Bible Literacy

Bu2

She is rising in my esteem as we speak.

Meanwhile, I will try to do a better job of pointing the way....

1 Kings 9:1 and 2 Chronicles 7:11

Better?

Bu2

Oh boy, now we have a Dem from New Jersey on the senate floor, with Ross Perot flip charts.

This is better than fireworks on the 4th, when it comes to entertainment....

Bible folks, feel free to post again after you've read Kings and Chrons.

Bu2

*hello??*

Anyone out there?

markymark550

Bu2 wrote:

*hello??*

Anyone out there?

sorry, but I think everybody left

I don't feel like getting up and going to look up the verses, so I'll just ask. Is it that one verse repeated or is it the whole chapter?

Bu2

dear.

Bu2

that is....

markymark550

ok, so the rest of the chapter is the same as another....what exactly does that prove?

Bu2

perfect. And that it holds no duplications.

Ahnimus

markymark550 wrote:

sorry, but I think everybody left

I don't feel like getting up and going to look up the verses, so I'll just ask. Is it that one verse repeated or is it the whole chapter?

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=11&chapter=9&version=9

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=14&chapter=7&version=9

markymark550

ok, you disagreed with ForestBrain when he said the Bible has "no faults, no inconsistencies and it does not contradict itself anywhere"

duplicate does not equal fault, inconsistency, or contradiction

Ahnimus

Bu2 wrote:

perfect. And that it holds no duplications.

You don't mean a word-for-word duplication, because I'm not seeing that here. It's a duplicate story however. Just like the birth of Christ, which I was corrected was Galilee and Bethelehem.

markymark550

Ahnimus wrote:

Just like the birth of Christ, which I was corrected was Galilee and Bethelehem.

I hope you still don't think there is a contradiction there. Show me specifically in the text where it says he was born in Galilee, where he was born in Bethlehem, and anywhere else for that matter. The only two books of the Bible that have Jesus' birth are Matthew and Luke. Both accounts state that Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

Bu2

markymark550 wrote:

ok, you disagreed with ForestBrain when he said the Bible has "no faults, no inconsistencies and it does not contradict itself anywhere"

duplicate does not equal fault, inconsistency, or contradiction

gone awry. Duplicate equals fault, no? What if you were reading the encyclopedia, book E-J, and found an entry from book A-D duplicated right there in the middle of G?

hippiemom

ForestBrain wrote:

I find this very interesting. The Bible is the world's most recognized work of literature. It has no faults, no inconsistencies and it does not contradict itself anywhere. It is huge, it is poetry, it is art. It can cause every feeling that is known to man. It is the greatest masterpiece ever, and yet, people see it as nothing other than a story book.
What. A. Shame.

(BTW, I have read a WHOLE lot...novels, biographies, informational books, autobiographies. I am really big on educating myself and experiencing every thing that I can. I am even writing my own book. Just I would like to let you know so that you would not call me ignorant. Thanks.)

I certainly wouldn't call you ignorant because we have a different opinion. I don't think that the word "story" is an insult. The Bible is, amongst other things, a collection of stories that tells a larger story. I agree that it is huge, it is poetry, and it is art. It's the most influential book ever published in the western world, which is why I think that everyone should be familiar with it's contents.

I just don't believe that it's true, that's all.

Collin

Kenny Olav wrote:

i thought this was going to be a thread about how although American is a very Christian nation, most Americans are very ignorant about the Bible. i think children should be taught about the Bible under the stipulation that they are also taught about the Koran, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, the various forms of paganism and athiesm. but i'm sure Americans wouldn't go for all that.

That's how it was in my high school, but I live in Europe and there aren't many religious people here, definitely not like in the US.

But we were taught about the bible (the first 12 years of my life, it was a in a religious context because it was a Catholic school) but the next 6, from 12-18 it was more theological, even though it was also a Catholic school.

We looked at the bible from different perspectives. We did the same for Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Questions on test were about the differences or certain rituals, what Easter means in Christianity, who was Jesus in a Christianity, Judaism or Islam, name the "laws" certain religions have ...

We discussed Simon Wiesenthal's The Sunflower and tried to look at it from different religious perspectives.

There was always room for discussion. If you had a good question or remark(not like: you can't prove god exists!) my teacher would go into that and ask why you believe that. He'd share his view of god etc. but he never preached to us. Never. You could share your own personal view and discuss your opinion as long as everything stayed mature and respectful.

And this wasn't just this one teacher, I had 4 different ones in those 6 years and they were all great.

But perhaps this wouldn't work in the US.

MakingWaves

Ahnimus wrote:

That's a non sequitor.

The roots of Christmas are clearly pagan and most people know that.

I'm not arguing the roots of Christmas aren't pagan. You were saying that today it is just a traditional holiday to people and not a Christian holiday. That is where i think you are wrong. Of course there are traditions in the holiday itself but it is a Christian Holiday and has a Christian meaning to a large majority of people.

MakingWaves

Ahnimus wrote:

The purpose of teaching the Bible in school is this;

English literature takes for granted that the reader knows the story of say "David and Goliath". Much of english literature uses references to biblical stories. So the purpose of teaching bible literacy is not to promote Christianity, but to equip children with the tools to interpret english literature.

Very well said. If a student reads Beowulf and does not have an understanding of the Bible, then they will not be able to appreciate it.

MakingWaves

Ahnimus wrote:

There is also the contradiction between Jesus being born in Galilee and Nazareth.

This is true. Which is one thing I like about being Catholic. We are taught not to take the bible literaly. It is a collection of stories about God and Jesus' life that are models to live by.

markymark550

Bu2 wrote:

gone awry. Duplicate equals fault, no? What if you were reading the encyclopedia, book E-J, and found an entry from book A-D duplicated right there in the middle of G?

but there's the thing....it's not the encyclopedia

if a story has merit in more than two books of the Bible, it should be included wherever it's needed

ForestBrain

Sorry, Bu2, it is not a duplicate, for one thing, and even if it were it would not mean anything.
Two different people wrote Kings and Chronicles. They are just like the gospels.