/lit/ - Literature

>>3437397
why would anyone want to read the book of numbers?
why would anyone read the leviticus when it's in open contradiction with the words of JC?
why would you be interested in the predication of the apostles,isn't the words of jesus(god's) enough?
i think i'm fine with the jefferson bible...

are there any Bibles that have footnotes (lol)? I

>>3437397
I have.

>>3437427
It's all in their for a reason. I'm sorry but if you haven't read them, you haven't finished the bible.

Because it's fan-fiction. The Bible is a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents, composed, revised, translated, distorted and 'improved' by hundreds of anonymous authors, editors and copyists, unknown to us and mostly unknown to each other, spanning nine centuries. Read one of the original stories instead of the crudely paraphrased dogma that's been shoehorned into a monotheistic agenda. Here are a few:

-Epic of Gilgamesh 2000BC (Noah -Genesis)
-Cylinder of Nabonidus 550BC (Book of Daniel)
-Ipuwer Papyrus 1850BC (Book of Exodus)
-Deir Alla Inscription 800BC (Book of Numbers)
-Cyrus Cylinder 600BC (Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles)
-Sennacherib Prism 701BC (Isaiah chapters, 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles)

>>3437446
It's all in there because a bunch of early Christians picked the most politically valuable books to include in the text. It's hardly the end-all be-all of Christianity.

>>3437446
>their
Oops.

>>3437435
Yes. NRSV's have footnotes.

On a related note, here's a list of bible books worth reading (from what I know):

>1+2 Kings
>Genesis
>Exodus
>Joshua
>Judges
>All of the wisdom lit
>Daniel
>Ezekiel
>Jonah (because it's so short so, why not?)
>Ruth
>Esther

I'm sure there are more, but I haven't read the whole thing. Few of the minor prophets are worth it. The history books are interesting but dull.

>>3437435

I'm going through the Oxford Annotated Bible right now. It has footnotes to put things in context with other verses and explains when verses are meant to serve as historical explanations or as metaphors, etc. It also has the Apocrypha. I would recommend it.

>>3437435
many

I had to study and read it several times since first grade up until I finally graduated.
fuck that.

>>3437452
Also "Atrahasis" (flood story) and "I Will Praise The Lord of Wisdom" (Job)

>>3437397
It's on my todo list OP, however I would argue that the Iliad and the Odyssey to be more influential.

Because its significance is unimportant unless I make it so, and there is no reason for me to make it so.

>>3437467
>Also "Atrahasis" (flood story)
The Epic of Ziusudra is another Mesopotamian flood myth. Most cultures seem to have a flood myth; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List__flood_myths

>>3437457
thanks this one looks good

>>3437446
>It's all in their for a reason
so the bible,the word of god,says stuff in opposition with the teaching of jesus,the son of god.
make up your mind you christfag.
i mean,there's people who interprets this stuff literally,but apparently some parts are wrong,
in the precisr words of jesus.
why would you read something other than the gospels?

>>3437487
The OT is the word of God told by man. The New Testament is Jesus correcting everything.

>>3437487
BUT it changes in the new testament.

>>3437487
I feel it's important to see what Jesus was changing.

>>3437490
"Know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation, for no prophecy ever came through human will; but rather human beings moved by the holy Spirit spoke under the influence of God." (2 Peter 20-21 NAB)

Because it's not the text of the book (or most of it, at least) that makes it essential so much as how powerful people have used the book to explain or justify other ends.

>>3437397
Got bored halfway through Genesis

>>3437487
A lot of Christians are wrong. Rather, most of them are. Jesus never asked to be worshiped, and yet that is what nearly all Christians do. They are the result of the unfortunate occurrence called "being raised Christian" without questioning things.

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone."

>>3437490
exactly my point.what's the value of the OT,then?

>>3437498
Not reading an awesome bible.

>>3437495
and why would anyone care about the predication of the apostles.they say some pretty questionable stuff.
did jesus forget to say something in about 30 years of life?

>>3437505
What bible is that?

>>3437508
It is the KJV Bible from Barnes and Noble for 18 dollars. Leatherbound. /lit/ seems to think it's gaudy. I like it.

Which version of the bible should I read to get a full grasp of Western literature?

I was thinking Geneva, since that's what Shakespeare grew up with and Shakespeare is in-arguably as important to Western canon as the bible.

>>3437516
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/baes-noble-leatherbound-classics-thholy-bible-gustave-dore/1106658795

>>3437452
But the bible is more important to Western literature than any of those stories on their own.

does this 90 day program allow me to rest on the Sabbath?

>>3437517
KJV was released 1611. That should do fine. Geneva is hard to find. But they should be the same.

However I think it 's wise to read the bible along with somekind of theological or historical course. I have not been able to find one yet, but I'm looking.

I'm going to read

KJV -> Dantes Divine Comedy -> Paradise Lost -> Goethes Faust

>>3437516
The KJ translation is the problem. It went from Ancient Hebrew to Ancient Greek to Latin to Middle English.

There's so much lost. Screw the pictures, I want the right words.

>>3437499
I too am aware of this. This is exactly what Jehovah's Witnesses do (I know some)

>>3437525
Thanks for the suggestion!

>>3437526
The Authorized Version has been called "the most influential version of the most influential book in the world, in what is now its most influential language", "the most important book in English religion and culture", and "the most celebrated book in the English-speaking world". It has contributed 257 idioms to English, more than any other single source, including Shakespeare; examples include feet of clay and reap the whirlwind. Although the Authorized Version's former monopoly in the English-speaking world has diminished – for example, the Church of England recommends six other versions in addition to it – it is still the most popular translation in the United States, especially among Evangelicals.[126]

Fuck original words, it's the amount of influence that matters.

>>3437452
>>3437453
>>3437475
>>3437487

I think a lot of the people in this thread are missing the point. The reason you should read it is because it is the single most influential piece of literature in the Western world and tens of thousands of books reference stories or passages in it.

>>3437397
It's poorly translated for one and probably not that well written to begin with in the initial language it was written. It's incompatible and contradictory and the books barely stand alone and are a complete mess together.

>>3437571
Not really incompatible and contradictory if you believe that god can also change his mind (and allow things to change).

>>3437549
I'm not going to read something unenjoyable to read just because it's influential and other things reference it.

>>3437586
A lot of it is enjoyable to read. Try the wisdom books: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.

>>3437586
That's alright, have fun with your stunted literary capability and understanding.

>>3437584
I don't believe in god. The idea of such a volatile creator that makes a ridiculous number of mistakes that it somehow can't fix or doesn't want to but is all knowing and all powerful is absolutely ridiculous.

>>3437397
>What's your excuse for not reading the bible, THE single most essential piece of literature in the western world?

I'm slowly making my way through it. Currently at 2 Corinthians.

>>3437591
Do you automatically agree with everything you read?

>>3437595
No. Though you might being so readily accepting of something so absurd.

Not correct. The KJV was a translation from the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The standards of translation were of the day, and it is clearly part of a jacobean nation-building discourse, but there are worse translations, if accuracy's your thing.

>>3437603
KJV's the version with the greatest literary importance though

>>3437606
I've read various books of the bible and see no point in finishing it.

>>3437599
What? I'm not afraid of reading the bible. You don't make any god damn sense. Oh no! I said that name. Run! You might catch christianism! Once you have it, it will never go away.

>>3437588
you're right.the old testament is quite an enjoyable read.
there is all the (mass)murder,the torture,the rape and the incest a man could ask for.

>>3438145
>dat edgy sarcasm
All though it's true, the bible is a fucking action book. Or Lad Lit as I learned earlier today.

See this, if you plan to read the bible. So much insight.

http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studs/rlst-152

>>3438650
http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studs/rlst-145
also this (old testament)

>>3437397
I'm very impressionable when it comes to this kind of thing and I don't want to catch religion. It will lead to me wanting to be a Christian but finding Christianity's premises unacceptable and all kinds of nasty cognitive dissonance will follow. I'm scared of spooks.

I'm talentless, I'm awful, I'm fucking awful, I deserve to die for being so awful

>catholic school for 12 years

Get on my level, OP

>>3437397
I'm not into fantasy.

>>3438789
Won't your Priestlords whip you if they catch you with a Bible though?

b-b-but I've read many times, I was a pious convert for a good while, life with faith is pretty legit when there's a good community around... it gains vivid colors, and courage is your middle name... but that could be a problem too... I had a good faith ride... I think it gives an interesting philosophic experience, to really consider the after-life and to humble yourself to a deity... it's an unique experience that change your views on many things... but it's predatory to other world views... it has a built-in mechanism that wants to assert itself, so it's bound to create conflict unless it's modernized, but then it's a paradox because it's not the truth anymore? it's a mess

>>3438841
Conflict is the engine of progress.

Grew up Catholic, OP. Already familiar with it enough so when an allusion is made to it, I understand it, unlike it's a really obscure book or passage that's being referenced.

>>3437456
Not putting book of Job or Revelations
Stay pleb anon, stay pleb.

Uhm thanks for that 90 day program op, it's one of the top 100 books of all times, it's on my list.

i picked the NIV version, updated to 2011,

>>3441519
The 90 day program is, in my opinion, the best way to get through the bible. The NIV will do just fine. Enjoy!

>>3441737
>>3441519
I will also do this. Thanks!