America know your Bible!

[Shepherdmoon]

Is it me or does America not know it´s Bible.

[Ingemar]

1). I don't know why you particularly care since you yourself admitted you are an atheist.

2). I would agree that "America" does not know its Bible and the few that appeal to Scripture use it to further their own ends rather than submit to biblical authority.

3). This seems to me like a debate topic; as I said earlier CAA does not encourage that (but TheologyWeb does). This topic may be closed soon.

[Shepherdmoon]

It just interests me that is all is there a problem with that? I would think you would be concerned.

[USSRGirl]

I agree that American society is becoming more and more Godless. Churches hardly encourage individual Bible reading anymore. Then again, with all these new translations out there (anyone heard of "The Word on the Street?") it's pretty much "Bible 4 Dummies."

[Shepherdmoon]

I forget where it is but 40% of americans can´t name more than three commandments and like 60% can´t even name the Gospel writer! Also i believe everyone should know it because it is the foundation of our language


also see http://www.bibleliteracy.org/Site/index2.htm

[Puritan]

I think the US is more Bible-literate than many christianized nations of the past, but definately far from being a Christian and overall Bible-literate society. However, remember that having the Bible in a native language is a relatively new thing, with major translations only being about 500 years old, and it is very difficult to study the Bible when you can only hear it. Although there are things to be said for the reading of scripture aloud, the ability of the common people to read it helped greatly increase people's overall knowledge of the Bible, so I would suspect that overall understanding of scripture in our population is higher today than in the past. However, many people today neglect the reading of scripture and don't try to understand what it says. The number of times I have heard people selectively quote scripture to me is frightening as you can get an extremely warped view of things when you only know a few verses of scripture or take verses out of context.

[Shepherdmoon]

´The number of times I have heard people selectively quote scripture to me is frightening as you can get an extremely warped view of things when you only know a few verses of scripture or take verses out of context´
AMEN to that!

[Technomancer]

I think that even if one is not religious, it is still a vital part of western history and culture. If one is going to understand western history, art, literature etc, I'd say that knowledge of the bible is very important. It would be nice if at least the elite students graduating from high school were also well grounded in the sources of western culture. There are provisions for such classes in your public school system that relate to the bible, however I have no idea how well taught or how common they are. Up here, the only time I'm likely to hear about them is when the course designers get in trouble for pushing highly sectarian viewpoints (which are frequently at variance from well accepted scholarship).

[Slater]

Why all the anti-American setiment all of sudden from you?

Anyhow, I'm glad that I don't fit the stereotyping in either this case or the science one.

[oro!]

As Americans, we have the luxury of having a Bible near at hand-hotels, free handouts, churches, etc. But I have found that many people are not studying it. It took many people's blood so that we could read it and now we don't take advantage of it fully. Just delve inot it, and see what wonders you can find! Don't only let what your pastor or anyone claiming to konw what they are saying to make the basis of what you believe. Look for yourself. And for those who are not Christians, the book is open fro everyone. I would personally suggest reading John if you actually want to see what it's all about.

[Lynx]

Also i believe everyone should know it because it is the foundation of our language

what do you mean? english is a romance language with a lot of german and latin roots... the bible was originally written in hebrew and greek.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

There is also a difference between saying your a Christian because you go to church and try to be a good person and being a true Christian (having Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and accepting what he went through for our salvation).
I don't know about America, but that's the case with Australia. I presume its similar for other Western countries.

[shooraijin]

Why all the anti-American setiment all of sudden from you?

Anyhow, I'm glad that I don't fit the stereotyping in either this case or the science one.

Please specify to whom this was directed.

[Mangafanatic]

Do I think there's an insufficient number of Americans who know their Bibles? Yes. Do I think an incompetence in the scripture is unique to America? No. Basically, I don't think there are enough individuals who know their Bibles, regardless of their nationality.

I think it's somewhat unfair to narrow it down to Americans.

[~Natsumi Lam~]

hummm i dont know what to say


~NL~

[Shepherdmoon]

I for one would like Bible´s to have the original hebrew and a number of ways to translate it,but that would make a heavy Bible.Another point techno is right so much of our culture is based upon the Bible.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Bible's are already quite heavy to carry around. Adding the Hebrew with translations would make it astromonomically heavy, not to mention the average person wouldn't be fussed.

[Slater]

what you mean astromonomically heavy? Such a book couldn't weigh more than, whut, 10 lbs? A heavier sword means it can do damage with greater ease

Please specify to whom this was directed.

oh crap I'm in trouble, forget I said it then.

[Puritan]

It couldn't be any heavier than the Mormon equivalent to the Bible they cart around. It's generally about more than twice the size of a typical Bible, and contains the Bible and their other books given by Joseph Smith. I was shocked at the size of the thing, but it is pretty typical for them.

[Slater]

I'd hardly call a mormon bible a real Bible. Got lots of bad stuff in them.

[Puritan]

Notice I called it the equivalent. I know it has bad stuff in it, my father is a former Mormon who is now a Christian. I was simply stating that if they can cart that bugger around, an interlinear Bible with greek and hebrew combined with a small dictionary couldn't be much worse.

[Slater]

lol, yes. I agree

[Yumie]

Just remember, SheperdMoon, that those statistics also probably include non-Christian Americans, and, you can't well expect them to know the Bible.

[Syreth]

Without getting too much into it (and not undermining the importance of studying the original languages), I just want to say that although the original languages can offer interesting insights at times, many translations are more than competant to communicate the message of scripture on their own. Don't forget that even the apostles paraphrased the scripture in the Old Testament. The message of the Bible isn't quite as bound to the original language as some might think.

[Slater]

that's kinda why I'm more interested in learning what greek/hebrew terms mean in context of the Bible than I am in memorizing scripture. I have a horrible problem with memorization (I spent at least 100 hours trying to memorize Quiznos sandwich making for 30 or so sandwiches and I still can't do it), and it's more important to know what the Bible says than how it says it.

[Syreth]

that's kinda why I'm more interested in learning what greek/hebrew terms mean in context of the Bible than I am in memorizing scripture. I have a horrible problem with memorization (I spent at least 100 hours trying to memorize Quiznos sandwich making for 30 or so sandwiches and I still can't do it), and it's more important to know what the Bible says than how it says it.

Exactly. However, it should be considered that alot of translators already have chosen english words that are appropriate for the context unless they have some underlying theological agenda. I'm not trying to discourage you from your studies, it's just some things worth considering.

Scripture memory I would say is a bit different, though. If you want to remember something, you're more likely to retain it if you memorize it word-for-word (although it's certainly not the case all the time). Of course, do what's good for you. The message and overall meaning, like you said, are what's important.

[USSRGirl]

One thing on the mormon Bible...it has a LOT of loopholes. Apparently Joseph Smith copied the material from someone else's writings. I've also heard that some of his "Hebrew writings" were stolen from the Egyptian book of the dead.

It seems to me that, for the most part, Americans have such comfortabe lives that they really don't feel the need for God. They typically go hear a little devotional thing on Sundays, feel good, then forget about it the rest of the week.

[Slater]

he didn't copy from the book of the dead. He tried to, but didn't. for example, the word moon appeared at least 11 times in the book of the dead, and when he tried translating it, every single time he encountered that word he interpreted it as something completely different, and not once did he interpret it as moon.

[USSRGirl]

Slater, that may be. But he copied the CHARACTERS from the book of the dead. It was by no stretch of the imagination Hebrew or Greek or whatever he was claiming it to be.

[mitsuki lover]

Back on the original subject here,I would agree that it is important for even non-Believers to have some idea of what the Bible actually says.Too often people rely on only what someone TELLS them is in the Bible and they don't bother to look it up for themselves.Remember when the U.S. was founded nearly everyone had some knoweldge of what was in the Bible as they came from a culture where Christianity and Religion in general was taken seriously.People had to know the Bible to be able to debate what it said.
Theology isn't as important today as it was then,which is why Biblical literacy keeps falling.