Bible, Part II: Bias Against Dead People?
Skeptics may ask what reading a book that’s at least 2,000 years old could possibly have to do with their lives. The mindset of the authors of the books of the Bible was so different from ours that little of what they have to say would be relevant or useful to us. It’s like reading Shakespeare. He may have been a great writer and all, and there may be useful messages in his work, but we don’t have the time or inclination to decipher the language or understand the context. Besides failing to recognize that the Bible is “the Word of God in words of men,” I believe this is part of a bias we have against dead people. I know that sounds weird but think of how we smile knowingly when we consider the customs and beliefs of our grandparents – to say nothing of the lives of people who lived centuries ago. I recall the hilarious Saturday Night Live skits with “historical” themes. One was about the overconfident and self-satisfied medieval barber/physician, Theodoric of York, pla...