Posted on 10/18/2009 6:06:12 PM PDT by HogsBreath
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — If Andy Schlafly has his way, there will be no socialists or snake handlers in the Bible. No woman caught in adultery. And, definitely, no Stephen Colbert.
Schlafly, founder of Conservapedia.com, wants to save the Scriptures from liberals with his latest venture, the Conservative Bible Project. He says translations like the New International Version have added socialist ideals to the Good Book. But his rewrite of the Bible has drawn criticism from biblical scholars, liberals and conservatives.
(Excerpt) Read more at knoxnews.com ...
Well, truth be told that passage is in none of the most ancient texts. For a while, it was widely thought to be a later addition (like Mark 16 had been, also), but it seems a newer line of reasoning is that many ancient churches were concerned the passage would be read as excusing adultery, but it was written by John.
He would have had to dump Matthew too.
Sometimes the last line of a story or parable is the most important. With the adultery story, “Go and sin no more.” In the rich man story, “With God all things are possible.”
Doing some further research:
Schlafly has taken the wiki/open source method of gathering input, with some comical results that he has corrected. He did, in fact, remove the adulterous woman, Mark 16, and other passages because their authenticity has been challenged. But his scholarship leaves much to be desired.
For instance, he argues that “oinos” (wine) means “fruit of the vine,” referring to grape juice, not wine. The problem: Grape juice is a modern invention, made possible by Dr. Welch, who managed to prevent fermentation. (Dr. Welch’s father was a Presbyterian minister who was pressed to reconcile his tea-totaling with his desire to recreate the Last Supper.) Specifically, the bible makes several references to the alcholic content of “oinos”:
*> There’s a passage about mixing wine with water. What it means is this: too much wine, and one gets buzzed; but not enough wine, and the insufficient alcohol content fails to disinfect the possibly tainted natural water sources.
*> Jesus notes the necessity of using strong skins for storing “oinos,” else the fermentation ruptures them.
*> At the wedding at Cana, the reason better wine is usually served first is because the guests are less choosy once their a little buzzed.
*> The disciples have trouble staying awake at the Garden of Gethsemane because the passover rituals, done for adults, involve drinking several cups of wine... they are buzzed.
I almost thought I needed to stop telling people about conservapedia. Knowing there have been debates about which Bible is the best... Ie: KJV vs The Living Bible, I understand the reason why people complain... If this causes people to study the bible more, I say good. I know I don’t study it enough.
Harry Reems.
It was meant to be humorous.
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