, nor with the original language of the text.

[bluelady]

My grandmother read the Bible from start to finish. We had a conversation about it once and she said that as a story it was quite interesting. I always thought it was funny that she would refer to the Bible like I would refer to a novel, considering that she's easily the most religious person I know. But, unlike fundies, she's been able to find a happy medium between her religion and common sense. There is no taking the Lord's name in vain in her home, but by Jesus all of her grandchildren (sons AND daughters) were going to graduate college and make something of themselves.

Since then, I've tried to read it a couple of times and I haven't been able to get through it. Maybe I'll try again, someday.

[Black Aliss]

There's a book in the "complete idiot's" series that's a great way to introduce yourself to the Bible (or to refresh your memory if you were brought up banging the Bible at every opportunity). I'm pretty sure it's called The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Bible.

[latraviata]

I've never read the bible--any bible and in fact, I'm not even sure what the bible consists of--one book or many? It's not something I'm necessarily proud of but whenever I've tried to start, I've found it very rough going and I just gave up. I'd love to take a class in the bible (or use a study guide) strictly from a non-religious viewpoint, just to gain a basic understanding before getting into specific interpretations. Personally, I don't believe one iota that the bible was handed down by anyone's god but I'm not sure that I can really appreciate where the fundies are coming from without some basic knowledge of the Big Book.

I advise you to consult Pastor Steven Anderson aka PP, he is an exceptional and exegetical biblical scholar!

http://sanderson1611.blogspot.nl/

[kunoichi66]

I took a class in Western Literature which included the Bible; I wrote a term paper comparing the Book of Job to The Odyssey.

OMG this sounds awesome!

(classics and religions nerd here - this is pretty much my seventh heaven!)

Do you remember what your conclusion was?

[JesusFightClub]

I took Scripture at school and have read the Bible through three times (at last count). Two NIV and one KJV if you're interested ;)

It's a huge reason fundies irritate me. They don't get any of the nuance. They don't get context. They just strip out parts to make themselves feel pious "look! I have long hair!" "look! I homeschool all my 45 children!" "look! I cover my head!" "I am the bestest Christian ever!"

It's like that stupid website on the Spiritual Bowel Syndrome thread. If you read that crap (which I have been doing, in procrastination mode) it's so banal and rubbish as to defy belief. It depresses me because while I'm not a Christian, I think Christianity has some rich and beautiful aspects and fundies have essentially chucked them all out of the window in order to satisfy their own inner desires for power, status and superiority.

[Hevcoh]

I've never read the bible--any bible and in fact, I'm not even sure what the bible consists of--one book or many? It's not something I'm necessarily proud of but whenever I've tried to start, I've found it very rough going and I just gave up. I'd love to take a class in the bible (or use a study guide) strictly from a non-religious viewpoint, just to gain a basic understanding before getting into specific interpretations. Personally, I don't believe one iota that the bible was handed down by anyone's god but I'm not sure that I can really appreciate where the fundies are coming from without some basic knowledge of the Big Book.

When I read your comment I was immediately looking for a book by Catholic Theologian Huba Rózsa, who wrote some excellent text books and study materials on the Old Testament, purely from a scientific view--and some that actually includes the common interpretations of certain passages by Jews, Catholics and mainstream Protestants.

Then I realized it was all in Hungarian.

[debrand]

I've never read the bible--any bible and in fact, I'm not even sure what the bible consists of--one book or many? It's not something I'm necessarily proud of but whenever I've tried to start, I've found it very rough going and I just gave up. I'd love to take a class in the bible (or use a study guide) strictly from a non-religious viewpoint, just to gain a basic understanding before getting into specific interpretations. Personally, I don't believe one iota that the bible was handed down by anyone's god but I'm not sure that I can really appreciate where the fundies are coming from without some basic knowledge of the Big Book.

The bible is actually a fascinating book of literature if you don't believe in god. There are exciting stories, complex characters, sex and a very bent view of right and wrong. If you are reading for entertainment, skip the begats.

[mirele]

This story reminded me of a dream I had last night. I dreamed I tossed several King James Version bibles into the trash, and then dug them back out again.

I guess this means I feel conflicted about the bible, no?

[2xx1xy1JD]

Here's an interesting exercise, courtesy of my old history class:

Read through a given passage. Ask yourself these questions:

1. In what context was in likely written?

2. For what purpose was it written?

3. What POV does it reflect?

4. What agenda does it further?

[susanmr5]

I'd also say that The Bible: A Biography by Karen Armstrong was a pretty good book about the Bible from a history standpoint. It was an assigned text during my New Testament class in college. I really liked the part about how the books of the Old Testament came about and were changed over time. Might have to read it again since it's been ages.

The class was taught by an Episcopal pastor and it was an overview of the New Testament based on the historical things going on at the time. Like Paul's writings that Fundies are always so fond of quoting. Most of those were letters written to specific congregations facing specific problems. Not be all, end all edicts about how Christians should act. Also loved the World Religions class he taught. He brought in speakers from surrounding areas of different faiths (Islam and Judaism mostly) to talk to us and answer questions. He also required that we visit a certain # of services of faiths different than our own and fill out a little survey on things that we liked, were surprised by, questions we had, etc, for each one. Loved how objective it was. This is what they believe, these are their traditions, this is the history of their faith. Sometimes that's hard to find around here.

Edited to add:

If you (or anyone) wants to read through the Bible I'd say you should try one of the big study Bibles that has all of the books of all the faiths (Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic). The one we used in the New Testament class had books I'd never heard of and every passage had commentary that was written by a variety of scholars of different faiths. Kind of fun to see how things were interpreted by different viewpoints. But the thing was *huge* and a royal pain to bring to class every week.

[B5SnowDog]

OMG this sounds awesome!

(classics and religions nerd here - this is pretty much my seventh heaven!)

Do you remember what your conclusion was?

It's been too long to remember details, but I do remember stating that Odysseus got the better deal - while he was separated from his family, they were still alive when he returned whereas Job's children were killed. Odysseus pissed off Poseidon, who caused all the delays in his journey home, but poor Job was just being used as a test subject.