Comments on: Sexism in the Bible http://www.cogitolingua.net/blog/2009/08/24/sexism-in-the-bible/ Sounding out the Noosphere. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:58:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: erich http://www.cogitolingua.net/blog/2009/08/24/sexism-in-the-bible/comment-page-1/#comment-4022 erich Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:27:27 +0000 http://www.cogitolingua.net/blog/?p=243#comment-4022 Yeah, I would never fit well into the armed services. Even when I was working on Base as a civilian, I could still feel the IQ drain. I sure didn't come back to grad school because of the money! Yeah, I would never fit well into the armed services. Even when I was working on Base as a civilian, I could still feel the IQ drain. I sure didn’t come back to grad school because of the money!

]]> By: Ben Erickson http://www.cogitolingua.net/blog/2009/08/24/sexism-in-the-bible/comment-page-1/#comment-4023 Ben Erickson Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:01:09 +0000 http://www.cogitolingua.net/blog/?p=243#comment-4023 oh how i miss hanging out with people that not only think for themselves, but have rational thoughts... these army folk are killing my intellegence oh how i miss hanging out with people that not only think for themselves, but have rational thoughts… these army folk are killing my intellegence

]]> By: erich http://www.cogitolingua.net/blog/2009/08/24/sexism-in-the-bible/comment-page-1/#comment-4021 erich Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:50:13 +0000 http://www.cogitolingua.net/blog/?p=243#comment-4021 If the Bible really is the word of God, then why doesn't it contain a prescription of good, moral behavior that is not subject to interpretation? Why couldn't God just lay things out in unambiguous terms? This 'maturity in interpretation' is hogwash. I have a much more parsimonious explanation: Moral behavior isn't absolute, and can't be codified. We're still figuring this stuff out. The 'maturity in biblical interpretation' is post-rationalization for how the book says what we now desire to be true. Changing our minds about what's considered moral behavior is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for moral progress. If the Bible really is the word of God, then why doesn’t it contain a prescription of good, moral behavior that is not subject to interpretation? Why couldn’t God just lay things out in unambiguous terms? This ‘maturity in interpretation’ is hogwash.

I have a much more parsimonious explanation: Moral behavior isn’t absolute, and can’t be codified. We’re still figuring this stuff out. The ‘maturity in biblical interpretation’ is post-rationalization for how the book says what we now desire to be true. Changing our minds about what’s considered moral behavior is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for moral progress.

]]> By: Darren Davis http://www.cogitolingua.net/blog/2009/08/24/sexism-in-the-bible/comment-page-1/#comment-4024 Darren Davis Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:22:26 +0000 http://www.cogitolingua.net/blog/?p=243#comment-4024 Is it just me or does this sound a bit like the Taliban-influenced push to legalize marital rape in Afghanistan? Moderate Christians sometimes portray moral gains as "maturity" in interpreting the Bible, but I don't think this addresses the issue because the core issue of moral gains' origin remains unaddressed (and seems traceable to explicit shifts *away* from religion, such as the Age of Enlightenment), nor is there even an argument that the more "mature" interpretation has a better Biblical basis. Is it just me or does this sound a bit like the Taliban-influenced push to legalize marital rape in Afghanistan?

Moderate Christians sometimes portray moral gains as “maturity” in interpreting the Bible, but I don’t think this addresses the issue because the core issue of moral gains’ origin remains unaddressed (and seems traceable to explicit shifts *away* from religion, such as the Age of Enlightenment), nor is there even an argument that the more “mature” interpretation has a better Biblical basis.

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