Got wind of this a while ago and think it is an excellent exercise in understanding 2/3′s of our culture. David PLotz is going to be Blogging the Bible. For those of you who have not discovered it, Slate.com is a very popular news and culture webzine, which leans left on most things. David Plotz, deputy editor of Slate, is proud of his religion but calls himself a “lax Jew”, and he acknowledges that he knows very little about its foundational scripture. Therefore, the essence of this project is that he proposes to read through the Bible, blogging as he goes along, to see what it says.
“I want to find out what happens when an ignorant person actually reads the book on which his religion is based. I think I’m in the same position as many other lazy but faithful people (Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus). I love Judaism; I love (most of) the lessons it has taught me about how to live in the world; and yet I realized I am fundamentally ignorant about its foundation, its essential document. So, what will happen if I approach my Bible empty, unmediated by teachers or rabbis or parents? What will delight and horrify me? How will the Bible relate to the religion I practice, and the lessons I thought I learned in synagogue and Hebrew School?”
This should provide an excellent window into the heart of a bible “outsider” Plotz does not have preconceptions and baggage that many Christians have. He vows to do blog through the Bible respectfully.
“I don’t intend any kind of insult. My goal is not to find contradictions, mock impossible events, or scoff at hypocrisy. Nor am I quite stupid enough to pretend that Judaism (or Christianity) is just the Bible.” I could not hope to read the Bible in any better way.
Get ready for a great dia-blog! Here is where it starts.
Recent Comments