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Comment by doone on April 12, 2014 at 7:24am

For almost 1,500 years, the New Testament manuscripts were copied by hand––and mistakes and intentional changes abound in the competing manuscript versions. Religious and biblical scholar Bart Ehrman makes the provocative case that many of our widely held beliefs concerning the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the divine origins of the Bible itself are the results of both intentional and accidental alterations by scribes.

In this compelling and fascinating book, Ehrman shows where and why changes were made in our earliest surviving manuscripts, explaining for the first time how the many variations of our cherished biblical stories came to be, and why only certain versions of the stories qualify for publication in the Bibles we read today. Ehrman frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultra–conservative views of the Bible.

Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why Paperback

by Bart D. Ehrman 

Comment by doone on April 12, 2014 at 7:23am

A few books about Jesus

New York Times bestselling author and Bible expert Bart Ehrman reveals how Jesus’s divinity became dogma in the first few centuries of the early church.

The claim at the heart of the Christian faith is that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, God. But this is not what the original disciples believed during Jesus’s lifetime—and it is not what Jesus claimed about himself. How Jesus Became God tells the story of an idea that shaped Christianity, and of the evolution of a belief that looked very different in the fourth century than it did in the first.

A master explainer of Christian history, texts, and traditions, Ehrman reveals how an apocalyptic prophet from the backwaters of rural Galilee crucified for crimes against the state came to be thought of as equal with the one God Almighty, Creator of all things. But how did he move from being a Jewish prophet to being God? In a book that took eight years to research and write, Ehrman sketches Jesus’s transformation from a human prophet to the Son of God exalted to divine status at his resurrection. Only when some of Jesus’s followers had visions of him after his death—alive again—did anyone come to think that he, the prophet from Galilee, had become God. And what they meant by that was not at all what people mean today.

Written for secular historians of religion and believers alike, How Jesus Became God will engage anyone interested in the historical developments that led to the affirmation at the heart of Christianity: Jesus was, and is, God.

How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee Hardcover

by Bart D. Ehrman 

Comment by Hope on April 9, 2014 at 4:57pm

Comment by Hope on April 5, 2014 at 2:28pm

Religious insanity,, what else is new..

Comment by doone on April 3, 2014 at 3:04am

New Law in Saudi Arabia Labels All Atheists as Terrorists http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/04/01/a_new_terrorism_law_in_saudi_arabia_targets_atheists_and_dissent_of_all.html … lol.

Comment by Suzanna Smart on April 2, 2014 at 7:19am

It's just another way to be punished for threatening their way. I personally think the "morality police" are terrorists, keeping everyone on their toes. I haven't got over them jailing people for suspecting them of being gay yet.

I hear you can be gay, drink alcohol and do anything else you like just so long as your a prince of really rich, apparently wealthy people are incapable of being amoral.

Comment by doone on April 1, 2014 at 5:29pm

That is really bad, Hope.

Comment by Hope on April 1, 2014 at 5:19pm

Saudi Arabia declares all atheists are terrorists in new law to crack down on political dissidents

Saudi Arabia has introduced a series of new laws which define atheists as terrorists, according to a report from Human Rights Watch.

In a string of royal decrees and an overarching new piece of legislation to deal with terrorism generally, the Saudi King Abdullah has clamped down on all forms of political dissent and protests that could "harm public order".

The new laws have largely been brought in to combat the growing number of Saudis travelling to take part in the civil war in Syria, who have previously returned with newfound training and ideas about overthrowing the monarchy.

To that end, King Abdullah issued Royal Decree 44, which criminalises "participating in hostilities outside the kingdom" with prison sentences of between three and 20 years, Human Rights Watch said.

Yet last month further regulations were issued by the Saudi interior ministry, identifying a broad list of groups which the government considers to be terrorist organisations - including the Muslim Brotherhood.

Article one of the new provisions defines terrorism as "calling for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based".

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-de...

Comment by Hope on March 24, 2014 at 11:11am

Sharia law to be adopted into UK legal system for first time

Sharia principles are to become enshrined in the UK legal system for the first time, with The Law Society publishing guidelines for drawing up documents according to Islamic rules, which would exclude non-believers and encroach on women’s rights.

The new guidelines were produced by The Law Society earlier this month. Under the guidance, High Street solicitors will be able to write Islamic wills which will have the power to exclude non-believers completely and deny women an equal share of an inheritance.

“The male heirs in most cases receive double the amount inherited by a female heir of the same class. Non-Muslims may not inherit at all, and only Muslim marriages are recognized,” states the document.

Any children who have been born outside of marriage and even kids who have been adopted will also not be recognized as legitimate heirs.

It also advises lawyers to draft special exclusions from the Wills Act 1837, which would allow gifts or money to pass to the children of an heir who has died, as this practice isn’t recognized in Islamic law.

Sharia law only recognizes Muslim weddings, so anyone who was married in a Christian church or in a civil ceremony would also be excluded from succession.

http://rt.com/news/sharia-law-uk-legal-713/

Comment by doone on March 17, 2014 at 9:25pm

America’s Religious Exceptionalism

MAR 17 2014 @ 8:57PM

by Patrick Appel

Waldman notes the America’s unusual religiosity for a wealthy country:

The relationship is pretty clear: countries with higher levels of development are less religious and more accepting of those who don’t believe in a deity, with two outliers. China is obviously where it is because of communism, and the United States? Well, we’ve always been the most religious of the wealthy countries, which is the product of multiple factors but can largely be explained by the fact that unlike in European countries, where a sclerotic state church lost more and more adherents over time, we’ve always had a dynamic, competitive religious marketplace. Like just about everything when it comes to religion, on this question we’re the exception among similar countries.

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