Its been about 8 years since I read the Bible in its entirety. At that time, I was using the Bible to try to make sense of my own existence and how the guidance from the Bible could improve my day to day life. What happened was a discovery of things I didn't realize was in the Bible and finding that many of the ideas didn't match what I believed to be moral actions. Of course, the Bible was the final authority, so I assumed I must wrong in how I was looking at things.
I struggled for a few years with this, having less confidence in what was written in the Bible. As I continued to try to learn more about the Bible and how it came to be I finally came to realize the problems with the Bible is that it isn't the inspired word of God and it is a bunch of man made ideas.
I've decided to read through the Bible again, following this plan. Part of this was prompted by a couple of friends recently reading through the book of Genesis. There was a discussion on Facebook about Genesis that prompted me to read through parts of it again. I realized when I was reading that there were things that I didn't remember and things I realized I was seeing differently. I will attempt to read the Bible again, this time without the influence of being told what its supposed to mean and making excuses and justifications for what I'm reading.
I plan on blogging things I discover. I'm going to try to stay away from the obvious, low hanging fruit, like the two differing accounts of how man was created in Genesis 1 and 2. I want to share the things I discover that are new to me or holds a new interest to me. I welcome comments and feedback along the way. I don't want the conversation to reduce down to God is great and atheist suck or Christians are stupid for believing in a stupid book. Now onward.
Sounds exciting. Can't wait.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Love this. Are you sure you aren't kidding? I actually had the stack of bibles out yesterday. I do that every few months now, feel the pages, glance at old notes. It's like looking at a picture of your best friend that shot himself.
ReplyDeleteAre you going to refrain from reading any topical books that bring the discrepancies to light at the same time?
Do you think there's any chance you'll revert?
What version are you using?
Maybe I'll join you, but of course still make a bet with Matt on which date you'll quit, haha.
Its a nice thought to be able to purposefully erase what has been drilled into me, and maybe find a new way to enjoy the book(s). It still feels like it was just ripped away.
I assume by reverting you mean back to Christianity. I can't see that happening, unless you completely redefined what Christianity is and provide proof of God's existence. I can assure you that I cannot revert back to the God of the Bible.
ReplyDeleteI'll be using the NIV, its pretty accepted version, but one I haven't really read. I'll not use the KJV, its what I grew up with, so it automatically will leave me with a greater chance of having preconceived notions. I like how the NLT reads, but I'll avoid that also,for the same reason.
I've already quit this 3 times and its just the 5th. I'm just too busy. But I think it will be an interesting exercise and I've already inspired one Christian to do the same. Maybe next year I'll read the Quran or The Book of Morman or maybe some Ron L. Hubbard stuff.