Proposal for a new site [closed]

Question

I understand that BH wishes to keep a narrow focus, and there are good reasons to do so.

However, there have already been questions tried here that could have merit in a more broadly-based forum. Therefore, I would like to propose a new site, something like "Bible Study", "Bible in General" or "Biblical Interpretation" (I'm not great with naming things). Its center is Biblical texts and how to derive meaning from them. Questions on all things Bible would be on-topic.

One key feature would be that opinion, tool, and list questions would be welcome. Here are a few:

• What are some good computer programs for Bible study?
• What is the best introductory book on Biblical Hermeneutics?
• Does Reader-Response criticism stretch the "meaning" of a text too far?
• How do I get started doing "serious" bible study?

One of the requirements for a new site proposal is to get five people willing to "follow" it. Thus, I am casting my line here to see if anyone else might have an interest in such a site.

I will check back in a few days to see what happens.

Answer 1

I could be interested, but I think you are going to have a hard time finding a scope that both works and doesn't overlap too much between here, Christianity.SE and Judaism.SE. All your examples on "meta" questions, but 90%+ of interest not covered by BH.SE would be application questions. That is, "how do I apply this passage to my life." Such questions can be asked at J.SE or, in principle C.SE (but only if phrased as "how does denomination X interpret this"), depending on the religion of asker.

It is not so much a BH thing that list/opinion questions don't work well, but rather a Q-and-A format thing, because there are no objectively right answers for the OP to select. That is not to it can't work - sites like parenting and workplace have a lot of advice questions - but it will be very tricky. Christianity.SE started out allowing opinion questions, but Christians are a very diverse group so it led to many problems with extended comment arguments and popularity-based voting. Still, many of these questions such as:

• Is saying “Oh My God” really using God's name in vain?
• What happens to people who have never heard about Jesus?
• Will suicide keep me out of Heaven?

remain among the most popular all-time questions despite being closed for years.

So, there is potential interest, but many pitfalls. I suggest you think carefully about these issues before proceeding.