Reading the Bible is good for you? Great Debate Brisbane Writers Festival | City Bible Forum
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Reading the Bible is good for you? Great Debate Brisbane Writers Festival

Wed 12 Sep 2012
Alt

On Saturday evening I made it along to the Great Debate at the Brisbane Writer's Festival and the topic was Reading the Bible is good for you? There is so much to say and there was so much said. I hope to be saying some more soon. But for now, let's just go with a vibe and one observation.

It certainly was a fun night because even the predicable positions were argued with wit and verve (with just a couple of low blows). Jacqui Payne on the negative team made us all laugh with her sharp observation that reading the Bible is not good for you because the font is too small and the Bible is too boring. Sure, we’ll stay up all night to read a crime novel but when was the last time that happened reading the Bible?

Despite some of the arguments being predicable, some were wonderfully surprising from surprising people. Who would have thought that Germaine Greer, who argued we ought to read the Bible, would speak so eloquently of the wonderful human yearning expressed in the Bible?

Yet one of my fears was confirmed. Those speaking for the positive that we ought to read the Bible were not those that represent the vast majority who do read the Bible. The three positive speakers were Germaine Greer, Richard Holloway (former Bishop of Edinburgh) and Bob Katter. Both Germaine and Richard said that the Bible was not God's word. It was not written by God but by men. Bob Kattar was somewhat closer to the mark, in that he follows Jesus and calls himself a Christian. However, he explicitly stated more than once that he does not read the Old Testament.

This is a pretty major oversight I would have thought. Surely at the Brisbane Writers Festival they would want to treat books with literary integrity? The Bible claims that it is entirely from God, not just some of it. Surely, they could have found someone who treats the Bible with literary integrity? Even if they are a nutcase Christian who believes God is the ultimate agent working through human authors to write the Bible.

It was a bit like having three people who don't believe in Shakespeare argue about the merits of Shakespeare's plays and writing skills. It seems a little strange doesn’t it? Next time, perhaps they could consider inviting people who read and believe the whole Bible. Maybe someone from the Bible Society?

Comments

  • Alt
    Wed, 12/09/2012 - 11:11am reply

    C'mon Glenn - How on earth do you expect the Writers Festival panel organiser to have ever heard of the Bible Society or any other non-denominational organisation? or know that Bob Katter didn't read Old testament seriously? Or even that this would be an issue? They'd want someone either a local public figure (like Bob Katter) or other published writers who are speaking at festival (like Germane Greer and Holloway). Alas people only know their own (self-reinforcing) subculture world -  otherwise what they hear in media (or they Google). How would someone putting a panel know how to find a 'Christian' author? Even the word 'Christian' is an inhouse word - generally people only know names of major denominations (anglican, baptist, Roman Catholic etc) & perhaps a local well-branded church name. Even 'christian book of the year' would be an unknown prize to organisers of Writers Festival. Christians are now a subculture - and alas Christians often happy to remain so. Those outside the Christian world have not heard of its non-denominational organisations or how to locate someone within them.

    • Alt
      Wed, 12/09/2012 - 11:54am reply

      Hi Polly,

      You make a good point. But, I have a hope that those who profess to be intellectual and interested in the world would be so and be willing to step out of their comfort zone.

      But as you note we Christians can be our own worse enemy. Why is it that hardly any really good Christian books can be found at Dymocks or Angus and Robertson? Because all the Christians go to the Christian bookshops like Koorong.

      The result: Dymocks and A & R don't sell any of the mainstream titles and so they don't stock them. They stock what they sell. Meanwhile, many others order fringe texts which fill the religion or spiritual section. Not that all these books are bad but those that are written from a Christian perspective often don't represent mainstream Christian beliefs or understandings.

      • Alt
        Wed, 12/09/2012 - 12:33pm reply

        Most Christian publishers are non-profit and cannot afford the retail terms of shops like Dymocks (and Angus & Robertson now no more). Roy Williams was published by ABC Books so his books were in mainstream stores.

  • Alt
    Wed, 12/09/2012 - 11:27am reply

    Even google searches will select content based on prior searches and person's web searching history, in short, it will filter to cater to your pre-conceptions. Thus people generally live in a self-referencing world and mindset most of the time. very rare for them to engage with radical new content from their existing worldview.

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