The 100 Minute Bible
I've not talked about my faith much recently - something I perhaps ought to rectify given the interesting comments, opinions and insights that such postings produced.
Anyway, many of you will have doubtless heard about the '100 Minute Bible' which has hit the headlines in the last week. The idea is that it is a shortened version of the Bible which can be read in 100 Minutes apparently. I shall reserve judgement until I've seen a copy for myself, but if it conveys the essence of the Christian Message, encourages more people to read the Bible and improves their Biblical knowledge then it could be a Good Thing.
As the 'Have Your Say' column on the BBC News Page shows, people certainly seem to have a lot of opinions. What angers me however is the sheer ignorance (and often arrogance) displayed by many.
For example, the person who said that 'I have already released the 10-second version and I publish it here for free: "Be good to one another and you will go to Heaven"' might think that he's being clever but unfortunately he is completely misguided.
And the person who decided that he was big enough and clever enough to sum up the Bible in 10 words ('"Do as we say and do not think for yourself." There you go, Bible summed up in ten words. As for the 100-minute version? I would say that is 99 minutes and 50 seconds longer than it needs to be') couldn't have made it more obvious that he's got less idea about the contents of the Bible than I have knowledge about the Ukranian Highway Code. Muppet. Perhaps if people like him took the time to read the Bible (100 Minutes or not) then we could at least enjoy an intelligent and educated debate.
Amidst all the argument and criticism however, someone did raise an interesting point:
'Can we please have some criticism in similar terms of the Koran and Islam? As an irrelevance to the modern world, a brainwashing cult etc. I am sick of hearing my faith subjected to this sort of abuse while this other religion is sacrosanct. It's discrimination, that's what it is.'
I trust that he was being sarcastic and doesn't really wish to encourage criticism of the Koran in the same way, but I do feel that his point is justified. Personally I quite like it when people comment on, criticise and question my faith but even so I can't help wondering how many of you would do it if I was a Muslim.
There's hopefully a lot to think about in today's posting, but I shall leave it on a more light-hearted note with some related humour from YouthBlog
Anyway, many of you will have doubtless heard about the '100 Minute Bible' which has hit the headlines in the last week. The idea is that it is a shortened version of the Bible which can be read in 100 Minutes apparently. I shall reserve judgement until I've seen a copy for myself, but if it conveys the essence of the Christian Message, encourages more people to read the Bible and improves their Biblical knowledge then it could be a Good Thing.
As the 'Have Your Say' column on the BBC News Page shows, people certainly seem to have a lot of opinions. What angers me however is the sheer ignorance (and often arrogance) displayed by many.
For example, the person who said that 'I have already released the 10-second version and I publish it here for free: "Be good to one another and you will go to Heaven"' might think that he's being clever but unfortunately he is completely misguided.
And the person who decided that he was big enough and clever enough to sum up the Bible in 10 words ('"Do as we say and do not think for yourself." There you go, Bible summed up in ten words. As for the 100-minute version? I would say that is 99 minutes and 50 seconds longer than it needs to be') couldn't have made it more obvious that he's got less idea about the contents of the Bible than I have knowledge about the Ukranian Highway Code. Muppet. Perhaps if people like him took the time to read the Bible (100 Minutes or not) then we could at least enjoy an intelligent and educated debate.
Amidst all the argument and criticism however, someone did raise an interesting point:
'Can we please have some criticism in similar terms of the Koran and Islam? As an irrelevance to the modern world, a brainwashing cult etc. I am sick of hearing my faith subjected to this sort of abuse while this other religion is sacrosanct. It's discrimination, that's what it is.'
I trust that he was being sarcastic and doesn't really wish to encourage criticism of the Koran in the same way, but I do feel that his point is justified. Personally I quite like it when people comment on, criticise and question my faith but even so I can't help wondering how many of you would do it if I was a Muslim.
There's hopefully a lot to think about in today's posting, but I shall leave it on a more light-hearted note with some related humour from YouthBlog
Comments
John 14v6
Did you take that nice little quote of yours from one of your lecturers? It amazes me that anyone studying theology can be so ignorant of the Bible, to be honest.
Yes, the Bible does contain the record of Jesus Christ, but it is far more than that - and I would never say that Jesus was 'merely' anything.
If it is revelation that you want then you could start near the beginning with the Law being revealed to Moses. You could then work your way through the revelations of quite a few prophets and then move on in to the New Testament, where the last book is called Revelation and is broadly a revelation of heaven given to John.
I am not familiar with the Qur'an, but I am amazed that you, a mere student, have taken it upon yourself to decide which religious groups are allowed to value their Holy Book as sacred without fear of derision and which are not.