July 8, 2006
Bible Quiz
Here's a pretty interesting quiz that's been floating around: What Do You Really Know About The Bible?. I managed 42 / 50 but only because I'm pretty familiar with the strange customs and laws in the Old Testament and the contradictions found in the New Testament. (If you actually have a life and don't want to waste time answering the questions, just submit a blank quiz to see the answers.)
The quiz does a good job of highlighting parts of the Bible that conflict with teachings of modern Judaism and Christianity (even orthodox and fundamentalist sects). It makes the point that taking every word of the Bible literally is a nonsensical idea. And maybe part of the point is that even so-called Biblical literalists don't take the Bible as literally as they profess to.
The quiz is obviously biased and has its own agenda, but I still think it's pretty interesting and makes a good point. A wise person, of course, realizes that it's never a good idea to look at selections of a document out of context or without consideration of the whole. The Bible has a very interesting history and has played a significant role in Western history and people's lives, so it's interesting to try to understand where it came from, how/why it has changed, and how/why it came to be seen as it is today by so many religious people.
Religious texts in general are interesting documents from both a historical and anthropological perspective. I think the key in approaching such a text is to learn and understand its context in culture and history. The Old Testament, for example, is an interesting look back at how the patriarchal Hebrew society, a relatively early civilization, saw itself and the world. It provides a peek into the genesis, transformation, and mindset of an early monotheistic religion & civilization. The New Testament's story is also interesting - particularly how it was first written, then adopted by foreign cultures and modified through the years.
Maybe viewing the Bible simply as a cultural and historical artifact is heretical to those who see it as God's daily guide to personal life and a relatively (or absolutely) inerrant guide from His mouth. Maybe they see that view as the start of the slippery slope so many scholars have taken towards disbelief... I don't know... as I've said countless times, if a divinely inspired / directed religion can't honestly reconcile itself with both history and obvious facts, something must be rotten to begin with.
Anyway. I can't say Biblical history and interpretation have ever been all that interesting to me - the world's just such a big place with so many more fascinating things to study in depth - but if it interests you, there's a huge body of work about it (and that's an understatement). The most recent book I have sitting on my desk is Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart Ehrman.
08 Jul 17:31 | Link | Category: Human/Primate Evolution & Behavior, Interactive, Misc. Tidbits