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 The Bible presents us with an evolving story, writes John Shelby Spong.
December 29th, 2011
09:10 AM ET
My Take: The 3 biggest biblical misconceptions
By John Shelby Spong, Special to CNN The Bible is both a reservoir of spiritual insight and a cultural icon to which lip service is still paid in the Western world. Yet when the Bible is talked about in public by both believers and critics, it becomes clear that misconceptions abound. To me, three misconceptions stand out and serve to make the Bible hard to comprehend. First, people assume the Bible accurately reflects history. That is absolutely not so, and every biblical scholar recognizes it. The facts are that Abraham, the biblically acknowledged founding father of the Jewish people, whose story forms the earliest content of the Bible, died about 900 years before the first story of Abraham was written in the Old Testament. Actually, that's not in the Bible Can a defining tribal narrative that is passed on orally for 45 generations ever be regarded as history, at least as history is understood today? Moses, the religious genius who put his stamp on the religion of the Old Testament more powerfully than any other figure, died about 300 years before the first story of Moses entered the written form we call Holy Scripture. This means that everything we know about Moses in the Bible had to have passed orally through about 15 generations before achieving written form. Do stories of heroic figures not grow, experience magnifying tendencies and become surrounded by interpretive mythology as the years roll by? My Take: Bible condemns a lot, so why focus on homosexuality? Jesus of Nazareth, according to our best research, lived between the years 4 B.C. and A.D. 30. Yet all of the gospels were written between the years 70 to 100 A.D., or 40 to 70 years after his crucifixion, and they were written in Greek, a language that neither Jesus nor any of his disciples spoke or were able to write. Are the gospels then capable of being effective guides to history? If we line up the gospels in the time sequence in which they were written - that is, with Mark first, followed by Matthew, then by Luke and ending with John - we can see exactly how the story expanded between the years 70 and 100. For example, miracles do not get attached to the memory of Jesus story until the eighth decade. The miraculous birth of Jesus is a ninth-decade addition; the story of Jesus ascending into heaven is a 10th-decade narrative. In the first gospel, Mark, the risen Christ appears physically to no one, but by the time we come to the last gospel, John, Thomas is invited to feel the nail prints in Christ’s hands and feet and the spear wound in his side. Perhaps the most telling witness against the claim of accurate history for the Bible comes when we read the earliest narrative of the crucifixion found in Mark’s gospel and discover that it is not based on eyewitness testimony at all. My Take: Yes, the Bible really condemns homosexuality Instead, it’s an interpretive account designed to conform the story of Jesus’ death to the messianic yearnings of the Hebrew Scriptures, including Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. The Bible interprets life from its particular perspective; it does not record in a factual way the human journey through history. The second major misconception comes from the distorting claim that the Bible is in any literal sense “the word of God.” Only someone who has never read the Bible could make such a claim. The Bible portrays God as hating the Egyptians, stopping the sun in the sky to allow more daylight to enable Joshua to kill more Amorites and ordering King Saul to commit genocide against the Amalekites. Can these acts of immorality ever be called “the word of God”? The book of Psalms promises happiness to the defeated and exiled Jews only when they can dash the heads of Babylonian children against the rocks! Is this “the word of God? What kind of God would that be? The Bible, when read literally, calls for the execution of children who are willfully disobedient to their parents, for those who worship false gods, for those who commit adultery, for homosexual persons and for any man who has sex with his mother-in-law, just to name a few. The Bible exhorts slaves to be obedient to their masters and wives to be obedient to their husbands. Over the centuries, texts like these, taken from the Bible and interpreted literally, have been used as powerful and evil weapons to support killing prejudices and to justify the cruelest kind of inhumanity. The third major misconception is that biblical truth is somehow static and thus unchanging. Instead, the Bible presents us with an evolutionary story, and in those evolving patterns, the permanent value of the Bible is ultimately revealed. It was a long road for human beings and human values to travel between the tribal deity found in the book of Exodus, who orders the death of the firstborn male in every Egyptian household on the night of the Passover, until we reach an understanding of God who commands us to love our enemies. The transition moments on this journey can be studied easily. It was the prophet named Hosea, writing in the eighth century B.C., who changed God’s name to love. It was the prophet named Amos who changed God’s name to justice. It was the prophet we call Jonah who taught us that the love of God is not bounded by the limits of our own ability to love. It was the prophet Micah who understood that beautiful religious rituals and even lavish sacrifices were not the things that worship requires, but rather “to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.” It was the prophet we call Malachi, writing in the fifth century B.C., who finally saw God as a universal experience, transcending all national and tribal boundaries. One has only to look at Christian history to see why these misconceptions are dangerous. They have fed religious persecution and religious wars. They have fueled racism, anti-female biases, anti-Semitism and homophobia.They have fought against science and the explosion of knowledge. The ultimate meaning of the Bible escapes human limits and calls us to a recognition that every life is holy, every life is loved, and every life is called to be all that that life is capable of being. The Bible is, thus, not about religion at all but about becoming deeply and fully human. It issues the invitation to live fully, to love wastefully and to have the courage to be our most complete selves. That is why I treasure this book and why I struggle to reclaim its essential message for our increasingly non-religious world. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Shelby Spong. soundoff (6,068 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Editor’s note: John Shelby Spong, a former Episcopal bishop of Newark, New Jersey, is author of "
So what your saying is that it's all made up?
Here we go.
Yepper.
That would be correct assumption concerning religion. The Catholic church for over 1 thousand years was the official word on the bible and who could read or write. The Catholic church deliberately keep the public in the dark to push their corruption agenda. Only cleric were allowed to learn to read and write. If you believed different than the church it meant prison or death at times. How many changes did the cleric make from the originial manuscripts that were copied by hand.
We are not even sure of what the originial manuscripts said much less if they are words from God. Religion is just a tool by the church to keep the people in line. And they have done a good job in that area. The church would be one of the last places I would go to for guidance or help.
This is obviously an effort to continue the work of Bultmann in "Demytholigizing the New Testament." The effort is to make the bible palpable to a modern audience. I mean "modern" in the philosophical sense as it predates the post-modern. Much of what he says is true although there is much greater variation in dating according to scholars that Spong asserts. I think Bultmann's scholarly critics would have similar things to say to Spong. To find good arguments against Spong, look for old arguments against Rudolf Bultmann. He is not helping the argument for Christianity as much as he thinks he is and doing less harm than most of us fear. This is at least a 60 year old conversation.
Blah blah blah blah who cares.
Your assertions are horribly ineffective. You continue to repeat similar modes of thought in every sentence but never extend past "Spong" in terms of an actual argument. You are awarded no points and may I have mercy on your soul.
That is because my whole argument is that this is an old argument that is a waste of time arguing out point by point again.
Inaccurate story factually. The firs statement about when Abraham lived and when the account of him was written is an opinion that human writing didn't exist in Abraham's time, an old opinion, that was refruited when UR was discovered and the name Abram was found on a pottery fragment. It was dated to BC 2300 proving that writing was around at Abraham's time.
The second issue concerning the actual writing of the Gospels takes the absolutely last possible date and ignores that contemporary, eyewitness accounts of Christian worship (galatians, thessolians, corinthians) and the Christian Gospel of a Risen Christ exist from about AD 48 and was obviously preached and believed long before that. (Christ was crucified in Ad32) That the Christian Gospel of ressurection and the power of the Risen Christ spread through the eastern Roman world within 20 years of His crucification is compelling evidence that Jesus rose from the dead.
It is true that one can read the Bible and question why God commands things that, to us, are immoral. However, that is humans judging God as opposed to the other way around. This view is a neo-platonic view that developed in the middle ages that sees God in Human terms. However, assuming God exists, humans judging him is pointless. If God promised salvation through his son, which is the gospel message that Paul preached then stop judging - believe and be thankful.
Rev. Tom Reynolds
tomreynolds_ilan@yahoo.com
By that reasoning, Joseph Smith must have been a true prophet also.
Preach on Rev Tom
Rev. Tommy, "believe and be thankful." how's about you present some evidence to counter the mountains of evidence and reason that say your bible is a huge steaming pile of cr@pola, rather than just making demands on us.
Oh, right, your paycheque depends on you scaring the sheeple into giving the church money. Rrrrrright.
The fact that they found a pottery shard with the name Abram on it proves nothing. How do you prove that the name refers to the same Abram of biblical fame? Was there only one man in the ancient world with that name? Your argument is silly. And by the way, just because you've parked the word "Rev." close to your name also proves nothing. Remember Elmer Gantry?
"It is true that one can read the Bible and question why God commands things that, to us, are immoral. However, that is humans judging God as opposed to the other way around."................ ( look at what your saying!)
Your god is a nightmare!
We will awake up someday and be free of your dysfuctional cultic tyrant!
LOL, Bob. I am going with the Rev. on this one. He is preaching acceptance and you are taking a dump on anything that isn't aligned with your beliefs. You may be right, but why be so angry?
I have read 5 0r 6 of his books and found him to be fairly accurate and researched . There are too many questions in the bible for me to accept it. Is God a god of love or revenge? There are example of both in the bible.
I care to disagree about the available evidence at least as it pertains to the central Gospel of Christ's ressurection. So let's put belief aside and examine the evidence. (This is just one example of many taken from the early writings of paul between Ad 48 and AD 57)
I date the letter to the Galatians at about AD 48 because it does not seem to reference an event that took place in Ad 49-50. That letter was from paul to a group of Christians that he had visited a few years earlier and preached the Gospel. Upon believing they "received the Holy Spirit".
Most interestingly Paul was combating people who disagreed with him, specifically that these Christians needed to observe the Mosaic Law. In the letter Paul starts out with a logical defense of his Gospel. He then stops and makes a personal appeal to the event of "receiving the Spirit" as proof of the Spirit being above the Law.
Paul, unfortunately for us, does not describe the experience because it is not necessary. Both the writer (paul) and the reader (galatians) had the experience so no need to describe it.
What doe this evidence tell us?
First, it tells us that people believed in Christ's ressurection soon after the event when there were still eyewitnesses around to refute the event if it didn't happen.
Second, it tells us that the experience of the Risen Christ was a significantlt dramatic enough experience that Paul chose to base his arguement on the event.
If someone wants proof the only proof is to experience the Holy Spirit for yourself. However, if you want evidence that Christ is alive this is reasonably compelling evidence and stands on its own independent of anything else in the Bible.
The problem (hear this Christians) is that typically the argument starts from the accuracy of the Bible as opposed to the proof of the Gospel which is the Holy Spirit. Christ did not say "It is better for you if I go, for I will send the King James version of the Bible, the holy Roman Catholic Church or TV preachers." He said He would send the Holy Spirit which is the "earnest" (down payment) that proves the Gospel is true. (For when He comes He will testafy of Me)
If you are true seeker, but not a Christain, please don't be put off by the Christian Religion. The risin Christ seems strangely lost in American Christainity today. Christianity is NOT about a book.
Wow! A "reverend" who can't spell "resurrection", isn't sure whether it's "Christian" or "Christain", and writes "crucification" for crucifixion certainly doesn't seem like much of a resource when discussing the main topic...
Quran, on the other hand, was written down as it was revealed to the prophet Muhammad and we still have the exact same copy in the same language.
Yeah and so was mormonism... that doesn't make it any less ridiculous.
What, you mean those golden tablets that no one can find weren't divinely created? I'm so shocked I'm peeing in my magic mormon underwear.
Regardless of your beliefs on the subject...we will all see the truth in the end.
Death is the greatest equalizer. Every plays the game and loses.
Yea, but the problem is that, since we will be dead, we aren't qualified witnesses....
Jesus said that a few centuries ago, too. Oops...
THANK YOU JOHN SHELBY SPONG! this is all I ever wanted religious people to say. As Mark Twain said "faith is believing what you KNOW aint so". So Quit trying to sell the parts of the story you know aint so. Then and only then you might have a compelling story that everyone could embrace. Much of the bible(the flood, ark, genealogy, etc) has been scientifically proven to be false. So go ahead and let go of the other parts that you know deep in your heart are false (miracles, resurrections, serpents, etc)., and drop the worship(an evil concept at its core), and you might find it miraculous how your ranks would grow. even I, a staunch atheist would enjoy the communal gathering held every Sunday.
Keywords, "Staunch Atheist"
As is the case with most things in Christianity, we cannot "prove" the Bible to be true by the historical record- the facts simply are not there. That doesn't mean we can't know for ourselves, however, if the Bible is true or historical, by reading it and praying about it and receiving answers for ourselves. There is a reason it is called "faith".
KL, That's incomplete. While it can not be proven to be true, the bible actually can be proven to be false. It is plainly chock-full of numerous self-contradictions, errors in reasoning, factual errors, and worse. Not to mention some really funny absurdities
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/abs/long.htm
Yes, I guess you have faith that a compassionate God orders the death of everyone in a town that has a different religion than you. (Deut 13:12-15.)
Opinion. Misconceptions crap. I'm not even a Christian, but clearly this man is biased... BTW, nice collar you got in that picture, fool.
Why care?
When was the last time you read any article on the Bible that was not biased one way or another?
Obviously this is an opinion piece. And I agree with the other commenter – since little in the Bible is a fact, everyone who discusses it is only offering an "opinion." BTW – the Bible you know today was put together by the early Roman Catholic Church who CLEARLY had opinions when they assembled it – including some books and deleting others. Get a grip.
Posters in this article are ridiculous....
Ridiculously Awesome! Rock on godless heathens!
Did CNN MEAN to be hilarious by publishing such a op-ed piece about the BIBLE by someone who rejects it and is an "ex" Episcipal bishop ? C'mon folks, get someone who values the Bible if you are publishing what " the public misunderstands about it" !
They prefer to look at the Bible rationally. And no rational person could possibly believe that what's in there is historical fact. Everything else we know contradicts it.
Hes an ex-bishop because he is now retired, that is all.
Excellent article!
Lol at all the 'loving' Christians spewing their reeking venom at this article like a bunch of vipers.
Yes, in spite of claiming to believe in the Bible where Jesus says to turn the other cheek and to pray for those who persecute them (and he was refering to the physical, deadly persecution from the Romans, not just a disagreement), all you have to do to see what "Christians" are REALLY like is to disagree with them. Spite and venom.
Nothing's more vicious than a religious person – just check out the religious wars of history.
The 4th biggest misconception about the bible: It's based in reality.
When did CNN take it upon itself to interpret Scripture to us?
This is just odd. It should have an "Opinion" heading.
I should say, the main headline on the main page should have "opinion" in it. And its prominent featuring is still odd.
Why get so worked up about it? If your faith is strong enough, this shouldn't matter.
um it says belief blog. This is the area where religious contributors submit their opinion pieces.
"Opinion" is what you get from other worshipers too. Especially your preachers, who have an adgenda, that is, a paycheck to earn. You've heard religious opinions all your life, as have Muslims and Jews, and you've made them your opinions too, just as they have. Religious teachings are all the opinions of people who came before you, some in writing, some verbal, but opinion all the same.
CNN is not a person, it is a news site that reports things. The Author is a bishop, someone with authority on the bible i would say.
Mr Spong doesn't trust God.
The oral traditions can be very accurate – that is to those that believe in God.
–2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (KJV).–
The Holy Ghost kept them true.
Today we have written docu*ments to guide us, in that time God was more in communication with man.
Even when they did put the pen to the paper they put what god lead them to put.
–2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,–
I chose the NIV on this because it translates the word "theopneustos" more accurately (God-breathed) than the KJV. does.
The written word came directly from God.
Obviously Spong doesn't believe in God's ability.
What evidence do you have of them being "very accurate"?
I believe them whether or not they were oral- they were passed to us by the prophets, through whom God could have revealed exactly what happened. However, I wonder how anyone can know if they were oral... the author of Genesis (believed to be Moses) could have referred to pre-existing scripture or who knows what! Just because we do not have these things doesn't mean that they didn't exist.
Obviously you don't have much reading comprehension. You don't address the specific things that he calls out as not factual truth. Instead, you pick and choose, like so many do who misinterpret the Bible. If it's the "word of God" then you have to obey ALL of it; you can't pick what you like. In other words, you must support slavery and stop eating shrimp, among other things.
Agreed.
Now bring on all the "religion-haters" criticizing something about beliefs in the belief blog.
Why do I think they are accurate? Faith in what the bible says as the 2 verses I mentioned point out.
Experience in reading the bible has also shown some amazing hidden themes that are consistent all through the bible.
For instance water represents the gospel whether it is at the very beginning when the river flows out of the garden to water the garden – to irrigate you bring water in. As the Gospel goes into the world it brings people to God (in the garden).
Water also appears in the desert when Moses strikes the rock (representing Christ 1 Corinthians 10:4)
False teachers are called wells without water, 2 Peter 2:17.
Living water flows from the bellies of believers, John 7:38.
John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
There are many more examples of this but CNN is no place to discuss it.
Joe
If you read the WHOLE bible you find that those things only represented certain things.
Everything is OK to eat now – If you read the WHOLE bible you would know that.
1 Timothy 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
Oh, I've read the whole Bible, JOregon, much more than you, I'm guessing. You pick over the words but apparently don't understand them. You're still picking and choosing. If it's the word of God you have to accept every statement; you can't ignore what you don't like and keep what you like. That's imposing man's judgment on God's word, and is arrogance of the worst kind. Or do you believe that God can't make up His mind, and says, "Don't do this" on one day, and then says, "Nah, just kidding" on another? You clothe yourself in the words of religion, but you are really lost. I feel sorry for you when you come face to face with God after you die, and suddenly, in a rush, all your arrogance is revealed to you.
Joe
You might have read the bible, but you don't understand it.
Sadly any significant discussion here on CNN is pointless. Just not the best forum for that sort of thing.
No Joe I don't pick and choose.
You on the other hand choose to ignore.
Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Colossians 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Those things that you think we still need to follow were a shadow pointing to Christ.
The biggest misconception is that any of this biblical nonsense is real. It's just mythology, a bunch of sky-fairy stories for people who can't think for themselves. Grow up, folks!
You beat me to the punch. My post was the same as yours. And correct, the bible, along with imaginary sky people, is nothing but delusion. And when a group believes in the same jibberish, it's (to quote Bill Haher) delusion by consensus.
You miss the point of the article. Here is an author who wrote an articulate, well-thought-out discussion of how the Bible is relevant to the human experience. He doesn't claim it's factual, or static. But you're so anti-religion that you can't even understand his argument for a rather humanist interpretation of the Bible. You just hear "Bible", and your knee-jerk reaction is to reject it.
For my fellow believers: Look at this as a call to action to show our faith in word, thought, deed. To those who do not share the faith: Please continue to challenge us to show that God the Father, God the Son, God The Holy Spirit is truth and not just one more man made myth. Thanks to the former Bishop for sparking debate.
It's quite ok to criticize someone, but not their beliefs. Stop judging people. It's because of people like you that the American public remains the "arrogant bunch across the pond".
What makes you believe that everything in the bible is delusional? What proof do you have?
This man is wrong about the bible.
He says that books were penned too many years after the events occurred. He has no proof for this, so he assumes that we will believe him simply because he said it. It's NOT TRUE.
The things he says about the bible ARE NOT TRUE EITHER.
Abraham's son Isaac loved his enemies by letting them steal 2 wells that he had dug. The Law of Moses teaches men to love their enemies in Exodus 23:4-5. The fact that our Creator inspired judgment on evil nations that were burning their sons & daughters in the fire to various idols does not make Israel a hater of their enemies. Rather, they were a tool of justice on wicked nations.
A loving Creator is not a foreign concept to the law of Moses:
Deut. 10:18 – "He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.
Deut. 33:3 – Yes, He loves the people; All His saints are in Your hand
This man, to his own shame, DOES NOT KNOW THE BIBLE.
Hmmm...believe a Bible scholar or some random True Believer who probably thinks Adam came before Eve? Even rudimentary scientific knowledge would understand that female DNA would have to preceed male.
Yeah, your saber rattling insistence that YOU ARE RIGHT and YOU KNOW BETTER is exactly the type of thing he is talking about that is at the heart of the problem. He believes the bible and religion in general should exist to serve all people and create a better place for everyone. You want religion to only serve you, as a tool to show off your big bible brains, or to convice people you are SMART. You are right, though. You have a monopoly on theology – you've got all the answers. Not some dumb guy who spends his life researching this sort of thing.
"A loving Creator is not a foreign concept to the law of Moses:"
It's estimated that the Bible lists God supporting the death of over 1,000,000 people not counting the Flood..
At one time,God torturously killed virtually every man, woman (pregnant or not), child, and fetus on the face of the earth.
Loving? lol.
I don't care what his credentials are. What he said about the bible is simply not true, and I provided the bible references. If he was such an expert on the bible, surely he would know about those verses
Dear Tom,
You need to research the information that Bishop Spong talks about. Put down the Bible and learn the historical facts about the creation of the Bible and the gospels from other sources. You might not like what you read, but the Bishop seems to be right on.
How many people have been put to death for murder? That's justice, not hate.
So since you say what he says isn't true should we just believe what you say IS true because you said it? Please present your proof, sir.
He got the interview, you didn't. You're going to need more that a few catchy excerpts there Pastor come lately.
Tom is sooooooooooo CORRECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The biggest reason people try to disprove GOD is because they are selfish, and self centered and do not want to put someone else first, or ahead of themselves. GOD is a loving God, and the bible is the only faith that does not contradict itself. I agree you can not take the bible totally literally, but, if you take the overall meaning of it, which is LOVE, TOLLERANCE, PEACE, AND HELPING ONE ANOTHER, then you will see the true meaning of the bible. GOD IS GOOD, HOLY SPIRIT POWER TO ALL BELIEVERS. And to the non believers, I have had 100% proof of GOD in my life, and will never give up my FAITH due to skeptics, and people who like to serve the Devil, who also is smart enough himself to know that GOD is real.
Yeah! He's only a bishop of the Episcopal Church who spent years and years and years studying scripture in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. What the hell does he know? You, on the other hand, who have received revelation from god, are so much more knowledgeable.....
BTW, the scripture you provided is not "proof". Any Tom, Dick or Harry can write anything they want and call it truth, wether it be on the internet or on a scroll. Let me try....
The bible is fake and God is dead. That is the truth. I have no proof to back that up, but I swear it's true. I promise!
Do you believe me?
@ Scott
"LOVE, TOLLERANCE, PEACE, AND HELPING ONE ANOTHER,"
Go read Deuteronomy and then come back and tell me about the love and all that jazz. 🙂
What he said about the bible is not true and I provided the scriptures to show this. If he doesn't know those scriptures, how can you trust the rest of what he says about the bible?
converting the "sinner" is a full time job for some people and so is teaching the converted - so basically the church is like a school and the donations are the tuition in a sense - nothing sinister here unless someone exploits this.
The biggest misconception is that Jesus loved the poor. The fact is, he hated them as much as we do. Soon, when the Conservative Bible is issued, all will be revealed. You see, the Bible is based on the interpretations of scholars, you know, those liberal liars who hide behind the walls of the world's universities. Today's most brilliant conservative scholars are reinterpreting the original writings, and you will be surprised at what they are finding. More to come.
Your tag says all we need to know about you.
I can't wait to read about the EPA, NAACP, and the ACLU, being organizations of Satan. Grover Norquist will be one of the 12 new apostles.
Dorkus, you are a simple idiotic moron. I like how you want to change the reading of a stupid book written by stupid people that didn't understand science. How about this, stop believing in science and wait until you are lifted to heaven. Sell all of your crap and drive around waiting for the "end of days." Oh wait, there are already idiots doing that.
Tell you what, just donate you crap, so that somone with a brain can do something good with it.
You are stupid and simple. It's too bad we can't keep you from having idiot kids. Hopefully you don't have any idiot offspring running aroung. Tell you what, I'll pay for you to get your GED, sound good? Maybe I'll get you some cookies too. Like that?
Finally, a Christian who uses common sense when discussing the Bible. The Bishops comments are similar to what non-believers have been saying all along. Unfortunately the hard core happy clappers will continue to believe their own version and refuse to listen. You can see it in their responses.
He agrees with nonbelievers? Shock.
That is because he is not a believer in God either.
Perhaps he believes in God in a Deistic sense and doesn't subscribe in the manmade denominations.
JOregon, it is *you* who are not a believer in God. You, rather, are a believer in the works of man, blinded by your desire to be *told* the truth by other people rather than have it revealed to you by God Himself.