Veeky Forums, what's your opinion of the Bible? I've read the Book of Revelation when I was a kid (with a christian perspective) and I found it pretty scary. Recently I've read Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus and I honestly found the detailed list somewhat boring. I constantly see the Bible listed on Veeky Forums's favourites, so i was wondering: Is it some kind of meme? Don't get me wrong, I know that the Bible has different tones and themes across it's books, so which of its books are your favourite and why?
Veeky Forums, what's your opinion of the Bible...
Justin Harris
Isaac Evans
*detailed lists
Oliver Gray
Genesis is terrible. Also, it amazing how anyone could have taken this book seriously. Noah lived for over 1000 years. LOL
Michael Campbell
>Is it some kind of meme?
Show some respect, it is The Holy Meme.
John Scott
The gospel is the good stuff. The words from Christ's mouth.
It can give you a lot to think about.
He presents a brilliant system of divine justice/mercy and an idealistic moral code.
People probably craved justice from God, but little did they know that justice meant they would be burned alive for their transgressions. So in actuality, a merciful God is much more favorable.
(People have to be burned alive because justice repays like with like. Good is rewarded and wickedness punished. This judgement should be idealistic. To sin is to destroy God's will, so you must like-wise be destroyed. How is a soul idealistically destroyed? With pain, the dissonance of the soul. More so than that, it should be the fullest amount of pain, excited pain from a heat source. Only then is a soul truly destroyed by having their whole body consumed in abstract flame.)
People say that Jesus' teachings are quite common, but they were never as comprehensive as what he espoused. "Love everyone" was probably pretty popular, but loving your enemies, passive altruism, and devoted servitude are the pinnacle of moral achievement to this day.
Jace Peterson
In ancient Mesopotamia it was a common practice to ascribe greatness to someone by inflating his life span. This is evident in an ancient list of kings of Sumer that describes rulers who allegedly lived for tens of thousands of years. The earliest kind on this list to be confirmed as having actual historical existence is Enmebaragesi, who was recorded to have lived for 900 years. Another historically verifiable king, Aga of Kish, was recorded to have lived for 625 years.
Owen Bell
You have to really study Genesis in order to appreciate it. It's not something that you can just pick up and read on your own, you need at a minimum an annotated version. For some reason people have this idea that they can just up the bible, read it, and understand it. It's like any other ancient literature in the sense you get out of it what you put into it. You wouldn't expect to pick up the Iliad or the Epic of Gilgamesh and not have to put in the work so you shouldn't treat the bible any differently. Genesis in particular has some very beautiful moments and you're not going to pick up on them with a dumb reading.
Carson Howard
If you're reading to 'get' Christianity, read the Gospels and maybe the rest of the New Testament.
If you're reading for literary value, read Job, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.
Otherwise:
These are both onto it. There are only a few ways to enjoy 'The Bible,' especially the Old Testament. In short, you have to have a framework in which you're reading it. For instance,
- comparative lit of ancient Near East -- as user says, there are tons of interesting parallels between other Mesopotamian writings and that of the Jews
- religious understanding -- when reading through the Jewish or Christian tradition, the Bible is two different books entirely. I can't say much re: Jewish tradition, but Christians relate absolutely everything back to Christ, including the boring name lists.
Of course there are many others. Just don't expect to pick it up and get into it without any motive other than 'heard it's good lol'. Even if you're just searching for truth it will be more meaningful (considering the many minimally educated people who read the Bible in jail to great effect).
Mason Brown
>what's your opinion of the Bible?
I prefer the Brothers Grimm.
>inb4 somebody wearig a hat
Gavin Young
Parts of it (most of Genesis, The Book of Samuel, Job, most of the Twelve, John, Luke/Acts, most of the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, for example) are great literature. If you're just reading for literary value, avoid the lists.