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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to ask whether you own a Bible?

509 replies

BeanQuisine · Today 07:12

Just idle curiosity, really.

We often hear right-wingers insisting "This is a Christian country", whether we're in UK, Oz or the US etc.

So I'm wondering how many of us actually own Bibles, and whether we ever read them. I did read assorted bits of it in my youth, but don't currently own a Bible.

YABU: Whether Mumsnetters own Bibles or not is none of your business.

YANBU: It's a vaguely interesting question.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
HammyHocky · Today 13:52

MissFancyDay · Today 13:26

I think the poster meant that the dismissal of the Bible as a load of fairy stories was a viewpoint that could result in being culturally impoverished, which I agree with. Not that the Bible was the only bit of culture going!

I mean if you wave away the Bible as simply being a load of old fairy stories you are hardly going to read all the other culturally significant religious texts.

I disagree. I have read the Bible and I think it’s fairy stories. I’ve also read stories from Hinduism, The Quran, Norse, Greek and Roman religious stories and as much as I can about Paganism. I am not ‘culturally impoverished’ (think that’s a stupid sentence in this regard) at all, but I still think it’s a load of fairy stories. Someone can enjoy other religious texts and think the bible is bollocks. To suggest that someone who would dismiss the bible is some sort of culture vacuum is ridiculous.

friedaklein · Today 13:52

jackstini · Today 13:49

It's very poetic, but not the most authentic translations and quite old fashioned

Easier reading and understanding I would go for NIV

More modern - New Living Translation

Thank you!

Quine0nline · Today 13:52

Don't forget that there are a lot of countries where possessing a Bible will get you arrested, detained, tortured and possibly killed.

friedaklein · Today 13:54

HammyHocky · Today 13:52

I disagree. I have read the Bible and I think it’s fairy stories. I’ve also read stories from Hinduism, The Quran, Norse, Greek and Roman religious stories and as much as I can about Paganism. I am not ‘culturally impoverished’ (think that’s a stupid sentence in this regard) at all, but I still think it’s a load of fairy stories. Someone can enjoy other religious texts and think the bible is bollocks. To suggest that someone who would dismiss the bible is some sort of culture vacuum is ridiculous.

What fascinates me is how similar the stories are across religions.

The Noah's Ark story crops up in Hinduism too. And moving to mythology, the Illiad is mirrored in Hindu epics.
Probably elsewhere too.

HammyHocky · Today 13:54

CoffeeCantata · Today 13:37

Groan. This is a typical MN 'straw man' argument.🙄

Where do I say that I think the Bible is 'the only place you can find culture'? Those are your words after misunderstanding my post.

But OP's question relates to the Bible. If they wanted to discuss the Quran or other religious/cultural writings, I'd be referencing those.

You said someone who dismisses the bible is ‘culturally impoverished’. I can only go off what you have said. But if you’re only input is to say ‘groan’ and use emojis then clearly you cannot further contribute to this conversation.

Dismissing religious texts and religion does not mean you cannot participate in culture. Someone can enjoy parts of Christianity without actually reading the bible or thinking that Christianity is not real. Your comment suggested that you cannot have fully experienced culture without reading religious texts (well you said the bible but this works too), that is simply not true.

Notellinganyone · Today 13:56

I have a King James - I’m an English teacher so that’s my angle.

HammyHocky · Today 13:57

friedaklein · Today 13:54

What fascinates me is how similar the stories are across religions.

The Noah's Ark story crops up in Hinduism too. And moving to mythology, the Illiad is mirrored in Hindu epics.
Probably elsewhere too.

There was a lot of borrowing from the older religions. It was often done as a way of eroding them, so for example if an old religion had a celebration at a particular date, Christianity would put a celebration around the same date with a related story so that that would become the celebration and no one would think to celebrate the old religion any more. Originally apparently
people did both but it tapered off. It’s the same reason why churches are often built in areas where old religions had places of worship - rewrite their stories, rewrite their rituals, rewrite their places of worship, it has worked very well for some of the major religions.

MasterBeth · Today 13:59

CoffeeCantata · Today 13:38

Perhaps we have.

You can enjoy all kinds of literature! The idea that if you've read the Bible, that's all you've read???

No, the idea is that the Bible, for all its cultural importance, is not a great read. No, it's not!

This is not great prose or great storytelling or equivalent to a Hollywood blockbuster. It is, indeed, boring.

Hezekiah Purifies the Temple

Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.

In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him. They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel. Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes. This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity. Now I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.”

Then these Levites set to work:

from the Kohathites,

Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah;

from the Merarites,

Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel;

from the Gershonites,

Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;

from the descendants of Elizaphan,

Shimri and Jeiel;

from the descendants of Asaph,

Zechariah and Mattaniah;

From the descendants of Heman,

Jehiel and Shimei;

from the descendants of Jeduthun,

Shemaiah and Uzziel.

When they had assembled their fellow Levites and consecrated themselves, they went in to purify the temple of the Lord, as the king had ordered, following the word of the Lord. 16 The priests went into the sanctuary of the Lord to purify it. They brought out to the courtyard of the Lord’s temple everything unclean that they found in the temple of the Lord. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley. They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the Lord. For eight more days they consecrated the temple of the Lord itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.

Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported: “We have purified the entire temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread, with all its articles. We have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz removed in his unfaithfulness while he was king. They are now in front of the Lord’s altar.”

Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials together and went up to the temple of the Lord. They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs and seven male goats as a sin offering[a] for the kingdom, for the sanctuary and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer these on the altar of the Lord. So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it against the altar; next they slaughtered the rams and splashed their blood against the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and splashed their blood against the altar. The goats for the sin offering were brought before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them. The priests then slaughtered the goats and presented their blood on the altar for a sin offering to atone for all Israel, because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets. So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments, and the priests with their trumpets.

Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel. The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the musicians played and the trumpets sounded. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed.

When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped. King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed down and worshiped.

Then Hezekiah said, “You have now dedicated yourselves to the Lord. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the temple of the Lord.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings. The number of burnt offerings the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams and two hundred male lambs—all of them for burnt offerings to the Lord. The animals consecrated as sacrifices amounted to six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep and goats. The priests, however, were too few to skin all the burnt offerings; so their relatives the Levites helped them until the task was finished and until other priests had been consecrated, for the Levites had been more conscientious in consecrating themselves than the priests had been. There were burnt offerings in abundance, together with the fat of the fellowship offerings and the drink offerings that accompanied the burnt offerings.
So the service of the temple of the Lord was reestablished. Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.

BauhausOfEliott · Today 13:59

I own an old paperback Bible for the sole reason that there were bits in it that were relevant to some of the literature I studied at university, eg comparing the depiction of Satan / Adam and Eve in the Bible to the depiction in Milton's Paradise Lost and things like that. I've never read it for any other reason. The only other reason I've ever so much as opened a Bible would have been in RE lessons at school, I think?

MasterBeth · Today 14:00

Quine0nline · Today 13:52

Don't forget that there are a lot of countries where possessing a Bible will get you arrested, detained, tortured and possibly killed.

And..?

Morelovelyandtemperate · Today 14:00

Have quite a few bibles but also a couple of Qurans.

CoffeeCantata · Today 14:01

friedaklein · Today 13:54

What fascinates me is how similar the stories are across religions.

The Noah's Ark story crops up in Hinduism too. And moving to mythology, the Illiad is mirrored in Hindu epics.
Probably elsewhere too.

I watched a science documentary some years ago about (and I'm not a geologist, so sorry if I've got this wrong) what might be a source for the flood/destruction myth you find in several cultures around the Med.

I can't remember the dates, but I think it must have been after the last ice age, when the land bridge which separates the Black Sea area from the Mediterranean broke due to rising sea levels. Gradually the area which is now the Black Sea was inundated and increased hugely in area. This meant that over a year or so many settlements were underwater.

This might have been ...nearly 10K years ago?? It's possible that this traumatic event was transmitted through oral tradition as a folk tale and is the source of the Biblical flood story and the story of Gilgmesh from Mesopotamia.

DontEatTheMushies · Today 14:02

I am an Atheist. I have 3. One is my mums from 1950s. The one I was given at school and one of those wee ones.

Have I read them - some one it. But I believe it no more than I believe Twilight.

I think people my age probably have them from inheriting - and when school gave them out. I only keep them as its a part of my history. Just its existence in my house means nothing.

Wednesdaysotherchild · Today 14:03

No bibles! Lots of Buddhist books and a couple of pagan ones.

fudgesmummy · Today 14:03

My DH is a practicing Catholic so yes we have a Bible but I don’t read it

CoffeeCantata · Today 14:05

@MasterBeth

Thanks for that - I thought it was fascinating!

When I'm singing Messiah, and there's a chorus which is about the 'sons of Levi' making 'an offering in righteousness', I'll know the full story.

CoffeeCantata · Today 14:05

Notellinganyone · Today 13:56

I have a King James - I’m an English teacher so that’s my angle.

So was I - and I'm with you there.

jackstini · Today 14:05

Bobajobob · Today 12:21

No because i am an atheist and don’t want one in the house. I am interested in history though and religion in a historical context but prefer to get my information from history books rather then the Bible itself.

I do love reading about history from history books

Out of the 66 books in the bible though, quite a lot of them have a huge amount of history included!

For historical context, I can't ignore reading the widest read book on the planet with accounts and letters from numerous authors over around a 1500 year period

2Rebecca · Today 14:06

Several including my mother’s ( she’s dead)

CoffeeCantata · Today 14:10

JHound · Today 13:51

Why would you feel impoverished? There is cultural knowledge you will surely have that they won’t? Why is lack of knowledge of the Christian faith specifically (or rather having read the bible) important?

I think in terms of Western culture - specifically European - you will have a richer experience in the National Gallery, the Louvre, the Prado etc etc if you know your Bible stories.

No-one's minimising the cultural importance of other world texts - but OP has asked about the Bible, so that's what we're referencing here. If I went to the Far East, I'd be reading up on Confucius, Bhudda and other important cultural figures/texts so as not to miss out on the art, architecture, music literature etc etc.

perenniallymessy · Today 14:11

If you don't have a family bible how do you all treat your ganglion cysts? 😂

MissFancyDay · Today 14:12

HammyHocky · Today 13:52

I disagree. I have read the Bible and I think it’s fairy stories. I’ve also read stories from Hinduism, The Quran, Norse, Greek and Roman religious stories and as much as I can about Paganism. I am not ‘culturally impoverished’ (think that’s a stupid sentence in this regard) at all, but I still think it’s a load of fairy stories. Someone can enjoy other religious texts and think the bible is bollocks. To suggest that someone who would dismiss the bible is some sort of culture vacuum is ridiculous.

Again, with respect, you have misunderstood. The culturally impoverished comment was directed to the attitude that it's not worth reading the Bible because it's full of fairy stories. You have read these texts and made your own judgement so it was not referring to you.

HammyHocky · Today 14:16

MissFancyDay · Today 14:12

Again, with respect, you have misunderstood. The culturally impoverished comment was directed to the attitude that it's not worth reading the Bible because it's full of fairy stories. You have read these texts and made your own judgement so it was not referring to you.

No I haven’t, if I have then please explain. That person states that dismissing the reading religious texts makes you culturally impoverished. I disagree agree even though I have read them. I don’t think reading religious texts is necessary for you to enjoy culture, even culture that has been impacted by religion. You can admire a piece of art that was inspired by Islam without reading the Quran. You don’t need to read the stories or think there is any slice of truth in them to appreciate the work that has been inspired by them. I love British churches, I think the bible is full of stolen bollocks and dangerous rhetoric

CoffeeCantata · Today 14:18

Dismissing religious texts and religion does not mean you cannot participate in culture. Someone can enjoy parts of Christianity without actually reading the bible or thinking that Christianity is not real. Your comment suggested that you cannot have fully experienced culture without reading religious texts (well you said the bible but this works too), that is simply not true.

No, Hammy - that's not what I said.

An urban myth (it was told as fact, but I'm sceptical) illustrates what I'm trying to say:

A young woman was in a jeweller's shop and she asked for a cross on a chain. The jeweller got out some trays of crucifixes for her to choose from. She picked one up and said 'Ooh - I like this one with the little man on!'

I mean - no-one died (except for Jesus!), but if I were living in a country I'd feel pretty stupid if I didn't recognise, say, the primary symbol of that country's majority religion.

I went on a guided tour of Highgate Cemetery and learned a lot about the iconography of Victorian monuments - by the time I left I could 'read' the symbolism of the various statues and understand a bit about the Victorian attitude and experience of death, which was much less hidden and sanitised then.

That's what I mean by culturally enriching. You won't die without this enrichment, but it makes life so much more interesting and you gain an understanding of other people in different times.

abracadabra1980 · Today 14:20

Yes, only as a christening gift. To be honest the whole book to me is like reading gobbledygook in some foreign language that I don't understand. Hence; I am an atheist.