Getting Started

Welcome to ONE WILD BOOK. This blog is an ongoing exercise to take a frank, hard-hitting look at what's really in the Bible—the passages that are absurd, the passages that you would never read to children for fear of scarring them for life, the passages that most people would be shocked to find out existed in God's book, and the passages that take so much verbal gymnastics to defend that they're fun for religious debates as well as cocktail parties.

It's important to understand that even if you think you've read the Bible—which puts you in a minute minority of affirming Christians, you haven't read the Bible. No one living today has touched or read original manuscripts. We've only been exposed to copies, of copies, of copies that were created centuries after the purported events, littered with thousands of inconsistencies, translated from ancient languages, and subject to Roman control.

Those facts aside, let's proceed on the assumption that we hold original texts and nothing is lost in translation. Let's assess these passages on their own merit, concern-free from what the original content might have been. 

Many, many religious people are well versed in their religious practices, but virtually clueless about the vast majority of the sacred text that serves as their religion's foundation. Considering how pervasive religion is not only in the world, but in the United States, it's fair to expect that a simple familiarization with the Bible should be a bare minimum expectation for its followers. In the US, polls claim 80-90% of the electorate as believing Christians—perhaps this massive voting block should be at least as familiar with its foundational writings (beyond a few common stories and catchy phrases) as it is with the American Idol voting process.

There are some stunning facts about the book that most people do not know. For instance, a large percentage of Christians assume that the gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) were men that walked with Jesus Christ and wrote first hand accounts about this remarkable man. (Though, to be honest, most people can't even name the four books let alone describe their origin.) The fact of the matter, and this is undisputed (look it up), is that these writers never met Christ (assuming such a man existed) and wrote these books many decades after Christ's death. Another interesting fact is that these men wrote their books in Greek; Christ's followers would have spoken Aramaic—just like Christ, himself—and would have quite likely been illiterate.

Now these facts don't necessarily mean anything on their own, though they do imply certain things about the accuracy of the stories and raise questions as to why so many followers live with such common misapprehensions regarding the gospel writers. No fact about the Bible, or verse contained in the Bible, should be used as a stand alone tool to promote an idea or defend or condemn the book. Facts about the book and verses in the book should be viewed collectively when coming to conclusions.

This blog will be an ongoing, year-long project throughout 2011, and will examine the Gospels in more depth as we proceed; these facts about the Gospel writers are examples of how little we know about the book that shapes the lives of over 2 billion people worldwide. And there's much, much more. For instance, take a look at the Ten Commandments that you'll never see in any courthouse rotunda, or some of the interesting things the Bible says about marriage, or perhaps you might want to check out some detailed accounts of how women should be treated, and don't forget to read up on how to manage your slaves. These are just some of many scintillating passages in the one and only ... BIBLE. Enjoy.