Job 17-20

[wolfpurplemoon]

It's getting a bit repetitive now, hopefully this continuing back and forth between Job and his friends will reach some sort of conclusion soon.

Comments

[wolfpurplemoon]

Do you think he is a sock puppet? To me he just seems to be someone who found my bible posts and decided to sign up to LJ in order to comment, but I might be wrong!

[wolfpurplemoon]

Ah, I understand what you meant! Thanks for reading :)

interesting

[(Anonymous)]

I stumbled on to your blog using the bible app on my phone. I admire your dedication to reading ... especially numbers. So an athesist by definition does not believe in god or after life ... so what peaked your interest ?
J bagley

Re: interesting

[jaronsjournal.livejournal.com]

If the sock puppet you refer to is me, I started my own blog because have similar debates in other firums and I thought it might be nice to post certain thoughts that arise in my mind from those debates. I came across your blog when I was searching for any religious communities that might be on LiveJournal. Sorry to wreck the peace and quiet that seemed to be here before I came, but I really hope no one takes the Skeptics Annotated Bible as a truthful, unbiased commentary on what the Bible truly says and means. Most of the ranting against the Bible you see online is done by people who haven't read it, and don't seem to want to look at fairly and clearly. I hope you read a version that is unbiased and fair and come to your own conclusion rather than just take other's words for it.

Re: interesting

[masquerader317.livejournal.com]

I'm an Atheist and have studied the history of Christianity and read the bible already. I haven't read the Skeptics Bible, in fact, I hadn't even heard of it before recently and certainly not during my studies. I don't think that its accurate to say that "most" of the ranting is done by non-scholars that are unfamiliar with the historical lineage of the Bible. In fact, I have had a difficult time finding adherents to its doctrine who were familiar with even some of the basic factual names and dates pertaining to its inception. I find that there is a significant population of Atheists who were once devout in their beliefs, (myself included) and then upon continued study in order to be closer to God and more knowledgeable about our own beliefs, found the foundation quickly eroding the further we dug into the history and accuracy of this religions mythology.

I would ask that if you are really not a troll or sock-puppet, don't corner people who are making genuine attempts at research before they have even had a chance to read the whole book all the way through. Its like giving a person the final exam before they've even finished the course. Especially when the nuances and historical contexts are not readily apparent by merely reading the words outright. If its true debate for intellectual or unbiased commentary you wish to engage in, or questions you wish to ask regarding an atheist perspective on the biblical teachings, feel free to message me, or seek out another more experienced biblical scholar.

I would never address an inexperienced Christian and bombard them with the most complex biblical technicalities and expect them to explain them to me, knowing that they only knew a few verses and had just started reading the bible for themselves. I would hope you would do the same for an Atheist studying the Bible for the first time as this very scholarly and inquisitive individual is doing.

Re: interesting

[wolfpurplemoon]

I really appreciate this comment, and I'm glad to have knowledgeable people like yourself around these parts!

Re: interesting

[wolfpurplemoon]

You seem to define words like "unbiased" and "truthful" as "agreeing with your interpretation".

I'm obviously not reading the bible from the point of view of giving the existence of God a 50/50 chance of being true and seeing if it convinces me either way. So my only option is to just read each day's planned reading and then just write what I thought and what it appeared to mean in my mind.

I have a very clear disclaimer on my profile which I hope you've read and I'm definitely not apologising for reading the SAB while I do this, to me it is a fair and clear resource.

Re: interesting

[wolfpurplemoon]

Hi J Bagley, thanks for dropping by.

I must confess to skim reading most of Numbers, I find the lineages and lists difficult to absorb!

I'd say I originally wanted to read the bible as I like a challenge, and being able to say to anyone who might say that I'd gain faith if I read the bible that I had read the bible and I was still an atheist was also a factor (not that I've ever had anyone say this to me!).

[bill_sheehan.livejournal.com]

It's going to get more repetitive. It's only readable as poetry - as prose, it's bloody awful. Get used to it - Psalms is next!

[wolfpurplemoon]

I've always had trouble reading poetry!