#New Revised Standard Version Bible

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Our Sins Cast Into The Sea

He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. — Micah 7:19 | New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved. Cross References: Isaiah 33:24; Isaiah 38:17; Isaiah 43:25; Jeremiah 31:34; Jeremiah 33:8; Jeremiah 50:20; Hebrews 8:12

Read full chapter

Notes: This verse speaks to God's unwavering compassion, forgiveness, and complete removal of sin.

[quotesfromscripture]

Never again

"The rest shall hear and be afraid, and a crime such as this shall never again be committed among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."

(Deuteronomy 19:20-21 NRSVA, 1995)

[anniflamma]

Can I please ask what version of the bible you read? I wanna read it too but I don't know shit about the bible

It’s hard for me to recommend just one because I always compare and contrast different translations when I read a specific story from the Bible. Buuut….

If you want to read the Hebrew Bible, then I would recommend Robert Alter’s translation.

But if you want to read the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament together, then the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is the best one I think. Both versions include good footnotes and explanations when reading the text.

[bi-numi-aliyani]

Jehovah, Jehovah, Jehovah!... No, actually, it's Yahweh,

A somewhat notable Deity considered by the ancient Israelite people their National God and first attested from the early 9th century BCE.¹

This c. 1518 painting by Raphael is based on a mystical vision of 𒀭Yahweh attributed to the prophet Ezekiel who belonged to a priestly lineage said to be descended from the legendary Joshua. Ezekiel was active during the time the Kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in the early 6th century BCE. (Public domain)

𒀭Yahweh was also apparently worshipped among the Edomites, the Israelites' southern neighbors, based on a reference to “Yahweh of Teman” in an inscription on an early 8th century BCE jar discovered at the site of Kuntillet Ajrud in the Sinai with Teman being a major Edomite clan.¹ It's believed the Ajrud outpost was established by the northern Kingdom of Israel as the region fell into their domain after a botched invasion by the southern Kingdom of Judah. The two kingdoms were also under the influence of the Neo-Assyrian Empire at this time with contemporaneous Assyrian records noting both Judahite and northern Israelite representatives at the capital city of Kalhu (known as Nimrud in modern times).²

Illustrations of the two vessels from Kuntillet Ajrud with translations. It's debated if the 𒀭Bes-type figures on Pithos A are meant to depict 𒀭Yahweh and His Consort 𒀭Asheratah, but it should be noted the righthand figure does not actually have visible genitals as the outdated illustration here shows.³ (Source)

Although 𒀭Yahweh is primarily associated with monotheistic religion nowadays for obvious reasons, historical evidence indicates He was first worshipped in a polytheistic context as the Israelite culture distinguished itself from the Canaanite milieu it emerged from. This can even be seen within the Hebrew Bible; A wonderful example is found in the Book of Habakkuk in the form of an archaic Hebrew poem describing 𒀭Yahweh and His Company including the Plague-God 𒀭Resheph (His Name is usually mistranslated as “plague” in English Bibles) battling sea monsters. Another one of the most noted can be seen in the Book of Deuteronomy and indicates 𒀭Yahweh was probably worshipped as One of the Seventy (symbolically “many”) Sons of 𒀭El:

⁸ When Elyon apportioned the nations, when He divided humankind, He fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the Gods; ⁹ Yahweh's own portion was His people, Jacob His allotted share.

Deuteronomy 32:8–9 (adapted from the New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition, 2021)

𒀭Yahweh very much fits the form of other Storm-Gods worshipped in cultures of the Syro-Palestinian region during the Iron Age. The other most famous example of such a Deity is the Levantine manifestation of 𒀭Ba'al Who is cast as 𒀭Yahweh's greatest Rival in the collection of texts within the Hebrew Bible known as the Deuteronomistic history, although the presence of 𒀭Ba'al's name at Ajrud would suggest this conflict is a later idea. It's even been suggested 𒀭Yahweh was originally associated specifically with destructive elements of weather such as flash floods.⁴ Although there are some respectable academic claims of pre-Israelite attestations of 𒀭Yahweh from the Late Bronze Age, none of these are secure and all of them are very much contested.⁵ The scholar Christian Frevel also fascinatingly proposed in 2021 that 𒀭Yahweh was the tutelary Deity of the Omride clan which came to rule the northern Kingdom of Israel for over a century and established its capital of Samaria.¹

A modern artistic impression of a ritual performed by ancient Israelites at the Temple of 𒀭Yahweh in Jerusalem during the Iron Age. The dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem built by King Solomon (c. 1910) by William Hole. (Public domain)

The emergence of monotheism from traditional Israelite belief is an incredibly convoluted topic that I don't intend to get into the weeds of here. One of the most recognizable milestones therein, though, was the religious reforms of King Josiah of Judah shortly before our dear Ezekiel's time. This saw the absolute consolidation of religious authority in the Temple of 𒀭Yahweh at Jerusalem and even the forced closure of all other cultic sites in Judah. However, there's also direct evidence that 𒀭Yahweh continued to be worshipped among other Gods and Goddesses well after the monotheistic, Jerusalem-centric religion which came to be known as Judaism had entered its Second Temple Period.

Most notably a community of Israelites living on the island of Elephantine at ancient Egypt's southern frontier had a Pantheon in which 𒀭Yahweh was associated with the Goddess 𒀭Anat and another God named 𒀭Bethel.⁶ They even had Priestesses of Yahweh and were apparently on good terms with Jerusalem as indicated by the Aramaic-language texts written in Egyptian Demotic script discovered at Elephantine. An analysis of the narrative of Aaron's Rod in the Book of Numbers has also led to the alluring proposition that worship of the famous 𒀭Asherah as 𒀭Yahweh's Consort may have continued even within the Jerusalemite cult itself during this period.⁷

An altar of incense discovered at the site of ancient Ta'anakh. Although it's dated to the tenth century BCE, predating any secure attestations of 𒀭Yahweh, some researchers believe the top and second-to-bottom registers are intended to symbolize Him with His 𒀭Asherah likewise on the alternating registers. (Source)

There's so many fascinating developments being made in archaeology and the study of history unraveling more about the ancient Israelites and the worship of 𒀭Yahweh before our very eyes. I honestly feel incredibly privileged to be alive just in time to witness such a thing. Although I haven't “worked with” 𒀭Yahweh myself within my primarily Canaanite Pagan practice, I'd be very interested to hear and discuss different perspectives on this fascinating ancient Deity and it'd make me very happy to see what some of you think. Shulmu 𒁲𒈬 and thank you so much for reading!

Another thing

Given what part of the world this all concerns, I feel I would be morally remiss to say nothing of the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people in their homeland and particularly in Gaza. I find this important because earlier today the so-called President of the United States Donald Trump expressed the US's intent to “take over” and ethnically cleanse Gaza at a public event alongside Benjamin Netanyahu, the so-called Prime Minister of Israel. In the face of such great evil, I feel obligated by simple virtue of being a human to state I wholeheartedly support the full liberation of Palestine and an end to the unjust and unlawful occupation with all it has wrought. Arab.org is a website which allows you to support Palestinians via a simple click of a button with no donation necessary along with providing further resources. Free Palestine 🇵🇸

References

Frevel, Christian. “When and from Where Did YHWH Emerge? Some Reflections on Early Yahwism in Israel and Judah.” Entangled Religions 12:2 (March 30, 2021). https://doi.org/10.46586/er.12.2021.8776.

Na’aman, Nadav. “Samaria and Judah in an Early 8th-Century Assyrian Wine List.” Tel Aviv 46:1 (January 2, 2019): pp. 12–20. https://www.academia.edu/43169801.

This was clarified by archaeologist Ze'ev Meshel in communication with Nir Hasson reporting for Haaretz, https://www.facebook.com/share/1JASsUsdcN.

Fleming, Daniel E. “Yahweh among the Baals: Israel and the Storm Gods.” Essay. In Mighty Baal: Essays in Honor of Mark S. Smith, edited by Stephen C. Russel and Esther J. Hamori, pp. 160–74. Harvard Semitic Studies 66. Leiden, Netherlands; Boston, Massachusetts, United States: Brill, 2020.

Pfeiffer, Henrik. “The Origin of YHWH and its Attestation.” Essay. In The Origins of Yahwism, edited by Markus Witte and Jürgen van Oorschot, pp. 115–44. Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift Für Die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 484. Berlin, Germany; Boston, Massachusetts, United States: De Gruyter, 2017.

Cornell, Colin. “Judeans and Goddesses at Elephantine.” Ancient Near East Today 7:11 (November 2019). American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR). https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2019/11/Judeans-and-Goddesses-at-Elephantine.

Eichler, Raanan. “Aaron’s Flowering Staff: A Priestly Asherah?” TheTorah.com, 2019. https://www.thetorah.com/article/aarons-flowering-staff-a-priestly-asherah.

[bluecatwriter]

Jonathan: Do I have to read it, oh my dear one?

Me: (cries)

Jonathan: "I will keep my mouth as it were in a bridle: while the ungodly is in my sight. I held my tongue, and spake nothing: I kept silence, yea, even from good words; but it was pain and grief to me. My heart was hot within me; and while I was thus musing the fire kindled."

Me: (cries harder) Do you have to remind me!

OKAY BUT THE INCLUSION OF THIS LINE HAS ME GOING FERAL

(Theological ramble incoming. You have been warned.)

Jonathan is reading from the Book of Common Prayer, but the scripture is Psalm 39. (I originally thought that this was a quote from Jeremiah 20:9, which uses similar language to show the prophet's frustration with burning up inside if he refuses his call to prophesy, but this is even better.)

The psalmist here is a great example of how people's responses to God in the Bible do not fit neatly into the "unquestioning obedience and reverence" framework any more than Jonathan's actions do. The narrator of this psalm speaks despairingly about the vanity of life, begs God to stop heaping hardship on him ("Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand"), and while he expresses near the middle that his ultimate hope is in God ("And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee"), he also flat-out asks God to leave him alone (the last line of the psalm in King James Version says "O spare me, that I may recover strength/before I go hence, and be no more," though I love the more modern translations such as the New Revised Standard version, which reads, "Turn your gaze away from me, that I may smile again/before I depart and am no more").

It's a gut-wrenching psalm that doesn't flinch from the realities of life: things feel meaningless, hardships are heaped on those who are faithful, humans are fragile, riches cannot safeguard against death— and the right to rage and weep before God is a given. It ends not with the line of hope from the middle but with a challenge to God, and the main conflict of the psalm is not resolved or neatly tied up. Like all the Wisdom literature in the Bible, it invites the readers to sit in the tension and the confusion and the pain, rather than hastening on to a "correct answer" or even a sense of resolution.

I assume this is why it's included in the Book of Common Prayer's burial service: death cannot be tied up with a bow, or smoothed over with platitudes. This psalm expresses solidarity with people from every generation who have tried to make sense of their hardships and pain and the devastating reality of mortality.

Anyway, inclusion of this line in this scene was absolutely stunning. I suspect that many of Bram Stoker's original readers would have familiarity with the burial service since it would be read at every funeral, so adding in the words was wonderful to enhance the experience for the modern non-Anglican reader. This passage helped drive home how thematically resonant these words are with what's happening in the story in the moment. Very cool.

[and-her-saints]

What do you recommend for someone who's starting to read the bible? Like where to start, complementary readings, methods of study, etc

short answer: not really, i am so sorry. i have not found anything i would publicly recommend. there has always been some really heavy drawbacks that make me not want to back them.

the only thing (method-ish) i would recommend for Gospel readings wholeheartedly is the podcast Imagine: A Guide to Jesuit Prayer . however, it IS a contemplation podcast. not a bible study.

long answer: hmmmmm… my buddy El really recommends the The New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSV-CE) but i do not own it, i pretty much only read the bible in Spanish (REINA-VALERA‼️🔥) but the NRSV is a very good, recent and accurate translation 👍 or so i’ve heard��

in regards to Bible studies… i’ve taken so many Bible study/Theology online courses and they have all SUCKED 👎 i don’t have many (if any) recs on that end.

many (many) people would recommend “Bible in a Year” with Fr. Mike Schmitz, however! i cannot stand him (respectfully) i am SO sorry…

this America article has some really good points on how to approach Catholic bible studies and has some recommendations.

i must finally add that i will be checking out the Agustine Institute’s podcast on the Bible/Bible in a Year because i’ve really enjoyed the experience of the “Amen” app. but i’ll have to give it a shot first.

i’m sorry this was SO unhelpful. i’m sure some people on here might have some actual suggestions and recommendations. pls add them. pls….. for the sake of us all…..

[catwingsthespatula]

1) Which religion/spiritual path do you identify with?

6) Do you have lots of religious paraphernalia?

8) What is your favourite passage from your sacred text, if you have one?

Thank you for the asks!

I am a Christian! Anything more specific than that I'm still in the process of discerning--I converted three years ago, found and was baptized in a local Episcopal church, currently attend both that church and a non-denominational but vaguely charismatic church (deeply involved with both communities), and am investigating Catholicism. If anyone asks, though, I'm a Christian, and I don't necessarily want to get more specific than that at this time.

6. Not really! That said, here's a list:

("Not really," I said in my foolishness. List and remaining answer below the cut.)

The HarperCollins study bible, New Revised Standard Version, fully revised and updated, including apocryphal deuterocanonical books, with concordance. Paperback, still somehow the heaviest book I own. Used to be my mom's. Affectionately referred to as the Holy Brick

The Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version, college edition. Printed in 1962, came into my possession because one of my mom's friends was clearing out their office. Very seldom taken off the shelf

(Side note: I need to get a physical Bible I can actually carry around with me at some point, but I haven't done that yet)

The Book of Common Prayer (Episcopal prayer book containing various prayers and liturgical instructions), 1979 edition

My baptismal certificate, a ceremonial candle I was given on that occasion, and a copy of the bulletin from the service at which I was baptized (Easter vigil 2022)

The tiny metal cross necklace I received as a baptism present from my baptismal sponsor (basically my godmother, but we don't call her that because I was baptized as an adult), which I wore almost every day until the chain broke in a tragic hairbrushing accident a few months ago

A larger metal cross charm with wings emerging from it, which I purchased as part of a beaded necklace from a street vendor--the necklace unfortunately did not last, but I'm still attempting to find a chain for the charm that will actually hold up, because that charm is awesome

A prayer shawl knitted and blessed for healing by members of the healing prayer ministry at my Episcopal church, which lives on my bed as part of my blankets and which I have been known to wrap around my head during migraines

A slip of paper bearing Psalm 138:3, which in the selected translation (the paper doesn't specify, and I haven't been able to track it down in cursory investigation) reads "When I asked for your help, you answered my prayer and gave me courage." Offered to me by the aforementioned healing prayer ministry on a day shortly after I began working as a caregiver when I desperately needed it and now lives in my wallet at all times

A pocket icon of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. Given to me by @dragonsthough101, who is not Christian but found it in a shop somewhere and thought I would like it

A small blue plastic and fabric folding thing that snaps closed and contains various Catholic imagery (mostly Marian, some crucified Jesus and sacred heart, a short prayer in Spanish, and a tiny medal that's honestly too small for me to identify who or what it depicts). Given to me by my sister, who is not Christian but found it in a shop somewhere and thought I would like it

The Moth of the Holy Spirit, a plushie moth purchased for me by @annamariehamilton-unofficial to celebrate my first public act of prophetic prayer (long story, makes more sense in context)

Yeah. That's more than I thought lol. And it's not even counting religious books that are not in and of themselves sacred or liturgical. Oops.

8. Wow, that's difficult! There are so many passages from Scripture that mean so much to me, but right now, I'm gonna have to go with Psalm 139. Particularly verses 7-10: "Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." (NIV)

Thank you again for the asks, friend! Anyone who's still reading this, feel free to send me asks yourself, from this list or just if you have any questions about any of this! You're also welcome to message me if you'd like to talk at greater length! Have a lovely day!

[wolfythewitch]

Maybe try "The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha, New Revised Standard Version"?

Ooo I like the sound of that title

[vital-information]

"In 1946, the term 'homosexuals' appeared for the first time in an English Bible. This new figure appeared in a list of sinners barred--according to a verse in the Apostles Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians--from inheriting the kingdom of God. The word change was made by leading Bible scholars, members of the translation committee that labored for over a decade to produce the Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible. With an approach inspired by text-critical scholarship, many of their choices upset readers of the older King James Version, the favored Bible of Protestant America since the colonial era. Amid the outrage over other changes--to the red-letter words of Jesus and the old Shakespearean idiom--another modernizing innovation went virtual unremarked. Two enigmatic Greek nouns, referenced in the King James as 'effeminate' and 'abusers of themselves with mankind,' now appeared as a single, streamlined 'homosexual.' Subsequent Bible commentaries approached the new term as age-old tradition...

Some Bible readers, however, responded with surprise to this textual change. In everyday use, the verse in I Corinthians had other meanings. The author of a 1956 advice book on how to write sermons recounted the embarrassing tale of one minister's well-loved sermon. That sermon, delivered on various occasions, expanded on the 'general meaning' of the Apostle Paul's reference to the 'effeminate,' which the pastor took as warning against 'the soft, the pliable, those who take the easy road.' The take-away point was that Christians must undertake the difficult path of faith. It was a fine sermon, or so the pastor thought, until he read the RSV. He discovered 'to his amazement and chagrin; that 'effeminate' was translated 'homosexuals.' The confusion was a lesson, the author of this advice book chided, on the need to use recent translations. A check through earlier Bible commentaries confirms that outdated reference tools may indeed have contributed to this pastor's error. An eariler edition of The Interpreter's Bible, published in 1929, said nothing at all about homosexuality in its commentary on the same verse in I Corinthians. It noted that the Apostle Paul was keenly aware of the 'idolatry and immorality' of the pagan world. However, the named vice that so perturbed the apostle was 'self indulgence of appetite and speech,' an interpretation that more readily fit with the pastor's call to a disciplined faith. If Christianity did indeed set itself against homosexuality from the first, then this popular Christian reference text neglected to make that prohibition clear.

Several scholars of American religion have puzzled over the peculiar silences of early twentieth-century Christian texts on the topic of same-sex sexuality. After surveying the published Christian literature of that time, Randall Balmer and Lauren Winner concluded that during those decades, 'the safest thing to say about homosexuality was nothing.' They note that even the published commentary on 'sodomy,' which would seem to be the clearest antecedent to later talk about homosexuality, yielded little that would illumine a long tradition of same-sex regulation. Although many Bible reference tools mentioned that damnable 'sin of Sodom,' the muddled and circular commentary on this 'loathsome vice' offered little that clarified its nature. Historian Rebecca Davis, on her own hunt to find Christian teachings about homosexuality, similarly notes the profound absence in early and mid-twentieth century Protestant literature--and especially in the writing by conservative fundamentalists. 'The extant printed record,' she observes, 'suggests that they avoided discussions of homosexuality almost entirely.' Adding further substance to this void are the findings from Alfred Kinsey's study of the sexual behavior of white American men, conducted between 1936 and 1946. The study suggested that Christians, although well acquainted with the sinfulness of masturbation and premarital intercourse, knew very little about what their churches had to say about same-sex acts. 'There has not been so frequent or so free discussion of the sinfulness of the homosexual in religious literature,' Kinsey wrote. 'Consequently, it is not unusual to find even devoutly religious persons who become involved in the homosexual without any clear understanding of the church's attitude on the subject.' Before the 1940s, the Bible's seemingly plain condemnation of homosexuality was not plain at all.

...

What this book [Reforming Sodom] shows is that the broad common sense about the Bible's specifically same-sex meaning was an invention of the twentieth century. Today's antihomosexual animus, that is, is not the singular residue of an ancient damnation. Rather, it is the product of a more complex modern synthesis. To find the influential generators of that synthesis, moreover, we should look not to fundamentalist preachers but to their counterparts. Religious liberals, urbane modernizers of the twentieth century, studiously un-muddled the confused category of 'sodomitical sin' and assigned to it a singular same-sex meaning. The ideas informing this shift germinated out of the therapeutic sciences of psychiatry and psychology, an emerging field of the late nineteenth century that promised scientific frameworks for measuring and studying human sexual behavior. Liberal Protestants were early adopters of these scientific insights, which percolated through various early twentieth-century projects of moral reform. Among the yield from the convivial pairing of medicine and morality was the midcentury translation of the RSV. The newly focused homosexual prohibitions evidenced the grafting of new therapeutic terms onto ancient roots. The scores of subsequent Bible translations produced in later decades adopted and sharpened the RSV's durable precedent. In the shelves of late twentieth-century translations and commentaries--none more influential than the 1978 New International Version, which quickly displaced the King James as America's best-selling Bible--American Christians read what might be called a 'homosexualized' Bible. Instead of the archaic sinners and enigmatic sodomy talk found in the King James, these modern Bibles spoke clearly and plainly about the tradition's prohibition against same-sex behavior. The subsequent debate about the implications of these self-evident meanings overlooked a nearly invisible truth: the Bible's plain speech about homosexuality issued from a newly implanted therapeutic tongue."

Heather R. White, Reforming Sodom: Protestants and the Rise of Gay Rights

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Do All Things in Love

Let all that you do be done in love. — 1 Corinthians 16:14 | New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved. Cross References: 1 Corinthians 14:1; 1 Corinthians 16:15

[emptyjanitor]

Which bible is the real inerrant bible? 

Spoiler: none of them cause that's not how this works.

First and foremost, it doesn't say anywhere in the bible that we are supposed to read the bible literally and or as an inerrant body of work. Nowhere. Period. At all. To claim otherwise is a lie. That is fact. But beyond that I will lay out why the idea doesn't even make sense anyway. 

1. The Bible Isn’t a Single Book – It’s a Collection of Collections

There are many versions of the Bible, depending on which tradition you look at:

• Protestant Bible: 66 books

• Catholic Bible: 73 books

• Eastern Orthodox Bible: up to 81 books

• Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Bible: as many as 88 books

If the Bible were truly universal and inerrant, there wouldn’t be disagreement on what even counts as scripture.

⸻

2. Massive Translation Variation

There are over 3,000 different Bible translations across languages – and even within the same language. In English alone, you have:

• King James Version (KJV)

• New International Version (NIV)

• English Standard Version (ESV)

• New Living Translation (NLT)

• Revised Standard Version (RSV), etc.

Each uses different source texts and linguistic philosophies (literal vs. dynamic equivalence), leading to significantly different wording and meaning. An “inerrant” Bible can’t depend on which translation you happen to pick.

⸻

3. Textual Contradictions and Variants

There are tens of thousands of known textual variants in the manuscripts of the Bible. These include:

• Different genealogies of Jesus in Matthew 1 vs. Luke 3

• Different death accounts of Judas (hanging in Matthew, falling and bursting open in Acts)

• Resurrection accounts that differ across the four Gospels (who went to the tomb, what they saw, what Jesus said, etc.)

Some contradictions are theological, others are historical. If two passages say fundamentally different things, both can’t be inerrant unless you allow for contradiction within “truth” — which breaks the very definition of inerrancy.

⸻

4. No Original Manuscripts (Autographs) Exist

We don’t have a single original document written by the supposed authors of the Bible — only copies of copies, often centuries removed. What we call “the Bible” is reconstructed from fragments, some of which disagree. So how can one claim inerrancy when we can’t even point to a single, original inerrant text?

⸻

5. Interpretation Is Subjective and Shaped by Culture

Even if a perfect Bible existed, it would still be read and interpreted through human bias, language, and cultural lenses. That’s why we have thousands of denominations — all reading the “same” Bible, yet coming to vastly different conclusions on core doctrines (baptism, salvation, LGBTQ+ issues, women in ministry, etc.).

⸻

Conclusion

The idea of a universal, inerrant Bible is a theological fantasy.

There never was one, because:

• No single version or canon has been universally agreed upon

• No flawless manuscript exists

• No translation is without error or bias

• No interpretation is immune to context and culture

So it’s not just that the Bible has contradictions — it’s that the entire structure of biblical transmission and interpretation makes inerrancy impossible. Faith can still exist and does without inerrancy, but pretending the Bible is a flawless, unified book and is historically and intellectually dishonest and ignorant of historical context.

[bi-numi-aliyani]

A wonder from ancient Canaan

This Iron Age temple of the emergent Israelite/Judean culture at the site of Tell Arad featured two incense altars and two standing stones. Uncovered ostraca identify it as the "House of Yahweh".

Note: Some of the sanctuary at the Tell Arad site featured in these photos is a reconstruction as portions of the original were taken to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem/al-Quds.

This is a stunning archaeological example of how the Israelite culture right down to something like temple architecture emerged from among Canaan. It was constructed early during Iron Age II by the Kingdom of Judah when the upstart cult of 𒀭Yahweh was just emerging onto the historical record.¹ Some scholars have supposed worship of this Deity emerged from the south and was brought by proto-Israelite settlers to the Judean hill country while another theory posits it was introduced in the Kingdom of Israel to the north as the tutelary Deity of the Omride Dynasty's ancestral clan.² Researchers continue to discuss and debate evidence from ancient texts including the Hebrew Bible and from archaeology to hopefully form a better understanding of the ancient Canaanite and Israelite cultures.

Of course the fact 𒀭Yahweh, most famous as the prototype of the monotheistic, "Abrahamic" (yeah, I don't like that word) concept of God, was worshipped in a polytheistic context and the Israelite culture originated within the Canaanite complex isn't a surprise anymore. How the historical record ties with the ancient texts we call "the Bible" is a fascinating subject on its own, but I also like to think about the stories we can surmise from the remains of the ancient world. I think about if in this ancient community one day, friends who were walking by, some who worship 𒀭Ba'al, some who worship 𒀭Yahweh, some who worship 𒀭Kamosh and yet other Deities, might have noticed groups of priests apparently very upset at one another. None of them, though, are worried about whatever particulars the priests might be squabbling about. They briefly laugh and shake their heads then walk on.

According to the Second Book of Kings in the Hebrew Bible, the House of 𒀭Yahweh at Arad was shut down along with any other places of worship in Judah besides Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem by King Josiah during his religious reforms in the late seventh century BCE.³

References

1. The Editors of the Madain Project. “Tel Arad Temple.” Madain Project. https://madainproject.com/tel_arad_temple.

2. Frevel, Christian. “When and from Where Did YHWH Emerge?: Some Reflections on Early Yahwism in Israel and Judah.” Entangled Religions 12:2 (March 30, 2021). https://doi.org/10.46586/er.12.2021.8776.

3. 2 Kings 23:1–20. New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition (2021). https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings%2023%3A1-20&version=NRSVUE.

[bible-word-counter]

I'm super-new to this, how many english translations are there? Which one should I read as a first-time reader? I'm sorry if people've already asked you this

There are over a hundred translations of the Bible into English and over three thousand total for all languages.

The most common ones used are

King James Version (The one I use)

New International Version

New Revised Standard Version

As far as which one to start with? I would say the one that you can understand the best. Though it is fun to read KJV out loud because you sound like a Shakespearean actor

[tajcox]

“How art thou fallen from heauen (o Lucifer) thou faire mornige childe? hast thou gotten a fall euen to the grounde, thou that (notwithstondinge) dyddest subdue the people?”

-The Coverdale Bible 1535

“How art thou fallen from heauen (O Lucifer) thou faire mornynge childe? how hast thou gotten a fall euen to the grounde, and art become weaker then the people?”

- The Great Bible 1539

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? and cut down to the ground, which didst cast lots upon the nations?”

-Geneva Bible 1560

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

- King James Version 1611

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low”

-English Revised Version 1885

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, that didst lay low the nations!”

-American Standard Version 1971

“How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!”

-New International Version 1973

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!”

- New King James 1982

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!”

- English Standard Version 2002

Be careful!! God had made the Bible to be understood plainly. Overtime men had changed words and or phrases thinking that it’s a necessity to be more plain, while in reality their mystifying that which is plain due to traditions. Gods word as a whole, is a perfect chain, one portion linking into and explaining another. True seekers for truth need not err, for not only is the Word of God plain and simple in declaring the way of life, but the Holy Spirit is given as a guide in understanding the way to life therein revealed.

[bones-ivy-breath]

Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner."

Genesis 2.18

To be fully human one needs to be in relation to others who correspond to oneself. Helper, not in a relationship of subordination but of mutuality and interdependence.

The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version ed. Bruce M. Metzger and Roland E. Murphy

[constance-mcentee]

Scriptures Surrendered: the End of an Era

Sunday, 16 March 2025

I apologize in advance if this seems a bit rambly.

I feel like today marked an end of an era for me. Yeah, that's probably a little dramatic. Oh, well.

In 2013, I was rebaptized with my chosen name, in a faith tradition of my own choosing. The baptismal promises I made for myself at that point led me to apply to seminary, Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. I started classes in the fall of 2014

By the fall of 2015, I would drop out of seminary. This was for a variety of reasons, but the main one was that I didn't qualify for the necessary student loans or other financial aid to buy the education. But one of the books I had bought during my abortive attempt at Seminary was the Annotated Oxford Bible, New Revised Standard Edition with Apocrypha. Eventually, I got a similar version of the Tanakh, the Jewish Scriptures.

Today, when I went to the library, I donated my Bible and Tanakh to the Friends of the Library for their bookstore. I'd been holding on to them, thinking I might blog about Christianity. I'd tried short-lived things in the past such as The Idiot Before GOD and had considered doing an online faith community called the Church of Sacred Sinners. I was following the lectionary, Episcopal at this point rather than United Church of Christ which had been my denomination from 1988 to the early 2010s. But I felt unfulfilled by the work.

Also, it just seems that the struggle against what I can only describe as Imperial Christianity was exhausting. I feel it's way too late for Progressive Christians to say things like, "We aren't going to let the conservative Christians steal the Gospel from us!" I feel like that ship sailed and sank by the time Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the empire.

Maybe the Progressive Christians can eventually wrest the Gospel back from the hypocrites Christ warned us about. Maybe not. Only time will tell.

But for my part, I fear I might be done with Christianity. I'm definitely done with any attempts at ministry, ordained or lay ministry. There was a time when I felt it was my birthright, and the churches of humanity had no authority to cut me off from the Body of Christ. Now, I just don't care.

So, that I finally gave up these two resources feels like a rather final thing to me. And part of me grieves for that.