Can we agree that the Old Testament (apart from a few exceptions such as Ecclesiastes and Genesis) sucks?

Can we agree that the Old Testament (apart from a few exceptions such as Ecclesiastes and Genesis) sucks?

Still better than the new

t. Jew

No. We are not even close to agreement on this.

The Book of Isiaiah sucks? Are you kidding? I've read chapters 50-66 at least five times they are so awesome.

Ezekiel's vision of God sucks? Are you kidding? There's a reason William Blake and Raphael painted paintings of it.

Joshua and Jeremiah suck? Are you kidding? How many other ancient books written entirely in a puzzle-like meter do we have today? Not to mention the epic stories in Joshua, and Jeremiah's poetic voice.

I can literally do this for every book. Including Leviticus. Yes, Leviticus. The Book which lays out much of the symbolism needed to understand the rest of the Bible and Christian writers - including the New Testament. The book which contains prophetic symbolism of Messiah's coming as a revelation to the Hebrews.

The Old Testament is awesome. You simply aren't challenging yourself enough.

No.

o i am laffin

Reddit.

>doesn't appreciate the relevance of the Song of Songs to the New Testament
>doesn't appreciate the relevance of Daniel and Malachi to the New Testament
>doesn't appreciate the intrinsic beauty and complexity of what is easily the most advanced of all ancient religious literature

Pleb.

No. The Twelve, the Book (s) of Samuel, Ruth, Job, parts of Judges, Exodus equal anything in the NT.,

Jonas is to me quite poetic

>open the first book of the new testament

>The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
>Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
>And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
>And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;
>And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
>And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;
>And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;
>And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
>And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;
>And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;
>And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:
>And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
>And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;
>And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;
>And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;
>And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Are you meant to actually absorb this?

geez louis the bible is hella boring :/
id rather play some vidya, you know

The OT slows down pretty heavily about halfway through the Torah/Pentateuch, but the Prophets are wall-to-wall brilliance. If you get bored in Exodus, just skip to Joshua.

So is there any recommended order for reading through the Bible? Or just start at Genesis and end at Revelations?

Just read the whole thing. Or start with the new and then go to the old.
Make sure your reading king james so you dont get any stupid paraphrase bullshit.

It's worth taking into consideration that they felt a need to show, in great detail, exactly how Christ was a descendent of David

so i read the bible. but then im looking into shit like ezekiels chariot and there are so many other texts, schools, traditions, etc. - how do i get a good grip on all that shit?

Eugenics is God's work, user.

You dont. Theyre a waste of time.

I find it pretty funny, some of the names sounds dumb (Salmon, Booz, Obed, Zorobabel) and other sounds just out of place (like Jesse). XD.

If you've already read the OT, as all the authors of the NT had, you will recognize many significant people in this list.

Christ's lineage is very important to the fulfillment of OT prophecy.

There are also interesting to note the two women mentioned in Christ's lineage - both were "grafted in" to Israel. Rachab during the conquering of Canaan, and Ruth, an immigrant from her own homeland. Likewise, it is important to note that Rachab, the harlot, was not only grafted into Israel, but became the mother of kings, and of the Christ, Himself. Truly this is a testament to the loving nature of God.

>most advanced of all ancient religious literature

Try the Upanishads. The Old Testament is pure materialist history (a couple of books excepted) devoid of any deeper metaphysical meaning

Holy shit, no. Old Testament has most of the best stuff in it, there's a huge breadth of material. The New Testament is very one-note by comparison. Even Revelation is just a play on Ezekiel's and Daniel's visions with added Christ imagery.

It's got everything:

Exploring suffering - Job
Philosophy - Ecclesiastes
Erotic Poetry - Song of Solomon
Political polemics - Obadaiah, Malachi, Amos, etc.
Legendary Epic - 1 & 2 Samuel
Hardcore violence - Judges
Moral parables - Jonah, Esther
Historical epic plus hardcore violence - 2 Maccabees
Seductive murderous bitches - Judith
Going blind from bird shit - Tobit

they all agreed to be named

The point is to show Jesus' genealogy, which had several purposes for Matthew's audience, who included jewish-christians.

Firstly, to emphasise that he's a continuation of the Israelite patriarchs, (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). Secondly, that he's descended from King David, which was expected of the messiah who was generally seen as a heavenly Davidic king in 2nd Temple judaism. Thirdly, to tie Jesus to the jewish scriptures which use similar genealogical lists.

This stuff is boring to us because we're used to reading story books, but it was very important for Matthew's audience.

Rekt