The Bible: Becoming Gray....

As I have come to learn more and more about religion and God I have accepted the fact that nothing is black and white. Absolute truth is really only an idea that gives humans hope. Learning is an eternal process. For me, seeing the world in more of a gray tone, I believe, has opened my mind to information that I would have previously rejected because it didn't conform to the current way I viewed the world. It has also made things more interesting and complex. This view promotes more critical thinking which only further advances the process of obtaining truth and eternally progressing.

This week I had the opportunity to listen to a few more awesome presentations from mormonstories (part of the Open Stories Foundation). One in particular, which will be added to my top 10 list, was in interview with Jared Anderson. Jared was working on his Ph.D. in Religious Studies at the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill, focusing on the gospels and the New Testament at the time of this interview. At this time he was also an active LDS member that even mentioned recently giving his daughter a priesthood blessing. I am not sure what his current status is now but none the less he is an awesome thoughtful guy who has immense depth to views on God and spirituality.

Since breaking the mold and starting my journey to find truth I have realized that many of the things that I have based my beliefs on were only assumptions. I have always been curious about the Bible, where it came from and how reliable it actually is. I, like probably most of the Bible believing population, accepted it on the basic claim that it came from God. I am not sure exactly what I thought that meant but probably simply that God inspired the authors to write down the truth. Having a Mormon belief system I accepted the fact that the Bible could have errors due to translation and therefore never considered it infallible as much of the christian world does. I never thought that the Bible was the all inclusive word of God and only held it as an inspired set of records for me to learn from. A few assumptions that I made about the Bible were:

1. The Gospels were actually written by the disciples that ministered with Jesus, Mathew, Mark, Luke and John. 
2. The books of the Bible are presented in chronological order. 
3. The Gospels were written during or shortly after the death of Christ.

Jared presented information about the Bible that opened my eyes to the amount of information that scholars have obtained as a result of many life times devoted to it's study. He presented the information from a scholarly perspective, as opposed to a theological perspective. I learned that the first books in the bible, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, written by Paul (who never even met Jesus in the flesh), weren't written until around 50CE. The first Gospel written was the book of Mark written in 69CE (approx 40yrs after Jesus' death), which is the least detailed book (lacking a birth narrative and a resurrection narrative). All of the authors of the Gospels (Mathew, Mark, Luke & John) are anonymous, the names of the books being added later after they were written. He takes listeners on a "whirlwind tour" of the Bible in chronological order. It was awesomely enlightening. He also discusses, in Part 4 starting at 30min, the historical Jesus. He presented information the supports the idea that a very influential man named Jesus actually did exist. In part 4 starting at 1hr he discusses the many different translations of the Bible and how and why they differ. 

My favorite part of the interview was when he answered the question, "How do you justify staying Mormon?"(Part 5 starting at 1hr 10min). He as a very thoughtful answer that I loved. While I have not decided to remain officially associated with the church I still absolutely value many aspects and principles of the Mormon theology and culture. He answers the question, "What is the purpose of religion?", something that I have pondered frequently. Overall I felt like his words and information were extremely helpful in my search and I would recommend listening to this podcast to anyone who is interested. If  people are hesitant as to the motives of Jared I would recommend listening to the last part where he shares his feelings about God and His plan for us. I still value the Bible and consider it an important document in one's search for truth and progression. Removing and verifying previous assumptions is part of the process of seeking. 

Jared Anderson's interview can be downloaded here: http://mormonstories.org/239-243-jared-anderson-an-academic-introduction-to-the-new-testament/

Skeptics Guide to the Universe Podcast Series

Podcasts are a great way to learn stuff as you do stuff. I listen to them as I drive and run mainly. A new one that I started listening to which I am very impressed with is called "The Skeptics Guide to the Universe: Your Escape to Reality". The podcast is put on by a bunch of critical thinkers and the organization is dedicated to promoting critical thinking, reason, and the public understanding of science. To give you an idea of the broad array of material that they cover, the few episodes that I have listened to have included discussions on such things as; skin fungi, osteoarthritis, patent trolls, kangaroos, genetically modified foods, debunked Sasquatch sightings, debunked UFO and extraterrestrial sightings, neuroscience, history's most deadly volcano, morality without religion and so much more. It has further opened my eyes to the awesomeness of science and learning.