I have recently read this book,

The Year of living Biblically.  by A.J. jacobs.

It's a book about a man who examines the bible, and tries to live it as literally as possible within New York city for a full year.

( over 100 versions of the bible including the idiots guide to the bible and a hip-hop version in chich Psalms 23rd reads 'the lord is all that' -I'm serious)

This book talks about many views on how to interpret the bibles scripture from various religious leaders and is loosely done.  

So every year the anglican/grace united church in our town does a send-off service for the grads where a representative from each church comes to doa  reading and suprise of suprises, I've been asked to do it for our church (the anglican/grace united one haha).

Originally I thought I would respectfully decline.  But then I thought:

This is something that's been bugging me for quite some time. Digging through the bible, I've noticed a lot of verses that, even to me, seem pretty ridiculous. Some verses even seem to go against the Christian belief system (not allowing those with handicaps to be in leadership, not allowing women to play certain roles.)

We all know God is a very symbolic being. He refers to us a sheep,  He's got helmet of salvation and breastplate of righteousness, all that jazz. So I have a question to pose: Was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil methaphorical? Let me explain my thoughts a little.

I've been on this site for quite sometime, and I see a lot of different opinions, as expected. I want to know, what do you think is the message of the bible? If you had to sum up what the bible conveys in, say, one eight word sentance, or a couple words, what would they be?

This question is open to everyone, not just Christians.

For those of you who would self-identify as Christian - do you find yourself 'shaped' more (in a moral formation sense) by the bible or by prevailing moral culture (i.e. what secular society values as good/moral)? I'm not saying they don't overlap - they certainly do - but they aren't always in agreement by any means. If there's a conflict between them (real or perceived), how do you go about deciding between them? Do you wish one shaped you more, or less?

Or do I even have my question wrong? :') Let's hear what you think.

Here's a kind of straw poll for the Wondercafe crowd:

How do sexuality and marriage go together? Do you think people should wait for sex until marriage? Until they're in a committed relationship (and if so, what does committed mean)? Or should they wait at all?

If you would identify yourself as a christian, how much does the bible guide your views? Do you disagree with it (just considering this general topic)?

Or perhaps more to the point - how do you *interpret* the bible on this issue?

I'm pretty much positive that this has been discussed before, but I'm too lazy to go dig it up. Onb another thread, the argument of whether or not women should be allowed as leaders in the church came up. So, this is the thread to dicuss this on. What is your inturpretation of what the bible says for and against women?How do you feel about churchs that allow or disallow women into ministry?

Last year I took a trip to Quebec, and everyone put maple syrup in their milk. It was very yummy. I was pondering on the bible, and God says "the land of milk and honey," So I was like "OHMYGOODNESS! LET'S TRY MILK AND HONEY TOGETHER!!!" it's delicious. So I'm wondering, is there other any "recipies" in the bible? I'm looking for more Jesus food, and I'd love some help in finding it!