Where do I start?

Why would anyone not deeply interested in Jewish law read the Talmud?

Start with the word.

Star with the Gospel of John, then the other 3 Gospels. Afterwards the rest of the NT (Epistles + Revelations, although the latter might be tough to get through).
Afterwards start with the OT. It's kind of a drag in certain parts (e.g. all of the "How to build a tabernacle & other fun hobby projects" part). Wisdom literature is probably my favorite stuff in the whole book.

META

psalms did it for me

in general it's better (or at least easier) to start with commentaries than to start with the bible itself

Just with the bible. Like where else, its literally the first book we have.

start with the church fathers desu. they are much easier to read than the Bible itself, and they'll give you an appreciation for the Bible's brilliance, which is hard to see at first glance

Read the Torah first. Then the gospels.
Then Paul's Letter to the Romans.

What are some vital external readings that are not included in the Bible?

I'm interested in the "Apocrypha" and the Book of Enoch, but I would also like to see what else there is.

Genesis and Exodus through Second Kings and Judges
Job and Ecclesiastes
Elijah and Isaiah (Most Christian "prophecy" is drawn from Isaiah)
Maccabees if you are into it.

Mark>Gospel of Thomas>Luke and Matthew>Acts>Paul's Letters to the Corinthians>His other letters>Gospel of John>Revelations>Shepard of Hermes

To be avoided first reading:
Daniel (written in the Seleucid period)
Nativity narratives (rejected totally by current scholars)

>Gospel of John
Second hand Hocus Pocus written 100 years after Jesus died. Should be read in its place as the progression of theology regarding Christs divinity progresses over the first and second century.

see
Lukes Nativity Gospel, the Gospel of Peter, and especially the Gospel of Thomas which has been recognized as drawing on, if not the same source, then the same oral or written tradition as the synoptics (with the resultant work being interpreted in a Gnostic context).

Polycarp, Ignatius, Clements letters all mandatory

start with the Mormons

Also, sorry to samefag, but Peter should be taken with a grain of salt EXCEPT for the crucifixtion narrative which some scholars put a lot of weight on.

Also, some scholars have begun viewing the Epistle of James as being emblematic of non-pauline christianity towards the end of the first century

pic related

thegreatcourses.com/courses/after-the-new-testament-the-writings-of-the-apostolic-fathers.html

pirate this shit, and if you dont like what he has to say, he provides plenty of bibliography as well

>pirate this shit

how

Old Testament

For a faith-centered account of Israel's history: start with the Pentateuch. Genesis is the history of the origins of both the world and the people of Israel, but Exodus and the experience of liberation is where it's at. If you can bear it, read the Deuteronomy with attention because it holds the key to understand the Deuteronomical History section (Joshua, Judges, Books of Samuel and Books of Kings)

Then you can proceed with the prophets. I consider them a high point in the Bible: they present truly beautiful representations of God's will in the midst of history. Each prophet as a big theme: Amos speaks of justice, Hosea has love, Jeremiah of conversion, Isaiah of faith, Ezekiel of hope, and so on.

If you want popular wisdom and folk sayings, go to the Proverbs. If you want something more ellaborate, take the Psalms. If you like these line of thought, read the Ecclesiastes, the Jesus ben Sirah, the Song of Solomon and so on. The masterpiece of the folk wisdom books of the Bible is Job, which you should read very closely.

If you like small parables or novella-like tales, go with books like Ruth, Esther, Jonah, Tobias, etc.

To link with the New Testament, read the Books of the Maccabees to understand the context of Palestine in the times of Jesus, and also the book of Daniel, which is the only apocalyptical book of the Old Testament. It is at these point where a belief in an afterlife and in the resurrection of the dead.

New Testament

For an approach to the historical, human Jesus: the four Gospels, obviously. The earliest one, the leanest Gospel, the no-nonsense, cut the crap one is Mark. Disregard the final verses added by the Church. Both Matthew and Luke absorbed the whole of Mark, but they incorporated their own traditions and the ones of another, hypothetical source. Luke is the longest and a central aspect of it marginality and mercy. It was written for a non-Jewish Christian community that was excluded. John's Gospel draws heavily from Gnostic and Jewish traditions and while it is cryptic at times, it is disarmingly beautiful.

After John, you can proceed to get approach to Christ, the resurrected Son of God. Read the Pauline Epistles, and put emphasis on the authentic ones (Romans, both Corinthians, Galatians, 1 Thessalonians, Philippians and Philemon). Then read the Catholic Letters of Peter, James and Jude. Then read the rest of the Pauline Epistles.

To get a better image of the first generations of Christians (or more likely Peter and Paul catfighting), read the Acts of the Apostles (written by the author of Luke).

Then read the Catholic Letters of John and finally Revelation.

nerd alert!

>Disregard the final verses added by the Church

Wait what?

Excellent analysis, what more can you recommend?

>Second hand Hocus Pocus written 100 years after Jesus died

> some scholars have begun viewing the Epistle of James as being emblematic of non-pauline christianity towards the end of the first century

Veeky Forums, stop.

forgot pic

with the greeks

Ha, pretty much if you want to get into Augustine.

Just go to church and read a few selections along with the Congregation. Do that every Sunday and then after awhile you will be qualified to lead a bible study where you will gain the respect and admiration of the congregation. You may even get to collect to some """virgin""" pussy along the way. Eventually (if you get lucky) you will be selected for a leadership.

Reading the WHOLE thing is just an unnecessary waste of time to get the experience and feeling of being a Christian and christ.

This is the least literary answer.

By asking God for forgiveness you heretic.

Is it true you can fuck virgins if you become a bible study leader? I could go back to church and fake it for that.

That depends a lot on what you expect to get out of it.

Personally, I just wanted to learn more about Christianity in general, and found the book itself to be almost pointless without context. There is a lot more to this religion that isn't in that book.

Heck, there are almost thirty thousand denominations according to some scholars, which just goes to show how many different ways people have interpreted it.

I learned a lot more about the religion as a whole by studying its history, since the history also tells you how the theology developed over time and why there are so many different takes on it.

What're some good sources on studying Christian history?

The first few books of the OT have some interesting stories. I forget where it starts to turn into a slog, but you could always skip ahead to other books.

grek philosophy (true philosophy)

video course: thepiratebay.org/torrent/9982958/TTC_-_The_History_of_Christianity
book: amazon.com/Christianity-First-Three-Thousand-Years/dp/0143118692

it's a very bad idea and could get you in trouble or hurt

plus it wouldn't make you as happy as you think it would, nor would it be so easy as you imagine

To follow up, this documentary sparked my interest in Christian history: youtube.com/watch?v=DQHz8GzeYNg