Why isn't there any humour in the bible?

Maybe it wasn’t written to entertain… plus theres plenty of irony in the bible. your just not looking hard enough. the bible is one text, one example of a written scripture the faith is based on. However it isn’t solely everything. Humour is an essential part of life, but when you think about it the Bible was written in a time where people were just living so simply the important stuff was only the facts and rules they must live by to ‘live fully’, they probably weren’t interested in a book written to guide them in their lives joking around.

Personally I don’t think the Bible is a correct representation of God, and there are plenty of stories which make God seem loving and forgiving and not just spiteful of the human race. I mean just look around, is that not proof enough that God has a sense of humour?

It could be because ti was translated so many times. Humor can go away in translation, or alternatively maybe they had a different sense of humor that us over here and would have found it funny when it was written.

Just my guess.

I don’t know, I think it’s pretty funny.

There is some humor in the bible. Matthew 7:3 says “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” Do you not see the humor in someone walking around with a plank (very long board) in his eye and saying to his brother that he has a speck in his eye? Very funny! You mentioned about the pigs in Matthew 8. If you remember the old testament, swine has a cloven foot and the jews were not to have anything to do with them. Yet, we find these jews were actually raising them. Since God created all ot the creatures of the earth, look at some of the funny things in nature. God does have a sense of humor!

When I was at school I had a crazy religious education teacher who said it was because it was written by men

I used to think God was vengeful in the old testament as well, but at that time I was not reading the Bible under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. the next time that you read it, please pray that the Holy spirit will guide your understanding of the word. This makes a huge differnce.

God created humans in his image! So of coarse there is humor! and it does state in the bible somewhere where you shouldnt joke in a coarse way! (dirty jokes, or jokes that are offensive) but none the less jokes and humor is not forbidden in the bible! And God created man to be without flaw and live perfect lives, Adam sinned and brought cursing and death into the world. and through that we are born to a sinful nature, and during the times of Noah, if you read the bible, the land became very evil people were killing each other they were sinning left and right and were very evil. God was looking down at his creation and was regretting ever having created such a world. So he with water cleansed, besides Noah and his family. There after he made a covenant with a man called Abraham, who God called a friend! and he would only accept those who would be cleansed and were circumcised, and those were Jews Later he brought Moses bringing various laws to live a life by the law, each law either benefited their spiritual, physical or mental life! and all other nations who did not live a life were they were taking care of their bodies, were not saved! because they were living in sin. But God loved the world so much that he eventually sent his own Son to die for us all, jew or not and now we are no longer condemned if you accept Jesus. So in conclusion my point is that if you choose to live without God, and don’t accept God, you will be living in sin which is evil, and sin and evil brings consequences. God loves you, but he hates sin and he hates evil. When someone repents they turn from sin and turn toward God and all their past mistakes and uncleansiness is forgiven! lol sorry for the novel

You’re speaking from a false premise. There IS humor in the Bible. The jokes are often dry, subtle, and in a modern context, sometimes they go right over our heads since we have no frame of reference (there are quite a few clever jabs at the Romans that make no sense anymore, seeing as we no longer hate Romans), but they are there.

Consider this exchange from John 1:45-51, which practically reads like an Abbot and Costello routine:

Philip found Nathanael and said unto him, ‘’We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’’ Nathanael said to him, ‘’Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’’ (rimshot)

Philip said to him, ‘’Come and see!’’ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, ‘’Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile.’’ (Read as: ‘’Check it out, an honest Jew!’’ rimshot)

Nathanael (clearly not getting it) said to him, ‘’How do you know me?’’ Jesus answered him, ‘’Before Philip called you, I saw you yesterday, standing under a fig tree.’’ Nathanael said (losing his cool) ‘’Rabbi, you are the son of God! You are the king of Israel!’’ Jesus answered him, ‘’Because I said I saw you standing under a fig tree, believest thou?’’ (rimshot!) ‘’You shall see greater things than these.’’

And… scene! Like I said, dry and contextual humor, but hey, I laughed. You can tell that Jesus delivered that ‘’believest thou?’’ line with one eyebrow raised.

Note: I found this exchange (and edited it slightly) in a Straight Dope article called ‘’Are there any jokes in the Bible?’’ and there are more examples of Biblical humor there.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1165/are-there-any-jokes-in-the-bible

And if you have never visited The Straight Dope and are a fan of useless trivia, stay away from their archive of articles or you may never find your way back out again. It’s addictive.

I believe God does have a sense of humor, that’s were we get it from. Also consiter the fact that the bible was written in a different time and so the humor is a little different. Here are some scriptures A quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping on a rainy day; restraining her is like restraining the wind or grasping oil with the hand Proverbs 27:15-16 If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom. Proverbs 13:5 There are so many more scriptures like this, but I dont want to make this too long. Before I leave this post tho, here’s a funny story about a mix up with scriptures.

A yound and nervous bride planning her wedding was increasingly terrified about her upcoming marriage. To calm her nerves, she decided to have a Bible verse which had always brought her comfort (1 FIRST John 4:18) There is no fear in love; for perfect love casts out fear* engraved on her wedding cake. So she called the caterer and all arrangements were made.

About a week before the wedding, she receives a call from the catering company. Is this really the verse you want on your cake? they asked. Yes, she confirmed, it was the one she wanted, and after a few more questions they said they would decorate the cake as requested.

The wedding day came, and everything was beautiful…until the reception, when the bride walked in to find the cake emblazoned with John 4:18: For you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband.