Why do so few Americans read the Bible they value?

[Tcg]

Americans value the Bible and as many as 9 in 10 households own a Bible. Some own as many as three or four. A recent survey suggests that slightly over half think America would be worse off without the Bible. source Presidents are sworn in using the Bible and in some cases courtroom witnesses are sworn in using the Bible. Clearly, the Bible is held in high regard.

This regard, however, doesn't result in equal levels of reading the Bible. Only 1 in 5 Americans have read all of it and only 9% have read all it more than once:



This leads to these questions for debate:

Why do so few Americans read the Bible even though it is held in high regard?

Is it possible that it is viewed highly because few have read all of it?


Tcg

[JehovahsWitness]

In Leviticus 20:10 we are told, "If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death."

WHY WERE DAVID AND BATHSHEBA NOT PUT TO DEATH FOR THEIR ADULTERY?

According to the text Jehovah (God) intervened to judge the case himself. It was not judged that the law did not apply, but that the guilty parties were shown mercy and the death sentence mitigated. Biblically, God reserves the right to be merciful to whomever he so chooses, including the guilty if they show they are repentant.


JW



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[Tcg]

According to the text Jehovah (God) intervened to judge the case himself. It was not judged that the law did not apply, but that the guilty parties were shown mercy and the death sentence mitigated. Biblically, God reserves the right to be merciful to whomever he so chooses, including the guilty if they show they are repentant.

Yes, David got off easy. Special privilege given that he was the king and all. Not so for the innocent child. So much for justice.


Tcg

[JehovahsWitness]

According to the text Jehovah (God) intervened to judge the case himself. It was not judged that the law did not apply, but that the guilty parties were shown mercy and the death sentence mitigated. Biblically, God reserves the right to be merciful to whomever he so chooses, including the guilty if they show they are repentant.

Yes, David got off easy. ...

Yes, easier than death that much is true; but that is the whole point of mercy, mercy means that the full penalty of an crime is NOT imposed. God is never recorded as saying said that what David did not merit death or that he was excused because of his position; in fact God sent his Prophet Nathan to pronounced the death sentence to David which he (Nathan) duly did. So there is no question that God failed to recognise David had broken the law or that he was excused because he was the king and therefore above the law.

Indeed arguably, since David was the King and legally there was nobody (except God himself) in a position to see justice was rendered, Jehovah's intervention provides evidence of his impartiality vis-à-vis the application of divine law.



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[Tcg]

Yes, easier than death that much is true; but that is the whole point of mercy, mercy means that the full penalty of an crime is NOT imposed. God is never recorded as saying said that what David did not merit death or that he was excusez because of his position; in fact God sent his Prophet Nathan to pronounced the death sentence to David which he (Nathan) duly did. So there is no question that God did not recognise David had broken the law or that he was excused because he was the king and above the law.

I'm not finding the word "mercy" anywhere in the story. Where did you find it?

I'm also not finding Nathan pronouncing a death sentence. Can you point it out?


Tcg

[JehovahsWitness]

Yes, easier than death that much is true; but that is the whole point of mercy, mercy means that the full penalty of an crime is NOT imposed. God is never recorded as saying said that what David did not merit death or that he was excusez because of his position; in fact God sent his Prophet Nathan to pronounced the death sentence to David which he (Nathan) duly did. So there is no question that God did not recognise David had broken the law or that he was excused because he was the king and above the law.

I'm not finding the word "mercy" anywhere in the story. Where did you find it?

I apply critical thinking skills when I read. A specific word or expression does not have to be in the text, to come to a conclusion about a text. For example the expressions "got off easy" is nowhere to be found in the text, so are we to conclude it is impossible to support this conclusion ?

David was pronounced worthy of death but the sentence was not applied because of his repentent heart. What do we call it when a sentence is mitigated by a recognised authority in response to the regretful attitude of the guilty?

[Difflugia]

Bathsheba would probably have had no choice. The king had summoned her and he had the power to do who-knows-what to her and her family if she refused.

In biblical storytelling, what someone would rationally have done sometimes shows the absurdity of treating the stories as historical (Judges 19-21, anyone?). In this case, though, the conduct would be in line with David's other reported conduct, whether historical or not. The Bathsheba story is eerily similar to the story of Nabal and Abigail in 1 Samuel 25:

David: Hey Nabal, those are some mighty fine sheep you have and it would be a shame if something happened to them. Incidentally, my guys and I are kind of hungry.
Nabal: Get a job, loser!
David: He said what? Oh, I'll show him who the loser is.
Abigail: My husband is an idiot. Please don't kill us. Here's some barbecue and figs. Or, if you do kill him, don't kill the rest of us.
David: OK. He's not worth it anyway. I mean, I would have killed everyone if you weren't so nice to me, but now I won't.
Narrator: Ten days later, Nabal died of totally natural causes. It had nothing to do with David because Yahweh did it.
David: Hey Abigail, you should marry me.
Abigail: I'll do anything you want. Thank you for not killing me.

[TRANSPONDER]

Yes, easier than death that much is true; but that is the whole point of mercy, mercy means that the full penalty of an crime is NOT imposed. God is never recorded as saying said that what David did not merit death or that he was excusez because of his position; in fact God sent his Prophet Nathan to pronounced the death sentence to David which he (Nathan) duly did. So there is no question that God did not recognise David had broken the law or that he was excused because he was the king and above the law.

I'm not finding the word "mercy" anywhere in the story. Where did you find it?

I apply critical thinking skills when I read. A specific word or expression does not have to be in the text, to come to a conclusion about a text. For example the expressions "got off easy" is nowhere to be found in the text, so are we to conclude it is impossible to support this conclusion ?

David was pronounced worthy of death but the sentence was not applied because of his repentent heart. What do we call it when a sentence is mitigated by a recognised authority in response to the regretful attitude of the guilty?

I don't see critical thinking so much as preferential interpretation. The word you are looking for is not mercy but letting his boy get away with murder. Anyone not on God's preferred list would get dead from raising his eyebrows the wrong way.

[Tcg]

Yes, easier than death that much is true; but that is the whole point of mercy, mercy means that the full penalty of an crime is NOT imposed. God is never recorded as saying said that what David did not merit death or that he was excusez because of his position; in fact God sent his Prophet Nathan to pronounced the death sentence to David which he (Nathan) duly did. So there is no question that God did not recognise David had broken the law or that he was excused because he was the king and above the law.

I'm not finding the word "mercy" anywhere in the story. Where did you find it?

I apply critical thinking skills when I read. A specific word or expression does not have to be in the text, to come to a conclusion about a text. For example the expressions "got off easy" is nowhere to be found in the text, so are we to conclude it is impossible to support this conclusion ?

I see, you add the word "mercy" when it's not in the text. I conclude it is an example of "favoritism." My critical thinking skills lead to that obvious conclusion and yet you reject it. Odd isn't it?

David was pronounced worthy of death but the sentence was not applied because of his repentent heart. What do we call it when a sentence is mitigated by a recognised authority in response to the regretful attitude of the guilty?

This doesn't address my question. You claimed, "God sent his Prophet Nathan to pronounced the death sentence to David which he (Nathan) duly did." The text doesn't support this. What we have is yet another addition to the text on your part.

Perhaps this is all yet another example of why Americans have a high regard for the Bible they don't read. They regard it highly because they don't read it and rather rely on the spin interpreters put on it. A spin that turns favoritism into mercy.


Tcg

[JehovahsWitness]

The word you are looking for is not mercy but letting his boy get away with murder.

And what in your opinion would be the difference with mercy for a murderer and letting a murderer "get away" with his crime?

[JehovahsWitness]

You claimed, "God sent his Prophet Nathan to pronounced the death sentence to David which he (Nathan) duly did." The text doesn't support this

The text does indeed support this . Nathans application was effectively ( by the application of critical thinking skills) a declaration of David's own verdict back to him (David); by saying "You are the man" Nathan was saying, in Gods eyes you deserve the very punishment outlined. - 2 Samuel 12:5-7 That Nathan's response amounted to a declaration of the death penalty is supported by verse 13 of the same chapter, where following David' s remorse, "Jehovah in turn will forgive your sins, you will not die" suggesting had David not reacted as he die he would have been as good as dead.