I’ve grown a bit tired of all the listicles floating around on Facebook these days, but it would seem that BuzzFeed put one together that’s too relevant for Holey Books to ignore. The list is called The 16 Most Bizarre Moments … Continue reading
At Salon, a post about abortion and the Bible gets a lot—although not everything—right: Given the amount of effort and political capital the religious right puts into trying to restrict abortion, you’d guess that opposition to women’s choice must take … Continue reading
The Pentateuch has proven to not keep with the times when it comes to marriage, sex, and women (among other things). Here are a few of the most ridiculous claims we’ve encountered so far. If you’re brother dies, be prepared … Continue reading
So far we have found the Old Testament, especially the first few books of the Bible, has tended to be filled with many, many ridiculous things. To be fair, there are many quite sane and sober commands and stories in … Continue reading
In an earlier post I briefly mentioned the genocide ordered by Moses against the Midianites. There’s some confusion in this story that warrants another look. No, it’s not confusion over the genocide–chapter 31 is VERY clear about that. Rather, it’s … Continue reading
Note: This is the fourth post in an ongoing series where we look at what the Bible actually says about marriage. Earlier posts can be found here, here, and here. Numbers contains a hodgepodge of rules and laws related to … Continue reading
When I was in college, there was a fundamentalist Christian sect that stopped by campus every year to inform all passersby that they were doomed to Hell. They were certain in their certainty. They had the skinny on what God … Continue reading
My last post spent a little bit of time on Balaam, the legendary soothsayer and “pagan prophet” who dominates much of the book of Numbers. While we could probably post endlessly on the Balaam story, as it provides a lot … Continue reading
The Book of Numbers, as mentioned in our two previous posts on it, continues the story of the Israelites and their eventual journey to the promised land. Balaam, the soothsayer of the Moabite King, Balak, was perhaps one of the more famous … Continue reading
The concept of the divine has changed quite a bit throughout the course of history. As Greg has hinted, and no doubt will later show, Yahweh is no exception. The eternal god of universal love and forgiveness espoused on Sundays … Continue reading
