Paul Burke,
I, also, have a very low opinion of that arsehole screaming at the cripple to believe and be healed, that shitbag machinegunning children for the glory of God, those black garbed women humiliating and torturing girls for the service of Mary, the holy jailers dragging tortured dissidents to the fire while the surplice- clad chanters looked on. I abhor that kind of conduct, and I have never done any of those things. Don't ask me to defend them or to identify myself with them.

All I said is that I've practiced my religion all my life, and it's good for me. If that's what I do and I'm a decent person who makes a good contribution to society, then leave me alone - and don't include me in your generalizations. I'm not trying to recruit you or preach to you.

This experience of God I've spoken of, is what the Buddhists call Nirvana and the mystics call ecstasy. It's an abandonment of self and a focus on the Other, and it brings an experience of serenity and peace and a feeling of unity with the One. I'll bet "that shitbag machinegunning children for the glory of God" hasn't experienced that. Peace and serenity do not seem to be part of the sort of religion that you and I despise.

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pete from seven stars link, I don't think you understand what I'm saying. I am not denigrating Scripture in any way. The so-called "factual" aspect of the Bible really doesn't matter. If we find out some day that God really did create the world in seven days, what difference would it make? Yes, it would prove you and other fundamentalists right and boost your ego and maybe get a born-again Republican in the White House, but what value is that? What's important is the message, that God has been involved with this world since its very beginning, and that "God saw that it was good." [Note: NOT depraved].

You can waste your time and money looking for Noah's ark on Mount Ararat and seeking archaeological evidence that the Hebrews were in Egypt and that all those plagues really did happen, or you can spend your time looking deeper into the Bible for its meaning.

My view of scripture is taught in most Catholic, Episcopalian/Anglican, Congregationalist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian seminaries. Only the born-again "bible colleges" teach your fundamentalist point of view. In those other seminaries, the name "Scofield" receives no respect, and KJV is obsolete.

If you'd like to see another perspective, I'd suggest William Barclay's Daily Study Bible, a classic biblical commentary that's written for all to understand. Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary on the Bible is another good one.

How do you tell which parts of the Bible are written in mythical or allegorical language? Well, most of it is. Only the unimportant parts are historically accurate. The New Testament is closer to history, but even then the Gospel writers are writing primarily for meaning, not for exacting historical accuracy. If you don't accept this description of the style of writing of the scripture writers, then you have to do a silly dance around the facts to try to explain all the inconsistencies. There's an easy answer: the scripture writers didn't care about being consistent and accurate, because that wasn't their purpose. They had a message to convey, a message that was of vital importance to them.

Is it more important to love God and neighbor, or to prove that Noah had an ark? Oh, and how is it that God created light and darkness on the first day and didn't get around to creating the sun and the moon until the fourth day? And how could there be evening, morning, and even days before there was a sun and moon?

My answer is to read these things as beautiful, poetic stories that help me approach the wonder of God. I need poetry to take me to God - prose and historical "facts" just won't do the trick.

I don't dwell on the theoretical or intellectual stuff when I teach Bible studies, and I do my best to bridge the gaps between liberals and conservatives. I insist that my students "respect the integrity of the story" and that they not over-intellectualize. I teach them to seek the meaning of the passage, and not to get bogged down in arguing about fine points. Studying scripture is not about proving the other guy wrong. It's about opening yourself to the message of what you're reading.

-Joe-