I agree with Sinned, we should be able to laugh at the foibles of whatever it is that we're serious about. If we can't, I feel we're taking that subject too seriously!
I speak as one belonging to what some think of as a very strange denomination!
- greenboots
Doesn't that apply to all of them?
OldSalt, I'm surprised that referring to God as being female inspired such umbrage in you. The first person I heard referring to God as He/She was a Catholic priest. It took me by surprise, but when I gave it a moment's thought I realized that the Bible says we're "made in the image and likeness of God." It only stands to reason then that God embodies both the Male and the Female and both Masculinity and Femininity.
Moonshadow, I am very impressed by the range and depth of your scholarship in spiritual matters! Good for you!! My pastor has said a number of times that most church-going Christians know far too little about the Bible they say they believe in.
You're also quite correct in your belief that what Christians call the Old Testament spans the three great religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The believers of all three pray to the same God of Abraham. You have to wonder then, why are they always at one another's throats? Why can't we all just get along?
One thing my adult religion classes, and the books they're based on, stress over and over again, is that you have to read the Bible in the context of its time, recognize that we're reading the translation of a translation of a … well, it's hard to know how many back. Especially since most of the stories of the Bible date back to 4,000 and 5,000 BC and weren't written down until around 1,700 BC. And the stories have to be read in the context of their times. Not to mention the fact that in transcription mistakes were made and the darnedest things added. For instance, according to Rev. Spong and other modern Bible scholars something like half of Paul's letter's were written by someone else. Not to mention the letters he definitely wrote having paragraphs inserted, often in the darnedest places.
I kept saying stories because that's what nearly every single book is; the recorded myths regarding whatever. Several books, such as Job and Ruth, were written explicitly as made-up stories to make a point.
I could go on forever, but I hope I've made my point: getting stuck on the literal wording of any one passage or one person's interpretation of the Bible doesn't stand up to thoughtful, scholarly inquiry.
To be explicit about my beliefs, I too find the NIV version of the Bible the most understandable and illuminating that I have found. I practice Methodism because it's more oriented on how much the way you live your life expresses the love God feels for our fellow humans rather than doctrine. And it doesn't waste time cherry-picking an exhausting list of thou shalt nots from the Old Testament.