tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32234652.post1982877973676868154..comments2023-10-31T10:52:42.959-04:00Comments on - PERSPECTIVE -: Teach the Bible in Schools…Please!Allan W Janssenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09168659604725040986noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32234652.post-50378879558551065182008-01-14T12:05:00.000-05:002008-01-14T12:05:00.000-05:00Sylvie, I will leave you this comment by Dr. Mack ...Sylvie, I will leave you this comment by Dr. Mack from my book, "The Plain Truth About God!"<BR/><BR/>Forward:<BR/>By Dr. Burton L. Mack<BR/>Those who have studied American popular culture tell us that the Bible has profoundly influenced the way we tell our stories, look for meanings, quest for transformations, imagine our futures, and hope for apocalyptic solutions to our problems. <BR/><BR/>If the Bible is that important to our culture, is it not strange that we have not questioned the reasons why? <BR/>The list of issues currently under discussion includes the place of creationism in public schools, the role of women in our society, social attitudes towards various sexual orientations, Jewish-Christian relations, theories of white supremacy, patriarchal institutions, the use of natural resources, the definition of family values, understanding violence, how best to relate to other cultures, and what responsibility we have for maintaining human rights around the world. <BR/>Most of these issues could be discussed without referring to the biblical heritage, but the Bible is always lurking in the background, and positions have been taken on all of them that ultimately appeal to the Bible as the final word. <BR/>When that happens, thinking and reasonable discussion stop. We do not know how to proceed after the Bible has been invoked. We are all complicit in letting an appeal to the Bible count as an argument. <BR/>One of the reasons for our silence when confronted with a proof text from the Bible is that we simply do not know what to make of the Bible and its contents .Thus we do not know what to say in response to those who use the Bible as an authority for their views. <BR/>Despite the enormous investment in biblical studies in our society, there is actually very little public knowledge about the Bible. <BR/>I have also been impressed with the authority we grant the Bible when discussing issues of social consequences. Here we are with the Bible on our hands and we do not know how we got it, how it works, and what to make of it in public forum. An acquiescence that pertains whether one is a Christian, or not. <BR/>That is the stimulus for this book.Allan W Janssenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09168659604725040986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32234652.post-12740330591964079632008-01-14T11:49:00.000-05:002008-01-14T11:49:00.000-05:00If the schools do as good a job of teaching the bi...If the schools do as good a job of teaching the bible as they do American history or world history, it won't accomplish much. <BR/><BR/>I think I'm getting pretty sick of that cliche about the bible being a great work of literature. It's familiar because it's familiar, so it's referred to constantly. That doesn't make it great. Just which translation would we be talking about, and how true are any of them to the original? Without that knowledge it can't even be judged as literature.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32234652.post-44103193593537205752008-01-14T11:48:00.000-05:002008-01-14T11:48:00.000-05:00The Bible is a great work of literature and should...The Bible is a great work of literature and should be studied, as that. It also serves as a dramaticized account of history, and can also be taught in that aspect. <BR/>In my high school, one of our English teachers was able to get away with assign the Book of Esther to us for study (it's from the Bible), as it doesn't mention G_D or religion. Pretty clever guy, this English teacher of ours.... ;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32234652.post-5567297961809382392008-01-14T11:47:00.000-05:002008-01-14T11:47:00.000-05:00Couldn't agree more with these two previous commen...Couldn't agree more with these two previous comments. My prayers go out to you. What spiritual docterine or teachings do not come from someone writing them?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32234652.post-32389286328622724382008-01-14T11:46:00.000-05:002008-01-14T11:46:00.000-05:00God bless you Allan, for as Jesus would say, forgi...God bless you Allan, for as Jesus would say, forgive them Lord they know NOT !!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32234652.post-85908599581143320552008-01-14T11:44:00.000-05:002008-01-14T11:44:00.000-05:00I don't know if schools will ever begin to teach t...I don't know if schools will ever begin to teach the BIBLE in school but they had better begin to teach the ten commandments, or at least the ideals behind such words or we are in very big trouble. <BR/>Roger KiserAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com