read the Bible

Just when I thought it couldn’t get more mind-numbing, this book proved me wrong… I just hope Deuteronomy is an improvement.

I don’t have it in me to give a long-winded description of how boring and useless this book seems, as I have done with the first three, but suffice it to say, I’m still not seeing much of a moral guide here. Someone does something that God doesn’t want them to do, then smite them down. So much for leaving us to it with free will after Adam and Eve screwed it all up!

On to Deuteronomy…

This was an uninspiring book – half of this book was rituals, sacrifices and offerings, then followed by what to do about bodily discharges, mildew, laws on various sexual relations and what you’re allowed to eat, and back to offerings again.

So far, the Bible has not seemed to be much of a moral guide, which is uninspiring. God seems an angry, somewhat unfair and inconsistent judge of earthly matters. I find it appalling that he deems people who are in any way “defective” unsuitable or unclean for any holy purposes. What a way to treat the people he made! Not only is he favouring certain races over others, it isn’t good enough that the people he made aren’t perfect. And how about the death penalty? It seems that every thing you do wrong so far in the Bible is punishable by death, or at least to be shunned by everyone who was chosen.

I am not impressed so far – intolerant, discriminatory, and unreasonable. Not to mention the explanations behind all these rituals are wholly inadequate.

I will persist, but I am struggling to see what it has to offer except the absolute basics (like the Ten Commandments) and this can be found in any religion. I hope the New Testament is more reasonable. There has to be something in it that inspires people.

I’m a little unsure where to start on what I thought of this book…

Well, firstly I guess I’d like to point out just how repetitive it can be, and secondly, how much unnecessary detail it goes into.

I’m fairly certain that telling us twice over about all the various parts, materials and quantities needed to make an ark, table, lampstand etc. does not go towards anyone’s moral development. Nor is it of historical interest, or even genealogical (another area the Bible seems to delve into a lot). I remembered the story of Moses, the various plagues and miracles performed, and of course the Ten Commandments from school, but it’s no wonder we didn’t learn about the other stuff in this book!

I am persisting on reading this book because I want to know what it is that Christians and Jews use as a guideline and what good there is in it. I want to know what is there because I believe that understanding someone’s beliefs helps to respect them. I respect all beliefs but I certainly do not agree with them all.

I have nothing against Christians and Jews who do their best to be decent human beings using whatever they deem helpful to them, including the Bible.

However, I am definitely struggling to believe or accept the Bible as my own personal moral guideline, because it goes against fundamental beliefs of mine based on mainstream modern thinking. For example, if men are all equal, why does it mention that the Israelites are the chosen ones and it’s okay for them to plunder what the Egyptians have? If patience is a virtue, why does God get angry over so many things and why does he take such a hard line on everything? If they do this and that wrong, kill them. What happened to tolerance and justice rather than out and out revenge based on wrath? I fully agree that people should be punished for their wrong-doings, but why should whole peoples and several generations have to suffer for the sake of one person? If a people are corrupt, why does that justify punishing the later generations?

Also, so much of this seems incredibly ritualistic – it describes what you need to do, but to me it just seems like any other religion in the making – sacrifices and rituals to an unknown force that you don’t understand then converted into something more rational but still highly dogmatic.

I will continue reading and it does not make me disrespect Christians at all, so no offence intended, but this really is not for me, and although there is plenty of good in this book, there’s also some not-so-good. I guess few people take the whole thing literally though, which considering what I’ve read so far seems a good thing!!

I have now completed Genesis and found that I remembered all the main stories from R.E. lessons at school, but bits of it were fairly uninteresting, in particular the lists of sons and daughters and their ages. It seems to me that the Bible is a genealogical source as much as a historical and moral guide. I don’t know to what extent that is true further on, but that’s my impression so far. I’m intrigued by a couple of points. There seems to be a discrepancy as far as the creation of Adam and Eve goes: in the first chapter, they are both created at the same time, and in the second chapter, Eve is made from Adam’s rib. Another point is that incest seems to be fine, which is a little disturbing! The idea that two women would rather have sex with their father to continue the line than see the line come to an end seems a little odd to me, but maybe that’s looking upon it with a 21st century mind. Still, I’m pretty sure incest can’t be condoned in the Bible when homosexuality and sex before marriage are allegedly not so.

I guess I’ll find out when I read more, but for now, onward with Exodus…

My reason for reading the Bible is nothing to do with my religious beliefs as I am an agnostic aspiring to be Buddhist. My reason, therefore, is purely academic. I want to read the Bible so I can better understand other religions in the world. I would like to read all major religious texts if possible, but I am starting with the Bible because it is the most accessible, living in a Christian country.

Further entries regarding my progress in reading the Bible are not to praise or condemn it, but are just my thoughts as they occurred to me.