Subject:
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Re: New Stories from the New Testament
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Thu, 14 Feb 2002 03:47:08 GMT
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Viewed:
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895 times
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> The problem for BPS critics on the Christian right is that he is just
> basically telling the stories the way the Bible does. Apart from very minor
> textual ommissions that do not effect the basic message of the story, he is,
> for by far and away the majority of what he is presenting, staying very
> consistent to the translation he is using. And that's the back-breaker.
Dude, you really need to go back and check out the references. I mean,
he skips and chooses. Even on the quick "Jesus and the Poor" he leaves out
Jesus' explanation of why the woman poured oil on Him. In other words, he
eliminated "the basic message of the story" to make the story appear more
ludicrous. But as they say on reading rainbow, don't take my word for it...
>
> When I was a little kid, and sitting in church listening to my pastor every
> Sunday, I always used to get bored hearing about the same tired platitudes
> over and over. I would amuse myself by reading the juicier stories of the
> old testament. I always wondered why my pastor never discussed those too
> much, like the stories of the Israelites slaughtering women, children and
> goats without mercy.
I'm sorry that your church was unable to give you a more complete
picture of the God of the Bible. I can't speak for your pastor. I remember
discovering the detailed parts in the Bible about circumcision and chuckling
with my brother when I showed him. I completely understand why my pastor
didn't share those details in church. But we also got Samson getting his
eyes burnt out of his head. I do think that part of the story needs to be
told at the right time and to the right audience. I still think that half
the fun of reading the Bible is finding things out for yourself, even if
they're not controversial. The reason the dark ages were dark, in my
opinion, and history confirms it, is because people relied on a corrupt
religious system to read and interpret the book for them. And of course
they departed far from it.
>
> Did God change his mind from the Old Testament to the New? Or was it the
> develpment of men's understanding that changed? The "literal truth" view of
> the Bible cannot countenence such an analysis, so the only resort is to
> blinders when inconsistent things happen. As Clarence Darrow asked William
> Jennings Bryan at the Scopes trial, where did Cain and Seth's wives come from?
Great questions! My understanding, to make this as brief as possible, is
that revelation is progressive, just like scientific knowledge is
progressive. God had different expectations for people, depending on where
man's revelation was with him.
Cain and Seth married their sisters. God had not condemned incest until
later. How could he and why should he? There was a pure blood line that
doesn't exist anymore. He gave the law, the Ten Commandments to Moses,
several generations later. The sacrifice system was a foreshadowing of
Jesus, who would be the final crucified lamb. Keeping those ceremonial laws
post-Jesus was like using a dot matrix printer when laser printers are
available. Jesus didn't come to destroy the law but fulfill it. Romans and
Hebrews both tackle these questions pretty well. And Paul does a much
better job than I. Next time you read the Bible, see how God's relationship
with man becomes more and more intimate as the time line progresses. That's
his desire. The problem is that most of the world goes back to the
pre-flood mentality so graphically displayed in Brendon's illustration.
> You can't force a square peg through a round hole, but that is just what
> fundamentalist's must do to try and answer some of those questions. In
> light of the many passages in the Bible that are plainly illogical, in
> serious disharmony with other portions, and utterly savage, all hope is lost.
Okay, I'll take the bait. Cite me some examples. I've read the Bible from
cover to cover several times but I've missed those serious disharmonies.
> What BPS does is shine the light down on this contradiction. You could go
> to church for 10 years and probably never hear a pastor talk about many of
> the stories BPS illustrates. They are conveniently ignored because they
> just don't make any sense, especially when viewed in a rigid, literal sense.
No, what he really does is the extreme opposite of what your church
apparently did. They only showed the unconditional love, miracle-working,
gift-giving God. God was Santa Claus and Jesus was a wandering pacifist hippie.
Brick Testament discards those concepts and creates a petty God, reminiscent
of the Hercules tv show. Jesus could care less about people and says weird
things.
> I hope he keeps it up because his message is profound, and profoundly funny.
I agree that BPS has a great sense of humor and I appreciate many of his
jokes and insights about said stories. I can even appreciate the prevalent
drowning baby in the flood story because it causes me to ask myself tough
questions. And Brendan freely admits that his version is not appropriate
for children. But he creates false perceptions by CENSORING parts of the
story that conflict with the world-view he's trying to create.
I look forward to hearing those major contraditions you were talking about.
Your friend
Markus
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: New Stories from the New Testament
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| (...) Well, there are two major types of contradiction to consider: those between two or more passages of the bible (such as the number of kinds of animals on the ark--2 or 7 of each?); and those between the bible and reality (such as the fact that (...) (23 years ago, 14-Feb-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: New Stories from the New Testament
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| (...) You've missed the serious disharmonies because you didn't WANT to see them. I can't really blame you, because I remember how nice it felt to believe that there was a loving God who was watching out for me and would take me up to heaven when I (...) (23 years ago, 16-Feb-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: New Stories from the New Testament
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| (...) BPS is taking on one of the great "sacred cows" of American society, the Bible. While his earlier chapters were much subtler, with his latest group of stories he has eased into full blown mockery mode. Of course the most recent chapters are (...) (23 years ago, 13-Feb-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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