Duggar Family Scrapbook

[Nic]

Ben does now have an associate's degree, he was actively pursuing it already so while he didn't have a degree yet, he did have some college already. How you define 'college educated' probably depends on whether you only consider someone college educated if they've already graduated, which might not be how everyone out there uses the phrase.

Can I just ask a question to people who might have more Bible education than me... Jackson says his favorite Biblical character is 'Enoch'. Who is that? I looked up the name and it appears he was Adam and Eve's grandson, but there is no more information about him really. Are there Bible stories ABOUT him? What are they? It seemed like a really unusual choice to me because I didn't recognize the name in the first place, and for such a young kid to choose that was odd to me.

The Duggars do like a bit of word play as they seem to bandy about them often enough.

Enoch? I thought he was a Sleestak.

[mebeforee]

Altrusian ;)

[mebeforee]

And I just got the Book of Enoch and the Apocrypha on my Kindle for .99 each, so I'll try and read through it. It sounds like the Book of Enoch in particular was referenced a lot in the Bible and was also found in with the Dead Sea Scrolls, so there's a lot of information about it that isn't included in modern Bibles. If I find anything particularly interesting I might share it, though I doubt the Duggars are reading or studying that stuff. Then again there's a 'Book of Jubilees' in with the lost books of the Bible, so maybe they do think that stuff is worth reading and if so, Jackson may have been exposed to more stories about Enoch as a prophet than most Christians. It doesn't seem like a part of Gothardism to seek out further education about the other holy texts of historical Christians or education about the historical context in which Christianity came up. But as a group that considers themselves a grassroots religious movement, they might have a personal investment in the grassroots nature of the Christianity of yore.

[quiverofdoubt]

anyone else notice how the older boys have a line for occupation, but the girls only get jurisdictions? (no matter how old they are?). And maybe i'm just exhausted, but I had no idea that Joy is turning 18 this fall. For some reason I thought she was younger. But her bday is October 97- that'll make this year her 18th, no?

[sophie10130]

And I just got the Book of Enoch and the Apocrypha on my Kindle for .99 each, so I'll try and read through it. It sounds like the Book of Enoch in particular was referenced a lot in the Bible and was also found in with the Dead Sea Scrolls, so there's a lot of information about it that isn't included in modern Bibles. If I find anything particularly interesting I might share it, though I doubt the Duggars are reading or studying that stuff. Then again there's a 'Book of Jubilees' in with the lost books of the Bible, so maybe they do think that stuff is worth reading and if so, Jackson may have been exposed to more stories about Enoch as a prophet than most Christians. It doesn't seem like a part of Gothardism to seek out further education about the other holy texts of historical Christians or education about the historical context in which Christianity came up. But as a group that considers themselves a grassroots religious movement, they might have a personal investment in the grassroots nature of the Christianity of yore.

Personally, I highly doubt they read anything not in the Christian canon. There are a few more books in the Catholic Bible, and I have always seen instances of them being a source of contention from fundamentalist Christians. Like the catholics are adding more books that aren't standard to make the Bible fit their beliefs better.

I used to know more about the differences and where those books were lost, but all of that is gone from my mind, I guess.

[DeFrauder]

Anyone who has taken even a few courses through a Divinity school or seminary (EVEN BAPTIST)is aware of all the canonical and non canonical biblical texts. They are not a secret, even though some people believe there is a conspiracy afoot.

In general, the books considered non-canonical were found so for scholarly reasons, not just political or ideological (although sometimes they are). For example, the protestant churches threw out certain texts that the Catholic Church found to be worthy of canonical status-ie they were REMOVING books to better fit with their interpretation of Christianity. Sometimes the non canonical texts are just a different version or bad translation of another text, only written later.

In my opinion the controversy has no relevance unless someone is dumb enough to believe that every single syllable of a specific translation is the unerring word of God and that there is only one, narrow form of Christianity that is valid.

[nastyhobbitses]

Ben does now have an associate's degree, he was actively pursuing it already so while he didn't have a degree yet, he did have some college already. How you define 'college educated' probably depends on whether you only consider someone college educated if they've already graduated, which might not be how everyone out there uses the phrase.

Can I just ask a question to people who might have more Bible education than me... Jackson says his favorite Biblical character is 'Enoch'. Who is that? I looked up the name and it appears he was Adam and Eve's grandson, but there is no more information about him really. Are there Bible stories ABOUT him? What are they? It seemed like a really unusual choice to me because I didn't recognize the name in the first place, and for such a young kid to choose that was odd to me.

Also, while a lot of the boys pick their namesake as their favorite characters in the Bible, only Jana has more than one favorite and she's the only one who female favorites (two, in fact!). I think that's interesting. She seems very thoughtful and intelligent to me, and I remember when they went to the creation museum she discussed evolution with more familiarity and ability to look at it critically. 'When you think about it, it does make sense. But what the Bible says is different'. Basically saying, 'intellectually, evolution makes sense, but I follow my faith instead' which I consider a more honest way to approach the issue. I'd guess she is also more open-minded about the Bible and reading parts that were not assigned or promoted by family to the point that she has more individual favorite stories and characters than many of her siblings. I also think her favorite verse (Colossians 3) is interesting, and probably says a lot about her since she clearly thinks pretty deeply about her faith and her role in the family/world.

Just looked up Colossians 3. I'm Jewish so I'm really only familiar with the Old Testament, but I really like one particular bit from this verse:

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

There's a lot of stuff in the Bible that I'm not a big fan of, cultural/historical context or not, but that verse is really lovely. Of course, it's followed by telling women to submit to their husbands and telling slaves to work hard because God wants them to, but still.

[imokit]

Have they ever explained why they put up that picture of Jenny? Or why as soon as the issues was pointed out they didn't change it straight away?