Intro to Psalms discussion

[Bix]

Alrighty, let's get this started!

I'm thinking we study 10 Psalms at a time. I know this will take four months but I think if we stick with it, it'll be an interesting discussion. If anybody has any better ideas on how to do this, please post here.

What I'm hoping for in this study is just to allow a laid back discussion of the verses. Maybe people could speak about their favorite Psalm in the group, least favorite, what the Psalm means to you personally, what's your perspective on it, etc.

I hope that we can all have a mature debate about the Bible. Please don't flame people. We should all respect each other here. All I'm asking is to just have tact when disagreeing with each other. Play nice. :)

I'd also like to use this thread to allow introductions of all of us to get a point of view perspective. I'll make another thread to start the actual discussion.

Without further ado...

I'm Bix. I will be 24 years old next month. I am currently in pharmacy school. I've lived all my life in Texas and love the state. I considered myself Wiccan for around 6 years before having a few years of atheism/agnosticism. I had a serious down period in my life two years ago which I decided, heck, let's try going to church again and see what happens. I really enjoyed it and have continued going. I was a cradle Episcopalian so that's what church I continued going to. So far so good! I've enjoyed the fellowship I found there.

It's been two years since I went back to church so I'm still sorting everything out. I'm not an expert on the Bible by any means. Heck, there are pagans on here that probably know more about it than me. :) I'm still pretty skeptical about religion but I'm hoping by doing this discussion, I can learn along with everyone.

If you have any other questions about me, just ask.

[Cunae]

Hello Bix! It's cool to have a Bible discussion for *everyone* on MW!

I am 38, a cradle Lutheran who attended a Seventh Day Adventist college and then Wesleyan (Methodist), before getting my Masters at the Univ of Maryland. I have a degree in theology in addition to other things, so religion is an interest of mine.

As the wife of a pastor and a woman with Native American roots, I am dabbling in mystic means of expressing my faith. I love the Bible and consider it the guide for my life. I'm looking forward to this study with the various voices who might be participating!

[LacyRoze]

Hi all!! I'm Kim aka LacyRoze. I'm 44yrs young and a sahm. I'm a cradle Baptist who has often strayed from the flock but am now home again. I am probably the bane of my pastors' existance as I question and challenge at every turn. I make known that I don't agree with the church on some issues and I believe a little differently than most Christians. I love the bible but don't believe it is infallible. For me, it is a guide. :uhhuhuh: If there's anything else you'd like to know, feel free to ask.

[Bix]

If people don't have a Bible of their own, http://www.biblegateway.com/ has numerous translations that you can use. I personally am going to use my NIV Bible but I think it'll be okay with using different translations.

[Darth Brooks]

I am 26, and I was a cradle Quaker I guess, though I never actually practiced. I've been an independent Setian ever since my eighth grade year of junior high school in 1996. I currently reside in Texas but I have lived all over the place. All my life I have always felt a special connection with Jews, but I never knew why that was until I started learning about Set's Typhonian associations. I also feel a connection to Christ because of these associations, albeit peripherally, and when I was younger I used to go to church and synagogue services, not for worship but just to prove to myself that I could be around such things and not feel threatened. I proved myself right. For the past few years I've been involved with a coven which only had three members (including myself), but unfortunately we have dissolved fairly recently, so I'm back to being on my own.

When it comes to reading the Old Testament I prefer to go by the Tanakh rather than the Bible. I have an edition published in 1985 by the Jewish Publishing Society. But if anyone thinks that would be inappropriate, I also have an NIV copy of the Bible, which I trust more than King James.

[Cunae]

That's a good thing to mention, what version of the Bible we'll each be using. I'll be using both the NIV and the Contemporary English Version.

[OrionNeb87]

Hi! I am a 22 year old New Hampshirite. I was born into a non religious home though I tried Catholicism for a while in elementary school. I'm now a member of Kemetic Orthodoxy, a reconstruction/revivalism of ancient Egyptian beliefs. I'll be graduating UNH this May with a BS in physics and a minor in anthropology. I plan on going to grad school and getting a PhD in archaeology/anthropology.

I would like to join in this discussion (though I may not have much to add) because my boyfriend, who I'm in a very serious relationship with (we've got marriage plans already), is a Christian. We have interesting theological discussions but having been raised in a non religious home and being on a non Christian path, I'd like to have a better understanding of where he is coming from. I have a bible my boyfriend's mother gave me but it is not here with me at school so I'll be using the online sight you posted. Any suggestions on what version to use?

ETA: Oh and you all can call me Meti. It's the shortened version of my Shemsu name (Metitaitui). I've been meaning to change my username since I got it 3 years ago but took a rather long hiatus from MW due to school. :lol:

[Lahmi]

This should be interesting. :)
Started off on the magic paths at an early age.
Been a follower of Jesus for 20 years now.
I'm a Fundy that makes modern Fundies nervous since I follow the
old-school fundamentals of the faith as laid out in the Bible and the
teachings of Torrey, Rice, Moody, etc... :)

I'll be using the KJV as we go through Psalms here.

[Bix]

http://www.biblestudymagazine.com/preview/choosetranslationWeb.pdf

You'll need Adobe Acrobat to view this. This article discusses the pros and cons of the major biblical translations out there. Like I said before, I have my NIV Study Bible which I just bought on a whim but have enjoyed using it. I think the Bible Gateway link I posted allows you to view different translations side by side for comparison studies. FYI, this definitely has a Christian bias to it but it has some really great information. Good luck!

[OrionNeb87]

http://www.biblestudymagazine.com/preview/choosetranslationWeb.pdf

You'll need Adobe Acrobat to view this. This article discusses the pros and cons of the major biblical translations out there. Like I said before, I have my NIV Study Bible which I just bought on a whim but have enjoyed using it. I think the Bible Gateway link I posted allows you to view different translations side by side for comparison studies. FYI, this definitely has a Christian bias to it but it has some really great information. Good luck!

Thanks I'll probably use the NIV primarily though I like the idea of comparing different versions too.

[LacyRoze]

I'll be using 3 different bibles for comparison. They are NKJV study bible, NIT and NLT.

[Agaliha]

Okay, I'll just give a short intro... I wasn't raised with any of the Abrahamic faiths, though my mother was raised Catholic and my father Lutheran. They very much disliked the faiths of their upbringing so I wasn't brought up with any... I was never baptized or anything and the first time I went into a church was when I was about 12 years old. In high school I considered Catholicism, but stopped going to the RCIA class because I lacked the faith and belief in the tenets. I do still have a strange draw to the faith, as I've mentioned on MW many times. On my own, since I was 11 or so, I've been learning about all kinds of beliefs, faiths and spirituality. Recently, I seriously considered Islam and even thought conversion was in my future, but something went wrong (what exactly I don't know) and I just couldn't go through with it. Um. I still have a lot of unresolved issues, confusion and such about this... I generally keep this sort of thing private, so yeah, I'll just stop babbling. I've just been trying to truly figure out what I truly believe in and what I don't...but yes, I believe in YHWH/Allah/God. I just don't know the details of my belief and if that will be my sole focus or if there is room for others (other forms of theism)...

As for my Bibles, I have two:
The New English Bible with Apocrypha, Oxford Study Edition
Revised Standard Version

[Sollie]

Hi! I'm a 21 year old college student, studying theatre and psychology and minoring in English. I was born in Texas, but moved to Tennessee when I was around 4.

I was never really raised religiously, although my mom was a lapsed Catholic who occasionally took me to church with her, and my dad was a Southern Baptist. I only went to Sunday school with some neighboring girls occasionally. It was until freshman year of high school that I started going to a Church of Christ twice a week. I had a bad experience with the church after four years, and haven't been to another church yet, although I'm looking for a good one and I really miss it.

I'm looking forward to this! :uhhuhuh:

[BearDancing]

I went to Sunday school in a United Church when I was small...I always loved going...my parents did not join my two sisters and I they just drove us there and picked us up.. I am of NO particular Faith...Jesus Christ is my Mentor.....and I believe in One God...it does not bother me if God is referred to as Male, Female or half and half, it all means the same to me....I beileve we are here to raise our levels of concsiousness to be closer and closer to God....the more we practice the Lords Gifts, the more Gifts he bestows....*most important to me* we have to love ourselves enough to recieve from Spirit....All the Lords children have access to ALL gifts.. it is a matter of practice and willingness/trusting to recieve.
I beleive in reincarnation...I am using my grandmothers bible from Iceland...it is very old and fragile....I may have to resort to my newer one!