I visit this group quite a bit-

[JDPriestly]

59. In the Old Testament, the first books are the laws of the early Jewish people

The second group are the history of the early Jewish people, and the third, the literature of that same people, meaning the historic Jewish tribes.

That's the oversimplified version. But all of the Old Testament should be taken as laws, history and literature. Many of the laws are inapplicable today because our society is much more complex than that of the early Jews. There were lots of sheep and animal sacrifices in the Old Testament, cedars and whores of Babylon, terrible battles and captivities. We don't seem to have gone much past the basic reality of conflict, but we don't have cedars or whores of Babylon.

The New Testament includes the gospels which claim to tell the story of Jesus' teachings and a bit about his life. But remember, they were written years after his death, probably by individuals who were under Roman rule. They are said to be based on some manuscript that is gone. There is a strong Roman influence on the texts and stories told.

Remember, the Jews revolted. Remember Simon the Zealot.

Jerusalem fell and Jews and their sacred artifacts were marched through Rome. The conquered Jews were paraded in front of the people of the conquerors. The church in Jerusalem that had been established perhaps by James (the brother of Jesus) was destroyed. Perhaps some of the followers escaped. That is unclear to me.

Paul was a Roman Jew. He never knew Jesus but became a Christian after experiencing a miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus. He founded the church outside Jerusalem. The Letters, the Epistles in the back of the Bible are attributed to him.

That is my scrambled and brief understanding of the origins of the Bible. Seems to me that it is absurd to take every word as literally true because most of them were written based on oral and missing versions of stories. Very few of the authors had any firsthand knowledge or close acquaintance with the people including Jesus that they described.

What is important to me are the essential teachings of Jesus, the words attributed to him whether they were his or not. And these teach us, as do the teachings of the Jewish leaders who lead in the period between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament to love each other and to help the poor. So that is what I think is to be taken seriously: love each other and help the poor.

The rest of it should be read and understood according to one's own spiritual sense. It's the basics that count.

And if we could only live the message: love each other and help the poor. Love each other and help each other out. Then we would live in peace and the Bible would be alive, not just a book.