> Bible Analysis, Commentary

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Love and the Bible: Understanding the True Nature of Christian Love
Christianity is often described as a religion founded upon love, but it might be worth inquiring more closely just what "love" is supposed to mean in this case. Christian behavior often suggests that "love" has more to do with submission and repression and this may not be an aberration. It can be argued that this is what "love" meant all along in the context of humans' relationship with God.

Credibility of Bible Miracles: Any Reason to Believe?
Christians often act as though the biblical accounts of miracles are self-evident reasons to believe in the truth of Christianity and of the Bible itself. Think for a moment about how strange that is: incredible tales that wouldn't normally be accepted at face value in any other context are suddenly treated as meeting the highest possible standards of truth and reliability. What gives here?

Biblical Criticism & Atheism: Why Bother with the Bible?
Should a person launch into a detailed and involved study of the entire Bible before deciding that atheism is more reasonable than Christianity or any other sort of theism? Some Christians seem to think so by the way the act %u2014 sometimes asking, for example, just how much an atheist has studied the Bible. Self-professed Christians aren't asked this, so why the double standard?

Symbolic vs. Literal Interpretations of the Bible
There is a lot of debate among scholars about the nature of the Bible and just how historically accurate its various tales are. Some favor a literal interpretation that takes things as completely accurate; others argue that far more is metaphorical and symbolic than most realize. Too few Christians are familiar with these debates or the various arguments offered by both sides.

Questioning Assumptions Behind Biblical Interpretation]
"The New Testament is not available with no strings attached. It is invisibly enshrouded in attitudes and opinions that from antiquity have determined the manner in which the New Testament is read. The shrouds are difficult to remove. They are indicated by a number of code words: one reads the New Testament in faith, as Holy Scripture, in the context of the church, and so on."

Interpreting the Bible: Cultural, Social Contexts of the Authors
"The recognition of the interpreter's situation as a factor in appropriating text is nothing new. Christians of all stripes have long recognized it. That is why the few churches today practice foot washing or exchange the "holy kiss," despite direct commands to do so in the New Testament. ... These practices are all recognized as cultural, and modern culture has changed."

Plurality and Unity in Biblical Texts (Book Notes: Presumed Guilty)
The texts in the Bible present multiple perspectives created over an extended period of time; they are often treated by believers, however, as if they were a single, unified perspective laid down at a single point in time. This contradiction can result in problematic understandings of the Bible.

The Bible & Universal Salvation: Will Everyone Be Saved Or Only A Few?
The question of salvation is vital to Christian theology (even though there is good reason to suspect that it was invented by Paul and has no basis in Old Testament stories). But the big question is: who gets saved and why? There are passages in the Bible supporting the possibility of Universal Salvation. The arguments are strong enough to have convinced a few Christians through the ages. Unfortunately, this makes Christianity irrelevant, so the appeal of this doctrine is understandably slight.

Original Sin in the Bible: A Christian Creation and Imposition on the Jewish Scriptures
The first mention of the concept of Original Sin is found, not in Genesis, where the fatal event was supposed to happen, but in the fifth chapter of Romans, written by Paul. According to Paul, humanity was cursed because Adam sinned when he ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If Original Sin is a doctrine created by Christianity and imposed upon Jewish scriptures, what reason is there to take it seriously?

The Bible and Heaven: What is Heaven? What Does the Bible Say About Heaven?
Assuming that salvation is necessary, and assuming that you have lived in a way to merit salvation, and/or assuming that anyone at all is saved, the final question becomes: saved for what? Just what is it that all those happily 'saved' people are supposed to get, anyway?

Biblical Communism: What Does the Bible Say About Communism & Socialism?
One topic of discussion which comes up every so often is the connection between fervent evangelical Christianity and equally fervent anti-communism. In the minds of many, atheism and communism are indelibly linked, and political actions opposed to communism have long taken the form of strengthening public Christianity. In reality, there are biblical passages that strongly support communism or socialism.

Bible FAQ
What does the Bible really say about salvation? About heaven? About sin? Is the Bible credible and believable?

Argument from the Bible
"Almost all evangelical Christians... would be a use of the Bible to prove God's existence within natural theology rather than within revealed theology, since the book's features are supposed to be evident even to (open-minded) skeptics."

Biblical Indecency
An online guide to the wonderfully lewd and perverse parts of the "good book."

Bible Sex Facts
Is heavy petting wrong? Is it OK to fake an orgasism? Someone has found the answers in scripture!

Bible Atrocities
But not just any old atrocities - the ones either commanded or committed by The Big Guy Himself.

The Bible In Pig Latin
I guess it was only a matter of time. Unfortunately only three parts are available, and one has a Pig Latin link.

Bible Atrocities 2
Now let's examine what God's people - Jews and Christians - managed to do all on their own. I think that they were good students.

Polytheism of the Bible?
An interesting interpretation of the Bible...

Bible in Theory & Practice
Christians like to say that their religion is based on the Bible, but some of the scriptures conflict with actual Christian teachings.

Primary Colors of the Bible
Methods of textual analysis can lead to clues of the identy of anonymous authors. What if that is applied to the Bible?

Queen Jane's Version
A fun and irreverant new Bible.

Which Bible?
"When somebody says that the Bible is inerrant, a good reply is to ask "Which Bible?" [...] How did this textual vareity come about, and what significance does it have?"