Now that we've all come to an agreement about the credibility of the Old Testament, let's examine a new way of presenting Christ-ianity. My vote is to saw off the whole of the Old Testament as having nothing of substance to contribute to the message of Jesus.
For the sake of clarity let's call the proposed new version of the Bible the "New Christ Bible" since it's to be about Jesus and His message rather than a book of dubious history and violent blasphemy.
The New Christ Bible (NCB) probably should start with the beginning of Jesus' ministry because nothing before that is either provable nor germane to what He taught. Likewise the miracles should also be left out since they aren't particularly believable and they distance Jesus from the very people who are supposed to emulate His behavior. If Jesus was a supernatural being, then we are bound to feel that we have no chance to live as He lived. The miracles spice up the story but they don't contribute to the very real good ideas that Jesus advocated. The focus should be on the two commandments that Jesus said were the most important: Love God and love others as yourself. We don't need the Ten Commandments, Jesus summed them up in two. We can discuss what of Jesus teachings are to be included at a later date, but first we have to deal with one more blasphemous concept.
The idea that God demanded a blood payment for humanity's sins and God was willing to accept that payment be made by an innocent person makes total mockery of a fair and just God. Goatherder nomads demanded blood payment, the Creator of the Universe hardly has to stoop to that level. If there were sins that needed forgiving, then God could simply have announced in a pretty loud voice that, "Everybody is forgiven!" and let it go at that. Making God responsible for the monstrous act of crucifixion is as incomprehensible as crediting God with the insane violence and scatatology, genocide and incest, slavery and murder, and the selling of children in the Old Testament. It's palpable nonsense and anyone who can believe that of God is living in fear, whether they admit it or not. God is not only better than we imagine, He is better than we CAN imagine.
