re: Who all has read "The Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine?

quote:

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Psalms

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Psalms is really just a book of religious hymns and poems. I wouldn't take it so much as God's word to us as ours to Him. Still very worthwhile, just not one of the books I would use as a guideline.

My beef with Paine's premise is that he assumes it's impossible for us to improve our understanding of the historical and cultural context in which the Bible was written. Archeologists are learning more about the ancient Near East every day, and that knowledge can help us develop a better understanding of what Biblical texts meant at the time they were recorded by the scribes.