baby's first theology

[Anonymous No.20355372]

i want to know more about scripture study (i think that's what im looking for, im not sure). stuff like explaining why there was a serpent in eden, explaining misconceptions about the bible, and going into detail passage by passage in the bible.
a priest gave me a few books but there's a lot of dry history stuff (these people went to x country in x year and fought x people in x year for x amount of time etc.) and it's really killing me.
am i a pseud or reading the wrong stuff?

[Anonymous No.20355411]

It's not exactly what you asked for, but Confessions is a great intro to christian theology IMO.
Augustine just has a lot of interesting points. And he doesn't assume his reader agrees with his axioms, so the points are well argued.

[Anonymous No.20355422]

>>20355411
i think that would probably help to start off with actually. i sort of put the cart before the horse in the sense that im reading stuff that comes after having a solid understanding of it to begin with
should i just read the bible through first and then worry about history stuff like in the op? i really like parts of the books he gave me where it's the entire book line by line but with commentary that breaks it up

[Anonymous No.20355431]

I don't really know, maybe just try reading the bible >>>20355422
and reading Confessions and see what you like.

[Anonymous No.20355439]

>>20355372
For anyone interested that style of painting is called ero guro nansensu, the painting is from the 21st made explicitly to emulate ukiyo-e woodcuts.

[Anonymous No.20355465]

I fucked up my link. There's a bible reading thread up right now with some advice for starting. >>>20349994

[Anonymous No.20355500]

>>20355465
thank you! i was looking for this but didn't see it

[Anonymous No.20355514]

>>20355439
do you have anything on the actual painting? I really like it but can't find anything

[Anonymous No.20355629]

>>20355514
The painting is by Takato Yamamoto, it’s about the Shimabara Rebellion, a revolt of Japanese Christians fighting against religious persecution from the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1637-8.
The figure on the right is Amakusa Shirō, a Japanese Christian and ringleader of the rebellion. Known as a miracle worker and a handsome youth, he lead the storming of Hara Castle and succeeded in defending it for a while.
The figure in the left is Yamada Uemonsaku, a fellow rebel that betrayed him.
The woman in the middle is the Virgin Mary, but she is depicted with syncretism elements borrowed with Amaterasu, the Shinto goddess of the sun.

[Anonymous No.20355642]

>>20355629
Where's Jesus' brother Isukiri in all this

[Anonymous No.20355646]

>>20355514
>>20355629
For a little more info, I think the painting might have been commissioned for the historical book Christ’s Samurai by Jonathan Clements. Actually bought it because I saw the cover posted here last year.

[Anonymous No.20355690]

>>20355422
check one of the last posts in that other thread. the big wall of text one.
to be concise here, yeah, give the Bible a read, those books seem like heavy theology.
ask over in the Bible thread for what you're after, there are some book series that go over the Bible verse by verse and explain everything.
i'm not too knowledgeable on that, but some people there can help.
i'd recommend reading Mere Christianity also.

[Anonymous No.20356873]

What you want to read is an introductory catechism, something like a youth catechism would work just fine.

[Anonymous No.20357375]

>>20356873
didn't think of that. ive got the full catechism and i imagine it'll work the same way

[Anonymous No.20357459]

>>20355629
The shogunate did nothing wrong

[Anonymous No.20357504]

>>20355372
>i want to know more about scripture study (i think that's what im looking for, im not sure)

Try to get ahold of Louis Bouyer, 'The Meaning of Sacred Scripture'. It is far and away the best short introduction to the Bible that I have found. It is out of print, alas, but not inordinately priced used copies are available, e.g.,
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30920097704

Reading this book will open up the Bible for you. There are probably other books that could do that, also; but I can say that I know this book will, and with clarity, insight and beauty.

>am i a pseud or reading the wrong stuff?

A lot of theology is dry and kind of boring.

The Catholic Catechism is very well written, and provides a good, sometimes fairly in-depth introduction to Christianity and the Church.

A book that's a very good read, and will teach about several important theological issues, The Spirit and Forms of Protestantism by Louis Bouyer. I highly recommend it.

[Anonymous No.20357565]

>>20355372
Probably a mixture. Check out:
John Henry Newman Apologia pro sua vita
Augustine's City of God
De Charding Phen. of Man
Orthodoxy by Chesterton
Tillich

[Anonymous No.20357576]

>>20355372
Depth reading of scripture at the level you want is typically in commentaries. I have found most of the commentaries to br okay but the symbolic "what is X in the Bible?" is typically a relatively narrow field of question because the whole Bible is treated as literal, divinely inspired, and mythological. If you believe the first, which nearly all Christians did, then depth readings elude you. I think we're starting to see a new breath of the latter two from Jordan Peterson but that genre just loosely exists. Carl Jung does this too.

[Anonymous No.20357994]

>>20355372
Since there isn't a better thread for this question, can anyone recommend some Christian theological poetry besides Dante and Donne? I like them a lot and I'm wondering if there are any poets similar to them or deal with the similar subject matter

[Anonymous No.20358232]

>>20355372
You might enjoy "How (Not) to Read the Bible" by Dan Kimball. I've heard good things and it seems to address some of the things you want to do (making sense of strange things in scripture in particular).