I'm not the only pebble on the beach in the history of mankind

Good point, honey! I was once again complaining about Leviticus to my husband (see last posting) when he pointed out that those laws were absolutely of incredible importance "back in the day". I just finished the chapter on bodily discharges and bleeding. I can just picture the moms in our congregation trying to explain THOSE words to the questions coming from the kids in the back seat. You would think these readings would be G rated, wouldn't you? I can hardly wait for the Song of Solomon (guaranteed to be read with relish!). So here's what I learned from my college class today. Mark was probably written before Matthew. Also it was, at the minimum, at least 35-40 years after Jesus died before any of the New Testament was written down. Everyone in class is trying to guess why. I say they were just busy....running around and planting churches. In a largely illiterate culture, it was probably more important to be preaching for a while than writing anyway. Writing is for posterity and could be done after the authors all entered their twilight years. I don't know for sure, though; what do you think?

If you want to lose your faith....

Someone asked me how reading the Bible was going. You see, starting in the fall, the church handed out a READ THE BIBLE THRU daily plan, and I (for some strange reason) volunteered to put all that on weekly CDs for folks to listen to on their long commutes. We're up to week 22, and probably only about 30 people are still using the CDs. But, hey, for the sake of 30 (or 20...or 10!) I shall keep on making them. Actually this was all a plan to make sure that I kept up the readings and that it would make me a better person. That plan is not really working out. Somewhere in Exodus (and things are not improving in Leviticus!) I started getting really cynical, mad, and bored! Is it really necessary that the commandment about blue & scarlet & purple thread be repeated twenty times? Couldn't one more phrase about divorce/remarriage proved to be more useful? One mention of someone playing a trumpet in readiness for the Lord's return would have been nice (NT, of course.). Even some explanation of how to get around the physical impossibility of how one is supposed to pray & prophesy in I Cor 11 and then be silent in I Cor 14 could have staved off a myriad of elders' meetings. Anyway, to make matters worse, I'm up to my 3rd class re: masters degree in theology. Now my faith is REALLY being questioned. Let me sum up what I've learned thus far. The good news is there are over 5000 copies or pieces of copies of what makes up our New Testament. The bad news is there are as many mistakes/scribes' typos as there are words in the NT. Yes, I still believe the core message made it through and the Holy Spirit is in control. But next time you fight for the"Bible is absolutely infallible" stance, you might want to educate yourself a bit. It's better just to decide it doesn't really matter if 23,000 people were killed in one spot and 24,000 in another....or if someone bought a field for 60 shekels here but 500 shekels in a different passage. That's my advice so far.