There are maybe a dozen major Christian religions, hundreds of major sects, thousands of minor sects and offshoots. Nearly all of these exist because of theological differences with some parent body. Yet all have the same single source for their theology: the Bible. But they all interpret the Bible differently.

The aim of this site is to offer analysis and information to help to resolve some of these differences. It does not attempt to tell readers what to believe, or to teach any particular view of theology, instead it deals with the factual basis of theology rather than theology itself. However it does examine some existing conflicts and propose the rejection of ideas that are irrational, or based on a lack of knowledge, or on unfounded dogma, or on perverse or seriously improbable interpretation. The emphasis throughout is on providing information and on developing ideas which readers can use to support their own study.

Ultimately we are responsible for our own beliefs, which must mean that we should never blindly accept the dogmas of others. Fundamentalists will try to indoctrinate you, evangelists to 'save' you, cults to arrange 're-birth' into their particular fold, atheists to ridicule your conclusions. Listen, probe, analyse, and then if necessary modify your own faith. Approach everything you are told with the same sympathetic caution that I hope you will bring to these pages.

There is one essential pre-requisite - you must be prepared to re-assess what you currently accept as true. This may be particularly difficult for anyone brought up in a fundamentalist tradition, and taught that some particular dogma may not be challenged for fear of some terrible consequence. Such dogmas must be put aside, and if at the end of your search they are found to be incompatible with truth they must be rejected.

You will find no mysticism here, no attention to the arcane pursuits of numerology or kabbalah or secret hidden meanings. You will find, in a number of the articles the conclusion that the writers of the Books of the Bible were ordinary men, writing to record events for the information of men of their time, writing to correct abuses of their time, writing to encourage, support, or condemn their peers. They were not writing for generations two and a half thousand years in the future, although what they wrote may still be valid two and a half thousand years into the future. They wanted to be understood there and then and so used the language and images of their contemporary world; if they wrote in allegory or parable it was in the knowledge that their contemporary readers could interpret correctly - even if we cannot.

Pope Leo XIII wrote: "No poison is more fatal to divine faith," than "the subtle and insidious spread of rationalism."

A basic presumption in these articles is that any God must be rational. If anything written in the Bible appears irrational, or any doctrine derived from the Bible appears irrational, it is a clear sign that the writing or doctrine is suspect and must be examined and analysed with great care. A faith based on the irrational is not a faith worth having.

Charles Wyndham.

July 2000.

If you feel that some facts offered in these pages are in error, or some piece of analysis is logically faulty, I would appreciate hearing from you.

awyndham@bigpond.net.au

• Three Bible Conundrums Some very basic problems.
• Evolution and Creation Can evolution and creation be reconciled?
• Science and the Bible Can science and Genesis be reconciled?
• Fundamentalism Fundamentalist dogmas - good, bad, or indifferent?
• Inerrancy Can the Bible ever be wrong?
• Bible Sources The Canons of the Bible.
• The Pentateuch Information and discussion
• Histories and Prophets Information and discussion
• Prophesy How successful was Biblical prophesy
• Daniel's Prophesies An analysis of the Book of Daniel.
• The 'Writings' Information and discussion
• The Nature of God God as seen by the Old Testament.
• Satan, Demons, and the Devil Development of concepts
• The Gospels Information and discussion
• The Early Church Information and discussion
• Two Views of Apparent Discrepancies A look at two opposing publications
• Two Floods A breakdown of the Flood story into two separate accounts.
• Pinches of Salt Can you really accept these.
• Paul The life and teaching of Paul.
• British-Israelism A significant but very silly idea. (NEW)
• Mormons A successful cult, but is it based on a lie? (NEW)

Books

Who Wrote the Bible. R.E. Friedman
Necessary Heresies. Peter Cameron New South Wales University Press
The Archaeology of the Bible Lands. Magnus Magnussen The Bodley Head
Hebrew Myths. Robert Graves Cassell
The Cambridge Companion to the Bible. Howard Clark Kee et al Cambridge University Press

Links

• NOIG Articles on Genesis
• Religious Tolerance Organisation An invaluable source of information and liberal views.
• Talk.origins Information on evolution and other Bible-related topics.
• Religious Resources Religious resources on the Net