How could modern humans improve the Bible?

Someone asked this question recently, I made a reply somewhere along these lines:


a. Genocide as a divine command. Examples: The canaanites in 3 different passages (Numbers 21:2-3; Deuteronomy 20:17; Joshua 6:17, 21). The Amalekites annihilated by Saul (1 Samuel 15)


b. Genocide by direct divine intervention. Examples: the flood, Examples: Exodus 11-12, the first born of the egyptians, and Genesis 18-19, sodom and gomorrah. 1 Samuel 6:19-20, people killed for glancing inside the Ark.


c. Yes, slavery. No matter what the time period was, it was wrong to command that slavery of children was permissible. Leviticus 25:44-46 Yes, that's modern, secular values being imposed on ancient times, I'm fine with that.


d. Blatant misogyny. This is strong evidence that the bible was written purely by human inspiration, a divine being shouldn't include this type of language in such a book, or allow humans to taint it with this verbage.


d-1. Women commanded to suffer and be subject to their husbands, Genesis 3:16.


d-2. A weird differentiation between male and female children, females requiring double the normal purification period, for no good reason, Leviticus Chapter 12: 1-8


d-3 A woman can be executed if she isn't a virgin on her wedding, Deuteronomy 22:20-21


d-4 Women must learn in quietness and submission. 1 Timothy 2:11


d-5 Implication that women are impure. Job 14:1-4


d-6 Women should not speak in church. 1 Corinthians 14:34


D-7 references to women as booty from successful battles, NUMBERS 31:31-40, DEUTERONOMY 20:13-14, DEUTERONOMY 21:10-13.


E. Some barbaric ideas about justice and punishment. Most of these were common back then, more evidence of a book written by humans without divine inspiration.


E-1 Kill homosexuals. Leviticus 20:13


E-2 Kill Witches. Exodus 22:17


E-3 Kill fortune tellers Leviticus 20:27


E-4 Kill kids that hit their parents. Exodus 21:15


E-5 Kill adulterers. Leviticus 20:10


E-6 Kill fornicators. Leviticus 21:9

E-7 Kill nonbelievers. 2 Chronicles 15:12-13


E-8 Kill entire towns for heresy. Deuteronomy 13:13-19


E-9 Kill false prophets. Zechariah 13:3


E-10 Let's just read the entire book of Joshua and chalk it up to savage butchering of innocents. Hard to read any verses NOT related to war crimes.


Um, yeah. Improving the bible by removing all of those would be a start. Still FAR from a complete list, though, not even close. It would be incredibly simple to make people believe the bible was divinely inspired beyond all doubt. How about make the majority of the bible contain information that was IMPOSSIBLE for human beings to know at that time?

Instructions for proper medical care, how to harness electricity, how to combat germs and viruses, maybe, i don't know, how to build a lasting civilization without butchering innocents?

Maybe a guide to the IDEAL diet for humans to live the longest and healthiest? The OT lists foods NOT to eat, not much besides that.

How about some instructions for good music? Or art techniques? Or techniques for sexual pleasure?

There is SO MUCH that humans had to learn on our own, through blood, sweat, and tears. So many people were persecuted and/or killed because they taught things the church found contrary to scripture, and they were later vindicated. Why was this necessary?

Yes, the bible could be improved dramatically by removing many scriptures, and adding many more. It's improved the most, though, by simply acknowledging that it's flawed. Admit that it's a product of man, and treat it like any other product of man. Enjoy the good parts, disregard the bad, and don't pretend it's the key to eternal life.