Skip to main content

The Bible 2.0 -- Writer's Poke #292

I would like to re-invent the Bible.

Actually, I would like to invite the best writers -- scientists, historians, philosophers, psychologists, politicians, novelists, etc. -- to take a stab at the themes in one "book" of their choice from the Bible.

Imagine, for example, if Richard Dawkins wrote an essay chapter called "Genesis," or if Al Gore wrote an essay chapter called "Revelation"?

I'm not suggesting that these authors just revise the books of the Bible they take on as their assignments. Instead, think about how a Positive Psychologist might explain the concept of optimism with the essay chapter called "Job." Think about how philosophers might handle the message expressed in the four gospels.

The goal of this project is much bigger than another "modern translation." Instead, it is to make the Bible relevant again. I see it as a way to encourage new thought, because as it is now, people are more or less "locked in" to their beliefs about what the Bible "says" or what it's "worth."

Which book of the Bible would you like to re-invent, and how would a re-invention of that book add new life to the tired old story?

"The revelation of thought takes men out of servitude into freedom." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"Digging for the Truth" Experiment #4 -- The Federalist Radio Hour

I first heard of Sean Davis last week. He created an online magazine called The Federalist in 2011, and he currently has about 500,000 followers on X.  It was about last week that he posted something amazing. He suggested if the Supreme Court doesn't rule the way they should, not only should Trump just ignore the ruling, if they keep obstructing the administration, he should just dissolve the Court altogether.  And I thought, wow. This guy is saying outrageous stuff like that, and there's an audience for it.  So, I decided I'd listen to an episode of The Federalist podcast: April 17, 2025 -- Deportation, Due Process, and Deference to the American People (40 minutes) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deportation-due-process-and-deference-to-the/id983782306?i=1000703904873 In the 40-minute conversation, the host and guest discussed why due process wasn't required for illegal immigrants.  The case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was mentioned for a brief second, but...

In Utero

  In 1994, I wore my In Utero shirt to college. I’d walk down the hall, and people would look at the shirt. I still remember a professor looking at it, not apparently hip to the scene. She asked, “Bret, is there something you’re trying to tell us?” I had no idea what I was trying to say. Kurt Cobain had just shot his head off with a shotgun. Before that life-changing event, I hadn’t been the biggest fan of Nirvana, but I did recognize the immediate impact “Smells Like Teen Spirit” had on music, or at least on MTV. Nirvana had seemingly killed and buried Hair Metal, and they had done it single-handedly. What exactly was this “Alternative” sound? It was weird, because soon it felt like everything was “alternative,” and that didn’t make any sense. Once everything is the same, how can it be anything but standard, normal? Nirvana was okay, but at least at the time I was wearing the merch, I was much more into Offspring and Green Day and Tool. And that’s about as far as I went into...

I Must Betray You -- Ruta Sepetys

I appreciate the pacing. The author's epilogue includes her mission statement -- historical fiction as a way to keep history alive. Romanis is an obscure place, but she hopes people reading the book will take an interest in its history.  She also makes the point that there are no clean endings. So, the evil dictator and his wife were killed, but the problems they created didn't magically go away, the country still had to find its way and move forward, and it was a process.