An Open Discussion About The Bible

by The wanderer 23 Replies latest jw friends

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  The wanderer

  An Open Discussion About The Bible

  I t has taken me a while to reconsider the Bible after my Watchtower experience.
  To discount or discredit the Bible because men have manipulated or tainted it
  would seem unfair to me.

  The Willingness To Reconsider The Bible

  I am debating whether to research the Bible and have an open discussion about it.
  The challenge I think is to do it without the influence from a “religious source.”
  
  I would like to stay clear of religion and maybe discuss it on a historical or perhaps
  a moral level. However, I am still debating this.

  Can anyone provide any ideas on how to find some creditable unbiased sources
  that do not have their brand of philosophy, ideology, or dogmatic doctrine attached
  to the Bible?

  Respectfully,

  The Wanderer
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  SixofNine

  Quote: To discount or discredit the Bible because men have manipulated or tainted it would seem unfair to me.

  How odd. It would be crazy and, well, "unfair" (to any ethical standard of personal honesty) not to discount the Bible for those reasons.

  Quote:

  "Can anyone provide any ideas on how to find some creditable unbiased sources
  that do not have their brand of philosophy, ideology, or dogmatic doctrine attached
  to the Bible? "

  No, no one can do that. You, however, can work hard to remove any personal biases, no matter how painful such removal might be.
• 

  Amazing

  Wanderer,

  First, I recommend studying the history of the Bible. You can read my posting on this topic at: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/128205/1.ashx where I discuss the formation of the NT Bible. Some of the posters also made some good contributions to the discussion. It may provide some good sources and help to understand that the what we call the New tetament today is really a development that started in the 4th century and continued on for many centuries until it was first printed in the 16th century.

  Six of Nine:

  To discount or discredit the Bible because men have manipulated or tainted it would seem unfair to me. ... How odd. It would be crazy and, well, "unfair" (to any ethical standard of personal honesty) not to discount the Bible for those reasons.

  Can you provide an example of how the Bible has been "tainted" or manipulated?

  Jim Whitney
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  SixofNine

  "Can you provide an example of how the Bible has been "tainted" or manipulated?"

  Not only could I do that, but I could also write your reply wherein you use semantic obfuscation until the words "tainted" and "manipulated" are meaningless.

  How's that for history written aforetime?
• 

  betterdaze

  Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
  by Bart D. Ehrman
  
  This is a history of the efforts to compile accurate translations of the NT. Ehrman is creditable and unbiased, not foaming-at-the-mouth to destroy anyone's faith, yet presents a lot of the inaccuracies, mistakes and sometimes deliberate alterations to the existing texts. I found the reviews much more controversial than the book itself, which I must stress is a history with good chapter notes/index. Mr. Ehrman's only apparent agenda (IMO) is to present the facts (as we have them today).
  
  You can read the book's introduction online at amazon.com to see if this "reconsideration" is for you.
  
  Good luck!
  
  ~Sue
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  slimboyfat

  I agree Ehrman is a good start; also Friedman Who Write the Bible.

  Slim
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  IsaacJS2

  The Skeptic's Annotated Bible is a good web site to check out also, but only if you're interested in including a critical view. www.skepticsannotatedbible.com

  There's one in there about how the Bible authors really saw the sky found at Psalms 19. Funny how the Society always quotes this to show that the Bible is scientific, yet the scripture actually seems to disprove that belief if you understand what it means in the original language. You have to click on "firmament" in the commentary on the side. (Note that the NWT refers to the firmament as the expanse) www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/ps/19.html. There's lots of stuff like that there.

  You may also be intrigued to learn about all of the Lost Christianities and how they saw the parts of the modern Bible they knew of, as well as the stuff they had that never made into the Bible.

  Here are some other sites that offer a different, but critical, viewpoint:

  www.nobeliefs.com/DarkBible/DarkBibleContents.htm

  www.cygnus-study.com

  www.evilbible.com

  IsaacJ
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  nvrgnbk

  Can anyone provide any ideas on how to find some creditable unbiased sources
  that do not have their brand of philosophy, ideology, or dogmatic doctrine attached
  to the Bible?

  I'm not sure such an animal exists Wanderer. All of us, whether we like to admit it or not, see the world and present said vision to others according to our own personal context. I don't see how it could be any other way. Am I suggesting therefore that reality cannot be observed and said observations recorded? Of course not. That's what is known as science. But matters religious and spiritual are sticky indeed.

  Nvr's 2 cent$
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  nvrgnbk

  Sorry to double post friends, but just wanted to echo the observations of betterdaze and slimboyfat regarding Misquoting Jesus. Good read! Very little bias to be found. Isn't it interesting that the author began his journey as a student at a fundamentalist Christian school and now has come to "scrap" many of his preconceived notions about the Bible? Facts will do that to you!

  Nvr
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  The wanderer

  Dear Jim:
  
  Thank you for the information. Perhaps, I should
  have clarified "tainted" or "manipulated".
  
  In general, certain religions have placed a slant
  on the Bible such as Jehovah's Witnesses in order
  to support a doctrine.
  
  I just want to make sure that I avoid such bias.
  
  Thank you, once again.
  
  Respectfully,
  
  The Wanderer