Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Solitary Man · 12-31-2007, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malachi151

Quote:

Originally Posted by LisaSimpson

91% of homes have bibles??? That must be counting all the hollowed out bibles you keep your stash in then, because that number is way too high.

I dunno. I've seen at least one in just about every house I have been in. I think we have 7 or 8 at my house, and there is a guy at our atheist group that has about 20, including some large parallel Bibles with 4 and 5 translations per page, etc.

I myself have literally a dozen, not including the numerous commentaries which contain the full text of the Bible, Bibles of different religions, and Bibles on my computer, some of the latter which you do in fact have to pay for.

-Jay- · 12-31-2007, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solitary Man

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malachi151

I dunno. I've seen at least one in just about every house I have been in. I think we have 7 or 8 at my house, and there is a guy at our atheist group that has about 20, including some large parallel Bibles with 4 and 5 translations per page, etc.

I myself have literally a dozen, not including the numerous commentaries which contain the full text of the Bible, Bibles of different religions, and Bibles on my computer, some of the latter which you do in fact have to pay for.

I've got several, mainly for sake of comparison. A lot of my interactions are with KJV-only folks, and it's useful to be familiar with how different translations deal with the same verses.

They're just so blasted bulky, though...

regards,

NinJay

Sheshbazzar · 12-31-2007, 01:18 PM

Americans and Europeans may well have a lot of bibles, and perhaps the percentage of these households in possession of bibles is quite high, however, the Judaeo Christian religions are not the predominant religions of all mankind, and on a per-capita basis of all humanity the percentage would actually prove to be much much lower.
There is an overbearing tendency by Western cultures to overly value their ideas, values, and traditions while denigrating the ideas, values and traditions of the cultures of much larger Asian and African populations.

Gamera · 12-31-2007, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Carr

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gamera

Frankly, for a Christian, reading a gospel is suffient. Or better yet, just hearing it preached.

Of course, they then lambast atheists for their 'ignorance' of theology if said atheists have not read everything written by a vast army of Christian theologians.

Well, only if the atheist purports to be discussing Christian theology, which is a body of literature one should understand before criticizing, as I do. Criticizing texts one has never read is, well, irrational.

Gamera · 12-31-2007, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mountainman

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gamera

Based on ms history, it's more likely the opposite is the case.

Buddhist ms are older than NT ms I thought;
and Ashoka effected the empire c.250 BCE.

Best wishes,

Pete Brown

You need to take Paleography 101. The NT mss are some of the oldest mss we have. While a few Buddhist fragments are from around the first century, almost all of them are much younger, around 1000 AD in fact.

I think you're confusing ms age with purported age of the text. The buddhist texts are purportedly ancient, but the mss are young. This disparity provides a great deal of opportunity for interpolation and influence from other cultures, like say Christian culture.

From a purely paleographic standpoint, it's much more likely that Christianity influenced extant Buddhist mss, than the other way around.

angelo · 01-01-2008, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katie's mom

Quote:

Originally Posted by angelo atheist

They make excellent fly swatters, cockroach squashes, stepping up to reach that bottle just an inch or two to high in the liquor cabinet, and a good defensive weapon you can wallop some intruder with. Why, it has a thousand and one uses. :devil3:

I think they mostly give them away. Since I came out as an atheist at work, I have received a bible, a book of morman, and a variety of tracts from concerned co-workers.

You have enough books there that you can do away with a step ladder for all the odd jobs like painting, cleaning, door stops, toilet paper in an emergency. And a thousand and one other uses.

aether · 01-01-2008, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solitary Man

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malachi151

I dunno. I've seen at least one in just about every house I have been in. I think we have 7 or 8 at my house, and there is a guy at our atheist group that has about 20, including some large parallel Bibles with 4 and 5 translations per page, etc.

I myself have literally a dozen, not including the numerous commentaries which contain the full text of the Bible, Bibles of different religions, and Bibles on my computer, some of the latter which you do in fact have to pay for.

How very interesting because I'm pretty much the only non-believer I know, and I don't know anyone who owns a bible (or maybe they just hide them when I come over :devil1: )

Solitary Man · 01-01-2008, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LisaSimpson

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solitary Man

I myself have literally a dozen, not including the numerous commentaries which contain the full text of the Bible, Bibles of different religions, and Bibles on my computer, some of the latter which you do in fact have to pay for.

How very interesting because I'm pretty much the only non-believer I know, and I don't know anyone who owns a bible (or maybe they just hide them when I come over :devil1: )

Tis a pity. I also have a number of dictionaries, different editions of the Tao Te Ching, several editions and commentaries on Catullus, etc... How many people have Ovid's Fasti? Or Confucius' Analects? Or Plato's Republic? Or Aristotle's Politics? Dare I say, it'd be hard for me to be Roman pagan, Platonist, Aristotelian, Confucian, Daoist, and Christian all at once.

angelo · 01-01-2008, 11:32 PM

Regardless of what we think. The bible, in all it's variations, is still the biggest selling book in history. So there has to be billions of the things around.
I wish I could have a fraction of the royalties rolling in each year.

Steven Carr · 01-02-2008, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gamera

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Carr

Of course, they then lambast atheists for their 'ignorance' of theology if said atheists have not read everything written by a vast army of Christian theologians.

Well, only if the atheist purports to be discussing Christian theology, which is a body of literature one should understand before criticizing, as I do. Criticizing texts one has never read is, well, irrational.

So reading the Bible does not enable you to discuss Christian theology?

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12-31-2007, 01:18 PM	#33
Sheshbazzar Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: On the path of knowledge Posts: 8,889	Americans and Europeans may well have a lot of bibles, and perhaps the percentage of these households in possession of bibles is quite high, however, the Judaeo Christian religions are not the predominant religions of all mankind, and on a per-capita basis of all humanity the percentage would actually prove to be much much lower. There is an overbearing tendency by Western cultures to overly value their ideas, values, and traditions while denigrating the ideas, values and traditions of the cultures of much larger Asian and African populations.

01-01-2008, 11:32 PM	#39
angelo Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 5,706	Regardless of what we think. The bible, in all it's variations, is still the biggest selling book in history. So there has to be billions of the things around. I wish I could have a fraction of the royalties rolling in each year.

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