Linda Fargo led the entire group in a lively discussion about the history of the church and the Bible.The DVD presentation was by Phyllis Tickle, who passed away recently.
Much of the talk was the back and forth access to the Bible throughout christian history from the days of the early church, the innovations, the printing press, popular translations, to the internet just to give a few examples. The Bible has moved from being in the hands of a few to being accessible to all who have the desire.
We spent some time on what has been lost as well as gained with that easy access. I remembered seeing some inaccessible (for obvious reasons) Illuminated Bibles in a few museums. A memorable experience but not a literary one. The Bible was under glass displaying only one page which was written in Latin. A different sort of "Bible" experience for me.
You could tell most of the participants today were people of the book, perhaps the last generation for a time that will care to claim that title or be literally correct.
The Bible has often been used for gaining or legitimizing authority within the church. Given the change that is happening around us as the culture slips hierarchical structures this felt more topical than it might seem from this description
Once again there was a deep appreciation of the material and Linda's leadership.
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