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The disposal of Bible verses?

post #1 of 14
12/17/08 at 5:07pm
Thread Starter 
I'm cleaning out and moving into a new place in which several small items of the previous tenant were left behind, including a laminated clipping of a psalm stuck on the refrigerator door. I'm not interested in keeping it, but I haven't gotten rid of it yet because I'm not really sure if there is considered a "proper" way to dispose of such a thing. So ... if one has a Bible or portion thereof that needs to be thrown away, how is that ideally handled? Or does no one really care and the landfill is just fine (well, about as fine as a landfill can be at any rate).

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post #2 of 14
12/17/08 at 5:24pm
I don't think most Christians would care, unless you deliberately spit on it and burn effigies in order to make a point or something. But it's sweet of you to ask! Landfill is fine. It's the propositional content of Scripture we cherish, not the physicality of the thing.
post #3 of 14
12/17/08 at 5:30pm
Well bibles and sacramentals are disposed of in special ways but a laminated clipping of one psalm doesn't meet the level for that.
post #4 of 14
12/17/08 at 5:37pm
Jews bury all papers, objects, or anything with the name of G!d on it or Biblical excerpts.
post #5 of 14
12/17/08 at 6:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by merpk View Post
Jews bury all papers, objects, or anything with the name of G!d on it or Biblical excerpts.
I did not know that!
Orthodox Christians either burn or bury anything of that description, sometimes burn and then bury it. We can also place Bibles and things like that inside the coffin of a person about to be buried. If it is a smaller item, like a single printed Bible verse or printed sacred image on paper, we can simply eradicate the words or images, by cutting the paper up, crossing it out with black marker, or whatever, and then throw the remaining object in the regular trash.
post #6 of 14
12/17/08 at 7:39pm
this has been brought up before. some people nave special ways they get rid of a Bible/or biblical text. that said, if I wrote down a Bible verse and no longer needed to use that paper or if it got old I would toss it. I write down verses for my kdis ot copy sometimes... but I don't keep them, I just toss them.

I've not had to yet make that deicsion though about an entire Bible. I give them away occasionally... but I just am not in the habit of buying tons of Bibles lol. I use the ones I have. But i would find a special way to handle it if it did need to be "put to rest" b/c it was just too old or whatever.
post #7 of 14
12/17/08 at 7:46pm
I would think that it only matters if you consider the bible sacred. If it is just another book to me, I would dispose of it the way I dispose of books.
post #8 of 14
12/17/08 at 7:50pm
I threw all my old religious things out. I gave most of it away, but the stuff people wouldn't take - I dumped in the trash.

It's not like you're taking your verses to a Church, and in front of the whole congregation making a show of throwing it out.

You're just cleaning up after a previous tenant. I don't think there is anything "special" you need to do. But, then, I'm an atheist ... so maybe, to me, it just seems OK to dispose of said items in whatever way is comfortable for YOU.
post #9 of 14
12/17/08 at 7:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailor View Post
You're just cleaning up after a previous tenant. I don't think there is anything "special" you need to do. But, then, I'm an atheist ... so maybe, to me, it just seems OK to dispose of said items in whatever way is comfortable for YOU.
I get this. But it was just that in my own religion there are some pretty set ways of how to / how to not appropriately dispose of sacred texts -- even if they happen to have been scrawled on the back of an envelope with a Sharpie. And that while we don't expect others to follow suit, we do tend to appreciate it when people do. So maybe mostly just wondering if it's just us.

I think I'll go with what merpk said.
post #10 of 14
12/17/08 at 9:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Liquesce View Post
I get this. But it was just that in my own religion there are some pretty set ways of how to / how to not appropriately dispose of sacred texts -- even if they happen to have been scrawled on the back of an envelope with a Sharpie. And that while we don't expect others to follow suit, we do tend to appreciate it when people do. So maybe mostly just wondering if it's just us.

I think I'll go with what merpk said.
that is quite thoughtful of you. it's nice when people take the time to be respectful of other traditions and cultures, even if others aren't. and even if all of the people of that culture aren't lol

whatever you do I'm sure will be fine...
post #11 of 14
12/18/08 at 9:56am
ok kinda funny.... after this discussion...

I was on my way to bed last night but i wanted to check the clothes in the washer first. I don't like leaving it on when I go to bed and it seemed it should be done by now but i still heard it running water. I went downstairs to discover a flood. the pipe had come loose and water was being pumped ALL over the floor. *sigh* what a mess!!! so we start cleaning up and I eventually find a small NT Bible (as in just with the NT - I never did like that style, so I bet someone gave it to us a long time ago and it got shoved ina box or something). anyhow my first instinct was it wasold and I didn't like it, so throw it away. then I got to thinking about this very thread and I kinda laughed to myself. I had just said I didn't know what I would do in that very circumstance, and then that night i found myself in it. I bet in the moment of panic of trying to remove all the wet boxes and get all the stuff to safety i would have just tosed it not thinking, into a can and not even thought about it til later when things had calmed down.

so I set it to the side for now... I will pray about it and think about it before I decide how to dispose of it.
post #12 of 14
12/22/08 at 2:00pm
I've never held a Bible up to that type of reverence. It's the words, with their meaning, and not the leather and paper that are sacred, IMO. I've tossed a lot of ruined Bibles, and not felt one bit of guilt.
post #13 of 14
12/22/08 at 2:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by llamalluv View Post
I've never held a Bible up to that type of reverence. It's the words, with their meaning, and not the leather and paper that are sacred, IMO. I've tossed a lot of ruined Bibles, and not felt one bit of guilt.
I think there is a denominational split on this issue, and on the concept of sacred objects in general. Most Protestants would probably agree with you, while Catholic and Orthodox Christians, along with Jews, would regard the physical Bible itself with some reverence.
post #14 of 14
12/22/08 at 6:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mamabadger View Post
I think there is a denominational split on this issue, and on the concept of sacred objects in general. Most Protestants would probably agree with you, while Catholic and Orthodox Christians, along with Jews, would regard the physical Bible itself with some reverence.
It's symbolic. it shows respect for God's word. I don't find t as important as God's word or anything of that nature. but I find it just another way we can find a way to respect it.

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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Personal Growth & Spirituality  › Spirituality › Religious Studies › The disposal of Bible verses?