What is the "Best" bible?

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Permalink Reply by FreeThinker on March 25, 2009 at 6:15pm

There is the Skeptics Annotated Bible, which is available online. www.skepticsannotatedbible.com

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Permalink Reply by Goz on April 29, 2009 at 5:23pm

Oh yes,that is really good. All the racey bits are pre selected for your reading enjoyment.
Me and my xtain friend were discussing the bible and sex and I mentioned the bit about killing a village of people but keeping all the virgins ..She didn't believe that was in there,so i sent her the link ..She sure got an eye full! Hehehe.

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Dunn on March 26, 2009 at 3:36pm

I was looking for a book as opposed to a web based reference.

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Permalink Reply by Angie Jackson on March 29, 2009 at 9:34pm

I was raised KJV so I tend to think of all others as "watered down" (damn programming stuck in my brain) but I think the New American Standard is supposed to have good annotations as to which passages weren't included in the original text, what some words meant in the original greek, etc.

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Permalink Reply by Rev Hellbound Alleee on April 2, 2009 at 6:26pm

Ken's Guide to the Bible

http://www.amazon.com/Kens-Guide-Bible-Ken-Smith/dp/0922233179

Not an actual bible, but a great reference. I highly recommend it.

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Permalink Reply by daniel becker on April 13, 2009 at 1:14am

i would recommend the king james version. it is not altered. Anything with a "new" in the title is edited.

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Permalink Reply by Humanist Fellowship of San Diego on April 13, 2009 at 4:44am

The King James is the only Bible specifically compiled with an eye to its poetry and drama, not its alleged content of history or alleged supernatural revelation. H. L. Mencken says its language was already archaic yet was deliberately adopted for its beauty. Freethinkers can appreciate the KJV as a superb work of art, not a talisman.

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Permalink Reply by Asa Watcher on May 1, 2009 at 11:42am

Well, Andrew, bibles, annotated or otherwise. are usually not created “with the skeptical reader in mind”.
But there are TONS of annotated bibles with different purposes, different motivations, different research references in mind. Your best bet would be to find a good-sized Christian book store and peruse the shelves.
Albany has several seminaries. Check out their bookstores, as seminarians, whether you believe it or not, generally approach theology as a “study” rather than as a “revelation”, so you might find what you are looking for there.
The study of religion as an historical phenomenon can aid our understanding of why we are where we are today. But the amount of sheer BS you have to wade through, compared to actual information, is useless and daunting, unless you are writing some sort of thesis.
Advanced degrees anybody?
For your purposes, Andrew, the biggest disadvantage of the "New Greek-English Interlinear” is that it is only the New testament, and a lot of the simple unmitigated idiocy is found in the Old. That’s why a lot of fundies like it so much, and why it wouldn’t satisfy your exploration of pre-Christian parallels. Check out Joseph Campbell’s books about myths. “Power of Myth” and “Masks of God” come to mind when I think about the subject of pre-Christian religions.

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