Bible Statistics

[Nike]

No Bibles,.......Just Thoreau, Abbey, the Tao and a canoe........

Curious as to which one of Abbey's books you take with you.

[DWise1_AOL]

Owning one may only mean there is one in the house; maybe left there by previous generations. Like any book, it is almost useless unless actually read, other than for a door-stop or some such thing.

Like stoning incorrigible children? Like forcing rape victims to marry their rapists?

 

Galatians very clearly states that the Law (ie, the commandments of the Old Testament) does not apply to Christians. So then just exactly what is this "God's absolutely morality" that you wish to impose upon the entire populace?

 

I want some absolute specifics, since these "moral codes" are supposed to be imposed upon the entire populace absolutely.

[packsaddle]

Bibles, 3 versions including KJV which is the only one I take seriously - the others are just cheap knock-offs of the real thing - not even sure why I have them or where they came from.

 

Glancing across the room: GB Shaw, Lyell, Darwin, Crick, Watson, Wallace, Bronowski, de Duve, Dickens, Chapman's Piloting, Aesop, Plato, various textbooks and history books and a bunch of novels by authors I can't quite make out at this distance. I'm fairly certain I don't own anything by Nietzsche or Hitler or Rand.

 

 

 

Having any of these books in possession is irrelevant if the owner doesn't read them or (better yet) understand them.

 

I also have Book of Mormon, Koran, Confucious, books on Buddhism, Mao's little red book (but can't read the Chinese), several on native American belief systems, and yes, Huxley, Harris, and Dawkins. No HDTV. So what!

 

Edit: post-natal confusion of Richard with Edward

 

My vote RE: Edward Abbey....Desert Solitaire, that would be my choice.

 

Three good, well-used canoes, one of them is a classic wood-and-canvas Old Town...my baby.

[DWise1_AOL]

I have been an atheist for over half a century. I have several bibles. Some King James Version (which was commissioned because King James wanted a bible that emphasized the Divine Right of Kings as opposed to the more egalitarian Geneva Bible), searchable files thereof, a German Keppler Bibel (which was the first bible that ever gave me any indication that the ending of Mark was added onto the original long afterwards -- that extraneous ending includes the accounts of the Resurrected Christ being observed and that verse that spawned the cults about safely handling venomous snakes and drinking poison), and Bruce Metzger's Greek New Testament, in which the alternative versions of the bible are presented, including Revelations which ironically promises severe consequences on anyone who would make even the slightest change to Revelations.

 

I also have other religious works, such as "Everyman's Talmud" (the Talmud itself is the size of an encyclopedia which has no index, so a Talmudic scholar had memorize the entire thing), the Kybalion, Buddhist Cathecism, Book of Mormon, etc. I used to have a copy of "Pirke Avoth" ("Sayings of the Fathers"), but then I lent it to a friend who then became a Mormon and my Pirke Avoth is now lost.

 

Why would an atheist have a bible? The obvious answer is "for self-defense". Please remember that many of us had lived through the "Jesus Freak Movement", in which the fundamentalist churches were flooded by burned-out hippies circa 1970. The decade that followed was filled by over-zealous fundamentalist proselytizers constantly accosting everybody else. This, if nothing else, is a principal reason for the public's general antipathy for Christians. And since so many atheists are themselves former devout Christians, it would only be natural for them to put their Bible knowledge to good use.

 

Also, Christian doctrine and mythology has had a strong influence on European culture. Learning Bible stories should be as required as learning Greek and Roman mythology, other very rich sources of stories.

[Adam S]

Interesting stuff in here for the group: http://www.americanbible.org/uploads/content/State%20of%20the%20Bible%20Report%202013.pdf

 

Although down 4 points from the last study, I am surprised--and a bit skeptical--that 88% of households own a Bible.

 

I don't see why you would be surprised. I'm not Christian, but have a least half a dozen bibles at home, maybe a whole dozen. "Concerned" family members send them as gifts, people trying to convert me send them as gifts, and its just plain easier to politely accept them from the Giddeons (sp?) on the corner at their twice yearly hand out than to have to stop and engage in a theological discussion, especially when neither of us are going to change our positions.

Need to be able to "like" the comments, Cause NeverAnEagle's popcorn comment is spot on!

[tgrimstead]

Dwise1_AOL: " including Revelations which ironically promises severe consequences on anyone who would make even the slightest change to Revelations."

 

It is "The Revelation" or "Book of Revelation". Singular. not Revelations. No biggie, just saying.

 

 

 

[DWise1_AOL]

Dwise1_AOL: " including Revelations which ironically promises severe consequences on anyone who would make even the slightest change to Revelations."

 

It is "The Revelation" or "Book of Revelation". Singular. not Revelations. No biggie, just saying.

 

 

True enough, but the point does remain.

[AZMike]

Owning one may only mean there is one in the house; maybe left there by previous generations. Like any book, it is almost useless unless actually read, other than for a door-stop or some such thing.

BadenP wrote: "Catholics use a variety of prayer books and catechisms and rarely use the Bible in their worship and in religious classes."

 

Weird.

 

I'm pretty sure EVERY Catholic Mass around the world includes a reading from the Old Testament, then a reading from the Psalms, a reading from an Epistle, and finally a reading from one of the Gospels, BP. Over the course of about a year and a half cycle, a daily Catholic churchgoer hears the entire Bible. The prayers commonly used in Mass and daily life are taken directly from the Bible. Every religious class I ever took required and relied on a Bible. The Sacraments all include quotes from the Bible. Most well-educated Catholics can more than hold their own on knowledge of the Bible with any other denomination.

[AZMike]

Bibles, 3 versions including KJV which is the only one I take seriously - the others are just cheap knock-offs of the real thing - not even sure why I have them or where they came from.

 

Glancing across the room: GB Shaw, Lyell, Darwin, Crick, Watson, Wallace, Bronowski, de Duve, Dickens, Chapman's Piloting, Aesop, Plato, various textbooks and history books and a bunch of novels by authors I can't quite make out at this distance. I'm fairly certain I don't own anything by Nietzsche or Hitler or Rand.

 

 

 

Having any of these books in possession is irrelevant if the owner doesn't read them or (better yet) understand them.

 

I also have Book of Mormon, Koran, Confucious, books on Buddhism, Mao's little red book (but can't read the Chinese), several on native American belief systems, and yes, Huxley, Harris, and Dawkins. No HDTV. So what!

 

Edit: post-natal confusion of Richard with Edward

 

My vote RE: Edward Abbey....Desert Solitaire, that would be my choice.

 

Three good, well-used canoes, one of them is a classic wood-and-canvas Old Town...my baby.

My Dad knew and worked with Abbey. I always liked his "Lonely are the Brave." Good movie, too.

[Eagledad]

Dwise1_AOL: " including Revelations which ironically promises severe consequences on anyone who would make even the slightest change to Revelations."

 

It is "The Revelation" or "Book of Revelation". Singular. not Revelations. No biggie, just saying.

 

 

Wait a minute DWise, you called me a liar for the same mistake. Oh well, I guess there is no morality against hypocricy for atheist.