No Wives, Only Slaves: Crosspost With SAB

Posted on August 20, 2014 by omgwtfbible

This is a guest post I wrote for Skeptic’s Annotated Bible. Read the full post here.

OMGWTFBIBLE is a new translation of the entire Hebrew Bible as a comedy. But that doesn’t mean I don’t take my translation very seriously. Beyond all the jokes, in retranslating Genesis, I’ve discovered two trends that reveal the approach to women and property taken in the culture surrounding the text that are not apparent in existing translations.

One of the earliest decisions I made when writing the OMGWTFBIBLE was to maintain an almost megalomaniacal consistency. If a word was translated a particular way, I stuck with that translating, regardless of context or traditional approaches. This led to some striking discoveries in Genesis, particularly regarding the words usually translated as “wife” and “servant.” I discovered that, depending on how the book is translated, nobody gets married in Genesis. And everyone owns slaves. And it’s not a coincidence those two words are so controversial.

Read the rest here.

Learn a Language with Fluent City and Read the Skeptic’s Annotated Bible

Posted on July 25, 2014 by omgwtfbible

Partner #1: Fluent City

Fluent City offers outstanding adult language classes in major cities throughout the United States and wants to help you learn a new language (and maybe even translate the Bible yourself). And to help, they’re offering a chance at winning a FREE $200 Gift Certificate for language classes to anyone who donates to the OMGWTFBIBLE Indiegogo campaign in its last 30 days. Just go here, donate RIGHT NOW at ANY LEVEL, and you’ll be entered to win.

But that’s not all. Fluent City is also a special discount just for OMGWTFBIBLE listeners. Visit www.fluentcity.com and pick a Hebrew, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese or Russian class. During checkout, use OMGWTFBIBLE as the promo code for 15% off your group class. Don’t miss out – code expires August 25, 2014!

Partner #2: Skeptic’s Annotated Bible

Until the print version of OMGWTFBIBLE comes out at some hazy date in the future (and even when it does), the best place in the world to find all the wacky and weird stuff in the Bible is in the pages of the Skeptic’s Annotated Bible by Steve Wells. That’s why OMGWTFBIBLE has teamed up with SAB Books to offer a signed copy of the Skeptic’s Annotated Bible at the $54 perk level. But hurry! There are only 16 of this perk available, so don’t wait to grab it here.

This Happened!

Posted on November 6, 2013 by omgwtfbible

It did, for real! On Monday night! And it was incredible! Unfortunately, Steve Wells wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t make it, so his son Philip very ably stepped in. Phil is the operator of SAB Books, which published the Skeptic’s Annotated Bible, and has been touring the country with his father for the past two weeks. We had a very interesting conversation about growing up atheist and the nature of God. Then we read some Bible.

Thanks to all who made it out on Monday. I saw a lot of new faces–it was great to meet you all. I’m really happy with the way the Q & A sessions are working out. There was some interesting conversation that was provoked. If you want to hear what goes on during the Q & A, be sure to come to the next live show. The Q & As are not recorded are a much more free-wheeling discussion than what you hear on the show.

Episode 14 hits the Internet Monday! Watch this space!

Skeptic’s Annotated OMGWTFBIBLE

Posted on October 23, 2013 by omgwtfbible

Surprise early episode!

Usually, I wait until late in the month to do the show, but I have a very exciting guest that I couldn’t pass up. In less than 2 weeks, Steve Wells, creator of the incredible Skeptic’s Annotated Bible, will be joining me at the Magnet Theater to read my Bible with me. And I couldn’t be more excited. There’ll be a Q & A after the show (that won’t be recorded) so don’t miss this event!

This month, we’ll start with chapter 25 and we will keep reading until we stop.

OMGWTFBIBLE Live with Steve Wells
Magnet Theater
254 W. 29 Street
October 21, 8:30 PM sharp!
$5

Reserve tickets here

A Bible for Skeptics

Posted on October 18, 2013 by omgwtfbible

Have you heard of the Skeptic’s Annotated Bible? You really should check it out. It’s an incredible, mind-blowing project by Steven Wells where he went through the entire Bible (both Testaments), the Book of Mormon, and the Koran, and elucidated every single contradiction, inconsistency, bizarre passage, and inhuman verse he could find. Whether you’re a believer or not, it’s an incredible read and a very thorough reference. It was the basis for that beautiful map of the Bible’s contradictions I posted in August. And if you’re not an Internet person, there’s a beautifully-bound print version available for purchase.

Oh and Steve Wells tweeted about OMGWTFBIBLE, which is super-flattering!

OMGWTFBible http://t.co/kY2gXI6ndX

— Steve Wells (@SteveWellsSAB) October 14, 2013

Most of the Bible’s Contradictions, Mapped

Posted on August 23, 2013 by omgwtfbible

Using the extensive data from the Skeptic’s Annotated Bible, Daniel Taylor has created this beautiful visualization of most of the Bible’s many contradictions. I say “most” because every reading of the Bible gives us new and fun contradictions we never thought we’d find.

Enjoy this thing! Click around! Bring it to shul! Share it with your Rabbi!

OMGWTFBIBLE

a new take on the old testament

Tag Archives: skeptic’s annotated bible