when is your first time to read Bible?

That's interesting...reading a Middle Eastern religious document in order to better understand Western culture.

I think you'll find that American Christianity is quite different from the version found in some other countries, though.

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I read Genesis in Humanities, Western Cultural Heritage I, and Mark in H, WCH II at university.

The Qur'an is also influential to Western Culture.

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Interesting, Infra - can you expand re the Koran?

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lainchance wrote:

hingehead wrote:
It's interesting to hear your perspective lainchance. It must be hard to believe in current times but western society still has large secular (ie non-religious) groups. I would think that very few people, even among those who would consider themselves religious, have read the bible cover to cover, maybe 5%?

Are you chinese, or just in China? Does religion have much of a face in China? I know about Falun Gong, so I assume that the marxist doctrine against organised religion is pretty strictly held to.

I'm a Chinese, hingehead. I live in southeast of China. Many Chinese are Buddhist, but a lot of others are not especially the youth. I think nowadays people have a little interest in religion, not just in western society. Maybe people think the religion can no longer be applied in this crazy and violent world.

O do you know Falun Gong is considered to be a heresy in China?

You might be interested to know that one cannot go three blocks in New York City without encountering a group of Asians engaging in Falun Gong meditations and exercises...and offering handouts asking for help in pressuring China to allow adherents there more freedom.

I am talking about hundreds of people every day who demonstrate on behalf of Chinese Falun Gong adherents!!!

(Not sure if this is going on in other large cities in the US. If anyone knows...please let me know.)

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As for your original question...

...read the book now.

If you read it with an open mind...you will more than likely come away realizing that...

...it is pretty dull reading in many spots...

..it is most likely mythology created by relatively unsophisticated, relatively unknowledgeable, superstitious ancient Hebrews who have interspersed a rather self-serving history of their early existence with an even more self-serving mythology.

If you read it with an open mind...you will come away an agnostic.

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I was very young (don't remember exactly how old), but they read it in sunday school and I didn't buy it then either.

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Frank Apisa wrote:

You might be interested to know that one cannot go three blocks in New York City without encountering a group of Asians engaging in Falun Gong meditations and exercises...and offering handouts asking for help in pressuring China to allow adherents there more freedom.

I am talking about hundreds of people every day who demonstrate on behalf of Chinese Falun Gong adherents!!!

(Not sure if this is going on in other large cities in the US. If anyone knows...please let me know.)

Frank Apisa, I dunno what exactly Falun gongers did in US but either you have no idea about what they did in my country. I think you may want to try a analysis about their dogma and history before concerning about their freedom.

People has freedom of religious belief in China, just in my hometown, we have 1 Mulism church, 2 Christianism churchs and temples for Buddhists and Taoists. And the truth is China has built churchs for other religions since long long ago, Tang? or earlier.

Quote:

If you read it with an open mind...you will come away an agnostic.

Agnostic? LOL, could I put it like this,

I don't believe the existence of God, I believe there are only the right time and the wrong time to do things, but how come the world comes this way? Maybe there is a God???

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Areas of Eastern Europe have large Muslim populations.

In Spain, although the country was purged of Muslims (and Jews) in the 15th century, there are fragments of the Muslim influence.

There is an interjection in Spanish, ojalá, used to express a wish or desire along the lines of "hopefully!" It comes from the Hispanic Arabic "law álláh," if god wills it.

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Eva wrote:

That's interesting...reading a Middle Eastern religious document in order to better understand Western culture.

I think you'll find that American Christianity is quite different from the version found in some other countries, though.

Which is odd considering they all say the bible is the word of god and that they are obeying it.

Personally, I don't even think he was in the room when they wrote it.

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Iam 23 started reading it when my grilfriend left me after 7years. Read all new testament and a couple books in the old tesamest! Its a good book Thank You and God Bless You!

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As a lit major, the Bible was important reading because so much Western literature is rooted in it. And the language of the King James Version can be quite powerful.

While I take no stand on its authorship or religious validity, as a work of literature it's hard to beat...

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I actually think poor translation have made some interesting mistakes and interpretations.

Examples: Michealango's Moses has horns coming from his head (rays had been mistranslated)

Last night I heard that Moses' parting of the red sea was a translation error and that actual fact it was 'reed' sea or marshland.

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I started to read it in seventh grade, but I stopped at one of the and ____ beget ____ and they beget _____.

I didn't know that I was allowed to skip that part.

I think those are there to add legitimacy to ancestry, or to allow kings to claim royal birth relations.

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Actually...even as literature, I think it is over-rated.

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Frank Apisa wrote:

You might be interested to know that one cannot go three blocks in New York City without encountering a group of Asians engaging in Falun Gong meditations and exercises...and offering handouts asking for help in pressuring China to allow adherents there more freedom.

I am talking about hundreds of people every day who demonstrate on behalf of Chinese Falun Gong adherents!!!

(Not sure if this is going on in other large cities in the US. If anyone knows...please let me know.)

Actually, Frank, the Falun Gong in my town are radical nuts. They support government infiltration and takeover (heck, I hate China's government, but something tells me they wouldn't be that much better) they are militant vegans and scorn non-vegetarians. They support takeover of television airwaves to promote Falun-Gong They are... In summary, brain-washey. I'm sure this isn't true of all Falun-Gong members, but it holds true for all that I have met here.

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when is your first time to read Bible?

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