post tenebras lux

Giving them out as gifts?

mountainman

You mean a canonical gospel, of course.
The canonical series doubles as a good
paper weight.


Best wishes,


Pete Brown

Joan of Bark

This has been a hobby horse of mine for years. I'm sure the vast majority of Christians have never read even the three synoptic gospels, let alone the entire Bible (Christians on this board are exceptions). I remember the late Canadian preacher-turned-agnostic journalist Charles Templeton claiming that only one in a thousand layman has ever read the entire Bible, and even the clergy probably only comes in at about one in a hundred. He was guessing, of course, but from my experience I would agree. When I hear a Christians state: "It says in the Bible --" my first question is always: "have you read the Bible? Which one?"

This is an odd statement from the SNU board that Toto links:

(Emphasis mine).

Shouldn't the bolded text statement be the other way around?

Dogfish

If you're looking for sense in the words of a minister from a Bible Institute....:Cheeky:

reniaa

I'm reading the bible again atm and am upto book of numbers, yes some parts do take some getting through as they are detailed about specific parts of israelite life but to be honest they give me a greater sense of the bibles authenticity, no man could just pluck that sort of detail out of the air, its reads like a proper consensus and the detail on the laws and people are very thorough.
I recommend people reading the whole bible just to get a feeling for how it really is and not just going with public opinion! so even if you don't agree with it your debating from knowledge not just links you can find from google ^^

-Jay-

I've wondered this myself. I've asked several (about 7) fairly conservative Christians over the last couple of years whether they've read the Bible cover to cover, and the answer has always been "No, but I really should at some point" or a close variation on that.

I've also heard "No, but Preacher tells us about the important parts", which left me stunned.

How does one claim to use the Bible as the source of life guidance without actually having read the whole thing?

regards,

NinJay

-Jay-

reniaa -
Could you write a fairly detailed and specific account of Yorkshire life?
I'd almost guarantee you could. Literature written by Israelites for Israelites, particularly literature that had nationalistic and/or propaganda uses, would need to be fairly detailed and accurate. This is neither unexpected nor interesting.

Why do you think that "no man could just pluck that sort of detail out of the air"? Writing historians do it daily.

Do you believe that you can learn everything that you need to know about the social and political context at the times the books of the Bible were written simply by reading those books?

regards,

NinJay

-Jay-

I'm particularly touched by the little Bible tables I see in the front halls of some homes. Family photo, some candles, Bible prominently displayed with nary a ripple on the spine or a bent page to suggest that anyone has ever opened it...

regards,

NinJay

Ulrich

Well, they need something to show off at Sunday morning church services, other than their clothes. Also, having a bible with you on Sunday morning helps keep you awake, as you are searching for the verses the preacher is preaching about.

That too, I have received several Bibles as gifts, mostly from family members who know I am an atheist, and who seem to think giving me a Bible will cure me. This is despite the fact that I have likely read the Bible more times through than the average Christians.

Amaleq13

I did just the opposite and read stories instead of listening. I loved Samson and, when I got older, the dirty bits from good ole Solomon.