I'm still trying to find an email I'd sent last year detailing many of my religious beliefs. Here is a small group (sub-list) of beliefs about the Bible from memory of that email. I believe:
- The Bible is a document of content derived from oral history. This applies mostly to the common content of the old testament, Torah, and Koran.
- The Bible New Testament books' content was also transferred through oral history.
- The Bible underwent extensive editing by the translating/transcribing monks and the Catholic Church.
- Protestants also made changes to the Bible's content.
- As such, The Bible's content should never be taken literally.
I was so pleased when (in 2006) Bart Ehrman wrote Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. I'd formed my opinions about the Bible content decades earlier. To see that a biblical scholar had found evidence was a big relief, since I didn't want to learn ancient languages in order to do my own research. In case you missed some of Bart's interviews, here's a sampling:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5052156
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/04/AR2006030401369.html
bio & online courses: http://www.teach12.com/store/professor.asp?ID=150
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When the family assembled in Winston-Salem after my father passed away, the conversation turned to kids' names. After my naming (decision) was detailed, I mentioned that, like me (first born son), the book of Mark was the first Gospel written (approx 60 AD/CE). Moreover, I explained to my nieces and nephews, they should recognize that Mark is not the first book of the New Testament and that fact alone should serve as a warning to anyone trying to use the Bible's content literally. They weren't ready for that idea and I dropped it.
The title of this blog entry is about the Bible's veracity. I'm not questioning its truthfulness. Rather, I've come to a realization and belief that the Bible's content should be read with some skepticism -- not as a work of fiction, but as a collection of stories, fables, and life lessons by different writers and editors across millenia.
