Church Experiment(Was: Want to Read The Bible)

I Never been to a Catholic Church(or any church) before and since I have all this interest in religion I think it would be a nice experiment and generally try to blend in as a recent Catholic convert. I'd confess my sins, converse with other Catholics, learn what they believe and why the believe it, and attend mass like everyone else, and any other church events as long as it doesn't conflict with work.

sean wookie said:

Every Atheist needs a Bible...

*confused*

I've always prefered the old KJV, but the NRSV is a bit easier to read.

Sluggo said:

I've always prefered the old KJV, but the NRSV is a bit easier to read.

The KJV is the one I grew up on, but my church has changed over to the New International Version(NIV) 

C3PX said:

Weird to hear you say this, Sean.

I recommend the New Revised Standard Version.

The Jefferson Bible is an interesting little piece of history, but really quite useless. It is basically a "fan edit" of the Gospels, an attempt to make one long narrative from pieces of each and to omit all supernatural references. Essentially, Thomas Jefferson was trying to make a Gospel compatible with Deism; which is kind of silly, because the Gospels are very contrary to philosophy of Deism. It would be kind of like an Atheist today deciding to make an Atheist Bible by removing all references to God and the supernatural. An interesting idea, but if someone feels the need to fan edit the Bible in order to find it suitable for them, I would strongly encourage them just to toss the whole thing out and forget about it. 

If you do get the Jefferson Bible, just be sure to take it for what it is. You wouldn't want to be watching The Phantom Edit while under the impression you are actually watching the theatrical cut of The Phantom Menace.

 

As for having a Kindle, how is it? I really want one of those new ones.

It just arrived today. It is a bit awkward to use at first, but I think it would be better once I got some good books to get used to controls. Rather than buy a version of the NRSV I'm just going to download a PDF. That isn't piracy isn't it? Aren't Bibles given away for free all the time?

I suppose as long as you aren't using it for profit, you should be ok.  I won't tell!

'Most' might be a bit broad, but I think this is certainly the case with a lot of them.  Of course, the clergy is often ignored as well.  

I don't know...an agnostic bible may make for a very interesting read.

It may also be a fun experiment to chuck out all those nasty laws against seafood, tattoos and clothes of more than one twine that sort of thing.

I could not find a PDF of NRSV so I had to settle with a Project Gutenberg Kings James.

C3PX said:

Bingowings said:

It may also be a fun experiment to chuck out all those nasty laws against seafood, tattoos and clothes of more than one twine that sort of thing.

Then like I said, might as well toss the whole thing. That is like wanting to read the Qur'an with all the versus regarding etiquette in wife beating and the killing of infidels removed. Or reading the owner's manual for your car with all the bits about the importance of changing your oil removed. Those "nasty laws" such as not eating shrimp, pork, or other foods (which I fail to see as "nasty" in any way) and the practice of male genital mutilation (which I find particularly nasty), were an integral part of that religion.

 

Hmm, if you really want to know what is going on in what you read, Sean, the KJV isn't the way to go. How does the 3G work on that Kindle? Still has experimental web browsing, right? Then you could just load biblegateway.com and view just about any version you could want.

It has expiramental web browsing but it needs a lot of work (it sucks). The 3G is fine I really have no problem with it. The book functions wouldn't work on the web browser.

I like to get it on an EPUB or a PDF, something I can convert for the Kindle. 

I ordered a free physical bible from the Mormon Church.  I think we have a few at home plus tons of Jehovah's Witness books (my Grandmas). Though I believe it might be the JW translation.

I purchased that Kindle Bible you recommended C3PX along with a copy of Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion (I had a copy but I can't find it). I like it so far I'm about at Genesis 30. All the notes are cool but, I find them kind of unnecessary and I find that they mess up the text-to-speech function. I find it a lot more easier to understand than the KJV due to using more modern language.

I have a few questions:

1. What's up with the Kings James only movement?
2. Why would people need Bible plans? I don't find it hard to read a few chapters everyday. Maybe they're too busy.

Ziz said:

you know if made jokes like this using any other religion's holy book,  people would call you a bigot.    Can you imagine the outrage in the Islamic world if it found out there was a pic of the Quran with a label on it that said "this is a work of fiction"? If you had made this joke using the Tanakh, you'd be accused of antisemitism.   But for some reason, its socially  acceptable to do this with the Christian Bible.   nice.    

sean wookie said:

1. What's up with the Kings James only movement?

some people are of the the opinion that the Kings James version of the Bible is THE only English translation of the Bible that is the inerrant word of God.   To them, the other English translations are not the word of God.    .   Each translation has slight differences.   When it comes to Christianity, slight differences in the interpretations of Bible verses can be a big deal.  The King James only people ask, "If the other English translations are valid, why did God leave us with the KJV being the only one available for so long? Why did God let the KJV be the only accepted English translation for so long?"    

I don't agree with them but that is what they believe.  

C3PX said:

 

I have a few questions:

1. What's up with the Kings James only movement?
2. Why would people need Bible plans? I don't find it hard to read a few chapters everyday. Maybe they're too busy.

1. Fear of change. The KJV is a very old and very outdated text. There is really no reason to be using it today. Sure, it was very accurate in its day, but we have more accurate English translations today.

old? yes.   outdated?  I don't know.   I wouldn't say there isn't a reason to be using it today.     I would agree you shouldn't only use the KJV, but I wouldn't say there is no reason to use it.   It has a poetic quality to it, that the other lack.   I grew up with it.  The others, to me, seem like the SE.   Maybe I fear change, I don't know.  But I like the KJV.   Its not easy to read, but there is just something to it.   It also certainly has a historical value to it.  For the much of the English speaking world, it was the word of God for many many years.   I'm sure historians can learn much from the KJV about the culture of the peoples that used that version of the Bible for so long.     

C3PX said:

sean wookie said:

I purchased that Kindle Bible you recommended C3PX along with a copy of Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion (I had a copy but I can't find it).

I just bought a copy of The Greatest Show on Earth the other day, looking forward to getting the time to sit down and read it.

 

 

I have a few questions:

1. What's up with the Kings James only movement?
2. Why would people need Bible plans? I don't find it hard to read a few chapters everyday. Maybe they're too busy.

1. Fear of change. The KJV is a very old and very outdated text. There is really no reason to be using it today. Sure, it was very accurate in its day, but we have more accurate English translations today.

2. You are probably right about the too busy thing. Like I said in my other post, it seems most Christians really don't even bother to read their Bibles. A year seems like an excessively long time to read a book even as thick as the Bible (seems most reading plans I see are one year plans), but I guess a lot of people who don't read a lot can't really be bothered with more than a few verses a day. Seems silly to me. Can't imagine reading a book just a few paragraphs at a time.

The Kindle is great, but I wish it had To Kill A Mockingbird.