/lit/ - Literature

>>16922475
That is how you are supposed to read it. Prayerfully, thoughtfully.

>>16922488
i'm not praying over it, my interest in the bible is purely as literature. there's just so much information on each page. it'll take me like an hour just to read 10 pages and I get the same feeling as having read 50 pages of a novel

>>16922495
It's meditation literature

>>16922475
i tried to read once, but there are a few verses that i couldn't understand so after a quick help from YouTube, I downloaded a book called "bible commentary" and I have to say it help me to understand the bible little by little. Usually you need to read the bible along with the commentary, that book was meant for self student of the bible.

>>16922495
Don't read it blind, come in with questions pertaining to the Bible and derivatively through the chapter

>>16922475
No
>>16922488
>>16922838
This
>>16922495
Wrong approach
>>16923216
Disagree
>>16923242
Meh

>>16922475
bruh its a holy text. you could study it for a lifetime. whatever questions you have you should refer to a religious authority or use the internet

I want to start reading the Bible. Should I start from Genesis 1:1?

>>16923334
Yes. Also when you get to the New Testament, be very skeptical of its claims, but don't apply this same skepticism to the Talmud

>>16923334

start from revelations and work backwards

>>16922475
For fucks sake, read Asimov's Guide To The Bible, it's on libgen.
It explains all the details and historical aspects.
Very accessible

>>16923334
You could start from any book, Genesis may not be the best, it starts out great but it quickly turns into a very boring catalog of jewish circumcision shit. I would recommend Proverbs or Ecclesiastes for a more /lit/erary fellow, maybe even Job if you're truly a man of taste

>>16923485
Genesis only gets good once Abraham is introduced, and then it becomes kino once Esau and Jacob are born.

>>16922475
Read the KJV version. Also just so you know a lot of stuff is explained in other parts of the book.

Read the New Testament first, then the Old

And watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUO5o4YmTbA

>>16922475
Keep on plowing through it. It is worth it a thousand times over. By FAR the most influential book in human history. Literally millions of people spend their whole lives studying this book, of course it's tough the first time through.

>>16923508
desu Genesis+Exodus is peak literature

>>16923508
>>16923523
Children love Genesis.
Grown-ass men love Leviticus.

>>16923508
Idk, I'd rather read more about the water around the world than about God making deals to cut dicks.

>>16923516
>Advising people to read Revelation before reading Ezekiel/Daniel
ISHYGDDT

read the story of lot the other day. here's what I remember

>lot is chilling with his family in soddom
>some angels show up
>"yo lot
>"sup angels, come stay in my place
>"it's ok lot, we're gonna sleep on the ground outside
>suddenly an angry mob
>"lot! we saw you have some sexy angels here. let us rape them.
>lot quickly devises a plan
>"i shall offer my sons for them to rape, while we escape!
>"good idea lot. say the angels, and they peace out
>god destroys soddom
>"don't look back!
>lot's wife looks back and becomes salt
>lot and his daughters go live in a cave
>lots daughters have a good idea
>"hey sis, our family is dead, so let's daterape our dead and get pregnant so we can repopulate the family
>"good idea sis
>they get dad drunk, and rape him when hes passed out to get pregnant

>>16923355
Terrible bait

>>16923557
Welcome to Biblical Literature. What's that? You thought it was all about hugs and goody two shoes? Think again!

>>16923557
Are you trying to tell me that that isn't kino?

>>16923565
>>16923566
just trying to make sure I remembered it correctly. my face was pic when i'm reading this stuff

>>16923557
Well maybe if Lot had rallied to stop the steal in Sodom then this could have been averted. God works in mysterious ways and if you stand aside and let Democrats win then don't be surprised when troubles come into your life.

>>16923546
What are the row labels?

>>16923574
Wait til you get to the part in the Book of Judges where the guy sends his prostitute out to pacify an angry mob, she gets literally raped to death, and so he cuts her body up into twelve pieces and sends one piece to each of the twelve tribes of Israel

>>16923581
how the FUCK are you supposed to explain this stuff to your kids

>>16923574
>Pleasant children's story about the nice man who put all the animals on his ark so he could avoid the flood
>Happy ending with a dove and a rainbow
Not mentioned: the billions of human corpses floating past the ark

>>16923598
Unironically? Probably best to understand that it'll be too above-their-head so they'll tune it out while you're reading it to them, but that's ok because their subconscious will still be absorbing it and becoming fortified with unexplainable esoteric wisdom

>>16923600
Most Angels in the Bible are either described as looking like humans, or have no visual description. Only sometimes are they described as looking other worldly

>>16923615
Secret old testament decoder ring: whenever an angel is described as looking like a man, that's actually the pre-incarnate crypto-Jesus

>>16923485
>jewish circumcision shit
there's not really any of that in Genesis. Exodus maybe

>>16923334
Yes. Read everything up to Kings. Then God to the NT. Remember that the Law isn't that bad. It's how God is showing that He is holy (set apart) and Israel is his holy nation.

>>16923485
>boring catalog
there's none of that in Genesis. Exodus has some of this, but it's not that bad.

>>16923516
>Anderson
When will this meme end.

>>16923598
Doesn't it reflect the reality of this broken world?

>>16923615
cherubim are pretty wild

>>16923546
What the heck are Protestants' problems with the Orthodox church?

>>16923598
Dont shelter your children.

>>16923645
Personally I think orthodox are pretty damn based. They're one of the least apologetic religions and I think a lot of normies hate them for that but the more experience I gain in life the more I realize how awesome it is that they basically go
>Still in the dark ages?
>Yes! Got a problem with that?

>>16923668
I get that, but I try to stay away from people who are only interested in it because it's "based" and "trad" and whatever else. I'm just curious as to how Protestants find issue with Orthodox theology.

>>16923663
this. it's 2020, your kids are going to be surfing Blacked.com before they're even out of diapers. Get them listening to the Bible to inoculate them against that shit ASAP

>>16923692
Orthodox theology because its apophatic. Unlike the westerns they don't try to autistically explain everything systematically. They are ok with not knowing things about God.

>>16923692
I dunno. Probably a lot of protestants are Sunday Christians who are intimidated as fuck by the 3 hour orthodox masses or whatever. That and the whole "no faggots or women in the priesthood" thing

>>16922475
Novice level: read the bible

Apprentice level: read the bible with multiple commentaries, plus writing of the saints and church fathers

Journeyman level: read academic bible journals, read manuscripts in greek/hebrew, read apocrypha

Master level: realize all that other stuff is just worldly distraction. go back to reading the bible

>>16923765
is horseshoe IQ a real thing?

>>16923775
The horseshoe IQ meme is basically a cheap ripoff of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Proving once again that
>"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

>>16923636
>jewish circumcision shit
>there's not really any of that in Genesis
The pact occurs in Genesis. You can read it at your convenience if you aren't familiar.

>>16922475
>this book is tough guys. I'm spending like 5 minutes on each page just soaking it all in. am I a retard?
The only reason why you are finding it tough is because you are intelligent enough to realise what it truly is, a true retard would take it easy and think of it as an easy read/

>>16923830
It's only mentioned when God makes the covenant with Abraham, and right before Israel's sons kill those people because one of them fucked their sister

>>16923839
>easy
literally

>>16923830
>>16923842
Even the penis-chopping shit, there's more to it than meets the eye. Does that ritual help the Israelites evolve to be stronger somehow, because it forces the men to be more selective of where they stick their dicks?

You can see an interesting application of it in the book of Samuel when Saul makes David go fetch a hundred enemy foreskins in order to win his daughter's hand. Without the dick-chopping business, David could have simply taken the foreskins of one hundred of his own soldiers. The circumcision ritual guaranteed there would be a way for warriors to prove definitively that the person they had killed was really an enemy

>>16923865
That is hilarious anecdote from Samuel. But what do mean by more selective of where they stick their dicks?

>>16923881
Circumcision reduces the amount of pleasure men have from sex, so it induces men more in the direction of selectively choosing their mates rather than running around like Stacey at the local Zebra Club.

Another aspect is that it's possible there could be obscure esoteric benefits to basically the entire race having mild PTSD from being circumcized. Like I don't know, maybe that makes them inherently better at spiritual shit or something somehow

>>16923897
an Americope wrote this post

>>16923898
American and proud, baby. Hey, if English is good enough for the KJV, it's good enough for me

>>16922475
Get the Word on Fire bible. It's just the gospels, but it's the most beautiful book I've ever seen in my life, and Robert Barron is a spiritual father figure to me

>>16923557
>i shall offer my sons for them to rape
He offered his daughters

>>16924210
ah, you are correct

>>16923897
that image is so fucking cringe

>>16924219
would be extra fucked if his sons were killed just because they were raped

>>16923897
that image is very based

>>16923342
Fuck off u Jewish cunt

>>16922475
yes, you are degenerate. you are just weak pederast who is afraid to admit it is bullshit and those who advertise it are idiots. you simply want to be good boy, by someone else definition. you are faggot, you are clown, you want to be liked, bible is just cosmetics. happy healthy strong interesting people don't read boring bullshit. you either celebrate or bury dead, on funeral.