The Bible
The Constitution of the United States
back to Faith
updated 2009 November 26, cbd
The title refers to the quip "The U.S. Constitution, next to the
Bible, is the most perfect model for human society" or words to that
effect that I heard spoken once somewhere in the Bible Belt.
On the premise that a reasonbly intelligent U.S. citizen and Christian
ought to be able to comprehend and utilize these perfect models for
human behavior, I've undertaken to retell the content of the
Bible in my own words,
one page at a time, one day at a time. This has taken five
years so far and will be completed in the summer of 2010. At the
end I'll write down my conclusions and "why I did it." After
that, I don't know what's next.
Why am I doing it? I've tried and tried to write introductory
remarks to these endeavors
and am not yet happy with the results. I think I'll know when I'm
finished. Let me just say, though, I am not a Bible scholar,
theologian, or skeptic and I am not trying to start or
engage in any arguments; I'm just reading the Bible, restating what I
read into my own words (which is my way of absorbing and understanding
written material), and making comments based on my own experiences and
ways of thinking.
The main thing I'm learning is that the Bible doesn't really read like
I thought it did and what a person would take from it is often far
different from what is commonly taught in the Bible's name. This
is (of course) true of my own instruction, historic and modern.
Here is what I have so far.
Old Testament
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth, I Samuel, II Samuel
I Kings, II Kings
I Chronicles, II Chronicles
Ezra, Nehemiah
Esther, Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos, Obadiah
next, Jonah, Micah
New Testament
Gospel of
Matthew
Gospel of Mark
Gospel of Luke
Gospel
of John
Acts
of the
Apostles
Romans
I Corinthians
II Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
Thessalonians
Timothy
Titus, Philemon
Hebrews
James
I, II Peter
I, II, III John, Jude
next, Relevation
The
U.S.
Constitution and Amendments
(c) Courtney Duncan 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009