jeffevnz

I think it'd be cool to write a short book with a title like "101 Things You Probably Don't Know About the Bible", listing a lot of the things about the Bible that most people would be shocked by, eg:

Bible Quotes:
-polytheistic lines in Genesis
-the part where God and David couldn't defeat the so-and-so's because they had iron chariots
-the part of Leviticus where it says men should be stoned to death for shaving their beards
-misc spelling mistakes and grammatical errors

Bible Facts:
-late dating of the Gospels
-the existence of umpteen other "heretical" gospels
-unlikeliness of Exodus



I know books about this have already been written. I'm not proposing anything terribly original here; just a repackaging of old observations in a simple, easy to read, and hopefully funny way. In short, it should have "zing". The sections could have cute titles like "I Hope You Didn't Shave This Morning", for the Leviticus-shaving thing (see above).

At the same time, we should also try to make it as unoffensive as possible to theists (except to inerrantists; fuck them), so that some of them actually read it and take it seriously.

I'd be glad to write this book myself. The problems are that 1) I'm nobody, so nobody would buy the thing, and 2) I'm not exactly an expert on this. If there are any experts or famous people on here, would any of you be interested in writing or participating in the writing of such a book? Or perhaps a group of people could participate and the book could be published in iidb's name?

Also, what do people think of the idea, overall?

jeffevnz

Crickets? :crying:

BGMA

It's already been done:

www.skepticsannotatedbible.com


******************************************
The Bible of the Good and Moral Atheist

John Kesler

This is actually from the time of the judges (Judges 1:19).

This is a prohibition against a Canaanite custom of mourning for the dead (see Leviticus 21:5; 19:27), and would be similar to Germany's prohibition against displaying swastikas.

Do you really want to go there? There are more substantive problems with the Bible.

How is this an indictment of the Bible any more than the existence of moon-landing conspiracists is to NASA?

This one has potential, but you should get actual sholars (Dever, Finkelstein, et al) to aid your case rather than all-purpose skeptics who have no formal training.

Which would make you look like an uninformed, garden-variety skeptic.

Approaching the book from the perspective that ancient customs are stupid won't do anything but validate the perception that skeptics are the ignorant ones. Better to choose issues that have support from modern scholarship such as the lack of archaeological evidence for the exodus, conquest of Ai, etc.

jeffevnz

Yes. Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors are a slam-dunk against inerrantists.

Not intended as an indictment of the Bible. As I stated (please read the OP), the point was to compile a list of things about the Bible that would shock people. In my experience, people are usually shocked to learn that there were other Gospels which were declared heretical.

Don't remember asking for "all-purpose skeptics" or for anyone who has no formal training. Lemme check... Nope, sure didn't.

Maybe. The point is not to make a splash in academia. It's to bring some of these biblical surprises to the attention of ordinary people.

Hehe. Looking back at the list, I count one of the 7 points that bears on ancient customs. Swing and a miss!

RUmike

The ancient customs recorded in the Bible are virtually all stupid, but especially in light of the fact that an infinitely wise, good God -- the same exact God Christians worship today -- commanded them.

When I tell my Christian friends all the commandments about slavery, etc. in the OT, they are almost always shocked. My mom refused to even believe me until I showed her the passages myself.

So I think overall it's a good idea.

John Kesler

And the purpose of "shocking" people would be... Obviously your "shock" would be intended to cast some aspersions on the Bible.

All I'm saying is that if you want to write a book that debunks parts of the Bible (excuse me--"shocks" people), you should get real experts in their fields to assist. There are already enough Ken's Guide to the Bible clones out there.

And of course it would have been the only one you would have included in a book, right?

jeffevnz

This is what's known as a straw-man argument. You're misrepresenting what I'm saying and attacking the misrepresentation. I won't claim that you're doing this deliberately, but I hope that you can see the fallacy. Drawing people's attention to some surprising things in the Bible is not an "indictment".

Probably. It's the only case I know of where the Bible proposes the death penalty for doing something completely harmless that practically no one would even find offensive today.

jeffevnz

OK this thread didn't exactly take off. So, if I may, let me change its purpose slightly. What are some more ideas for very surprising things about the Bible (either lines in it, or facts about it)? I'm looking for stuff that would surprise the average person.

I'm not necessarily looking for contradictions unless they're inescapable and easy to see. Not interested in attrocities either, because frankly, I don't think most people would care. Also not interested in most of the mathmetical impossibilities. Only stuff that would make the average Joe on the street stop and say "Wait a minute... Is that right?"

jeffevnz

You guys suck. :crying: Maybe I should have written a post with links to naked pictures of Brittany Spears. I bet that would have gotten a few responses :devil3: