Dear David F.,

Godless people BEHAVE as if there is no God even while some of them may mentally believe in God or whatever. There is little correlation between them and people who do not believe in God.

And since you mentioned superstition, citing Josephus' last comment as example, I curiously went to check it:

«The Bible is a record of how God dealt with people and how people dealt with each other.»

Well doesn't this description fit every historical/non-fictional book about humans? Each being just a tiny fragment, but still...

Yes, if what you meant by "superstitious" is the belief that the Bible is a true historical record, then I tend to agree, yet some Christians (like Peter Sells) argue that the Bible was never meant to be a historical record in the first place. Indeed, why must it be?

«The Hebrew text identifies the culture of Israel.»

Well doesn't it?

«The New Testament deals with the way and the truth and the light as revealed by Jesus Christ.»

Well doesn't it?

Dealing with a topic does not necessarily require accurate and complete knowledge of that topic. Even clumsy essays may still be on topic.

«Understanding and living that truth changes character and develops deeper love for others.»

Well why not? Josephus was referring to the TRUTH as revealed by Jesus Christ, rather than "the truth as revealed by the Bible". The truth is still the truth and regardless even whether it is written anywhere, understanding the truth indeed changes one's character and develops deeper love for others.

«Reading it encourages purity of life.»

"it" being the New-Testament (on its own), I think that overall it does. The information therein need not be correct or accurate in order to encourage one to strive for purity of life.

«As for the book of Mormon it is a fiction and the original included texts lifter out of the Old Testament and Shakespeare.»

Don't we all agree on this?

So 5/6 of Josephus' statements are non-superstitious: that's a high distinction in OLO standards!

Hi David and Yuyutsu,

Yuyutsu, David is quite right, there is no evidence that a Christian is any more morally correct that say a Hindu or Buddhist or anyone of another religion or of no religion at all. Morality is a state of mind determined by the individuals own perception of what he or she believes to be the moral thing to do. If millions of people believe themselves morally correct yet have never read the Bible then that in itself proves that ones morals are not determined by the Bible alone, but come from some other influences. The Bible like many other things may assist one to come to a certain moral viewpoint, but its not the Bible that determines exclusively that moral view one has.

To give an analogy; A person does not become a good car driver by simply reading the book of road rules, it may help, but the book alone is no guarantee of driving competency, there are other factors as well. The Bible acts in some ways like the book of road rules, if heeded it may help, but its not the be all and end all, other sources could come into play; "Johnny was unable to read the book of road rules but is a good driver and passed the test because he was taught all the right things by his father who is also a good driver". "Jan studied the book of road rules but failed the test, because she was taught all the wrong things by her mother who is a very bad driver."

Dear Paul,

«there is no evidence that a Christian is any more morally correct that say a Hindu or Buddhist or anyone of another religion or of no religion at all.»

This depends on how you define a Christian, so yes, if you refer to common dictionary definitions then I fully agree with all you wrote.

Yet I rather define 'Christian' as someone who follows Jesus Christ, who like him is willing if necessary to be crucified or suffer something equivalent for their love of others. I don't know of too many Christians, but they would be the epitome of morality...

In an opportunistic society, morality is merely the degree of exploitation you can get away with !

Is it right to leave a Bible at your front door?

Yuyutsu

By implication, the question could be read as; is it right or is it wrong to leave a Bible at the front door, (the moral question), and does a person have a legal right to do so?

The latter part of the question (I would conclude) , with a yes.

How do we conclude with a definite answer to the moral question, since morality is arbitrary?

Dear Dan,

«The latter part of the question (I would conclude) , with a yes.»

If "right" and "wrong" in your lexicon mean "legal" and "illegal" then I suppose it is a yes, though I'm not a lawyer. For me, "right" and "wrong" are always of the moral kind.

«How do we conclude with a definite answer to the moral question, since morality is arbitrary?»

The best way is to apply Hillel's golden rule: would you [likely] hate it if you found yourself at the receiving end (which would include the recipient's existing religion and life-situation)?

If you would hate it being done unto yourself - then do not do so unto others.

In other words, place yourself in the recipient's shoes. Do you sincerely want to help them, or are you in hurry to just tick them off?

Please include in your consideration people of other religions, like Jews who could suffer a significant hardship as a result, also Christians who already have 50 copies of the Bible and might be forced to build an extra room to house this extra one that out of respect they couldn't throw, also non-English speakers who would not be able to read that Bible even if they wanted, also people who aren't at home (thus encouraging burglaries).

If you don't know the recipients - is it right to not even check first?

Another consideration: is it a good idea to print that many Bibles on paper, reasonably knowing that 95% of them would be thrown in the bin straight away or eaten by the family's dog and no more than 1% would ever be read? Further, that this intrusion would make some 80% averse to Christianity and reduce their chances of ever coming closer to Jesus? Does this honour the Bible?

Perhaps there were times when people simply did not know about the Bible, and were pleasantly surprised by its message, but now in the 21st century? Nowadays anyone who does not already have Bible(s) and is slightly curious, already knows that they can get it for free in practically any church.