Lo and behold, the Bible has gotten too liberal, according to a group of conservatives. And it needs a little editing.
That’s the inspiration behind the Conservative Bible Project, which seeks to take the text back to its supposed right-wing roots.
So how can the Bible be conservatized? The group has proposed a Wikipedia-like group editing project. Some of the ideas would only bring the translation closer to the original. But others would fundamentally change the text.
Among the words to be eliminated: “government.” A conservative columnist at Beliefnet described the effort as “just crazy … like what you’d get if you crossed the Jesus Seminar with the College Republican chapter at a rural institution of Bible learnin’.”
Golly-gee, I remember the good old days when the Bible was considered the immutable word of God.
And I cannot imagine how much venom Ann Coulter would spew if the Left vowed to make the Bible more liberal.
I always love how the religious nutters try to explain the bible, and satan to me. I ask them “If God knows all, does all, is all, then why doesn’t he simply remove sin, satan, etc.?”
Also, if the bible is the word of God, then why aren’t we all born knowing it? Why do we have to believe some self appointed “high priests” to interpret it for us? Why does it have to be printed? Why aren’t we all born fully literate and able to read it if that is medium god decided to transmit this information in.
It just seems to me that if God really wanted this to be a guide, then he would have found a far more efficient and reliable way to install such knowledge into his subjects. I’m a pretty smart guy. I study highly technical manuals for my career. I’ve tried reading the bible and found it to be to worst contradictory and ambiguous pile of crap I’ve ever had the displeasure to try to read. Didn’t these bozos hire an editor who knew what the hell he was doing?
This reminds me of what happened a few years ago when teh bile was translated into ebonics. anyone remember that?
#31 Really?
What do most people tell you when you ask those questions?
Im pretty sure the consensus is that adam and eve lived in a perfect world, brought sin to the world after eating the forbidden fruit, jesus died for our sins so we have a chance at eternal life and that we have to prove ourselves to be worthy of gods trust before armageddon.
as for the bible being contradictory, i think alot of it has been misinterpreted over the centuries but the most part of it makes alot of sense
Ok, for those who have asked (Hugh Ripper). I believe the Bible is the inherit word of God. Maning, yes it was written by different men, but they were inspired by His words, hence the term God breathed. He told them what to write.
I hope this helps you understand why we call it, “The Word of God.”
#27, Awak, re: “It is like if we lost all copies of the US Constitution, and then asked a small group of US Senators to rewrite it from memory 100 years later. No bias to be expected there, would there be?”
I like that analogy. 🙂
>> Skippy said, on October 5th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
>> The Bible has been edited, re-edited, translated, re-translated, re-edited some more, ad nauseum. It’s amazing people still follow it, and still believe it’s a reliable record of history.
You are right, but still misleading.
Yes the bible has been re-edited, to this day, but in the last century this has made for a MUCH MORE authentic document. (in the textual criticism use of that word.)
For a document so old, it is a stunning achievement of archeological reconstruction.
All that being said, most credible biblical scholars would never claim that the bible was ever meant to be “history” in the same way as your freshman western civilization textbook. It’s religous mythololgy, in the non-pejorative use of that word.
And, it should be mentioned, most credible historians would admit that your freshman history textbook is a whole lotta mythology, too.
As for this “conservative bible” — it just shows that conservatism has turned into a wacko cult.
A conservative bible done as a wiki?
I want in! This could be a riot.
Dr Dodd said “It’s literally the owners manual for the human race.”
OK, then. I’m trading in for a Japanese model.
# 34 Eric
Scary stuff. You mean God tells them the actual words to write, verbatim? Did he have a big booming Barry White voice?
So God could be telling me to write what I’m writing on this blog? I have no free will? Im not free to interpret the world as I see it? I’m just a puppet in a pantomime directed by the big kahuna in the sky? Oh shit. He might told me to write that. And that.
Whoever claimed that the King James version of the Bible was the “Word of God” was blowing smoke. It’s a translation from a number of older documents written in Latin, Hebrew, Greek and other languages, to an old version of English. Catholics use another English translation, and there are other translations out there used by other Christian religions. Nothing special about King James…
Hugh, first of all I think Eric means the inherent word of God. Second, I think he means that the person writing it is influenced by God. It’s all a little vague, which explains why there are over 30,000 different Christian denominations.
#41 qb
A likely story… Eric did say ‘He told them what to write’. BTW God apologises for swearing in my previous post 😉
#40 Floyd
Personally I’d go for the Jerome Bible as being the closest to ‘authentic’, except I seem to remember that the Romans bastardised it, not agreeing with some of Jerome’s licentious interpretations.
Hugh, I actually read the Jerome Biblical Commentary once – all 1400 pages. I am stunned by his shear aesthetic verve and single mindedness. Which of course explains why Fundamentalists hate him.
I may not agree with St. Jerome, but I admire him.
#40 Floyd
I agree with the KJV being quite flawed as a translation, but it is a very pretty piece of literature. It’s influence on Shelley, Coleridge, Dryden, Pope and others is astonishing.
Yes, qb got it correct, sorry for the typo and possible further confusion.
Others have probably worded this in a similar way. It isn’t that the Bible has gotten more (or too) liberal. But that “conservatives” have gotten more and more extreme. To the degree where the Bible appears to be liberal, compared to what is NOW defined as being “conservative”. In other words, the conservative have the gall to pretend that they’re point of view is a non-volatile, never changing constant. And the Bible is what changed, when nobody was a lookin. That’s like saying the Republican Party is better than God. Because their charter doesn’t change the way the Bible has. Poop on the arrogance of these fascists. That’s Nazi-Hitler talk. Are Concentration Camps for liberals, the next step? If they get their version of the Bible recognized by Congress, it could be.
Apparently the conservatives aren’t just satisfied with corrupting the principle of Separation of Church and State. Now they want to change what the Church stands for. And use that to effect what the State does, regardless of existing Rights and Laws. Perhaps these Bible changers aren’t just pretending to be “conservative”, and are really wolves in sheep’s clothing. Out to change the moral underpinnings upon which most of the US rights and laws are based on. With enough clever political subterfuge and lies, they can probably convince enough simpletons to believe it’s all for the best. And get up their rights as human beings. Because the new way of understand what God said, tells them to bend over and kiss their lords’ and masters’ asses.
#26, Dr Dodd; “It is easy to corrupt the meaning of something taken out of context making it justify anything you want. ”
My point exactly. There is no single interpretation, therefore, everyone’s interpretation is right. Yours is no better than the interpretation someone else makes. And yet each side claims the other is taking it out of context. You think you’ve got the right interpretation? How do you know?
“People are people then and now which makes the Bible helpful and timeless.”
How is it timless when it talks about the ownership of slaves and stoning? The only thing the Bible is good for is making us confused with multiple contradictions on almost every page.
#36, Greg Allen; it doesn’t matter how accurate the Bible is in terms of history, it still does not prove the existence of a higher power. That’s what all the Bible thumpers don’t get.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^WHACK JOB!^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
one of the top 3 blogs that get the most posting!!!…
Religion
Gun Control
Universal Health care…
Could actually be under 1 super topic… But I am unsure what to call it… but it would belong to the RH side of the Fense…
…Live and let Live… and we would all be allot more content…
Yeah, sure they did a great job back in 1611. Thanks to them, women are portrayed as the root of all evil and Mary Magdalene was represented as a whore. Of course they did have more scholars of ancient greek and aramaeic back then, but these guys obviously had an agenda. Christianity has been so abused by those that would use it to control the sheeple that it’s amazing that any of the original message remains. The bible itself is a huge text where Jesus just appears in the second half and they kill him off quick. I mean the Jesus story’s the best part but it’s breif. Most of it’s about this vengeful god of the jews. A god that tells Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, or torments poor Job nearly to madness just to test their faith. It’s gonna take quite a rewrite to straighten out that mess…
What I enjoy is all the “moral” teachings of the bibble that are rejected by all the cafeteria believers who nontheless maintain that the bibble is a source of morality.
And so it goes with most of monotheism==hypocrisy is the foundation, walls and roof of the enterprise.
Who fucking cares.
#48-fpp2002-The only thing the Bible is good for is making us confused with multiple contradictions on almost every page.
Of course the Bible is confusing. Computer programming is confusing until you learn the basics. Once you have constructed a base to work from then understanding the rest is much easier.
Like any subject, the more time you spend delving into its depths the easier it is to understand and the more useful it becomes.
#56–Dr Dodd==care to give an example of how bible wisdom has guided your life in a specific instance?
#56 Um, circular argument.
#21, Dr. Dudd,
It’s literally the owners manual for the human race. It tells you how to avoid or handle most every problem you are likely to run across in life.
I don’t recall seeing anything about removing a clutch bearing in a 1951 Hudson without damaging the shaft. Ya, try it yourself and see if you don’t need directions.
I also don’t recall anything in the bible about shutting the eff up people like Alfred1 and pedro.
#58–qb==I don’t see anything circular in Dodds post. I see wrongness but not circularity. What are you thinking of?
#56-bobbo-care to give an example of how bible wisdom has guided your life in a specific instance?
It’s not really specific but an important benefit of collective Bible wisdom is that it acts very much like a lighthouse. Depending on the situation it warns of impending danger and helps keep me from crashing onto the rocks.
A great advantage in the turbulent sea of life.
#59-Ralph, the Bus Driver-I don’t recall seeing anything about removing a clutch bearing in a 1951 Hudson…
I said owners manual for the human race. Does the owners manual of the 1951 Hudson cover how to create and serve sushi?
Contrary to some beliefs, religious conservatives are NOT becoming more radical. If anything, most of Christianity is becoming more liberal as society as a whole moves in that direction. If you think they are radical today, maybe you should have been around even 50 years ago when church attendance was virtually mandatory.
Rewriting the bible is not new either. Anyone ever heard of John Smith and his book of Mormon? And the King James Version was also written to stress the importance and supremacy of the king over the common people. Even the original bible was written to exclude texts that didn’t agree with the church leaders; look up the Gnostics for one example.
I don’t have any problem with someone rewriting the bible. It is in the public domain. I would be much more upset if they tried to “improve” the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson. Now those are classic fairy tales.