Genesis 1:3-5

And God said "let there be light" and there was light. (I wish this worked when I wake up at night & have to go pee, just sayin'!)
And god saw that the light was good. Why was it good? Didn't god have to create the darkness also? When did that happen? Was the darkness good too?
And he separated the light from the darkness. Where they mixed? Was it like dusk?
And he called the light"day" and the darkness night and there was evening and there was morning on the first day.

Well, since no one currently believes that the world is flat (I hope) and we all know that light comes from the sun and the earth rotates, how can this contradiction be explained. It's not like turning on a light bulb in a dark room and voila, there is light and it is day and then, bam we turn it off and it is night. Even though it is night here where I am, it is day somewhere in the world. We can chalk it up to the understanding of the Earth at the time this text was written, but if it is the word of god, it must be held to a higher standard.

Genesis 1:1-2

Perhaps one of the most well know lines of the bible: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The English Bible has changed the wording to say: In the beginning of creation when God made the heaven and earth . . . This semantic change is significant because in the new English version indicates that there was something before creation was initiated, while the NIV version it seems that everything began with the creation and gives no indication what was before. Insomuch as the word "beginning" is concerned, the question really is, what is meant by it? Are we talking about the beginning of the earth and life as we know it, or the beginning of everything. If by beginning, we are talking about the beginning of the earth as we know it, that is plausible. If we are talking about the beginning of all things, that is a contradiction because as indicated by the bible, god was there and a void was there.

The NIV also calls god "the Spirit of God" and I wonder what is meant by that and how the spirit of god is different from god.

Finally here & info

Okay, so when I started this blog I had a great plan, but real life interrupted that! I am going to do my best to stay on track. So a few notes about my sources. I am using two bibles: The original NIV and The New English Bible. I may reference King James online if needed. Other sources I will be using include http://www.biblegateway.com/, http://wiki.ironchariots.org/index.php?title=Main_Page, http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/index.htm.

I will do my best to post at least weekly, though some of the OT will go faster (Not much to say about genealogies and people living to be 1,000)

Thank you!

In the beginning . . .

Hello! My name is Kathy and I am a wiccan athiest. To begin, I would like to take a few lines to explain what I mean by wiccan atheist. Basically, I have a great love and respect for the Earth. I feel that as human, we are an integral part of this fantastic environment known as Earth. We are a speck of dust in a grand galactic system. I know that there exists cause and effect and that these are reciprocal between each individual and the environment they inhabit. I do not, however, believe there is any higher power, karma, or grand system controlling it on any level. So, that is the shorthand of my "belief" system (or lack of belief system, as it were).

I am also the wife of a Catholic man and mother to two children who will decide for themselves what to be at some point in their lives. My daughter especially is very curious and is at this time very interested in religion. It is with her in mind that I embark on this endeavor. My goal with this blog is read and analyze holy texts to try to make a clear understanding of what makes them so special that so many individuals would base their entire life around their teachings. I will start with the Old testament, then the New testament, and then the Qu'ran. This process will likely be slow going because I am a University student and I may not always have sufficient time to do thorough research on each passage and I will not post unless I have done my homework thoroughly, so to speak. I encourage feedback and discussion, but please be respectful. I understand that people are very touchy about their beliefs, so please discuss the topic and do not stoop to insults.

Thank you.