The Smithsonian's Sackler gallery opened a unique and wide-ranging
new exhibit yesterday featuring fragments of Bibles from before the year 1000.
"
Most of the manuscripts have never been seen outside the countries where they are stored. [Some Smithsonian-owned documents in the exhibition] have never been exhibited and two have not been shown since 1978." Fragments of the
Codex Sinaiticus are included in the exhibit.
Along with the
archaeological interest, these fragments can pose theological and historical challenges for Christians. Some, like UNC's Bart Ehrman, have
lost their faith as a result of studying early Bibles; some, like Luke Timothy Johnson of Emory, believing that Christianity is about a
common cultural and spiritual experience, are unmoved by the "
corruptions" and
differences in the New Testament over time; other Christians try to
refute (MeFi link) claims that the text has changed.
posted by ibmcginty
on Oct 22, 2006 -
36 comments
Five Reasons Torture Is Always Wrong. From the magazine "Christianity Today", David P. Gushee, a professor of moral philosophy at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, is against torture. Period. No exceptions. Complete with Bible verses to prove it.
posted by willmize
on Jan 27, 2006 -
42 comments
The Man Who Unwrote the Bible. In the mid-1720s,
Alexander Cruden took on a self-imposed task of Herculean proportions: he decided to compile the most thorough concordance of the
King James Version of the
Bible (777,746 words). The first edition of
Cruden's Concordance was published in 1737. Every similar undertaking before or since has been the work of a vast team of people. Cruden worked alone in his lodgings, writing the whole thing out by hand. Cruden's day job was as a "Corrector of the Press" (proofreader). He would give hawk-eyed attention to prose all day long. Then he would come home at night to read the Bible—stopping at every single word to secure the right sheet from the tens of thousands of pieces of paper all around him and to record accurately the reference in its appropriate place. He had no patron, no publisher, no financial backers: his only commission was a divine one.
Cruden's Concordance has never been out of print. A
new book tells the tale of Alexander the Corrector's bizarre,
sad life (scroll down to about half page).
posted by matteo
on Apr 3, 2005 -
10 comments
Nearly half of the world's population cannot read. Many people live in remote areas without electricity. But that's no excuse for being non-Christian, right? What would Jesus' marketing department do?
Introducing the
GodPod.
(Who knows... if it's successful, maybe Apple will make that Billy Graham iPod after all!)
posted by miss lynnster
on Feb 2, 2005 -
33 comments
Where is my gay apocalypse?
I have been waiting patiently.
I have been staring with great anticipation out the window of my flat here in the heart of San Francisco, sighing heavily, waiting for the riots and the plagues and the screaming monkeys and the blistering rain of inescapable hellfire. I have my camera all ready and everything.
posted by badstone
on Mar 5, 2004 -
166 comments
The Skeptic's Annotated Bible includes the entire text of the King James Version of the Bible, but without the pro-Bible propaganda. Instead, passages are highlighted that are an embarrassment to the Bible-believer, and the parts of the Bible that are never read in any Church, Bible study group, or Sunday School class are emphasized. For it is these passages that test the claims of the Bible-believer. The contradictions and false prophesies show that the Bible is not inerrant; the cruelties, injustices, and insults to women, that it is neither good nor just.
posted by oliver_crunk
on Jan 10, 2003 -
94 comments
Can Christians use Marijuana for recreation? In 1Cor 6:12 Paul writes:
"Everything is permissible for me--but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me--but I will not be mastered by anything."
So, does that mean that Christians can use marijuana recreationally, as long as they are not mastered by it? This paper looks at the issue from many angles and should provide good fodder for both sides of the pot debate. Personally, I think God would not have put cannabis on the earth if we were not to smoke it.
[found on 4twenty.net]
posted by DragonBoy
on Jun 21, 2001 -
18 comments
