An agnostic reads the Bible and recommends it.

Here is a selection from a really interesting article from Slate:

"Not to sound like a theocratic crank, but I'm actually shocked that students aren't compelled to read huge chunks of the Bible in high school and college, the way they must read Shakespeare or the Constitution or Mark Twain."

After reading the rest of the article, would you like to discuss it? Post a comment!

Comments

[Haley]

"But that doesn't work for me. I'm a Jew. I don't, and can't, believe that Christ died for my sins."

I completely agree with the remarks that the Old Testament sets up the story of redemption that comes with Christ in the New Testament. I don't know enough about Judaism to completely understand this guy's remark, but it seems really odd to me that he can fully believe all that occurs in the Old Testament without believing in the Christ of the New Testament.

[Katherine]

But Haley, do you really agree that the God of the Old Testament is capricious and random? I don't know that one can argue that after reading the Old Testament. He isn't capricious. He says he will punish the wicked and he does. (On a side note, if one wants capricious, look up Zeus in the dictionary.)
I am reading through the Bible again this year, and the thing that struck me over and over again is how long suffering God is. This author mentions the flood, but doesn't mention the fact that God allowed all the people to be warned for almost 100 years before the flood came. The people that perished would have been welcomed on the boat. And Pharaoh, God gave him time after time (12+ in fact) to listen and do what God commanded, but no Pharaoh wanted to go his own way. I did think it was really interesting that this writer barely mentioned anything in the New Testament.

[Chera]

Oh, very fascinating! I think he puts his finger on belief near the end of the article. "Yet the argument itself represents a kind of belief, because it commits me to engage with God. [...] Reading the Bible has given me a chance to start an argument with God about the most important questions there are, an argument that can last a lifetime."

One could argue that first comes belief, and then through such an engagement, faith becomes possible.

[Chera]

Oh, and I would add, some of what he said sounded very familiar to the struggles found in The Sparrow... ;)

[Katherine]

I would agree with you Cher. And I wouldn't expect you to pop by without mentioning your favorite. :)

[Haley]

Katherine, you make an excellent point. I don't agree that God is capricious and unfair; I do believe that redemption as understood in the Old Testament changed when Christ was crucified and resurrected.

Apparently, this guy overlooked all the warnings, as well as the entire New Testament. :)

Do you plan on reading the entire book? I think it would be fascinating to see how he expands on the ideas from this article.

[Katherine]

I thought you probably wouldn't agree with him on that Haley. :)
It would be really interesting to see what else he has to say. I think he also put his finger on a problem that many people have: humans (and not just the Hitlers and Pol Pots among us) do do evil things that offend God's holiness. The writer doesn't seem to want to accept the idea that humans are not merely neutral beings. But, by not accepting this, it allows him to be comfortable with his manner of belief.