Where does the hatred for gay people come from?

Every once in a while I like to ask people this question. To me it is a significant mystery. Rationally it would seem that heterosexual males should encourage as many males as possible to be gay. It can only help your odds with the ladies. And yet we live in a world where gay people are loathed (almost as much as atheists).

Invariably the first answer I get is that because the Bible condemns them. Now let's make a *huge* leap here and suppose just for sake of argument that, well, the Bible is completely fiction and the edicts of God are just normal people *pretending* that there is a God and that he said these things. (I know, a huge leap). So why was this such an important thing to codify?

The best I can come up with is that many/most non-gays have a bit of an ick response to gay activities. I do and I've heard the same from many people who intellectually support gay rights etc. I really liked 6 Feet Under, but it was hard to watch sometimes because of this.

As with many things in the Bible people just made God command something that they wanted to be forced on others. Stop being icky.

Of course even if this is correct there is still the question of why we have an ick response. (Well if you are heterosexual. Presumably gays don't have this. Or that would just be weird and sad).

So here's my crazy idea. If all dudes were gay all then the human race would disappear pretty fast. So there would be some evolutionary advantage to avoiding same sex interactions. Therefore the ick factor helps raise the threshold against the likelihood of someone not getting their genes into the next generation.

So ironically the edicts in the Bible against man on man action were put there by evolution. Hows that for a giant irony sandwich. :)

Achewood and the Improved Bible

Having recently discovered Achewood I've been catching up by reading it from the beginning. Truly a masterpeice. Here was today's entry (for me, catching up):



Comedy gold. I totally need to get a bible printed with coupons and tear out adds. I think this is now my life's work.

The KJV in a blender

(A markov chain bible chapter using the entire KJV as input. The final verse is especially, er, chilling)

1:01 crow, thou shalt take the goods of his land:

1:02 And thou shalt fear, and let him acknowledge that the children of Ammon;

1:03 And Gilead, and Galilee, all the set feasts, by number, according to Christ Jesus:

1:04 That ye love one another, even as a servant, for a memorial before the ark of the Chaldeans:

1:05 for thou shalt not be purged from thy glory, and wisdom, and bow myself in great abundance.

1:06 And Solomon said, If we say then? Shall we give, or shall the earth feared, and said, He is antichrist, that denieth me before men, to pray before the LORD;

1:07 for he beareth not fruit he taketh away:

1:08 and they shall smite him;

1:09 or if there be any work that they might stand before their eyes, and, behold, they are consumed out of your dwellings.

1:10 And Pharaoh said unto them, and returned unto the king, That Daniel, which art infamous and much vexed.

1:11 Behold, the Hebrews hath met with us of his person, and well favoured.

1:12 And it came to her maidens.

1:13 She considereth a field, and thou shalt eat it in her month they shall burn it on a smoke, because the LORD which is a feast by an ordinance for Israel unto this day;

1:14 give me half thine house, and his hand toward heaven, that thou doest well to draw water.

1:15 And he answered, Here am I.

1:16 Are they not judge.

1:17 Shall I yet to cry unto God a more sure word of God made a covenant of the offering up of the LORD was there upon me.

1:18 They that forsake the idols of Egypt:

1:19 in vain shalt thou change them, and the priests of the children free.

1:20 Notwithstanding, lest we should pray for you in Egypt since it became as a bride adorned for her husband.

1:21 And I will make drunk her princes, and gave him to be feared above all gods.

1:22 For all this people, who have purposed to return unto thee the righteous shall be of the priests the Levites which are my people, and tongues, stood before the testimony, and cover you with mine own bowels:

1:23 Whom I would not destroy it for me, O thou fairest among women? what is his body, according to the earth.

1:24 And when the Jews which dwelt in a strange woman, from the pestilence;

1:25 that they might put us therein.

1:26 And when they had emerods in their own souls by their own confusion, as with his face about, and when thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, and for every man's money was not to covetousness.

1:27 Turn away my peace be with the mouth of the tabernacle of the LORD thy God, those deliver thou me.

1:28 For ye know these things will I send pestilence among you;

1:29 that ye might be the woman returned out of the night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the stumblingblock of their enemies:

1:30 and awake for thee, and as for me, which to day into mine hand?

1:31 Now therefore kill every woman

Make Your Own Bible Verses

I was reading this article on the unholy union of Garfield and Markov models and it reminded me that I'd never gotten around to trying out markov modelling first hand.

Over my lunch hour I cranked out the code at the bottom of this entry. And yes I write code over my lunch hour as a form of relaxation. What do you do?

In any case, the previous blog entry was the result of running this script on the book of Mark. Mark, Markov, get it?

Any way if you've ever wanted to generate your own biblical sounding text, here's your chance. Just download some scripture and crank up your python interpreter and away you go!

BTW, I'm really curious if Mark(ov) Chapter 1 get's any hits from people seeking Biblical inspiration. I know it inspired me.

import sys
import random
import itertools

#http://www.o-bible.org/download/kjv.txt

def make_frequencies(words):
    result = {}

    for i in range(2, len(words)):
        w1, w2, w3 = words[i-2:i+1]
        if (w1,w2) not in result:
            result[(w1,w2)] = {}
        if w3 not in result[(w1,w2)]:
            result[(w1,w2)][w3] = 0
        result[(w1,w2)][w3] += 1

    return result
    
def find_first_random(freqs):
    return get_random_ith_item(list(set([x[0] for x in freqs])))

def find_second_random(first, freqs):
    pair = get_random_ith_item(list(set(x for x in freqs if x[0] == first)))
    if not pair:
        return find_first_random(freqs)
    return pair[1]

def find_markov_random(first, second, freqs):
    markov_words = freqs.get((first,second), {})
    word = get_random_ith_item(itertools.chain(*[[x]*count for (x,count) in markov_words.items()]))
    if not word:
        return find_second_random(second, freqs)

    return word

def get_random_ith_item(stream):
    item = None
    for i,x in enumerate(stream):
        if random.randint(0,i) == 0:
            item = x

    return item
   
def markovize(freqs, output_length):
    result = [find_first_random(freqs)]
    result.append(find_second_random(result[0], freqs))
    output_length -= 2

    while output_length > 0:
        w1, w2 = result[-2:] 
        result.append(find_markov_random(w1,w2,freqs))
        output_length -= 1

    return result

def main():
    output_length = 500

    words = ' '.join(sys.stdin.readlines())

    word_frequencies = make_frequencies(words.split())
    print ' '.join(markovize(word_frequencies, output_length))

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

Bible Study: Mark(ov) Chapter 1

Mark(ov) 1:01 he, casting away his wife, and raise up seed unto his disciples, How hardly shall they cast stones, and wounded him in the ship again departed to the poor, and thou shalt deny me thrice.

Mark(ov) 1:02 And when they had sent forth and laid hold on him: for they have heard the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

Mark(ov) 1:03 And these are they which are sown on good ground, and prayed that, if it were but the end shall not be among you: but whosoever shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ;

Mark(ov) 1:04 or, lo, he that hath, to him from every quarter.

Mark(ov) 1:05 And again he sent him away empty.

Mark(ov) 1:06 And again he sent another;

Mark(ov) 1:07 and him they cast stones, and wounded him in the bush God spake unto him, Seest thou these things?

Mark(ov) 1:08 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done?

Mark(ov) 1:09 And they call the King of the physician, but they that were rich cast in of their abundance;

Mark(ov) 1:10 but she of her daughter.

Mark(ov) 1:11 But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto him, Go thy way;

Mark(ov) 1:12 the devil out of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee.

Mark(ov) 1:13 But Jesus said, Verily I say unto him, Why do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be hated of all men counted John, that he would not suffer that any man should cast seed into the hall, called Praetorium;

Mark(ov) 1:14 and they bring a blind man by the farther side of the multitude, they took up twelve baskets full of fragments took ye up?

Mark(ov) 1:15 And they all saw him, and killed him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus and his disciples asked him again of the Blessed?

Mark(ov) 1:16 And Jesus said, Forbid him not: for of such is the kingdom of God of the Jews?

Mark(ov) 1:17 For he taught in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

Mark(ov) 1:18 And what I will, but what thou sayest.

Mark(ov) 1:19 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto him, By what authority doest thou these things?

Mark(ov) 1:20 and what shall a man satisfy these men with bread here in the days of Abiathar the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?

Mark(ov) 1:21 Ye have heard the word that was possessed with the wild beasts;

Mark(ov) 1:22 and the cock crew.

Mark(ov) 1:23 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto them, How is it ago since this came unto him, and put it on his eyes, and put his hands again upon his eyes, and put his own house.

Mark(ov) 1:24 And the unclean spirits, when they looked, they saw no man of him.

Mark(ov) 1:25 And always, night and day, and the chains had been seen of her, believed not.

Mark(ov) 1:26 After that he was as one that was sown in their synagogue a man leave his wife behind him, and from Idumaea, and from Idumaea, and from Judaea, And from thence he arose, and rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, By what authority doest thou these things?

Mark(ov) 1:27 and what buildings are here!

Mark(ov) 1:28 And Jesus answered and said

A Random Walk Through The Bible: Hosea 7:4

Using our random verse finder and the basic methodology:

Hosea 7:4 (New International Version)

They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough till it rises.

So last time God said I was to be his messenger (or something like that). Now this has *got* to be the message.

• discern the spiritual principle in this verse
  
  • God hates adulterers
  
  
• ask what was god trying to get across to these people when he spoke these words
  
  • you are going to experience the powers of a convection oven, up close and personal like
  
  
• ask how does this apply to me
  
  • I'm not an adulterer (that you can prove) so, *whew*.
  
  

I wonder if God has any more important messages to give to me (and to the world by me). I guess we'll find out next time on the next installment of A Random Walk Through the Bible!

A Random Walk Through The Bible: Exodus 19:6

Using our random verse finder and the basic methodology:

Exodus 19:6 (New International Version)

you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.

• discern the spiritual principle in this verse
  
  • God wants me to be his priest unto the Israelites
  
  
• ask what was god trying to get across to these people when he spoke these words
  
  • He wants me to tell them something
  
  
• ask how does this apply to me
  
  • Stand by for an important announcement...
  
  

OK, folks God has chosen me to present a message. I don't know what it is yet, but I think it's going to be important!

A Random Walk Through the Bible: 2 Chronicles 18:23

Using our random verse finder and the basic methodology:

2 Chronicles 18:23 (New International Version)

Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. "Which way did the spirit from the LORD go when he went from me to speak to you?" he asked.

• discern the spiritual principle in this verse
  
  • huh?
  
  
• ask what was god trying to get across to these people when he spoke these words
  
  • um.....
  
  
• ask how does this apply to me
  
  • errr....
  
  

One verse is more profound and meaningful than the next. No wonder people people find such meaning and solace in this grand old tome. Oh, what's that you say, no one actually reads it? I guess that makes more sense.

A Random Walk Through the Bible: Psalm 148:12

Psalm 148:12 (New International Version)

young men and maidens, old men and children.

Using our random verse finder and the basic methodology we begin our adventure.

• discern the spiritual principle in this verse
  
  • no idea
  
  
• ask what was god trying to get across to these people when he spoke these words
  
  • no idea
  
  
• ask how does this apply to me
  
  • no idea
  
  

OK, God is not going to make this easy I see. Perhaps it's more meaningful in the original Klingon.....

I guess I'll meditate on those profound words and try again next week. Let me know if anyone sees the wisdom of these words that I'm missing....

A verse a day keeps the hellfire away...

"When you begin to ask yourself questions you will hear God speaking to you"

As you may have discerned by now I have an unhealthy fascination with Christian radio. On a recent program they were talking about the book "He Speaks to Me" (starts around 1h20m). Among other things they discussed the wonderful efficacy of reading a random verse a day and trying to apply it to your life. Now they suggested that you start with John, but that's not very random. Hence the program I posted yesterday.

Now I'm all about giving God a chance to talk to me. Unlike some religious skeptics I actually have no problem with a universe with a god in it. I just don't happen to think that this is such a place. But if it was I'd rather know. Just for the truthiness if not the eternal life (or at least avoidance of eternal torment).

So on the advice of the above program I will endeavor to occasionally (let's say weekly for now), take one verse completely at random (or by God's influence?) and do the following:

- discern the spiritual principle in this verse
- ask what was god trying to get across to these people when he spoke these words
- ask how does this apply to me

Also I vow not to cherry pick. I will take the very first one I find (ie I will just run the random verse picker once). If God has a message to get thru to me it should be easy enough to direct me to the important bits and show me things that relate to my life right now.

Tune into the next posting for the first episode of this feature.

PS: The random aspect of this experiment reminds of this interesting video series I saw awhile ago with Knuth talking about, among other things, his semi-random exploration of the Bible.

Finding random Bible verses

The code below can be saved in a file (e.g. find_random_verse.py) and run as: python find_random_verse.py. The verse statistics were taken from: http://www.deafmissions.com/tally/bkchptrvrs.html. I was surprised to learn that there are 137 verse that are "unnumbered" (in Psalms). Just assume that those belong to the previous numbered verse.

Why do I or anyone else need a random Bible verse finder? Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion.... (or is it just the beginning?)

verses_data = {
 '1 CHRONICLES': {1: 54, 2: 55, 3: 24, 4: 43, 5: 26, 6: 81, 7: 40, 8: 40, 9: 44, 10: 14, 11: 47, 12: 40, 13: 14, 14: 17, 15: 29, 16: 43, 17: 27, 18: 17, 19: 19, 20: 8, 21: 30, 22: 19, 23: 32, 24: 31, 25: 31, 26: 32, 27: 34, 28: 21, 29: 30},
 '1 CORINTHIANS': {1: 31, 2: 16, 3: 23, 4: 21, 5: 13, 6: 20, 7: 40, 8: 13, 9: 27, 10: 33, 11: 34, 12: 31, 13: 13, 14: 40, 15: 58, 16: 24},
 '1 JOHN': {1: 10, 2: 29, 3: 24, 4: 21, 5: 21},
 '1 KINGS': {1: 53, 2: 46, 3: 28, 4: 34, 5: 18, 6: 38, 7: 51, 8: 66, 9: 28, 10: 29, 11: 43, 12: 33, 13: 34, 14: 31, 15: 34, 16: 34, 17: 24, 18: 46, 19: 21, 20: 43, 21: 29, 22: 53}, 
 '1 PETER': {1: 25, 2: 25, 3: 22, 4: 19, 5: 14},
 '1 SAMUEL': {1: 28, 2: 36, 3: 21, 4: 22, 5: 12, 6: 21, 7: 17, 8: 22, 9: 27, 10: 27, 11: 15, 12: 25, 13: 23, 14: 52, 15: 35, 16: 23, 17: 58, 18: 30, 19: 24, 20: 42, 21: 15, 22: 23, 23: 29, 24: 22, 25: 44, 26: 25, 27: 12, 28: 25, 29: 11, 30: 31, 31: 13},
 '1 THESSALONIANS': {1: 10, 2: 20, 3: 13, 4: 18, 5: 28},
 '1 TIMOTHY': {1: 20, 2: 15, 3: 16, 4: 16, 5: 25, 6: 21},
 '2 CHRONICLES': {1: 17, 2: 18, 3: 17, 4: 22, 5: 14, 6: 42, 7: 22, 8: 18, 9: 31, 10: 19, 11: 23, 12: 16, 13: 22, 14: 15, 15: 19, 16: 14, 17: 19, 18: 34, 19: 11, 20: 37, 21: 20, 22: 12, 23: 21, 24: 27, 25: 28, 26: 23, 27: 9, 28: 27, 29: 36, 30: 27, 31: 21, 32: 33, 33: 25, 34: 33, 35: 27, 36: 23},
 '2 CORINTHIANS': {1: 24, 2: 17, 3: 18, 4: 18, 5: 21, 6: 18, 7: 16, 8: 24, 9: 15, 10: 18, 11: 33, 12: 21, 13: 14},
 '2 JOHN': {1: 13},
 '2 KINGS': {1: 18, 2: 25, 3: 27, 4: 44, 5: 27, 6: 33, 7: 20, 8: 29, 9: 37, 10: 36, 11: 21, 12: 21, 13: 25, 14: 29, 15: 38, 16: 20, 17: 41, 18: 37, 19: 37, 20: 21, 21: 26, 22: 20, 23: 37, 24: 20, 25: 30},
 '2 PETER': {1: 21, 2: 22, 3: 18},
 '2 SAMUEL': {1: 27, 2: 32, 3: 39, 4: 12, 5: 25, 6: 23, 7: 29, 8: 18, 9: 13, 10: 19, 11: 27, 12: 31, 13: 39, 14: 33, 15: 37, 16: 23, 17: 29, 18: 33, 19: 43, 20: 26, 21: 22, 22: 51, 23: 39, 24: 25},
 '2 THESSALONIANS': {1: 12, 2: 17, 3: 18},
 '2 TIMOTHY': {1: 18, 2: 26, 3: 17, 4: 22},
 '3 JOHN': {1: 15},
 'ACTS': {1: 26, 2: 47, 3: 26, 4: 37, 5: 42, 6: 15, 7: 60, 8: 40, 9: 43, 10: 48, 11: 30, 12: 25, 13: 52, 14: 28, 15: 41, 16: 40, 17: 34, 18: 28, 19: 41, 20: 38, 21: 40, 22: 30, 23: 35, 24: 27, 25: 27, 26: 32, 27: 44, 28: 31},
 'AMOS': {1: 15, 2: 16, 3: 15, 4: 13, 5: 27, 6: 14, 7: 17, 8: 14, 9: 15},
 'COLOSSIANS': {1: 29, 2: 23, 3: 25, 4: 18},
 'DANIEL': {1: 21, 2: 49, 3: 30, 4: 37, 5: 31, 6: 28, 7: 28, 8: 27, 9: 27, 10: 21, 11: 45, 12: 13},
 'DEUTERONOMY': {1: 46, 2: 37, 3: 29, 4: 49, 5: 33, 6: 25, 7: 26, 8: 20, 9: 29, 10: 22, 11: 32, 12: 32, 13: 18, 14: 29, 15: 23, 16: 22, 17: 20, 18: 22, 19: 21, 20: 20, 21: 23, 22: 30, 23: 25, 24: 22, 25: 19, 26: 19, 27: 26, 28: 68, 29: 29, 30: 20, 31: 30, 32: 52, 33: 29, 34: 12},
 'ECCLESIASTES': {1: 18, 2: 26, 3: 22, 4: 16, 5: 20, 6: 12, 7: 29, 8: 17, 9: 18, 10: 20, 11: 10, 12: 14},
 'EPHESIANS': {1: 23, 2: 22, 3: 21, 4: 32, 5: 33, 6: 24},
 'ESTHER': {1: 22, 2: 23, 3: 15, 4: 17, 5: 14, 6: 14, 7: 10, 8: 17, 9: 32, 10: 3},
 'EXODUS': {1: 22, 2: 25, 3: 22, 4: 31, 5: 23, 6: 30, 7: 25, 8: 32, 9: 35, 10: 29, 11: 10, 12: 51, 13: 22, 14: 31, 15: 27, 16: 36, 17: 16, 18: 27, 19: 25, 20: 26, 21: 36, 22: 31, 23: 33, 24: 18, 25: 40, 26: 37, 27: 21, 28: 43, 29: 46, 30: 38, 31: 18, 32: 35, 33: 23, 34: 35, 35: 35, 36: 38, 37: 29, 38: 31, 39: 43, 40: 38},
 'EZEKIEL': {1: 28, 2: 10, 3: 27, 4: 17, 5: 17, 6: 14, 7: 27, 8: 18, 9: 11, 10: 22, 11: 25, 12: 28, 13: 23, 14: 23, 15: 8, 16: 63, 17: 24, 18: 32, 19: 14, 20: 49, 21: 32, 22: 31, 23: 49, 24: 27, 25: 17, 26: 21, 27: 36, 28: 26, 29: 21, 30: 26,
             31: 18, 32: 32, 33: 33, 34: 31, 35: 15, 36: 38, 37: 28, 38: 23, 39: 29, 40: 49, 41: 26, 42: 20, 43: 27, 44: 31, 45: 25, 46: 24, 47: 23, 48: 35},
 'EZRA': {1: 11, 2: 70, 3: 13, 4: 24, 5: 17, 6: 22, 7: 28, 8: 36, 9: 15, 10: 44},
 'GALATIANS': {1: 24, 2: 21, 3: 29, 4: 31, 5: 26, 6: 18},
 'GENESIS': {1: 31, 2: 25, 3: 24, 4: 26, 5: 32, 6: 22, 7: 24, 8: 22, 9: 29, 10: 32, 11: 32, 12: 20, 13: 18, 14: 24, 15: 21, 16: 16, 17: 27, 18: 33, 19: 38, 20: 18, 21: 34, 22: 24, 23: 20, 24: 67, 25: 34, 26: 35, 27: 46, 28: 22, 29: 35, 30: 43, 31: 55, 32: 32, 33: 20, 34: 31, 35: 29, 36: 43, 37: 36, 38: 30, 39: 23, 40: 23, 41: 57, 42: 38, 43: 34, 44: 34, 45: 28, 46: 34,
             47: 31, 48: 22, 49: 33, 50: 26},
 'HABAKKUK': {1: 17, 2: 20, 3: 19},
 'HAGGAI': {1: 15, 2: 23},
 'HEBREWS': {1: 14, 2: 18, 3: 19, 4: 16, 5: 14, 6: 20, 7: 28, 8: 13, 9: 28, 10: 39, 11: 40, 12: 29, 13: 25},
 'HOSEA': {1: 11, 2: 23, 3: 5, 4: 19, 5: 15, 6: 11, 7: 16, 8: 14, 9: 17, 10: 15, 11: 12, 12: 14, 13: 16, 14: 9},
 'ISAIAH': {1: 31, 2: 22, 3: 26, 4: 6, 5: 30, 6: 13, 7: 25, 8: 22, 9: 21, 10: 34, 11: 16, 12: 6, 13: 22, 14: 32, 15: 9, 16: 14, 17: 14, 18: 7, 19: 25, 20: 6, 21: 17, 22: 25, 23: 18, 24: 23, 25: 12, 26: 21, 27: 13, 28: 29, 29: 24, 30: 33, 31: 9, 32: 20, 33: 24, 34: 17, 35: 10, 36: 22, 37: 38, 38: 22, 39: 8, 40: 31, 41: 29, 42: 25, 43: 28, 44: 28, 45: 25, 46: 13,
            47: 15, 48: 22, 49: 26, 50: 11, 51: 23, 52: 15, 53: 12, 54: 17, 55: 13, 56: 12, 57: 21, 58: 14, 59: 21, 60: 22, 61: 11, 62: 12, 63: 19, 64: 12, 65: 25, 66: 24}, 
 'JAMES': {1: 27, 2: 26, 3: 18, 4: 17, 5: 20},
 'JEREMIAH': {1: 19, 2: 37, 3: 25, 4: 31, 5: 31, 6: 30, 7: 34, 8: 22, 9: 26, 10: 25, 11: 23, 12: 17, 13: 27, 14: 22, 15: 21, 16: 21, 17: 27, 18: 23, 19: 15, 20: 18, 21: 14, 22: 30, 23: 40, 24: 10, 25: 38, 26: 24, 27: 22, 28: 17, 29: 32, 30: 24, 31: 40, 32: 44, 33: 26, 34: 22, 35: 19, 36: 32, 37: 21, 38: 28, 39: 18, 40: 16, 41: 18, 42: 22, 43: 13, 44: 30, 45: 5, 46: 28,
              47: 7, 48: 47, 49: 39, 50: 46, 51: 64, 52: 34},
 'JOB': {1: 22, 2: 13, 3: 26, 4: 21, 5: 27, 6: 30, 7: 21, 8: 22, 9: 35, 10: 22, 11: 20, 12: 25, 13: 28, 14: 22, 15: 35, 16: 22, 17: 16, 18: 21, 19: 29, 20: 29, 21: 34, 22: 30, 23: 17, 24: 25, 25: 6, 26: 14, 27: 23, 28: 28, 29: 25, 30: 31, 31: 40, 32: 22, 33: 33, 34: 37, 35: 16, 36: 33, 37: 24, 38: 41, 39: 30, 40: 24, 41: 34, 42: 17},
 'JOEL': {1: 20, 2: 32, 3: 21},
 'JOHN': {1: 51, 2: 25, 3: 36, 4: 54, 5: 47, 6: 71, 7: 53, 8: 59, 9: 41, 10: 42, 11: 57, 12: 50, 13: 38, 14: 31, 15: 27, 16: 33, 17: 26, 18: 40, 19: 42, 20: 31, 21: 25},
 'JONAH': {1: 17, 2: 10, 3: 10, 4: 11},
 'JOSHUA': {1: 18, 2: 24, 3: 17, 4: 24, 5: 15, 6: 27, 7: 26, 8: 35, 9: 27, 10: 43, 11: 23, 12: 24, 13: 33, 14: 15, 15: 63, 16: 10, 17: 18, 18: 28, 19: 51, 20: 9, 21: 45, 22: 34, 23: 16, 24: 33},
 'JUDE': {1: 25},
 'JUDGES': {1: 36, 2: 23, 3: 31, 4: 24, 5: 31, 6: 40, 7: 25, 8: 35, 9: 57, 10: 18, 11: 40, 12: 15, 13: 25, 14: 20, 15: 20, 16: 31, 17: 13, 18: 31, 19: 30, 20: 48, 21: 25},
 'LAMENTATIONS': {1: 22, 2: 22, 3: 66, 4: 22, 5: 22},
 'LEVITICUS': {1: 17, 2: 16, 3: 17, 4: 35, 5: 19, 6: 30, 7: 38, 8: 36, 9: 24, 10: 20, 11: 47, 12: 8, 13: 59, 14: 57, 15: 33, 16: 34, 17: 16, 18: 30, 19: 37, 20: 27, 21: 24, 22: 33, 23: 44, 24: 23, 25: 55, 26: 46, 27: 34},
 'LUKE': {1: 80, 2: 52, 3: 38, 4: 44, 5: 39, 6: 49, 7: 50, 8: 56, 9: 62, 10: 42, 11: 54, 12: 59, 13: 35, 14: 35, 15: 32, 16: 31, 17: 37, 18: 43, 19: 48, 20: 47, 21: 38, 22: 71, 23: 56, 24: 53},
 'MALACHI': {1: 14, 2: 17, 3: 18, 4: 6},
 'MARK': {1: 45, 2: 28, 3: 35, 4: 41, 5: 43, 6: 56, 7: 37, 8: 38, 9: 50, 10: 52, 11: 33, 12: 44, 13: 37, 14: 72, 15: 47, 16: 20},
 'MATTHEW': {1: 25, 2: 23, 3: 17, 4: 25, 5: 48, 6: 34, 7: 29, 8: 34, 9: 38, 10: 42, 11: 30, 12: 50, 13: 58, 14: 36, 15: 39, 16: 28, 17: 27, 18: 35, 19: 30, 20: 34, 21: 46, 22: 46, 23: 39, 24: 51, 25: 46, 26: 75, 27: 66, 28: 20},
 'MICAH': {1: 16, 2: 13, 3: 12, 4: 13, 5: 15, 6: 16, 7: 20},
 'NAHUM': {1: 15, 2: 13, 3: 19},
 'NEHEMIAH': {1: 11, 2: 20, 3: 32, 4: 23, 5: 19, 6: 19, 7: 73, 8: 18, 9: 38, 10: 39, 11: 36, 12: 47, 13: 31},
 'NUMBERS': {1: 54, 2: 34, 3: 51, 4: 49, 5: 31, 6: 27, 7: 89, 8: 26, 9: 23, 10: 36, 11: 35, 12: 16, 13: 33, 14: 45, 15: 41, 16: 50, 17: 13, 18: 32, 19: 22, 20: 29, 21: 35, 22: 41, 23: 30, 24: 25, 25: 18, 26: 65, 27: 23, 28: 31, 29: 40, 30: 16, 31: 54, 32: 42, 33: 56, 34: 29, 35: 34, 36: 13},
 'OBADIAH': {1: 21},
 'PHILEMON': {1: 25},
 'PHILIPPIANS': {1: 30, 2: 30, 3: 21, 4: 23},
 'PROVERBS': {1: 33, 2: 22, 3: 35, 4: 27, 5: 23, 6: 35, 7: 27, 8: 36, 9: 18, 10: 32, 11: 31, 12: 28, 13: 25, 14: 35, 15: 33, 16: 33, 17: 28, 18: 24, 19: 29, 20: 30, 21: 31, 22: 29, 23: 35, 24: 34, 25: 28, 26: 28, 27: 27, 28: 28, 29: 27, 30: 33, 31: 31},
 'PSALMS': {1: 6, 2: 12, 3: 8, 4: 8, 5: 12, 6: 10, 7: 17, 8: 9, 9: 20, 10: 18, 11: 7, 12: 8, 13: 6, 14: 7, 15: 5, 16: 11, 17: 15, 18: 50, 19: 14, 20: 9, 21: 13, 22: 31, 23: 6, 24: 10, 25: 22, 26: 12, 27: 14, 28: 9, 29: 11, 30: 12, 31: 24, 32: 11, 33: 22, 34: 22, 35: 28, 36: 12, 37: 40, 38: 22, 39: 13, 40: 17, 41: 13, 42: 11, 43: 5, 44: 26, 45: 17, 46: 11,
            47: 9, 48: 14, 49: 20, 50: 23, 51: 19, 52: 9, 53: 6, 54: 7, 55: 23, 56: 13, 57: 11, 58: 11, 59: 17, 60: 12, 61: 8, 62: 12, 63: 11, 64: 10, 65: 13, 66: 20, 67: 7, 68: 35, 69: 36, 70: 5, 71: 24, 72: 20, 73: 28, 74: 23, 75: 10, 76: 12, 77: 20,
            78: 72, 79: 13, 80: 19, 81: 16, 82: 8, 83: 18, 84: 12, 85: 13, 86: 17, 87: 7, 88: 18, 89: 52, 90: 17, 91: 16, 92: 15, 93: 5, 94: 23, 95: 11, 96: 13, 97: 12, 98: 9, 99: 9, 100: 5, 101: 8, 102: 28, 103: 22, 104: 35, 105: 45, 106: 48, 107: 43, 108: 13,
            109: 31, 110: 7, 111: 10, 112: 10, 113: 9, 114: 8, 115: 18, 116: 19, 117: 2, 118: 29, 119: 176, 120: 7, 121: 8, 122: 9, 123: 4, 124: 8, 125: 5, 126: 6, 127: 5, 128: 6, 129: 8, 130: 8, 131: 3, 132: 18, 133: 3, 134: 3, 135: 21, 136: 26, 137: 9, 138: 8, 139: 24,
            140: 13, 141: 10, 142: 7, 143: 12, 144: 15, 145: 21, 146: 10, 147: 20, 148: 14, 149: 9, 150: 6},
 'REVELATION': {1: 20, 2: 29, 3: 22, 4: 11, 5: 14, 6: 17, 7: 17, 8: 13, 9: 21, 10: 11, 11: 19, 12: 17, 13: 18, 14: 20, 15: 8, 16: 21, 17: 18, 18: 24, 19: 21, 20: 15, 21: 27, 22: 21},
 'ROMANS': {1: 32, 2: 29, 3: 31, 4: 25, 5: 21, 6: 23, 7: 25, 8: 39, 9: 33, 10: 21, 11: 36, 12: 21, 13: 14, 14: 23, 15: 33, 16: 27},
 'RUTH': {1: 22, 2: 23, 3: 18, 4: 22},
 'SONG OF SONGS': {1: 17, 2: 17, 3: 11, 4: 16, 5: 16, 6: 13, 7: 13, 8: 14},
 'TITUS': {1: 16, 2: 15, 3: 15},
 'ZECHARIAH': {1: 21, 2: 13, 3: 10, 4: 14, 5: 11, 6: 15, 7: 14, 8: 23, 9: 17, 10: 12, 11: 17, 12: 14, 13: 9, 14: 21},
 'ZEPHANIAH': {1: 18, 2: 15, 3: 20}
}

import random

def random_verse(data):
    index = 1
    current = None
    for b in data:
        for c, vc in data[b].items():
            for v in range(1,vc+1):
                if random.choice(range(index)) == 0:
                    current = (b,c,v)
                index += 1

    return current
   
def main():
    print random_verse(verses_data)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

Blogging the Bible

I think I've mentioned this before, but it stands to be mentioned again. I can't recommend enough Slate's Blogging the Bible series. He's only planning to do the Old Testament, but it's really interesting commentary. Not scholarly or historically informed, but very interesting nonetheless.

Quoting books not included in the Bible

From http://www.infidels.org/library/magazines/tsr/1991/4/4duck91.html:

Furthermore, the "inspired" Jude identified the author of this quotation as "Enoch, the seventh from Adam," so if Jude thought that Enoch had made this statement, he must have been endorsing the Enochian authorship of the book. And if the Holy Spirit (as the doctrine of verbal inspiration teaches) was directing Jude in what he wrote, then the Holy Spirit must have actually known that Enoch had written the book. The inerrantists, then, have nowhere to go except to conclude that 1 Enoch was actually written by Enoch, the seventh-generation descendant of Adam who "walked with God" and "was not, for God took him" (Gen. 5:24). So if bibliolaters are looking for something to give credibility to 1 Enoch, they surely have it in these facts. They have to believe that the book was written by a man who was so righteous that he was translated directly to heaven without seeing death (Heb. 11:5). Yet with all that to commend it, the book is not even in the holy canon. But that's another article for another time.

Why would a book in the Bible quote directly from a book not included in the Bible? If it's inspired enough to quote directly, then why wouldn't it be included in the canon?

"Virgin-born, crucified and resurrected saviors were as common as dirt"

I just loved this phrase found in this essay: http://www.skepticfiles.org/skeptic2/44prob.htm. Just had to share.

Bible Contradiction Du Jour: Genealogies of Jesus

In the spirit of the holidays I've been looking at biblical inconsistencies regarding the birth of Jesus. As a good example (excerpted from http://www.infidels.org/library/magazines/tsr/1993/2/2any93.html):

When, for example, I point out that Matthew's genealogy of Jesus differs substantially from Luke's, I am only stating an obvious conclusion that anyone can reach by reading both genealogies. Inerrantists will say, of course, that Matthew traced the genealogy of Jesus through Joseph, whereas Luke traced it through Mary, but there isn't a hint of any kind in the entire book of Luke that he intended his genealogy to be so understood. In the absence of evidence that this was what Luke intended, the inerrantist accomplishes nothing by merely saying, "Well, it could have been this way, so to have a case, you must prove that it couldn't possibly have been this way." No, a thousand times no! Such a position as this is not at all compatible with the nature of evidence. A lot of things could have been or could have happened, but just because something could have happened doesn't mean that it did happen. A copyist could have corrupted the text after Luke wrote it. Joseph could have been orphaned at an early age and then adopted by another family, and so Matthew traced the genealogy through the biological father and Luke through the adoptive father. Either one of these would serve as well to "explain" the inconsistencies as the traditional claim that Matthew traced the genealogy through Joseph whereas Luke traced it through Mary, but none of the explanations would work unless couldn't-possibly-mean-anything-else cases could be made for them.

Bible Study: Daniel - The Early Daters

(continued from the late daters)

In a sense the early daters case is easier to summarize than the late daters. The early dater claim is simply that Daniel is exactly what it claims to be: a first hand account (some by Daniel, some by Neb. himself) of events during the Babylonian exile and the recording of prophecies that would come true over the next 4 to 5 hundred years (or up to current time and the future depending on how you read things).

Interestingly, even if you consider Daniel to be authentic prophecy you still have the problem of interpreting his visions. Even though they are explained to him by an angel (or Jesus - depending on who you ask) there is still some ambiguity in their application. For instance, if we take the 4th kingdom to be Greece then parts of his prophecy has failed and his prophecies are therefore at least partly failed. So generally, early daters take the Roman Empire to be the fourth kingdom. Also there are some prophecies (for instance in chap 11) that early daters interpret to be about the anti-christ (e.g. v36 and on). Even those who conform to the late dater view that this is about Antiochus IV often claim that he was a forerunner or "type" of anti-christ so this is still a prophecy about the anti-christ. This way of thinking is known as typology: any event can be interpreted as foreshadowing anything similar that happens later.

Whether or not the late daters have a good case one thing is certain, things would be a lot less interesting without the late dater's case around. If there was only an early dater's theory, likely these scholars would spend most of their effort just trying to mine Daniel (along with Revelations) for information about the end times. The late daters theory has spurred a lot of apologetics literature and debate. The apologetics run from the somewhat compelling to the (seemingly) ridiculous.

An example of a claim that at least *sounds* plausible is that the metals of the statues line up as follows:
- gold / Babylon / no one disagrees on this
- silver / Media-Persia / silver was how tributes were paid in Persia
- bronze / Greece / the Greeks apparently were distinctively known for their use of bronze
- iron / Rome / the Romans were among the first to use iron in battle

These are interesting claims, but since I don't have access to the resources they used to defend the above (I'm getting almost all my research of google searches) I just have to take their word for it. It might be true, might be a coincidence, but it is one of the more interesting observations.

Some arguments seem quite silly. I'm a newbie at all this stuff but when they start claiming that Darius the Mede (a character otherwise unknown in history) was really someone named Gubaru or that the verse that names Darius the Mede was actually not translated correctly you have to wonder what's going on. While the case for Gubaru can be made to sound more credible than just arbitrarily saying that person X is really person Y it's certainly not an argument that any skeptic would be convinced by. And if they start admitting that the Bible was mistranslated then that opens a whole other can of worms for those who want to believe in the Bible's inerrancy. In any case even the early daters will admit that the Darius the Mede problem is one of the hardest to address (not that they concede an error, just that it takes more scholarship).

As a general summary I think it's fair to say that every point from the late daters has been addressed by the early daters in some fashion or another. Though I'm not swayed by the early daters arguments, as always I find the apologetics to be of a surprisingly high caliber. (OK, I'm a total amateur, so maybe it *is* bad scholarship, but it's not all *obviously* bad). Perhaps I'm pretty naive, but I really do believe that the scholars on both sides really are trying to get at the truth. The only difference is that the inerrantists have an axiom in their system that the Bible is the actual word of God. The errantists don't have this axiom and end up with different conclusions. Merits of this axiom aside the leading apologists don't ignore any of the Daniel critic's assaults. It's doubtful that anyone but the converted (on both sides) suddenly see the light via these debates and change views very often, but it is still interesting to follow the apologetics and counter-apologetics. For an amateur like myself it's somewhat disconcerting to see how muddied the waters are between the two camps especial coming from the seemingly more certain worlds of physics, math, computer science where my brain spends most of its time.

Next we finally arrive at the reason for this entire journey: the Glenn Miller essay on Daniel.

[atheism] [bible]

Hebrew Cosmology

I remember when reading Genesis as a believer I had trouble understanding what exactly a "firmament" was. And what about the waters that were above and below it? I had a chance to reflect on this confusion again while reading this article: tsr/1990/1/1flat90.html. Unfortunately none of the original figures seem to be available but I was able to track down some that I'm pretty sure are the same or similar: ThreeTieredUniverse.htm.

What's wonderful about these pictures is how it makes so much sense out of formerly confusing verses. When you understand the Hebrew's cosmology you can actually understand what they were talking about. Of course you have to wonder how divinely inspired they really were if the inspirer didn't know anything about how the universe was actually structured, but well, I guess our puny minds just can't comprehend these things.

More cosmological musings

Bible Contradiction Du Jour: How long were the Israelites in Egypt?

Several places in the Bible claim they were there 400 years or longer, but the numbers don't add up. From The Skeptical Reveiw:

This genealogy, along with its parallels in I Chron. 6:1-3 and 23:6-13, establishes that Moses was the great grandson of Levi. Kohath, the grandfather of Moses, had already been born when Jacob took his sons and their families into Egypt, (Gen. 46:11). If we assume that Kohath was only a suckling infant in his mother's arms when he was taken into Egypt and if we further assume that his last act on earth at the age of 133 (Ex. 6:16) was to sire Amram, the father of Moses, then the very latest date of Amram's birth would have been around 134 years into the Israelite sojourn. If we then make similar assumptions about the birth of Moses, i.e., that Amram sired him just before dying at the age of 137 years (Ex. 6:20), this would mean that Moses could have been born no later than 272 years after the Israelite sojourn began. Since Moses was only 80 years old when Jehovah (Yahweh) called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt (Ex. 7:7), the sojourn could have lasted no longer than 352 years.

Bible Study: Daniel - a reading list

Partly for my own book keeping and later reference and partly as a starter guide for people interested in this topic, here are some of the resources I've encountered and at least browsed so far:

Early daters:

---

http://www.christian-thinktank.com/qwhendan3x.html
http://home.comcast.net/~rrr33/critic7.pdf
http://home.earthlink.net/~ironmen/qumran.htm
http://home.earthlink.net/~ironmen/index.htm
http://www.tektonics.org/af/danieldefense.html
http://www.tektonics.org/esch/danman.html
http://www.tagnet.org/anotherviewpoint/Daniel/ # RAINBOW == WRONG ;)
http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=924

Late daters:

---

http://www.atheists.org/christianity/daniel.html
http://www.2think.org/hundredsheep/bible/comment/daniel.shtml
- MANY issues of this magazine reference daniel. I'll probably have to read the entire thing from beginning to end at some point.
http://www.theskepticalreview.com/PEMainMenu.html
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/bernard_katz/critic.html
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/gerald_larue/otll/chap29.html
http://www.bibleorigins.net/DanielFailedPropheciesOf.html
http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/daniel.html
http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/daniel.html # awesome site

Neutral/Misc/Unknown:

---

http://www.religioustolerance.org/daniel.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Daniel


[atheism] [bible]

Only Bible Scholars Need Apply

I think that it's a pretty common claim from the believer side that if you read the Bible with an open mind and open heart you will see the truth. In my case, I have read the Bible a lot and have studied various interpretations and theories as to its origins and purpose. And I come to the same conclusion over and over: it's a fascinating tome, but divine inspiration doesn't seem too likely. So I guess they are right, I have seen the truth.

But here's the thing, while I think I know more and have thought more than the average bear about the Bible, I have no delusions that I've done anything but scratch the surface. Further more, people who don't know much about a topic are *really* bad at guessing how little they know about a topic. I could easily be this person now. In fact I have *no* doubt that in 10 years if I continue reading the Bible and the history of the Bible and interpretations of the Bible and so on I will no doubt look back at my current beliefs and just shake my head in wonder at how little I knew back then. At that point I might have the same belief I have now that the Bible is largely fiction or perhaps I will have gone 180 and realize that it is a perfect book whose contradictions are only apparent and that it is truly the best guide to living ever printed. 20 years ago I never would have even considered that I would have the beliefs that I have now, so stranger things have happened.

So in my above scenario if I don't keep working on this for the next 10 years I might miss out on the greatest truth of all. Or I might just waste 10 years coming to the same conclusion I've already reached, just with more facts to back it up.

While lots of folks seem to find their way to god naturally and with minimal scholarship, I don't seem to be wired that way. So barring having magic belief dust sprinkled on me the only way I can see me ever becoming a believer is to study more and just see where that takes me.

Since I've had to work at it so hard I think it would only be fair for there to be a minimal competency test at heaven's gate. I mean if you chose god and jesus but in reality it was just a lucky guess, it seems like you should be disqualified. I know no one is worthy, etc, etc, but surely some guy who just guesses the right answer shouldn't get any credit.

It's only fair.