[Editor's note: I'm not the first to come up with the idea of bible study for nonbelievers. In order to give y'all a taste of the many different ways this can be approached, I've invited a couple of guest bloggers to each take the book of their choice and run with it. Our guest today is Vast Left, the brain behind the blog "Bible Study for Atheists," who has prepared a comprehensive look at Exodus especially for Meming of Life readers. The introduction is below, followed by a link to the entire text. Many thanks to Vast for taking on this task!]
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The Exodus Is Here
The ongoing influence of Exodus
Hello, Vast Left from Bible Study for Atheists here, taking you on a speed-dating tour through Exodus. King James Version, of course. I may be a heathen, but I’m a traditionalist heathen.
For an explanation of BS4A’s scope and philosophy, please click here. In a nutshell, the approach is to read the Bible through modern eyes, exploring the literal and metaphorical meaning of each chapter. In every sense, it’s a thoroughly irreverent look at the Good Book.
Ready to take a walk on the wilderness side? Then, let’s via con Dios, and read a summary of all 40 chapters of Exodus, specially prepared for readers of Parenting Beyond Belief / The Meming of Life.
Have you seen the George Carlin monologue on how we really only need one commandment? The imbed clip put me in mind of it.
Comment: leslie – 17. January 2008 @ 3:21 pm
Seems they have been taking the YouTube of Carlin’s 10 Commandments off the viewer. Here’s a link to the transcript.
http://www.geocities.com/bobmelzer/gc10cx.html
Comment: leslie – 17. January 2008 @ 3:33 pm
Yes, I’ve seen that one! Brillant. Here’s another You Tube link:
Comment: Dale – 17. January 2008 @ 3:36 pm
Another comic’s take on the 10 Commandments (video).
Comment: vastleft – 17. January 2008 @ 4:44 pm
Re: Carlin. Carlin’s routines on God should be required listening for any Atheist who has a sense of humor. I was just listening to his early stuff whilst cleaning my basement, which only happens once a year and took me all the from “Toledo Window Box”, ” Occupation Fool”, ” and “FM &AM”. (I have the Little David Years Boxed set). It was remarkable to me how much… nicer he was in the 70’s. I got turned off from him for awhile in the 90’s because he became much too angry for my tastes. Then I heard Bill Hicks and had to revise my standards for anger.
This is my favorite atheist rant from George
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o
Re: Exodus. Boy its been a long time since I read that stuff. And once again, as in Genesis, I found mostly my memories are not of “Biblical Exodus ” but of “Bible Story Exodus”, a much cleaner and clearer message where you don’t hafta deal with all the wacky stuff, like the intricate detail of the construction work on the Tabenacle. Or the occasional bloodbath like after the golden calf episode.
My big wonder is the wandering.
Supposedly the Hebrews wander in the desert for 40 years. Now t his is after they’ve crossed the Red Sea so I’m assuming its the Arabian Peninsula, for all this time. The Arabian peninsula just isn’t that big. I’m pretty sure I could wander the whole middle east from stem to stern in about 5 years., even with stops to write (and rewrite) 10 commandments. Or how about stopping to ask for directions? Was Moses a typical male in this regard?
Comment: blotzphoto – 17. January 2008 @ 6:21 pm
Vast Lefty’s BS4A is pretty good. Between it and my humanities classes this semester, I’m really enjoying reading (and in the case of Genesis and Exodus, re-reading from a different perspective) and learning about different religious narratives. And, now that I’m no longer Christian, it’s so nice being able to acknowledge that (classical) Islam makes a lot of sense without feeling like I’m “cheating on” Jesus.
Comment: yinyang – 19. January 2008 @ 1:07 am