Bible Study

[Justtristo]

I am new to this forum site, so I don't know how this will go down, but here goes...

I am an atheist who was raised as a Christian, and am very familiar with the Bible due to my religious past. While I am now aware that it is far from the 'good book', I recognize that my ethical roots are planted in much of what Jesus had to say. So my idea is this:

I would like to read the canonical Gospels (Matthew-John), skipping the boring genealogies and repeated stories (i.e. read the Sermon on the ). We would read at our leisure during the week and then get together here on Sunday at (time to be determined) and discuss. It would work best if we could have at least one from each religion and non-religious philosophy. Well, that it is the idea.

P.S. One reason that got me to think about this is the Jefferson Bible, which I recommend doing research on.

I would recommend reading works by Greek and Roman philosophers, particularly that of the Stoic school (which includes men such as , and just to name a few). These thinkers advocated some ideas many believe emerged for the first time during the enlightenment. For example; they advocated the brotherhood of humanity, the natural equality of all human beings. Not to mention they condemned the institution of slavery.

There is little doubt that many Christian thinkers were influenced by Stoic philosophy, especially when it comes to ethics. Because the New Testament for example; does not once ever explicitly condemn the institution of slavery. Indeed it regards slavery or some form of another as the natural condition of human beings. It just thinks some types of slavery (say to Satan) as bad, while other types of slavery (say to Jesus) as good.

Although I would not discount reading the New Testament to understand thoroughly, However one needs to also read then contemporary literature from the Classical world. Because the New Testament writers were rehashing what others at roughly the same time were saying.