Tigers!

As a theist for > 30 years I have had much opportunity to ponder on what is in the Bible and what is not. I have decided to put down a list of the things that I wish the Bible either mentioned in some way or if mentioned had more detail. This list is in no particular order i.e. No.1 is may not be what I necessarily consider the more wished for but rather the order that I wrote them.
1. The four little words "All will be saved" i.e all humans past, present and future would upon death enter into God's heaven. I wish they were there but I can't find them.
2. A definitive definition on when divorce is permissible similar in format to Ex. 20 i.e. Divorce is only permissable when ...... I have see so many Christians/churches tie themselves in Gordian knots over this issue.
3. A more expansive definition of the word "kind" used in Gen 1 & 2
4. A more expansive definition of the word "kind" used in Gen 6. It may of course be the same as for 3.
5. What type of wood was used to build the Noachian ark?
6. A more expansive description of the pre-Flood world esp. with regard to geography and topology i.e. was there only a single continent that man lived on and how high was the highest mountain etc?
7. More details on waht the other disciples did after Christ's ascension. we know some thing about Peter, James & John but next to nothing of the others.
8. In the apocalyptic lierature esp. Revelation, Daniel and to a lesser degree Ezekiel, more indication on what is considered to be applicable to the present and future respectively
9. Why was there the 400 year silence from Micah to Matthew?
10. How long exactly were the Israelites in Egypt between the death of Jacob and the crossing of the Red sea?
11. Why do you allow evil to persist in this world for the present?
12. More details on the Noah's construction techniques.
Obviously my list will differ to yours (and we could undoubtly write reams on this topic).
What are your items.
I will reiterate that the list should be what you wish the Bible had rather then what you think it needs otherwise we will get derailed very quickly. (And I daresay we could make a list of what some think the Bible needs to contain from previous threads)

Cheerful Charlie

John 15
22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.

This would imply that nobody sinned before Jesus.
CC

John Kesler

What's unclear about Matthew 5:32 and Matthew 19:6, 9?

I think that you mean Malachi to Matthew. Just because no books appear between Malachi and Matthew in the Protestant canon doesn't mean that these years were "silent." 1 Enoch alone, which had a great impact on the NT, demonstrates this.

The Bible gives this information:compare Exodus 12:40-41 to Genesis 47:9,28. The problem is that it gives contradictory information.

Sven

I don't see an essential difference.

OK, what I wish it to have?
A bumper sticker: "This book contains much fiction. Don't take everything seriously."

Clouseau

The wood used to make Jesus' cross.

Chili

Interesting comment. There was no ark and there was no cross but there was a difference between good and evil in the mind of Joseph who so managed to built an ark from his own God given righteousness. The cross was built by own faculty of reason from the discard, which is everything without God's image of creation (without a mate). These would be the sins of the world that failed to gain assent in the conclusion.

Gooch's dad

I wish the bible contained a clear proscription against human slavery of any kind, instead of the many verses that clearly endorse slavery.

OneInFundieville

I was kinda wishing there would be active journals and conferences and that where these kinds of things could be discussed, debated, and sorted out. Some sort of peer review process. That way improvements and refinements could be made to the Bible. So we could get a version 2.0 with fewer errors and contradictions and more contemporary morality for instance.

Mike Rosoft

Yes, I have thought about the commandments that are conveniently missing in the Bible. Why, instead of the commandment of exclusivity (you shall not have any other god before/besides me) isn't there "You shall respect and tolerate nations, races, and religions different from your own; you shall not engage in any kind of discrimination or persecution"? Why, instead of the one about graven images (the one which says that people will be held responsible for their ancestors' sins) isn't there "You shall not wage wars of extermination, use torture, or commit other acts of inhumanity"? Why isn't there a commandment "You shall not buy, sell, or own another human as a slave" in place of the misguided part about the Sabbath (the day of rest should be granted, not enforced under the pain of death)? Why isn't the part about adultery (the Bible seems to imply that a woman is a man's property) replaced with the more relevant "You shall not commit rape, sexually abuse a child, or maintain a relationship with a woman without her free agreement"?

I already know the answer: the Bible is entirely a product of its time, and not inspired by any God.


Mike Rosoft

the Radio Star

1. Universalism. Like the OP, I wish the Bible said that everyone (or almost everyone) would end up in heaven.
2. More science. For example, would it have killed God to explain gravity, atomic theory, germ theory, electromagnetic force, genetics, and the strong and weak forces to the Israelites?
3. Less of God telling people to kill each other.
4. A better explaination of the soul, or how it's possible to resurrect a body which has been completely destroyed.
5. An explaination of how original sin is passed from generation to generation.
6. An explaination of why Jesus' death was necessary to expunge original sin, as opposed to God just saying that it is forgiven. Didn't Jesus say it's easier just to say "It is forgiven" than to do anything else.
7. An explaination of God's macrohistorical plans for humanity.
8. An explaination of how God sets his plans for individuals.
9. A good explaination as to why God used to talk to people directly but doesn't anymore.
10. A warning about those mysterious chimpanzees people would one day find, and a warning that we are not decended from them nor do we share a common ancestory with them.
11. Countless explainations of the global flood.
12. An explaination of why God punished all of humanity for Adam and Eve's sin, instead of just killing them and starting over.
13. A clear list of God's political wishes for humanity, which could be used across time and in every culture. People have a lot of problems with that one.
14. An boundary of how much wealth is too much.
15. A clear explaination of how the books in the Bible were choosen.
16. An explaination of why many seeks but don't find.
17. An explaination of why people have never heard of God are liable for sin.
18. An explaination of exactly how much a person can err in belief and still be saved. For example, if I pray to Jebus, but get everything else right, am I ok?
19. An explaination of how God chooses to send what people to their time, place, and social status in history.
20. An explaination of how Adam and Eve eating a couple of apples caused disease to enter the world, animals to start eating each other, the heat death of the universe to begin, ect...

That's for starters.