Do you own a copy of the Bible?

hmmm, i think i have one here somewhere or i did. maybe it is packed away in the attic!

I own a copy of The Other Bible

Yes, several. But I'm not religious.

I got one when I left school, but I threw it away.

Several, in fact.

You own a copy of the HarperCollins Study Bible somewhere, too!

yup, it's in the library in cambridge

It stays up at my church, though.

The bible is very fascinating in many ways and it brings you closer to god but I don't go to church because I rather do my worship of god in my own privacy.

I go to church, but I like to hear that people study on their own and pray on their own, too...because it's a good way to find truth for yourself without believing everything someone else says. I'd rather ask God, myself, on a lot of things..especially controversial stuff.

Yeah.

Yes. AND I tried to read it once, too.

God should be capitalized. He is the creator of the universe.

Anyone want to take me up on this bet? The next religion survey is going to be: "Have you ever eaten a Bible?"

Yep. it's great for killing spiders. >

Well yes and no. I do have a copy of the Bible in the house, but it's not just in my possesion.

a couple actually

What is The Other Bible?

yes stolen from a hotel

it's a collection of books and apocryhpia that got cut from various versions of the Bible by various councils of bishops and such

The apocrypha? Is that the bit with the story of Tobias and the angel in it? I love that story The drama group I was in performed it about 5 years ago - it was so uplifting!

Yep. I personally own 3 Bibles, but we have, I think, 9 in the house.

I enjoy the gnostic stuff myself

Many, different translations and different languages.

OIC! What is apocryhpia?

actually, sorry, it's apocryhpa, not apocryhpia. My fingers were a little too anxious typing there. They're books of the bible that were excluded from the "canonical" bible - books that were decided would not be canon. Sometimes their authenticity is in doubt. Sometimes they don't go along sufficiently with whatever group of people edited the bible wanted. I'm not an expert on this subject; I'm sure Enheduanna could explain properly.

I have numerous copies of the KJV Bible

OIC. I will ask Enheduanna! Hare Krishna!

I have one but I don't read it very often.

Actually, romkey explained it pretty well. The only thing he left out is that there is an "official" Apocrypha which is considered canonical by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches (but not by Jews and Protestants) and is included in their Bible, between the Old and New Testaments (although it's considered part of the Old Testament writings, actually). Then there are other "apocryphal" books which are just of doubtful origin and status, like romkey was describing. These are often grouped with a collection of works called "pseudepigrapha," which means "false writings." These are also ancient works which are attributed to certain writers but which weren't actually written by them. Pseudepigrapha also frequently have controversial content.

Yes, but I haven't read from it for a long time

OIC. Hare Krishna! I hear a lot of The Bible's verses about reincarnation where taken out in the 5th century.

Sounds interesting. Any suggestions on how to go about tracking down a copy?

Wordsworth carries it, and also Amazon.com has it

Yes, several in different translations and languages.

Cool, thank-you. I tried looking for it on amazon.com, but for some reason it gave me every book with "bible" in the title (all 1122 of them) instead of only books with all the keywords like it usually does.

yeah amazon did the same thing to me! You'd think it would give a higher score to books whose titles exactly matched...

I would have thought so too.

You know it's kind of scary to post a reply, hit "replies" and find a reply to the message _you only just posted_ waiting for you

sorry I couldn't do it again

I don't read it. I like reading books based on the bible without the hell-fire and damnation.

Yes. One "fancy" with white leather binding and pictures. One functional-type that I'm currently trying to read. My goal is to finish it by next Easter. (It's much more boring than I thought it would be!)

Yes, several copies.

About three, I think. Maybe four.
Children's, KJ, RSV

It took me a year and a half to get through it all. Sorry to hear you think it is boring. Try Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon from the OT, and Acts from the NT.

Are you reading just to say you read it? Or are you asking God to make His word come alive for you? (You'd be surprised what a difference it makes.)

FIVE or more!

Yes, I'm reading it to actually get something out of it, but some is more mundane than I thought it would be. I hate to admit this, but I actually bought the "Bible for Dummies" and it has really helped me to understand some of the language and some historical references. I'm still at the tail end of Genesis, so I'm not making any judgements on the rest of it.

Ha, ha, ha, ha. There actually exists a "Bible for Dummies? Gotta get me a copy! I can see it now under definitions:

"God - The BOSS. This dude is big. I mean REALLY BIG. Think of God like Bill Gates is the size of the sun (and has just a much gas). Well, God is like a billion trillion gazillion gigabites bigger 'n smarter 'n faster. I mean you could store your whole hacked Pentagon Nuclear Strategy Inciative in His little finger, and like it would maybe like take up no kind cyberspace at all, man. And whatever you do, man, don't try to hack God. Wait till ya see what He did to some dudes from Sodom. Wow!"