/lit/ - Literature

>>16379997
In the OT, Samuel, because I love reading about David and his wily antics .

Overall, either the gospel of John or 2nd Corinthians

Name one book in the Bible that's more wise than Ecclesiastes.

I'll wait.

>>16380039
Proverbs

>>16380039
>>16380042
The duality of man.

Judges, because it's fun. I wish I was a Bronze Age warlord.

Ecclesiastes
>based wisdom
Chronicles
>thine the power, the might, the kingdom etc
Job
>waah waaah waah life unfair
>why god why
>God says literally, bc Im bigger than you lmao

>>16380083
I think Job is important because it shows how God, while benevolent, is still very alien and holds human life (on Earth, not in Heaven) in low regard.

>>16380042
AKA the Boomer Book

>>16380126
>Boomer book
>Is over 2000 years old

>>16380128
It's the boomer book in spirit. How many proverbs complain about nagging wives?

>>16379997
>Hmmmmmm? Favorite book in the bible? I don't have one as they are all equally based.

>>16380082
It really does frequently read like a comic book. Shout out to my man Ehud. Fuck fatties.

>>16379997
The Book of Enoch

>>16379997
You posted it.

>>16379997
Book of Revelation. I read it while on LSD.

>>16380423
>and why?
Well, it has the broadest and most impressive lexicon of any book in the Bible, makes use of the most subtle stylistic choices (is not brazenly foreign like Esther), produces the most beautiful poetic images (Job 3, for example) and is thematically nuanced in a way few of the books are. The Joban writer (perhaps writers) was on a literary level with Shakespeare.

Afterward, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day.
And Job spoke up and he said:
Annul the day that I was born
and the night that said, “A man is conceived.”
That day, let it be darkness.
Let God above not seek it out,
nor brightness shine upon it.
Let darkness, death’s shadow, foul it,
let a cloud-mass rest upon it,
let day-gloom dismay it.
That night, let murk overtake it.
Let it not join in the days of the year,
let it not enter the number of months.
Oh, let that night be barren,
let it have no song of joy.
Let the day-cursers hex it,
those ready to rouse Leviathan.
Let its twilight stars go dark.
Let it hope for day in vain,
and let it not see the eyelids of dawn.
For it did not shut the belly’s doors
to hide wretchedness from my eyes.
Why did I not die from the womb,
from the belly come out, breathe my last?
Why did knees welcome me,
and why breasts, that I should suck?
For now I would lie and be still,
would sleep and know repose
with kings and the councillors of earth,
who build ruins for themselves,
or with princes, possessors of gold,
who fill their houses with silver.
Or like a buried stillborn I’d be,
like babes who never saw light.
There the wicked cease their troubling,
and there the weary repose.
All together the prisoners are tranquil,
they hear not the taskmaster’s voice.
The small and the great are there,
and the slave is free of his master.
Why give light to the wretched
and life to the deeply embittered,
who wait for death in vain,
dig for it more than for treasure,
who rejoice at the tomb,
are glad when they find the grave?
—To a man whose way is hidden,
and God has hedged him about.
For before my bread my moaning comes,
and my roar pours out like water.
For I feared a thing—it befell me,
what I dreaded came upon me.
I was not quiet, I was not still,
I had no repose, and trouble came.

>Amos
>Oldest text
>All rambling, anger
>No introspection
>Purely bicameral
Julian Jaynes was right

>>16380417
Calendar doesn't work
0/10

>>16379997
Samuel or Genesis because the stories are so great, Shakespeare-deep.

>>16379997
Kind of off-topic but what are Lucifer's ultimate motives?

>>16380522
Both the Satan and Lucifer are heels. They're just playing a part in the testing of mankind. Angels don't have free will. They're machines. They dont have a plan in the same way a wind up monkey doesn't plan to clank his cymbals

>>16380495
Amos is genuinely my favorite. Pure unfiltered sincere reaction. I would argue that he is the most important connection between new and old.

>>16380538
So they are just the ultimate degenerate filter?

>>16380538
>Angels don't have free will. They're machines.
So does this the war in heaven, ie. rebellion is a fictitious event with no basis in reality?

>>16380576
God makes it extremely clear that life without struggle is meaningless and to struggle is to live.
Satan and Lucifer are constructs that add struggle to the cosmos and humanity. Satan being the tempter and Lucifer being the Other Parent who rebellious kids run away to by committing sin. It is all intended as part of the system that forges and tempers the human Over-Soul.

>>16380600
It's very real but ultimately orchestrated, planned and well-defined within the system. It is real in the way symbolic tribal warfare is where half of it is just a show to help prove a point.
Despite being a boundless being, God binds himself to promises and convenants made to us. Rather than simply change reality, he does things in ways that respect the limitations of our covenant with him.

Genesis. There's a lot to think about and pick apart.

>>16380495
"sell the righteous for silver' in Amos was striking.

>>16379997
Cannot choose one.
OT: Deuteronomium, Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah
NT: Matthew, John, Philemon, Hebrews

>>16380495
>oldest text
the praise of Deborah in Judges is the oldest ''unit'' of text, afaik. unless you were referring to the whole book

>>16380146
3-4 iirc

>>16380159
>Why yes my favorite book IS the bible. How did you know?

>>16379997
The Wisdom of Solomon is top notch

>>16380039
Wisdom of Solomon
The Gospels

>>16380538
If I can't have heaven, nobody else can!

>leddit

>>16380606
But wasn't it man's fault that we succumbed to sin through eating of the forbidden fruit?

>>16380039
>Life sucks bro, just turn your brain off and enjoy the ride while it lasts :))
I'll stick to Psalms

>>16379997
Song of Songs because it's poetry you can fap to

>>16379997
The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
Proverbs 28:1

>>16381423
>NOOO THE BABYLONIANS ARE EBIL LET'S SMASH THEIR BABIES AGAINST THE ROCKS!!!!

>>16380039
Job
And no contest

>>16380083
>bigger than you
What God asserts is an aesthetic justification of the universe or creation, anon-

>>16380039
Any of the Gospels.

The one where the faggots get btfo by God's wrath and Lot's wife turns into salt n sheeeit

esther

>>16380039
The wisdom literature corresponds to the three stages of growth a person who begins worshiping God undergoes. Part one is is represented by Proverbs, where we follow God out of self-love, because God's laws are natural and good. Ecclesiastes is the second level of love of God, in which a person starts to doubt this moralistic image in their mind. Job however corresponds to the third stage of divine love in which a person is securely attached to God and loves God because he is worthy of love, rather than according to the trials of earthly existence.

Job is therefore obviously and objectively the best wisdom literature, since it integrates the two previous installments; Job is a virtuous person, this represents the Psalms, Job suffers trials, this represents Ecclesiastes -- since the Preacher in that book says that he has seen good people perish in their goodness, and evil people prosper in wickedness -- but Job decides not to curse God and to continue to hope in him, and this represents faithfulness.

>>16382255
Job curses God all but formally - cursing his day is cursing God's creation.

bump

>>16382487
Well, that's only part of the picture; Job is tormented, but faithfulness is also a part of the dialogues and it wins out in the end.

>>16383145
You're certainly correct, but:
>Job decides not to curse God and to continue to hope in him
is a statement that is, as I see it, contentious. Job does indeed curse something close to God (and wishes to challenge his governance), although he regains faith in the end. I don't think that the point of Job is to represent absolute, unwavering faith, rather it is an image of a righteous man brought to the brink by misfortune and despair, and is repaired not by the tacked-on ending, but by the acceptance of the unknowability of the innermost mind of God - something which is unchallengable by being both supreme and elusive.

>>16379997
revelation
the psychedelic imagery is very appealing

>>16383227
I completely agree with that statement. Job does not stand any more firm in faith than any human could be expected to. In a way it highlights God's mercy that Job becomes fairly rebellious but God doesn't abandon him.

>>16381424
Song of Songs is the most /lit/ choice by far.

>>16384400
that would be Job or Psalms

>>16381423

A bunch of shitty song about how the God who made this hell hole is amazing, and that I need to cut up my dick for him?

I'll stick to my proto-nihilism.

>>16384744
Just neck and save us from your angsty 15 y/o posts

I like Revelation simply for the imagery, nothing else in the Bible comes close to painting such a picture in my mind’s eye.

But in terms of wisdom, I think Job and the Corinthians have the most to offer

>>16379997
Job.
God is almighty and your feelings don't trump that simple fact.
Satan works for God? Always has

>>16384752
I will if you will

Galatians has my favorite verse in the entire Bible: Galatians 3:28. I'm surprised it doesn't get more love since it seems to best represent the New Testament to me.

>>16379997
Book of Revelation
Just crazy imagery. Everyone knows about the apocalyptic stuff, but not a lot of people know the random little stuff like John eating a scroll (which is sweet as honey in his mouth, but bitter in his stomach), or how Jesus first appears to him (pure white, with ruby eyes, a sword coming out of his mouth, surrounded by lamps).
My dad read it to me as a kid and it stuck with me all my life. He read me and my siblings a lot of the Bible, but Revelation is where I really paid attention
For years I used to have weird daydreams of looking out a window and seeing a giant burning censer flying down to earth

>>16379997
I like Lamentations cuz it's death metal as fuck

>>16379997
I liked Judges.

>>16380432
and when the seventh seal was broken
there was silence in heaven
for the space of about half an hour

Both Corinthians. Demonstrates how a church should operate.

>>16379997
Genesis is kino af. The amount of interesting takes on that short story really never ceases to amaze me.

the one where the Jew tells a story about other Jews that’s taken literally until disproven and then interpreted metaphorically to cope

Why the preference of Chronicles over Kings?

>>16385045
I liked Judges apart from Samson simping out for Delilah and turning his back on God. Helped me realize to put God above women, at least

>>16380039
>I'm actually an atheist, but I feel like Ecclesiastes is just like..the truth. you know?

>>16379997
Revelation because it's the only book of the Bible that I've ever read.

Revelations

JOHN. johnjohn john... john. Its john.

>>16385625
It was written metaphorically from the start. You begin to understand that once you realize that the names of Biblical characters are not real names but nicknames implemented to strengthen symbolism. The same goes for dates.

The Protestants who believe that the Bible (especially the OT) should be read literary are idiots.
That being said, we should be really with labeling everything as nothing more but symbolism because with this line of thinking you can get yourself into believing that even the Christ himself is just a symbol.

>>16384782
>he thinks that the Advesary of Job is the Christian Satan

>>16387922
This flavour of Christianity the Evangelicals are really fucking up the world.Not all Protestants are
Evangelicals though.

bump

>>16386717
t. square-minded law of Moses worshipper

>>16380039
/thread

>>16379997
The Gospel of Mark. It’s the easiest to digest out of the four gospels, and it gets straight to the point about who Jesus really is.

>>16379997
The one where they kill the hippy lmao

>>16379997
Is it true Job was an import from other people?

>>16390446
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_Theodicy

>>16390446
yes

>>16379997
Ecclesiastes and Revelations anything else is boring

>>16390446
He himself wasn't a Jew, if that's what you're asking.

>>16385041
based