The best Christian Commentaries books: Reddit reviews

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https://www.amazon.com/Catholic-Introduction-Bible-Old-Testament/dp/1586177222/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=a+catholic+introduction+to+the+old+testament&qid=1623343103&sr=8-1

Buy. Read. Now. It takes on both academic biblical criticism and provides the historical rationale for the difficult parts of the Old Testament.

I'm gay and I've had no problem reconciling my faith with my sexual orientation from the time I was 14/15.

The most important thing in my mind is acknowledging that historical context impacts the way the Bible should be interpreted. The word "homosexuality" wasn't in the Bible until the twentieth century. Verses that have been used to condemn all same-sex sexual activity are surrounded by verses that would seem to approve of slavery, if taken at face value.

Jesus, in reference to Christian teaching, says that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit. If teaching is sound, it will not result in the harm of those impacted it. This hasn't been the case with the conservative teaching on homosexuality. The church needs to act in a way consistent with the idea that "perfect love casts out fear."

There's a lot that can (and has) been said about this topic. I'd encourage you to grapple with it yourself, but to never forget that God loves all of their children. Also, if you haven't read them, God and the Gay Christian by Matthew Vines and Torn by Justin Lee are great books on this topic.

Warmest of wishes, friend.

There's a new book out that I want really badly: A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament. I guess I'm going to wait until the paperback version.

Anyway, the OT is a diverse collection of books, written in various times, in various genres, to various audiences. All of these factors, plus the revelation of Jesus Christ, will play a factor in our interpretation. You are currently a player in our shared salvation history, that began in Genesis and continues today. Do not be afraid.

I have read both these books, and recommend both highly.

If you want to save some money, here are a couple of good deals, if you act quickly:

• New copy of The Catholic Introduction to the Bible for $37 (including shipping) here

• "Like New" copy of The Catholic Introduction to the Bible for $31 here.

HAVE THEM READ THE BOOK GOD AND THE GAY CHRISTIAN. IT'S A GREAT WAY TO GET THEM TO REALIZE HOMOSEXUALITY ISN'T AS INCOMPATIBLE WITH CHRISTIANITY, PARTICULARLY THE NEW TESTAMENT/COVENANT, AS PEOPLE THINK. IF THEY'RE WILLING TO PUT IN THE TIME TO VOICE THEIR OPINION TO YOU, THEY MAY BE WILLING TO PUT IN A LITTLE MORE TIME TO REALLY CHECK OUT THE SUBJECT.

Dr. Scott Hahn has a fantastic book on the Mass called The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth. Here it is on Amazon. I'm a former Southern Baptist myself and this book answered every single one of my questions.

> Christian nationalism played a central role in that assault. Insurrectionists prayed to Jesus on the Senate floor and the Proud Boys halted their march to the Capitol to kneel in prayer.

^^^ This

and

>Christian nationalism will remain an existential threat to the American republic for decades to come.

^^^ This

> I personally recommend the New Oxford Annotated Bible and the work of Bart Ehrman for the New Testament...

I second both of these. The HarperCollins Study Bible is another fantastic academic study Bible.

Another excellent book on the subject is The Founding Myth by Andrew Seidel (constitutional lawyer).

The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American https://www.amazon.com/dp/1454933275/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_SQY-Fb6YXDNB6

Robert Alter's translation of the Hebrew Bible is currently $73.57 on Amazon. It's kismet! Thought I would have to wait for Christmas to ask for this. Thanks again, mods! Current mood

The best academic Bibles I know of are the HarperCollins Study Bible and The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Both are NRSV and contain the Apocrypha.

The English-speaking Biblical scholarship world is basically unanimous in endorsing the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). It's an extremely good translation (both accurate and readable) that pulls from the best available manuscripts. It's especially worth reading in study Bible form, such as the HarperCollins Study Bible and The New Oxford Annotated Bible, both of which approach the text academically and ecumenically.

This book is worth the read: https://www.amazon.com/God-Gay-Christian-Biblical-Relationships/dp/160142518X

From what I've seen, many who still affirm the Bible's validity and affirm a gay lifestyle denounce the clobber passages as mistranslated and not referring to the kind of gay relationships we see today (monogamous, committed, loving). Most argue Biblical passages are referring to pedophilia, rape, and hyper sexual (guys would have sex with other guys out of extreme lust outside marriage) relationships.

>My family is playing that Christmas game where everyone buys a gift then we all fight over them, don't remember the name of the game haha!

White Elephant?

If $59.99 is "around $50," I'd recommend Robert Alter's translation of the Hebrew Bible, which is over half off on Amazon right now. It looks like a great gift - three stately volumes with beautiful covers in a huge gorgeous slipcase, very impressive and regal. More importantly, it really is a great gift - Alter is a genius and his translation is the culmination of a lifetime spent studying the poetry of the original Hebrew. It's a real masterpiece.

Can you comment on the hotly debated topic of whether or not this country has its roots founded in Christianity? Should I make a new post so you can comment on it there? I'm in the middle of reading "The Founding Myth" and I would like to hear Christian arguments.

I'd be happy to read any of your papers too if you want to link them. I'm also considering starting an atheist group on clubhouse (for everyone) if you'd like to join (when I get it going). Let me know! Thank you!

> “God, country, family - in that order”

If you put your country before your family, you're an immoral moron.

> To be a Christian is to be patriotic in America

That's doesn't necessarily follow. There's are sects in Christianity that loath America. they see it as Gamora.

> which is odd considering America is suppose to be a country that freely accepts all religions.

Which is a great point. When people assert that America is a Christian country, just point out the First Amendment, and the First Commandment:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"

versus:

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me"

> What does separation of church and state mean to you?

I take it very seriously. I have been a secular/atheist activist for 30 years. The main focus of mine has been keeping religious nonsense out of our lawbooks and our text books.

> Do you believe that separation of church and state is practiced, or reinforced in America?

Of course. The founding Fathers thought this so important that it's the first thing they wrote in the Constitution. The very first.

> And correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure America was not founded on the Christian religion

It was not. Some good reading for you:

The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American, by Andrew Seidel

Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism, by Susan Jacoby

If you have the time you should read this book called God and the Gay Christian, by Matthew Vines.

Link

It's full of gay-affirming arguments and most of them are based on scripture or interpretations of it. Wish I'd known about it when I was figuring everything out!

I think you'd benefit greatly by getting Pitre and Bergsma's A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament. Pitre and Bergsma are great Catholic scholars, and their work has been received very positively. I suggest picking it up given your concerns!

I think you'd benefit greatly by getting Pitre and Bergsma's A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament. Pitre and Bergsma are great, orthodox Catholic scholars, and their work has been received very positively. I suggest picking it up given your concerns!

I knew that too. I heard Robert Alter who published his retranslation in 2018 and the 'point' of his translation was to bring out the poetry inherent https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hebrew-Bible-Translation-Commentary/dp/0393292495

I highly recommend the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. It only exists in the New Testament, but various individual volumes can be bought for Old Testament books.

I also highly recommend <em>A Catholic Introduction to the Old Testament</em>. It’s awesome.

Folks have been asking about this - wanted to share the link and that it's on sale on Amazon at the moment for those who are interested.

Not a website or an app, but a scholarly book about what the first five books of the bible mean in context: https://www.amazon.com/Sources-Revealed-Richard-Elliott-Friedman/dp/006073065X

I recommend it, very fun read. A starting point at least.

The Alter translation isn't public domain, so I don't have any links, sorry! You can buy a hardcover set for $80 on Amazon, which is the cheapest I've seen it (https://smile.amazon.com/Hebrew-Bible-Translation-Commentary-Three/dp/0393292495). Personally I think it's well worth the money because it does such an incredible job of both poetic translation and scholarly explanations rather than trying to convert you or dumb things down into dry simple English, but understandably a lot of people who don't find the academic study of the Bible as fascinating as I do might not want to throw down 80 bucks just to satisfy a passing curiosity about biblical sex puns.

For what it's worth, the reason the Bible has so many dick/sex puns according to Alter is that the central story of the Bible is about people surviving threats to procreation in order to become prosperous and numerous - the line of humanity passing down from Adam to Noah to Abraham to Jacob and so on keeps nearly getting wiped out, and they are saved by sexual reproduction, so sex is one of the central themes of the Bible (or at least the Old Testament).

Oh, it doesnt even Have to be Trump. Look at how they revere influential people like Dr. Oz, Ron DeSantis and Kari Lake.

And look at the title of this book.

Good Effing Grief they are fanatical.MAGA LEADER and anointed figurehead of the QAnon movement

For an excellent detailed introduction to the various books of the Old Testament, I recommend

• A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: Old Testament by John Bergsma and Brant Pitre (1060 pages)

For each OT book it provides answers to the following questions, based upon the latest Catholic Biblical scholarship:

• When was it written? Why was it written?

• What literary genre(s) are used in it?

• What are the common historical questions and/or debates concerning its content?

• What are we to make of their laws, stories, histories, and prophecies?

For answering Bible "difficulties", some of which concern reconciling passages with historical evidence that appears to be in contradiction, I recommend

• Hard Sayings: A Catholic Approach To Answering Bible Difficulties by Trent Horn (437 pages).

No.

You can’t just grab different texts to make sense of another text.

Revelations is about Rome.

https://www.amazon.com/Revelations-Visions-Prophecy-Politics-Revelation/dp/0143121634

If you want to learn more about it.

The authors who wrote Genesis did not believe in Satan, the devil or demons.

I agree that the Jewish people borrow their stories from other places. But it doesn’t change the fact that Genesis is talking about a serpent and not trying to tell you anything other than that.

It is worse than we laugh at...it is scarier than we think. New book proclaims that Donald Trump is THE CHRIST (more like 'the anti-Christ', but probably that claim is &quot;fake news&quot;).

Here's a book written about Trump as The Christ. Here's a brief article about Shane Vaughn, who is one of the pastors pushing this specific messianic Christianity that centers Trump. There's probably a lot more you can find by tugging on those strings

Anybody see that christian book that came out? Donald J. Trump, the son of man - the christ. Can we prosecute him yet?? https://www.amazon.com/President-Donald-Trump-Son-Man/dp/1977249752