Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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Just a Passing Thought. Are you familiar with the (Thomas) Jefferson Bible? It is housed in the Smithsonian Institution. He literally cut and pasted the four Gospels into a 'Jefferson version'. Many religious variations and reformations have occurred in history. Judaism has branched into several 'denominations', Including Orthodox, Conservative, Reform plus others! Islam has yet to create a true religious reform-- But certainly has two orthodox forms. (Perhaps a reformation will emerge from their American experience.) Christianity, of course, has subdivided into many denominations, Plus has experienced a very serious Reformation--Catholic to Protestant. My thought is, why has there not been a modernization, Dealing with the Christian Old Testament? In 325 AD, The First Council of Nicaea (Iznik, Turkiye), Guided the contents of the Old and New Testaments; Other accounts were relegated to the Apocrypha. For instance, might the Old Testament be edited for modern Christians To modify or eliminate the Kosher laws (Deuteronomy 14:1--21); Edit the two descriptions (Genesis 1 and 2) of the creation stories to one; And eliminate Deuteronomy 13:1--18 which describes The destruction of a complete village, along with all living things, If those inhabitants have turned away from belief in the true god? Of course much would remain for the modern Christian, Such as the beautiful poetry of the Song of Psalms And, naturally, the various prophecies and most of the histories. This would be an interesting and perhaps important project, Making the Christian Old Testament more modernized and relevant. Read with a possible new viewpoint, Realizing what conclusions you might consider. Just a passing thought-----. Frank Maurer 18 August 2024 1140 Hours.