Divine Inspiration or Divine Dictation?

[Syt]

Letters should never have been made part of the New Testament. Reactionary crap.

[schaksen]

Letters should never have been made part of the New Testament. Reactionary crap.

Don't be a hater, just because Paul knows how to treat a woman

[Neil]

Is this another Pdox double thread?

It's actually not a pdox double, since pdox banned religion, it though featured on the P-dox backup.

Anyway, bible studies. They shouldn't be done.
But if they are done, no matter your sect, they should focus on what you can learn from a passage. Your role is not to teach others at this point, my prior comments about priests and flocks, but to help yourself. You can share your learnings with others, but do not tell others what they should do, you, the flawed being you are, are in no position.
I once more say, bible study, without a man of the cloth should not be done. It too often leads away from, instead of towards faith.

A Catholic, perhaps?

[Magnus]

A Catholic, perhaps?

Yes?
I thought that was already established back on page 2.

[garbon]

He is being an asshole for offering an interpretive view?  So you suggest that when going to a bible study group one should only adhere to a strictly literalist interpretation because that is the only way to interpret the Bible?  You are several decades behind the theological work in this area.

Yes, I think it is generally impolite to tell people that something they are discussing is unimportant.

I don't disagree with his sentiments but that doesn't make it right to spew them at people.  If you want to disrupt feel-good, group unity then be prepared to be ostracized.

[jimmy olsen]

I said that surely it is more important for me to listen to the life and words of Christ such as the commandment to love one another than to worry about the headgear on women or the ban on tattoos in Leviticus for that matter. Nor can I give equal authority to a whole text that has been continually edited and translated by the hand of Man thousands of years after the fact. The study ended silently with red faces. Am I on a slippery slope? 

No you are absolutely right and on the path to enlightenment.  How can you even give equal authority to each of the gospels when they tell dramatically different stories?  It seems to me only people who have not actually read the bible could claim they give every word equal authority.  Besides what about the tons of translations and versions throughout the centuries?

I totally agree with Phillip and Valmy, Christ, his words, works and life is far more important than the bits Paul tacked on at the end.

[crazy canuck]

Is this another Pdox double thread?

It's actually not a pdox double, since pdox banned religion, it though featured on the P-dox backup.

Anyway, bible studies. They shouldn't be done.
But if they are done, no matter your sect, they should focus on what you can learn from a passage. Your role is not to teach others at this point, my prior comments about priests and flocks, but to help yourself. You can share your learnings with others, but do not tell others what they should do, you, the flawed being you are, are in no position.
I once more say, bible study, without a man of the cloth should not be done. It too often leads away from, instead of towards faith.

You inspired me to look to see if Bart Ehrman has any new books out.  Turns out he does "Jesus Interrupted".  You shouldnt read it though.  It might fill your head with questions that can't easily be answered.  After all studying the Bible lead poor Bart astray.

For the rest of you here is the link.

http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061173936&wt.mc_id=pub_wm_av

[The Brain]

I said that surely it is more important for me to listen to the life and words of Christ such as the commandment to love one another than to worry about the headgear on women or the ban on tattoos in Leviticus for that matter. Nor can I give equal authority to a whole text that has been continually edited and translated by the hand of Man thousands of years after the fact. The study ended silently with red faces. Am I on a slippery slope? 

No you are absolutely right and on the path to enlightenment.  How can you even give equal authority to each of the gospels when they tell dramatically different stories?  It seems to me only people who have not actually read the bible could claim they give every word equal authority.  Besides what about the tons of translations and versions throughout the centuries?

I totally agree with Phillip and Valmy, Christ, his words, works and life is far more important than the bits Paul tacked on at the end.

Don't you think that if God agreed with you he would have miracled Paul's shit out of the fucking Bible?

[saskganesh]

no. God gave us free will so he's not responsible for anything.

[Neil]

A Catholic, perhaps?

Yes?
I thought that was already established back on page 2.

Well, to a protestant, I would be considered a man of the cloth every bit the equal of a Catholic priest.  Thus, the distinction of a 'man of the cloth' is meaningless as an approach to who should be leading a Bible study.

[Berkut]

I once more say, bible study, without a man of the cloth should not be done. It too often leads away from, instead of towards faith.

So true....

[Faeelin]

Aren't you just cherrypicking if you don't demand that women veil themselves? I recognize that suddenly most Protestants become interpretationalists when some crazy shit like that comes up, but still.

I have always thought it's funny how much of the Bible is clearly the work of the Ancient Near East, and yet people try to apply it to the modern day.

[Valmy]

Aren't you just cherrypicking if you don't demand that women veil themselves? I recognize that suddenly most Protestants become interpretationalists when some crazy shit like that comes up, but still.

I have always thought it's funny how much of the Bible is clearly the work of the Ancient Near East, and yet people try to apply it to the modern day.

It is only cherrypicking if you take the Bible to be some sort of unerrant word of God.  But any reasonable person with any familiarity with the Bible and its history knows that is false.  You might believe that it was written under some sort of divine inspiration.

From a spiritual perspective and the experiences and thoughts are very relevent to today.  I think the transformation of understanding the Jews had returning from the Babylonian exile and processing their experiences, and the sudden change of Jewish thought from a religion bound by a tribe and a specific location-very traditional-to a universal and unlimited idea of God and humanity is very powerful from both a spiritual point of view and a historical one.  Some things about the human experience are pretty eternal...but yes I think it is silly to try to think and act as if we were a member of an ancient near eastern tribe.  But that is scarcely the point, IMO.

[Magnus]

Snip

I'm sorry for being late to respond, I had to walk back from a store.
I must be missreading you, as I fail to see the relevence of your post. It has already been mentioned that the bible has been edited, by men, while knowledgable, clergy are still flawed. As such of course contradictions will occur, but they don't effect day to day lives on layman, they are not too uncommon, a few pop up ever century. I don't see why simply allowing the church the ability to discuss such matters in council is a bad thing.
Prehaps you can help me on that.

[crazy canuck]

I'm sorry for being late to respond, I had to walk back from a store.
I must be missreading you, as I fail to see the relevence of your post. It has already been mentioned that the bible has been edited, by men, while knowledgable, clergy are still flawed. As such of course contradictions will occur, but they don't effect day to day lives on layman, they are not too uncommon, a few pop up ever century. I don't see why simply allowing the church the ability to discuss such matters in council is a bad thing.
Prehaps you can help me on that.

I understood you to say that people ought not to study the Bible for themselves.  Please direct yourself to my criticism of that view.