Welcome to the Humanists Bible Study Guide. I created this site because I decided I want to read the entire bible and not just parts of it. Why am I taking a Humanist approach to reading the Bible? Because ultimately, all books are books about Humanism because all books are read through a human lens. Even the bible is a book about Humanism. We read them based on our own needs, wants and concerns.
There are some things you should know before participating in this site. . I am a Humanist which means I reject supernaturalism. This means that I view references to God in the Bible in a variety of unorthodox ways all of which involve God not actually existing. For instance, sometimes he/she/it is a literary character, sometimes God is an excuse for the unexplained and sometimes people hear voices in their heads and as we all know, even in the wizarding world, hearing voices isn't good.
I also dislike when people cherry pick quotes out of the Bible to make a point and when you read the context of the quote, it is clear that the story wasn't about that at all. I hate it when Christians do this and I hate it when atheists do it. I want to read the Bible to understand the context of the stories, not so that I can find quotes to bolster my opinions.
This blog is an honest attempt to find the moral lessons of the Bible. My feeling is that the Bible is a series of stories designed to education and enlighten. Some of it is history, some of it is old family stories about a crazy uncle and some of it is just fun literature. The point is that these are stories written by and for humans. Which means, you don't need a doctorate in theology to understand or explain the stories. They are straightforward and easy to understand. Any one who apologizes or tries to explain why a story doesn't actually mean what it says (such as preachers and other religious leaders) are coming to the book with a preconceived notion of what or who they want God to be. This blog doesn't worry about that. We are just going to look at the stories and interpret them as the humans we are using common human moral instincts.
If this approach offends you, don't participate. Just as I would not join a traditional Bible study group because the sorts of questions I would ask would be disruptive, don't join if this is not an approach you would be comfortable with. I am not doing this to offend anyone, I just want to read the Bible and interpret it for myself and I want other people interested in doing the same thing to participate so that we can double check whether what we think it says is what other people get out of it. Apologists and people with an agenda are not welcome as they will be disruptive to what is actually an earnest approach to understanding the Bible.
There are some things you should know before participating in this site. . I am a Humanist which means I reject supernaturalism. This means that I view references to God in the Bible in a variety of unorthodox ways all of which involve God not actually existing. For instance, sometimes he/she/it is a literary character, sometimes God is an excuse for the unexplained and sometimes people hear voices in their heads and as we all know, even in the wizarding world, hearing voices isn't good.
I also dislike when people cherry pick quotes out of the Bible to make a point and when you read the context of the quote, it is clear that the story wasn't about that at all. I hate it when Christians do this and I hate it when atheists do it. I want to read the Bible to understand the context of the stories, not so that I can find quotes to bolster my opinions.
This blog is an honest attempt to find the moral lessons of the Bible. My feeling is that the Bible is a series of stories designed to education and enlighten. Some of it is history, some of it is old family stories about a crazy uncle and some of it is just fun literature. The point is that these are stories written by and for humans. Which means, you don't need a doctorate in theology to understand or explain the stories. They are straightforward and easy to understand. Any one who apologizes or tries to explain why a story doesn't actually mean what it says (such as preachers and other religious leaders) are coming to the book with a preconceived notion of what or who they want God to be. This blog doesn't worry about that. We are just going to look at the stories and interpret them as the humans we are using common human moral instincts.
If this approach offends you, don't participate. Just as I would not join a traditional Bible study group because the sorts of questions I would ask would be disruptive, don't join if this is not an approach you would be comfortable with. I am not doing this to offend anyone, I just want to read the Bible and interpret it for myself and I want other people interested in doing the same thing to participate so that we can double check whether what we think it says is what other people get out of it. Apologists and people with an agenda are not welcome as they will be disruptive to what is actually an earnest approach to understanding the Bible.
In order to participate in this discussion, you must first join the blog or you will not be allowed to post or participate. You must also abide by the following rules or you will be removed from the site.
Rules:
1) Anyone who takes a quote out of context will have their comment removed unless it is to contrast why the quote out of context is clearly out of context.
2) Anyone who posts a comment explaining how wonderful god is or isn't will most likely be banned. Why? Because this is a Humanist Bible Study and we aren't interested in learning about God. We are interested in learning what this book offers in the way of morality.
3) Anyone who proselytizes in favor of religion or in favor of atheism will be banned Again, the purpose of this blog is to read the bible as a set of stories to learn what the moral lessons really are.
4) Anyone who is rude or obnoxious or flames any of the other participants on this blog will be removed. This is a Humanist Bible Study group, not a forum for showing off how superior you are to others by being a complete jerk. If what you want to do is complain about how stupid people are, take your comments elsewhere, they aren't welcome here.
Thank you
Jennifer Hancock (http://www.jen-hancock.com)
Additional Information
This blog may at some point be turned into a book. If this happens, your comments and feedback may be included with first name attribution. By posting on this site, you agree that your comments and feedback may be used by the owners of this blog in perpetuity and throughout the entire universe without compensation or royalties paid back to you.Thank you
Jennifer Hancock (http://www.jen-hancock.com)
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