Editing Bible (section)

===Themes===
{{Further|Ethics in the Bible|Jewish ethics|Christian ethics}}
[[File:Creation of Light.png|thumb|''Creation of Light'' by [[Gustave Doré]].]]
The narratives, laws, wisdom sayings, parables, and unique genres of the Bible provide opportunity for discussion on most topics of concern to human beings: The role of women,<ref name="Barbara J. MacHaffie">{{cite book |last1=MacHaffie |first1=Barbara J. |title=Her Story Women in Christian Tradition |date=1992 |publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=978-1-4514-0402-9}}</ref>{{rp|203}} sex,{{sfn|Harper|2013|pp=1–14, 84–86, 88}} children, marriage,<ref name="Chadwick">Henry Chadwick, The Early Church, {{ISBN|978-0-14-023199-1}}</ref> neighbours,<ref name="Wayne Grudem">{{cite book |last1=Grudem |first1=Wayne |title=Christian Ethics: An Introduction to Biblical Moral Reasoning |date=2018 |publisher=Crossway |isbn=978-1-4335-4965-6}}</ref>{{rp|24}} friends, the nature of authority and the sharing of power,<ref>Praet, Danny (1992–1993). "Explaining the Christianization of the Roman Empire. Older theories and recent developments". Sacris Erudiri. Jaarboek voor Godsdienstgeschiedenis. A Journal on the Inheritance of Early and Medieval Christianity. 23: 5–119.</ref>{{rp|45–48}} animals, trees and nature,<ref name="Northcott96">{{cite book |last1=Northcott |first1=Michael S. |editor1-last=Clark |editor1-first=Stephen R. L. |title=The Environment and Christian Ethics |date=1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-57631-4}}</ref>{{rp|xi}} money and economics,<ref name="Hargaden">{{cite book |last1=Hargaden |first1=Kevin |title=Theological Ethics in a Neoliberal Age: Confronting the Christian Problem with Wealth |date=2018 |publisher=Wipf and Stock |isbn=978-1-5326-5500-5}}</ref>{{rp|77}} work, relationships,<ref name="Kieran Cronin">{{cite book |last1=Cronin |first1=Kieran |title=Rights and Christian ethics |date=1992 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-41889-8 |page=223}}</ref> sorrow and despair and the nature of joy, among others.{{sfn|Gericke|2012|p=207}} Philosopher and ethicist Jaco Gericke adds: "The meaning of good and evil, the nature of right and wrong, criteria for moral discernment, valid sources of morality, the origin and acquisition of moral beliefs, the ontological status of moral norms, moral authority, cultural pluralism, [as well as] axiological and aesthetic assumptions about the nature of value and beauty. These are all implicit in the texts."{{sfn|Gericke|2012|p=210}}

However, discerning the themes of some biblical texts can be problematic.{{sfn|Mittleman|2012|pp=1, 2}} Much of the Bible is in narrative form and in general, biblical narrative refrains from any kind of direct instruction, and in some texts the author's intent is not easy to decipher.{{sfn|Barton|2007|pp=1–3}} It is left to the reader to determine good and bad, right and wrong, and the path to understanding and practice is rarely straightforward.{{sfn|Barton|2019| p=14}} God is sometimes portrayed as having a role in the plot, but more often there is little about God's reaction to events, and no mention at all of approval or disapproval of what the characters have done or failed to do.{{sfn|Barton|2019| p=40}} The writer makes no comment, and the reader is left to infer what they will.{{sfn|Barton|2019| p=40}} Jewish philosophers [[Shalom Carmy]] and [[David Shatz]] explain that the Bible "often juxtaposes contradictory ideas, without explanation or apology".{{sfn|Carmy|Shatz|2003|pp=13–14}}

The Hebrew Bible contains assumptions about the nature of knowledge, belief, truth, interpretation, understanding and cognitive processes.{{sfn|Gericke|2012|p=209}} Ethicist [[Michael V. Fox]] writes that the primary axiom of the book of Proverbs is that "the exercise of the human mind is the necessary and sufficient condition of right and successful behavior in all reaches of life".{{sfn|Fox|2007|p=78}} The Bible teaches the nature of valid arguments, the nature and power of language, and its relation to reality.{{sfn|Gericke|2012|p=210}} According to [[Alan Mittleman]], professor of Jewish philosophy, the Bible provides patterns of moral reasoning that focus on conduct and character.{{sfn|Barton|2019| p=3}}{{sfn|Mittleman|2012|p=17}}

In the biblical metaphysic, humans have free will, but it is a relative and restricted freedom.{{sfn|Brunner|2002|p=494}} Beach{{who2|date=May 2025}} says that Christian ''voluntarism'' points to the ''will'' as the core of the self, and that within human nature, "the core of who we are is defined by what we love".{{sfn|Beach|1988|pp=25–26}} Natural law is in the Wisdom literature, the Prophets, Romans 1, Acts 17, and the book of Amos (Amos 1:3–2:5), where nations other than Israel are held accountable for their ethical decisions even though they do not know the Hebrew god.{{sfn|Barton|2003|pp=48–50}} Political theorist [[Michael Walzer]] finds politics in the Hebrew Bible in covenant, law, and prophecy, which constitute an early form of ''almost'' democratic political ethics.{{sfn|Walzer|2012|p=200}} Key elements in biblical criminal justice begin with the belief in God as the source of justice and the judge of all, including those administering justice on earth.{{sfn|Souryal|2015|p=xx}}

Carmy and Shatz say the Bible "depicts the character of God, presents an account of creation, posits a metaphysics of divine providence and divine intervention, suggests a basis for morality, discusses many features of human nature, and frequently poses the notorious conundrum of how God can allow evil."{{sfn|Carmy|Shatz|2003|pp=13, 14}}