About

Goal of the Project

Most people in the secular community are familiar with the phrase, “well, you’re cherry picking provocative verses from the Bible while ignoring the larger message just to support your claim.” I say most people are familiar with this, because I have heard a version of this phrase myself many times, and I have watched or listened to debates online where this phrase is used. For instance, many secular-humanists or atheists have a set of go-to passages they like to use in various situations. This may be a challenge against wealth, the biblical mistreatment of homosexuals and women, slavery issues, and many others.

I think it’s worth noting that there may be some truth to this. It is very easy to pull a single verse from the Bible that sounds really awful while ignoring the context. We should be clear though, nonbelievers are not the only ones who do this. Believers cherry pick the Bible too. The atheist might say that the Bible supports slavery, and the believer will say nothing to that fact, but will pull the ‘love thy neighbor’ card that obviously is not related to the slavery topic. This is a zero sum argument leaving both sides satisfied that they played the better hand.

A principle concern of this project is that both the bad and the good are given to the listener in its proper context, so that the original biblical author’s meaning is clearly and plainly represented. This is something you will not find in a mainstream religious service or from a believer’s Bible study podcast.

Each of these latter cases try to explain away the immorality of the Bible by giving justifications for the immoral acts discussed within the Bible. As an aside, I think this fact is proof of our own self-guided morality that even the most faithful find parts of the Bible repulsive forcing them to justify immoral passages. I think these justifications fail to convince any skeptical listener.

Reverend Al Sharpton once said in a conversation with Christopher Hitchens during a co-interview discussing the release of Christopher Hitchens’ book, God is not Great, that “God should not be confused with those who misrepresent him.” Mr. Sharpton was making the point that he believes God is Great, even if people are not.

I think this is a knee-jerk reaction by Christians when they are challenged that the behavior of believers is no better than that of any other group. Basically, believers attempt to explain that our morality is not synonymous with or should not be compared to the morality of God, because we are sinners, and he is the perfect good.

Through a closer examination of the Bible itself, we can see that this is not true based on our common moral standards. Any reasonable person would agree that God’s morality as described in the Bible is not an example of ‘the perfect good.’

Every preacher, pastor, reverend, or otherwise will choose how to represent God from his or her (well, not her so much) perspective, and this is the Bible that people understand. Believers are given a glimpse of the Bible from their respective church leaders, but many will never concern themselves with the whole story. This project is meant to provide believers and nonbelievers alike a source for objective biblical observations.

Project Specifications

I will traverse the New Testament book-by-book, chapter-by-chapter, and verse-by-verse and present an objective representation of what is written. As Mark Twain famously stated, “ the best Cure for Christianity is reading the Bible .”

I will read only the verses of a chapter that provide the thesis of each section while filling in the gaps with an accurate commentary of that section. This will keep the claims of the Bible at the top of my discussions while providing the message for each.

Each episode will range between 7-15 minutes to make each section tolerable. I don’t think anyone wants to listen to a 90-minute reading of the Bible or even a 90-minute service about the Bible. I know my Christian friends do not enjoy this on Sundays, but they are still compelled to attend their church and suffer through the lectures.

To accompany each broadcast, I will have a website where the transcripts for each podcast will be accessible as well. This will allow people who prefer to read the material rather than listen the opportunity.

Each episode will be organized on the website using a logical structure that will allow for sort and search features . Visitors of the website will be able to easily find a specific book and a specific chapter if they are doing research of their own.

Each episode will also have a dedicated webpage with a comments section for follow-up discussions where I will participate as well.

Each book of the New Testament will be given a text-based abstract located on the website, and at the conclusion of each book, I will host a call in radio broadcast where listeners can share their thoughts about the book being surveyed . This live call-in broadcast will be recorded and published as a conclusion to each book.

Additionally, I will present the same content that is available in audio podcast format as a video as well. This will be a presentation taken from the transcripts for each episode.

The use of these three media forms; transcribed text, radio podcast, and video presentations; will provide users multiple avenues to access all of this information and give them the ability to choose their preferred form. I will also incorporate accessibility functions for each media type so that people with disabilities can benefit from this material too.

Use of Funding

Funding for this project will be used for the development of the technological infrastructure and equipment needed to produce high-quality presentations.

A website will need to be developed that will satisfy the criteria listed above while being easy to access and navigate.

Recording equipment needs to be purchased that will allow me to produce both the radio podcasts and associated video content.

While I have the skills to do much of the setup and use of the technologies and equipment, I will need to outsource some of this effort. I intend to use local college students that will be paid a fair wage and offered an internship credit as well.

The need for outsourcing is primarily a time constraint that will allow me to focus on delivering quality content on a regular schedule.

I plan to publish one new episode daily (M-F) between June through September of this year or until completion of the New Testament.

While I am creating content, I will use the paid interns to maintain and market the website while searching for viable outlets to promote this project using social media and other online marketing strategies.