/lit/ - Literature

>>16476792
How deep do you want to go?
The Church Fathers should be somewhat accessible, especially Gregory of Nyssa and such. They will give you the overall feel of what to look out for in scripture, in application of scripture etc.

If you want to go a little deeper, I've learned a lot from David Bentley Hart, an American Orthodox Philosopher, in whose books I've for the first time encountered the argument of contingency explained so well that I find it valid to this day. Although I disagree with his other arguments, he has a very good way of putting things.
>Polytheistic gods don't transcend this world, but belong to it. On the other hand the God of great monotheistic traditions is the source of being, which in every moment donates being to all existence, he is the infinite of which the finite is taken.

Another author known for being able to put things well is C.S.Lewis, now I know he's not Catholic or Orthodox, but if you ever need a layman's introduction that will remain deep within you even when you get on to advanced stuff, read him. This is Lewis on the idea of hell:
>There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done."
Stunningly put.

If you want to go in real deep, study symbolism. Church Fathers will help you out here, but both secular academic books (M.Douglas) or religious thinkers (M. Pageau) will help a great deal. I'm currently reading The Language of Creation: Cosmic Symbolism in Genesis for the second time, making notes and I find it very helpful to really think like Christ presumably thought.
>Heaven = immaterial things (information, authority, promise, intention...)
>Earth = material things (letters, power ... )
>Water = unclear mediation between heaven and earth (shapeless, ambiguous, takes and gives life randomly)
>Dry ground = clear mediation between heaven and earth (stable, can produce food, place for life...)
Reading the Bible with these symbolic tools is precious.