AIBU to ask whether you own a Bible?

[BeanQuisine]

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.

I think I have an old one of my grans. Not for any other reason as it was my grans.
I used to play with it when I was younger as it was small and the pages were so thin. I’ve never read it though.

19th century family bible. Not read it and don’t intend to. I went to CofE primary and grammar school so I’ve done my stint. I occasionally go to church but because dd sings in a choir.

If you think biographies are non-fiction then you are naive

No.

I’m pretty sure he kids were each given a bible by their primary school when they left. Not sure if they kept them.

I can’t tell if this a joke?

No, but I do have the complete works of terry pratchett on my kindle that I rely on for wisdom in adversity

No. I am an atheist so have no need for anything of the sort.
I was convent educated from 5 to 18 and also have a RE o level (no choice in the matter) to be very sure I have no desire to read it again.

I had three until recently, I kept one and gave the other two to a friend who is a devoted and practicing Christian. I have read the bible in its entirety. I call myself a lapsed Christian though I am off to a cathedral evensong today. I don’t go to regular worship anymore though just maybe a couple of times a year, DH owns a lectern size bible that has been in his family for about 170 years it has all births and deaths recorded in it. He has never been a church goer.

I have the one I was given at Sunday School, and also an old one that belonged to my great grandmother (with colour plates of the Holy Land).

I'm an atheist but find it interesting reference material from time to time. Have read most of it over the years.

Yes, several

Got a couple, read them when I was younger. Agnostic

There's some pretty mad stuff in there

1 Samuel 18:20–27, David being asked to collect 100 foreskins for King Saul

2 Kings 2:23–25, God sends two bears after a crowd who called Elisha "baldy"

Revelation does read like the writer was on acid. Locusts with human faces, a red dragon with 7 heads, the beast from the sea forcing people to have the number 666 on them etc

I have the King James Version but I also have the NRSV. Both are good. The latter contains essays, footnotes, historical context etc so is particularly useful.

Have at least three in various versions, one of which is a King James version,
During prriods like Lent or Advent will occasionally read passages. Think its good for my self to take time to reflect and step back from the every day, even if only briefly. As pp see it as a great work of literature and key to so much of our culture.

You would have been better to make the poll about whether or not you own a Bible. Would be much easier to see the numbers that way!

No I don't own one.

I've a few religious texts, though have given most of them away over the years and mainly use digital versions that are easier to cross reference, annotate, see multiple translations at once, and so on.

Those who are saying it's worth having as an essential work of literature are probably right, so which version would you recommend?

Depends on the purpose.

If you want one for literature purposes, one of the King James versions. It's not a good translation academically, we have a stronger knowledge of the languages now through the discovery of manuscripts and there were a lot of political choices made in the translations the KJV is based on, but it is great poetically and in older literature, it's likely either the one being referenced or very similar to it.

If you want a strong translation including details that explain more for more understanding of the texts, the most recent (I think it's the 6th Edition) of The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha with the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition translation.

I'd always recommend having a separate annotated Tanakh, the annotations will differ from Christian versions, but that may be getting too into it.

I own quite a few as I’l studied theology. Not sure what I believe now but I still enjoy reading them.

Yes. I have a children's Bible, a King James version with Old and New Testaments and a modern New Testament. I'm not a church attender, but I am familiar with the Bible and quotes from it, Bible stories.

You know how indoctrinisation begins in childhood, I think I have one in a drawer somewhere from then 😂

Yes. I have 1: a youth Bible, from when I use to go to Sunday school. I consider myself a cultural Christian, I love Jesus, and try to live by his teachings.

my, atheist, mum has a beautiful leather KJ bible.

I do occasionally read it.

I have several (including a KJV lectern Bible I use to raise the height of my work laptop 😆)
I also have a copy of the Quran and a copy of the Art of War handy - I feel all three are interesting collections of human wisdom.

Probably worth mentioning - I'm an atheist church goer with a Theology degree.

Yes, along with the Gnostic Gospels and religious books of various other faiths, including several copies of The Dhammapada and many other Buddhist texts.

I don't refer to my Bible much as having all the various versions online in one locaation is a fantastic resource for cross referencing - I use that frequently.

Yes, I have two - a King James Bible and a Jehovah's Witness Bible, both given to me when I was much younger. I also have a separate book of the Apocrypha which I bought in a secondhand book shop. I have never read the Bible all the way through (agnostic) but I did read the Apocrypha. I have read parts of the Bible, and also looked things up in it on many occasions. I do mean to read the whole thing one day, but parts of it (the bits that are long lists of names and so on) don't look very interesting (I hope that observation doesn't offend anyone).

Yes, I do. But that doesn’t mean I’m a Christian - I'm not. I have it because I studied part of the Old Testament during my English Lit degree course.

My grandparents gave me one when I was born. We are not religious so no idea why. It came with me with other books when I moved out to live by myself but got binned in a later house move.

No. Ive only ever been to church with school a couple of times. I tried to read it once as a teen out of interest. I got to the someone begeting someone who begot someone and gave up.
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