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Here are, I believe, the salient points from the preceeding pages and from the preface of the NIV Bible.  The first thing I noticed was this:

You will be pleased to know that a portion  of the purchase price of your new NIV Bible has been provided to International Bible Society to help spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.

I’ll be honest here; I really wasn’t pleased to know this.  I knew I’d be contributing to the cause by buying the book but it was only $5.95 and a necessity I really couldn’t avoid, if I wanted to use the NIV Bible.  I’d dabbled in the King James version but I found it difficult to trudge through and probably a little less complete than the NIV Bible.  A friend just recommended the NET Bible which is a great free resource.  I’m sure I’ll be referencing and quoting both of these versions periodically throughout this project but most likely I’ll primarily be using the NIV Bible.

(Note: When I mention “IBS” here I mean the “International Bible Society”, not “Irritable Bowel Syndrome”, as one might think.  The irony is not lost on me.)

On Page V I’m told that the Bible was written by many different authors, living at different times and places.  Now, I understand them to all be male but that’s not clear here.  I don’t think that is a trivial thing; I’ll expand on that when I get to the verses concerning female oppression.

The IBS claims that not one of these authors contradict each other.  They go on to say that this “fact” means that the Bible is a “completely dependable and trustworthy book”.  They say I can “believe everything it says because it comes from God”.

This is where my red flags start to rise.  I’m having a hard time understanding how their claim that no author contradicts each other is proof in any way that this text is divinely inspired.  As I understand it there are many contradictions in the Bible so this is a point I want to address later.  Also, simply assuring me that I can unequivocally believe the text in its entirety with absolutely no evidence whatsoever of the text’s validity, divinity, or intent is in no way a compelling reason to put aside doubt and just “believe”.  It’s sounds as if they feel they don’t have to provide any evidence.

The IBS reiterates this message on page VI.

In working toward these goals, the translators were united in their commitment to the authority and infallibility of the Bible as God’s Word in written form.

This can only mean one thing: either the Bible is truly the written form of God’s Word to we humans-every single word of it-or it’s not.  No picking and choosing.  It can’t be half-true or partially true.  This is where the fundamentalists and I agree; they believe every word of the Bible to be true and I do not.

The IBS concedes that mistakes will be made in the translation process but, of course, they’re all human mistakes.  That sounds like an easy out to me.

On a lighter note I learned that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and Aramaic while the New Testament was written entirely in Greek.  I was reminded that both Jews and Christians accept the Old Testament while Christians accept the New Testament.  This is good for me because I can essentially kill two birds with one stone here.  I can cover Judaism and Christianity in one book.  Once I’m finished with this I’d like to do this with the Koran as well.  We’ll see how that goes; I’m not making any promises.

So in I go now to the Old Testament, kicking it old school.  I hear it’s seriously bloody and mean-sprited.  People don’t threaten to “go Old Testament on your ass” for nothing.