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/lit/ - Literature

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2350669 No.2350669 [Reply] [Original]

Is the Bible worth reading if you're not reading it for the religious aspect?

>> No.2350674

Yes. Read King James. Feel free to skip any and all genealogy bullshit.

>> No.2350675

Is it worth reading the cornerstone of all western literature?

Gee, OP. I dunno.

Dumbfuck.

>> No.2350680

It's worth it for all the allusions you'll encounter.

>> No.2350681

>>2350678
For instance, if your field of study is going to have anything to do with literature, then yes.

>> No.2350678

It's pretty bad from a story telling perspective, but it can be useful depending on your field of study or interests though.

>> No.2350684

Worth it for the sheer staggering amount of things that reference it, and things that reference things that reference it so they don't realise they were actually referencing the Bible and everything will open up to you in a huge cloud of referencing.

Skip Psalms.

>> No.2350686
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2350686

Of course it is OP.

It's hard for edgy teenagers to understand the Bible as a work a literature, but if you're more mature than that you should be able appreciate it from a secular standpoint.

>> No.2350694

>>2350684

You mean, skip the part that (in the Coverdale & Authorized versions) probably had the most effect on English–language rhetoric and allusions?

>> No.2350699

Depends on what you mean by worth reading. A bunch of shit references it or makes allusions or just plain steals plots from it.

>> No.2350712
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2350712

It's like some 7/10 book all the 11/10 writers talk about so you have to read it.

>> No.2350727

Read a book about the bible written from an academic point of view.

>> No.2350760
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2350760

Congratulations, OP, you are taking the first step in depgrogramming from contemporary, militant, "new" atheism that is all the rage on college campuses. I'm working through an extensively annotated Oxford World Classics edition of the King James Version.

In addition to the literary allusions, the history of the Jews is interesting knowledge.

>> No.2350761
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2350761

Skip: Numbers, Deuteronomy.

Both of them are irrelevant and soul crushingly boring. The "Apocrypha" has some good moments so you might wanna check them out. The New Testament is no where near as good as the Old Testament in a literary stand point. And I personally find it not worth reading except to use it to win arguments with Christians. Most Christians I know barely know anything about it other than Jesus and Paul. And the ones who have read more didn't study it as hard as I did.

Interesting piece of religion that has had a profound effect on literature. I still don't believe in it too. Job is pretty good.

>> No.2350778

>>2350761
>Skip: Numbers, Deuteronomy.
But they're the books that show most obvious evidence of multiple authors...

>> No.2350794

>>2350760
>Bible
>History

>> No.2350799

>>2350761
>>2350760 here
Yeah, I've noticed that there's a lot that's quite interesting to know about the Bible, which knowledge isn't exactly in circulation amongst any mainstream Christian group. I would guess that this is because to attribute biblical content to anything other than divine inspiration is surely heresy. Just right off the bat, Genesis provides two separate creation stories, obviously with different sources. They tell a story, equally interesting to me, about how the book was pieced together.

>> No.2350830

>>2350799
General public theological knowledge is pretty dire really. I'd recommend going through it in Hebrew, that can be enlightening (but takes ages).

>> No.2350836

>>2350799

Yeah. I laugh my ass off when people begin taking Revelation as cold hard facts as how the world will end. Even though that isn't what John intended.

>>2350778
>Archeological evidence.
>"NOPE. NOT REAL. PERSIA AND BABYLON NEVER EXISTED."

Why.

>> No.2350837

>>2350836

Damn. Meant to link to:

>>2350794

Instead of:

>>2350778

>> No.2350845

>>2350836

The history in the bible is full of mythologized characters and fictitious moral tales. If you're looking for a proper history of the jews go to a real history text.

>> No.2350852

>>2350845
>History
>Real text

That's going to be difficult.

>> No.2350866

>>2350852

Book of Maccabees might be close since no miracles happen or divine intervention (at least I don't remember it having them). But Slavs and Catholics include it in their bible so it's back to the drawing board...

>> No.2350872

>>2350852

I mean a book by a historian whose life's work is figuring out what the history of the jews really was.

>> No.2350874

<<<< op's book is called caps for sale
just saiyan

>> No.2350894

>>2350874
He's a beautiful man.

>> No.2350904

>>2350845
>If you're looking for a proper history of the jews
then you would want to read the jewish bible, in addition to the type of sources you mention. it is part of their history and influences their own understanding of their history, regardless of the historicity of its contents.

as far as the history of "the histories," it's useful to know the biblical account vs the story told by other types of evidence.

>> No.2350983

Maybe it's worth reading only if you're not reading it for the religious aspect.

Read at least Genesis and Job.

>> No.2350994

Anyone know where I can get a free Bible?

>> No.2351065

>>2350994
any hotel room in the U.S.

a lot of proselytizers & churches may be willing to give you one, if they think you're a borderline case of being saved

>> No.2351071

>>2350994
Just steal one from anywhere, anon.

>> No.2351086

>>2350994
a hotel. A church. Hell, look for a christian club on any college campus, they usually have free bible giveaway days.

>> No.2351120

The best advice I can give is to take a basic history course on the region and religion, or just try to understand what is going on. GOOGLE THE PEOPLES, AT LEAST, IF NOT THE PROMINENT LEADERS/KINGS.

So much fucking confusion can be avoided if you just know who Canaanites, Moabites, Phoenicians, Samaritans and Phillistines are, and how to distinguish between Judah and Israel, and what modern historians think happened to cause Israel's decline and Judah's rise in prominence.

All the better if you understand the basic history of the region. At the very least use a map and remember the main "civilizational areas" - the Hittite, Babylonian and Egyptian states are collapsing or waning at the end of the Bronze Age, the Assyrian and then Neo-Assyrian state coming to power. Also important are the origins and nature of the Neo-Babylonian state, and the major city states of the Palestinian coast.

The Torah tells a pretty decent history of a monotheistic Canaanite tribe and kingdom, and can be interpreted very easily if you know the basic history of the region. It's genuinely interesting theologically, philosophically and politically if you follow the modern interpretational theories:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jahwist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuteronomist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priestly_source

>> No.2351140

Like everyone else said, yes. The Authorized Version/King James (they are the same) is, along with Shakespeare's works, foundational works in English literature, and has influenced the language and the works of almost everything that came after it.

>> No.2351175

Greek and Roman mythology, The King James Bible, and Shakespeare are the major sources of reference for English literature. Also western culture has been deeply influenced by both the Greeks and Christianity.

The bible's definitely worth reading.

>> No.2351180

http://oyc.yale.edu/courselist

Old and New testament

>> No.2351190

THANKS FOR POSTING THAT IMAGINE OP, NOW I CAN USE IT AGAIN FOR MY THREADS.