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/lit/ - Literature

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4219992 No.4219992[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

Give me one reason as to why you haven't read the most influential and important book in human history.

>> No.4219995

I have. The majority of it simply wasn't very impressive.

>> No.4219998

because i don't give a shit about muh influential fairytales

>> No.4220002

>>4219995
Which parts did impress you & why?

>> No.4220007

But I have.

>> No.4220017

because in this moment i am euphoric, not because of some phony god's blessing but because i am enlightened by my own intelligence

>> No.4220032

kind of bad book. characters are not realistic and extremely two dimensional. plot is predictable. nice gore sometimes.

>> No.4220058

>>4219992
But I have read the Qu'ran.

>> No.4220070
File: 820 KB, 1008x573, holy.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4220070

>> No.4220095

the imagery on the first half is pretty cool, Yahweh is a badass motherfucker, and everybody gets killed, gore is pretty good as >>4220032
said.
Unfortunately the second half tries to rely on anachronic self-help one-liners or outright bullshit, and not until the final part it picks up on the powerful imagery where it left.
6/10 wouldn't stand again

>> No.4220101

>>4220017
toplel

>> No.4220102

>>4220095

Sunhawk you forgot your trip

>> No.4220105

I can't read hebrew.

>> No.4220124

>>4220102
I am not whoever you say I am

>> No.4220129

Tanakh is good as fuck. New Testament is ass

>> No.4220157

>>4219992
Because its just a jewish propaganda.

>> No.4220159

>>4220129
'All the Jew part of the bible is black evil' - Ezra Pound

>> No.4220176
File: 387 KB, 1200x1600, fedora'd_gentleman.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4220176

>>4220129

>> No.4220212

>>4220176
Dude what? I'm a Jew.

>> No.4220227

>>4220176
*tips yarmulke

>> No.4220239

Reading horrendously written or at least translated Jewish folklore is not my cup of tea. The plot is a mess and the only factor keeping things together is a petty, arrogant, omnipotent dickwad, who thought creating an universe in which humans would appear only billions of years later to guess which deity concept is the right one was a good idea. Mein Kampf was an influental work in the history of 20th century Europe but doesn't make it not shit.

>> No.4220241

>>4220239
but that doesn't make it not shit*

>> No.4220254

>>4220239
Seems like your fedora is a bit snug, m8

>> No.4220257

>>4220239
*smirks and vanishes into trench-coat of euphoria*

>> No.4220272

most of it is bad

YHWH tier:
Ecclesiastes
Job
Pslams

Ok tier:
Song of songs

Shit tier:
The rest

>> No.4220301

I read some parts but I don't have much emotional attachment to the Bible, besides the Gospels. They're the most beautiful things I've ever read.

>> No.4220314

Halfway through Leviticus. Boring as shit, talking bout the tabernacle.

>> No.4220319

>>4220301
The Bible is all emotion for me. I don't believe any of it, but I am extremely comforted & guided by the notion of an all-knowing and all-forgiving higher power. It's a pleasant read in many parts if you take things figuratively. The language in certain chapters (KJV) is evocative as fuck.

>> No.4220325

>>4220314
Leviticus is hella dry and boring. Some of the rules are funny and it can be interesting if you think of it in the context of successful control of the masses for their own good - take the chapter and verses about leprosy and cleanliness "so that they may not die."

>> No.4220335

>>4220319
The part which affected me most was when Jesus forgave the people who crucified him, as they were doing it. The very idea that such a beautiful human being ever existed motivates me to be a better person.

>> No.4220370

ive actually been meaning to. Are any other books worth reading? the Quaran perhaps?

>> No.4220382

I like the Old Testament. The New one has too much hippy bullshit.

>> No.4220388

it's too long

>> No.4220392

>>4219992
I'm in the midst of reading it, on john right now. Ecclisastes was fucking great.

>> No.4220399
File: 119 KB, 476x750, Geneva_Bible.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4220399

>Not reading based Geneva Bible

>> No.4220420

>Give me one reason as to why you haven't read the most influential and important book in human history.
I have,
a large percentage of /lit has, actually.
It would take a long time to critique it, as it lacks a consistent tone or style, a natural result of it being a compilation of various documents collected over many years. There's no arguing it's influence, though I wouldn't call it the most important book in human history.
If you're considering a read through, I'd go with the King James Version, which I personally believe to have the most literary value, if you're studying it theologically, I suggest using one of the many websites that will allow you to read the passages in multiple versions side by side.

I won't get into a tirade or a lecture about the books ardent "fan club," and their acts, suffice to say, their temperament ranges from saints to sociopaths, with a high population of swindlers.
However the book can still be poetic and entertaining in several sections, especially when you don't take it seriously.

>> No.4220427

>>4220399
Isn't that the one with all the margin annotations that the Mass. Bay colonists used to love?

>> No.4220433

>>4220427
Yes, it was the Bible brought over on the Mayflower. One of the reasons for the creation of the King James Bible was that James I hated the marginal notes in the Geneva which stated that kings could be disobeyed. The notes are thoroughly Calvinist.

>> No.4220439

>>4220433
e.g., one of the notes on 1 Cor. 7:14:

"This place destroyeth the opinion of them that would not have children to be baptized, and their opinion also, that make baptism the very cause of salvation. For the children of the faithful are holy, by virtue of the covenant, even before Baptism, and baptism is added as the seal of that holiness."

>> No.4220441

>>4220420
>though I wouldn't call it the most important book in human history.

What would be then?

Greek epics? Shakespeare?

>> No.4220447

>poorly written
>even worse editing

>> No.4220461

>>4220441
certainly, or one of the great publishes of science like Relativity by Einstein, or Origin of Species,
or political works like 1984 or The Prince or The Jungle.

I mean I assume OP is drawing a distinction between importance and influence, or he wouldn't say important AND influential,

There's just so much room for bias here, especially given the population growth over the last 2000 years, The closer a book is to modernity the more potential it has to effect a wider and wider amount of people in a shorter time span. Not only that, but it's hard to judge where to stop tracking the importance of a book. Do we credit the first source for all influence that subsequent works wield? I think the only fair way is to assume some sort of dilution over the years, otherwise you run into the problem that the bible itself is based on earlier sources, which would make them more important than it by the self-same effect. Following Ripples backward to the first written text that would be crowned the most important, and making all of human history a derivation of said.

>> No.4220467

>reading a translation
>not reading it in the original ancient greek and latin

>hating on it but sucking the dick of anything that even vaguely references it

>> No.4220474

>>4220467

The greek is famously poor and none of it is latin.

>> No.4220481
File: 101 KB, 827x1000, Invocation.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4220481

>>4219992
I have read it and its shit. Stop making this thread. There are far more influences for the western world than that middle eastern piece of crap.

>> No.4220483

>>4220467
>>hating on it but sucking the dick of anything that even vaguely references it
That's a fallacy.
There are entire swaths of horrible Christian lit that even Theistic /lits will decry,
and that's just contemporary, You could fill a stadium with the bad translations, annotations, theological treatises and fiction all referencing the work,
and fill another stadium with those lost to time. Crediting the Bible with the literary worth of the books it preceded is just intellectually sloppy.
This isn't about the internet's eternal flamewar between believers and nonbelievers, this is about sloppy thinking.

Or else you would be claiming that the most important book should be the quotations of Chairmen Mao, based on the political associations, and not the literary content.

>> No.4220484

Because I don't read fiction :DDDD

>> No.4220485

>>4220467
>greek and latin

The Bible was written in Greek, Hebrew, and some Aramaic.

>> No.4220493

>>4219992
I have. Seems to be pretty casualised from the source material.

>> No.4220494

>>4220058
>reading the 3rd part of a trilogy only

it's Mass Effect all over again!

>> No.4220497

>>4220239
but Elohim didn't create it, he just took over when his superiors died and hid the evidence.

>> No.4220496

See,
call it important,
call it influential,
say it has great literary value,
say it has great historic value,
and I'm right there with you.

But when you say it's the MOST influential, the MOST important, that's when I want to start looking at your work, that's when I want to ask you what parameters are you using. Because we can play six degrees of historical significance and churn out a lot of different texts. I could make a case for the importance of John Locke and just follow the progression of the ripples of his works influence to the modern day. It's not as easy as you think to point to any one source and give it credit for all of civilization.

>> No.4220495

>>4220481

>that middle eastern piece of crap

Had a shitty day have we, shnookums?

>> No.4220503

i stopped reading fiction when I was twelve

>> No.4220504

>>4220496

>I could make a case for the importance of John Locke

if anything you'd have to make a case for plato

locke is just nowhere near as influential

>> No.4220507

>>4220504
greekaboo!

>> No.4220509

>>4220503
Within the past year then?

>> No.4220516

>>4220504
exactly my point,
It never stops.
The only way a superlative like that is meaningful, is to know their standards.
Otherwise, it's as of little use as "Best-Selling"

>> No.4220521

The Bible is the most important book because it is the Word of God.

>> No.4220524

>>4220509
*tips fedora*

>> No.4220525

>>4220521
It just got Poe in here

>> No.4220532

Please, everybody knows what the most important book is.

"The Hitchhiker's Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopaedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects.
First, it is slightly cheaper; and secondly it has the words DON'T PANIC inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover."

>> No.4220538

>>4220525
>Implying the Bible isn't θεόπνευστος

>> No.4220541

>>4220538
>θεόπνευστος
There's a "bad breath" joke that goes here that I'll spare you by merely suggesting it.

>> No.4220546

Read it twice growing up—was raised in the church. I still think it's bullshit.

>> No.4220564

>>4220546
*doesn't tip fedora*

>> No.4220571

>>4220494
>3rd part of a trilogy

More like the final patch to a brilliant game.

>> No.4220579

>>4220571
>entire libraries full of opensource attempts at fixing the bugs

>> No.4220581

its boring as fuck, I mean sure there are some entertaining stories of people doing fucked up things, but they are few and far between.

>> No.4220654

i heard it got mixed reviews

>> No.4221992

Is King James really the only acceptable version of the bible? Also what version of the Quran should I get?

>> No.4222014

>>4221992
There's only one version of the Quran...

>> No.4222026
File: 402 KB, 700x700, astounding.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4222026

>>4220581

>> No.4222028

I've only read the first half. I'll get to it eventually, I'm sure. OT is cash af, though.

>> No.4222039

I only really like the Old Testament. I read it as an ancient study of psychology, more or less. Putting every metaphor and story through that filter makes it an interesting read.

>> No.4222071

>>4222014
Yes, but any specific translations, I mean.

>> No.4222102

>>4219992
Because it's shit.
Next.

>> No.4222129

>>4220325
Yeah, the Jews were very serious about sanitation.
>don't touch dead people
>don't touch bleeding people
>take a bath if you do
>change your damn clothes
>no, you can't fucking eat that animal you just found laying in the dirt, that's gross
>if someone is obviously sick don't hang out next to them
>take a bath
A lot of the "crazy" rules make sense when you realize how important being clean was to them, and seems pretty progressive for a period of time before germs were even known.

>> No.4222139

>>4221992
For the literary value, King James is usually suggested, yes. For accuracy or study, go with the NAV, NRSV, or Douay-Rheims.

>> No.4222489

>>4219992
because i'm euphoric.