Check it out — a gun in your left hand, Bible in your right. This is an ad by gun maker Henry Repeating Arms. Across the image of a guy wearing a holster with a gun on the left and a Bible on the right runs a quote from the company president, Anthony Imperato, “There is nothing wrong with […]
Guns and the Bible Read More »
Working with the Old Testament (a.k.a. Hebrew Bible), one is bound to have to reckon with the nature and place of justice. Granted, sometimes God appears to be inexplicably severe, mean, even. But that’s for another time. That famous “eye for an eye” quote comes from the Old Testament, and although it’s gotten some bad press
Mercy Me!… and Justice, too Read More »
Earlier, I noted some of the difficulties that translators face when trying to render the ancient biblical texts in contemporary English for a modern audience. The biggest issue for the team reworking the NIV is how to handle the gender-bound language of the Bible’s original context. Here’s an articulate voice in favor of seeking gender
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Quentin Tarantino’s new movie, Inglourious Basterds, was informed in part by taking part in a seder at Philip Roth’s house. The Passover seder is a religious practice of remembrance commanded by none other than God in the Bible to commemorate God’s liberating the Hebrew people from Egypt in order that they could be free to be servants of God. With
What Does Remembering Violence Require? Read More »
On the NBC sitcom, “30 Rock,” the optimistic, smile-y, and just plain aw-so-cute character Kenneth the Page declared, “science was my most favorite subject, especially the Old Testament.” It’s a hilarious poke in fun at a serious debate raging today — Should the Bible’s narratives about creation inform ideas about the earth’s origins? Or: If a person
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N-E-W for the NIV? Twenty-five years after its blockbuster release, the New International Version is in for an update. The most popular version of the world’s most popular book — embraced by millions as the very word of God, well, you can imagine that reworking it is no small thing. Folks are already weighing in. (See
In an underhanded effort to kill the precocious and popular upstart, David, King Saul promised his daughter’s hand in marriage if David would collect one hundred foreskins from their enemies, the Philistines. The narrator of 1 Sam 18:20-27 tells that David foiled Saul’s murderous plan by killing said number of Philistines and bringing their foreskins back to Saul. Yuck. Cut to
Circumcision for the Modern Man? Read More »
“In the beginning,” the Bible says, food meant plants. Everybody — human beings, birds, beasts, everything that moves and breathes — vegan. Yup. “It was so… and very good.” Or so the authors/editors of the first chapter of the Bible tell it. Not till after the great Flood and Noah’s (meat) sacrifice do the biblical narrators
Genesis, Vegetarians, Blood, and Life Read More »
Today is the Christian festival of Pentecost, and I’ve been working on what looks like it’ll be the final chapter in my Bible Babel book. The several different names for God that show up in the Bible — that’s what the chapter’s about. Although one could argue whether or not it belongs, I include the Spirit — Holy
Pentecost — Babel in Reverse? Read More »
Hospitality in fierce climes is crucial. The hospitality of the desert is legendary, and several biblical stories hinge on it. Who knows, some suggest, but you might at any time be entertaining angels. Abraham and Sarah made a comfortable place for visitors, undercover messengers of God, who declared that the elderly Sarah will finally have
