Do you read the Bible empirically, that is, apart from personal bias and/or denominational interpretations?

[Eddi]

How much of what sort of bias is kinda important.
I keep seeing " bias" spoken of as if it's one thing.

True Believers think every it's a sacred book, every word
utterly profound, infallible, eternal.


That's how you get yecs, who have journeyed beyond all
reach of facts, logic, or reason. Zero chance of reconsideration of any sort for any reason. Objectivity? Ha.
That's the grim spectre of Bias.

Now, one might read a flight schedule, a student
might read his grade report, hoping for better news.

But the sane among us don't go into denial.

And ftm, reading the Bible in the most scholarly way
only emphasizes the deep bias hat the Truth is in there
somewhere, that this work is somehow worth devoting
ones life to it.

The level of sanity in that is open to question. Imo.

If b skpticism is " bias", in some negative way that suggests it interferes with accurate perception the, imo.
both skepticism and bias have lost all meaning as words.

To me any book, whether novel, text, history, or
" sacred" can be read in the same way in that
it should be read with an open mind alert to find
find what is in there, whatever it may be.

I don't think the bible is holy, I think it is a compendium of myths

Which is not to say it is without value

But I can only read it as myself

I can't read it as anyone else

Does this even need saying?

 

[Audie]

I don't think the bible is holy, I think it is a primative compendium of ridiculous myths

Which is not to say it is without value

But I can only read it as myself

I can't read it as anyone else

Does this even need saying?

Need? If you feel the need to say
you are as biased as the Believers,
go for it.
If you find you similarly lack capacity
for the discipline of objectivity required of
a researcher, say that too, as it suits.

Some try, and are pretty good at it
regardless.

 

[Eddi]

Need? If you feel the need to say
you are as biased as the Believers,
go for it.
If you find you similarly lack capacity
for the discipline of objectivity required of
a researcher, say that too, as it suits.

Some try, and are pretty good at it
regardless.

I'm not biased, I read it critically

But as myself, not as anyone else

Perhaps next time I read it I should transform myself into another human being

 

[Audie]

I'm not biased, I read it critically

But as myself, not as anyone else

Perhaps next time I read it I should transform myself into another human being

If all, the total, of all you saw was myths then yes,
IF that's the extent of your capacity, you prolly
would need to do a " George Washington's hatchet"
w mind and body. Repla c each at least once

 

[Eddi]

If all, the total, of all you saw was myths then yes,
IF that's the extent of your capacity, you prolly
would need to do a " George Washington's hatchet"
w mind and body. Repla c each at least once

They are myths but I think they have value

I am not a literalist but neither do I reject it as rubbish

 

[crossfire]

2. @crossfire - The Fire Sermon from Buddha shows liberation from taints through clinging no more. When understanding about clinging no more, Matthew 5:27-30 makes a whole lot more sense to you.

• What is it like for you to no longer cling? What's the purpose of earth when it's a clinging situation? Matthew 5:27–30 looks tragic with that hell word. I learned that no one is separated, and being here on earth is for our deeper understanding; however, no one is separated due to being here on the earth. So reading the fire sermon of Buddha then shows how that verse in Matthew 5:27–30 actually means liberation from taints through clinging no more. Do bhikkhus ever cling to Buddha? I looked online and learned Bhikkhus begs for assistance. When Bhikkhus were begging, were they clinging?

Tanha is fiery craving, while Upadana is clinging, much like fire clings to its fuel source. Together they are very much like an addiction, with all of the mental states that come with addiction. Clinging no more means getting over your addiction, along with disruptive mental states that come with being an addict. (You don't literally gauge your eyes out, you become estranged from the sights--you overcome your addiction.)

The whole world if full of opportunities to become addicted, and a lot of people have a variety of attachments or addictions to various things in this world. In that sense, the whole world is on fire. Hellfire is the burning mental anguish that people suffer due to their attachments/addictions. When you overcome your addictions, you can then walk through the hellfire experienced by he addicts here on earth without getting burned.

 

[River Sea]

don't think the bible is holy, I think it is a compendium of myths

Which is not to say it is without value

But I can only read it as myself

I can't read it as anyone else

Does this even need saying?

@Eddi I agree with you that I can only read it as myself, and I can't read it as anyone else.

@crossfire I realized I'd rather have freedom when reading and psychoanalyzing scenes than develop an addiction to seeking out why certain individuals rejected me because of the process I read.

Tanha is fiery craving, while Upadana is clinging, much like fire clings to its fuel source. Together they are very much like an addiction, with all of the mental states that come with addiction. Clinging no more means getting over your addiction, along with disruptive mental states that come with being an addict. (You don't literally gauge your eyes out, you become estranged from the sights--you overcome your addiction.)

The whole world if full of opportunities to become addicted, and a lot of people have a variety of attachments or addictions to various things in this world. In that sense, the whole world is on fire. Hellfire is the burning mental anguish that people suffer due to their attachments/addictions. When you overcome your addictions, you can then walk through the hellfire experienced by he addicts here on earth without getting burned.

 

[River Sea]

I wasn't aware that The Bible, which is the subject of this thread, was considered an engineering manual. As for the law, if there was any consensus on interpretation, there'd be a lot of unemployed lawyers

I agree with you @RestlessSoul when you wrote "there'd be a lot of unemployed lawyers."

My response: One unemployed lawyer who is a carpenter lacking abilities in understanding manual Torah should be Joseph, who encouraged his pregnant wife Mary to leave their home and travel to Bethlehem to register for Emperor Augustus' census, after which Mary gave birth in Bethlehem in April. I'm curious what the Mandaeans think of Joseph's legal abilities with the Torah manual, given that they believe Jesus was one of John's disciples. Was Zechariah, John's father, a better lawyer who knew the manual Torah than Joseph in encouraging Elizabeth to stay at home during her pregnancy and after John's birth? Elizabeth did not go to Bethlehem.

Everyone could be accounted for and pay taxes. And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. Luke 2:2 (NKJV): This doesn't mean women; am I understanding correctly? Also, no one conducts a census during December. Am I understanding correctly?

Luke's Gospel said that Joseph had to go to Bethlehem for the census of Quirinius “because he was of the house and lineage of David”. There would have been no reason for Mary to go there, as women were not counted in censuses.

I learned from here that women can stay home. Help me understand this?

Why did Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem for the census?

Answer (1 of 25): it was an attempt by the authors to have jesus fulfill a prophesy that the messiah was descended from the house of David and the rule was apparently that a Roman census meant you had to register in a town your distant ancestors came from. I know crazy since there was no census t...

www.quora.com

 

[Twilight Hue]

Do you read the Bible empirically, that is, apart from personal bias and/or denominational interpretations?

Yes which is why it's clearly rubbish for anything practical or useful.