/lit/ - Literature

Probably not in its entirety, but you should be familiar with the major myths.

I can't even believe all the faggots who come here, and they're interested in literature or writing (when they should be interested in both) and they can't be arsed to read The Bible.

It is the cornerstone for all of Western Literature, people. Just fucking read it.

Pic related. It frames The Bible from a literary standpoint, so I highly recommend it.

Ecclesiastes and Job are both great books from a literature standpoint. Exodus, Genesis, and the four Gospels cover the basic myths. Ezekiel and Revelation both have some great imagery which make them worth reading. I think if you were reading it as literature, in order, cover to cover, the Bible would feel like it has a lot of filler though. I'd choosing certain books of the Bible to read.

>>2135417
I prefer New International Version. King James is heavily edited to support the English monarchs and the translation uses word choices that warp the meaning, not just for propaganda reasons. An example is that where some versions use the word futile or meaningless, King James uses the word vanity. Vanity has a different connotation in modern discourse. Where Ecclesiastes declares that life, work, pleasure, and wisdom are all meaningless or futile, King James sounds like a polemic against narcissism, rather than a work of existential anguish.

Too me I see the Bible like I see the Brother's Grimm fables. I've read it and while there's a lot of things I disagree with (I'm gay for one) I do feel like it does hold some place. I've also read the Quran. I maybe an Atheist but I try to to just dismiss religion as a pure evil. I say read it and take each story with a gran of salt.

>>2135417
no, is not, is The Iliad

For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.

No. You wouldn't have a clue as to what you're doing. You are completely and utterly hopeless in that sea of knowledge. It will be right in front of you and you'll be like "LOL NOT IMPORTANT". No, even worse, you won't even think that. At the very least what you need to do is to check out some marcus j borg. That will give you some idea of what in the hell is going on.

>>2135403
Thanks OP, I've been looking for that picture, and the only one I could ever find is the one with the Gandhi quote about bitches and whores on it.

On the subject of religious texts, is it worth bothering to read the Qur'an in anything other than Arabic?

>>2135432
Great writers of the past weren't reading the "New International Version"

I really don't give a shit if the translate is bad. It is what everyone read, and it is the cornerstone of Western Literature.

>>2135433
You're a moron.

It wasn't until much later that the Western World had interest in the past Greek stuff (the renaissance means rebirth for a reason)

How can you understand allusions if you've never read The Bible?

Thank God for my religious upbringing.

>>2135448
NIV is a good translation. It uses the structure of the KJV, but with a more modern terms. There are bad contempory bibles (looking at you, Contemporary English, and The Message, Amplified, etc), but the NIV and the NAB are both quite good.

You won't even understand half of what is being said in the KJV; even worse, you will understand it incorrectly.

>>2135448
The Catholic church didn't use KJV and I assume Catholic authors in the western tradition. The non-english speaking word didn't use the KJV. Jewish writers didn't use the KJV. Medieval and Renaissance authors didn't use KJV.

The Bible has been re-translated from several early greek versions for centuries, so if you're going to read the bible in english, then go with a version that is faithful to the earlier sources.

>>2135443
About to start on the qur'an myself, i am hoping it will give me a better understanding of islam, its claims concepts and practices. I am assuming some things will be lost in translation, simply because of the nature of arabic.

>>2135478
I was on Omegle the other day and a Turkish woman was trying to convince me that the Qu'ran was clearly the word of Allah, because it made incredible scientific predictions, for example about the Big Bang. The quote was something about everything being one in the beginning, before Allah parted the heavens and the earth. Poetic vagueness, basically.

The she told me that my homosexuality could be reversed. Fucking muslims, how do they work?

>>2135443

>is it worth bothering to read the Qur'an in anything other than Arabic?

No, quite frankly.

>About to start on the qur'an myself, i am hoping it will give me a better understanding of islam, its claims concepts and practices. I am assuming some things will be lost in translation, simply because of the nature of arabic.

A lot of it won't make sense if you aren't familiar with early Islamic history and the events described by certain passages. I don't think you're going to find the sort of general overview of Islam you're looking for in the Qur'an. In any case, which translation did you choose?

>>2135487
I'm sure it could be done, with a lot of pain, a little pleasure, and copious amounts of drugs. Just like in Clockwork Orange.

KJV is the only English version worth reading from a literary standpoint. If you're interested in what it actually says, study Hebrew and Koine Greek.

>>2135403
if you call urself an agnostic no, it aint worth it
nut i hopa i have time someday to read it
it is a god tool to understand our world and you just cant ignore it.

anything can be worth reading, it depends what you intend to do with it

>>2135451
herp derp. the classical works weren't studied because all people cared about was a religion sparked by a shitty fictional work. before the dark ages the classical works were studied too; what the fuck do you think they did in the hellenistic period other than study greek works?

As a literary work the bible is awesome. Christians tend to overlook that though. So do most atheists.

>>2135624
>hellenistic period
>west
Are you genuinely retarded? Western culture begins in what we call the dark ages, in the west.

>>2135722
I do hope you're trolling and not actually that fucking retarded. Greeks and later on the Romans both distanced themselves from eastern nations. Western culture is thought to include archaïc, classical and hellenistic culture. I do not know why I even bother replying as you mentioned culture and the dark ages in one sentence (oops I did it again!)

It's really quite necessary to know the bible if you want to learn about the cultural history of western civilisation, regardless of its literary merit.

You'll probably want to skip the genealogies, though.

I tried to read it.

It's quite boring, apart from the political parts.

It's really shitty.

No sense of pacing, structure, or characterization.

Like say you decide to read the Tower of Babel: this "story" is only about 400 words long. Its like the author was so lazy he couldn't bother to actually make it compelling and just wrote a summary. All the stories read like this.

Oh hey, Jesus did another miracle. How enthralling. There's no subtext.

I think people have ridiculous expectations for a fucking story written 2000 years ago. Half the book is plagiarized anyway. There's not even one book, there are as many as 12 different versions of some stories, that's not what the Catholic church would have you believe, though.

>>2135933

How exactly do you suppose they distanced themselves from it when in the first through the third centuries AD they were all converting to eastern mysteries cults?

I mean fuck when Constantine came along and made the entire empire convert to one of those mysteries cults that sure wasn't a 'break' from the east.

>>2135989
No subtext did you even read the gospels? John has some the tightest foreshadowing and symbolism in the Western Cannon.

>>2135989
>expecting The Bible to be written by Nabokov or some fucking body.

>>2135989
Obviously you have not read the Bible, or studied it properly. If you know the Old Testament pretty well, then the New Testament should be pretty mind blowing, and just on it's own it's a pretty good read. The Gospels are extremely compelling, given that you read above a 5th grade level and don't need all the emotions spelled out for you. Basically all of the Bible assumes that you can understand emotions without needing them spelled out for you.

Calling some one a Philistine has never felt so right before.

>>2137016

I mean it's written by people chosen by god? Couldn't he have picked better people?

It's not meant to be a flowery fantasy tale, it is supposed to be the direct Word of God that he has given to humans so that they can know Him better and act as an easier means of telling others about Him. It is a philosophical text.

>>2137039
>Taking philosophical messages from mythology/compilation of folk tales
>ISHYGDDT

>Is The Bible even worth reading?

Not for any inherent value in it, no. But seeing as to how pretty much everyone in the western hemisphere who has lived for the past handful of millenia has been influenced by it in some form, it's prettyy useful to do so.

>>2135607
How about you quit talking like a goddamn moron?

>>2137016
>not understanding facetiousness

>>2137070

>>2137072
>implying I'm even samefag
>implying others are dumb when he can't detect a joke.

>>2135403
It's not like reading the Bible will turn you into a Christian.

It won't, right? will it?