Skipping around in the Bible?

[Anonymous No.8735078]

I want to read the Bible solely to understand references within major literary works, not so much for religious purposes.


I was wondering which books of the bible are the frequently referenced or at least which ones to not bother with.


The lit discord said these were the most important but I'd like to get a second opinion.

Genesis
Exodus
Daniel
Ecclesiastes
Job
Psalms
Romans
Gospels (Matthew, Mark, John, Luke)
Revelation
Apocrypha

[Anonymous No.8735084]

>>8735078
loll u must be fedora????

REAL men are religious

[Anonymous No.8735094]

I find it interesting that our secular societies no longer teach the Bible, so we have cases like this where people have to educate themselves on the most famous stories ever written.

Is this a bad thing?

[Anonymous No.8735106]

>>8735078
>Read the entire old testament maybe skipping parts of psalms and proverbs
>Read the gospels
>Read new testament history and parts of the letters
>Read revelation, but read it slowly and in a different way that you normally read

[Anonymous No.8735109]

>>8735078

I don't think there's any you should completely ignore (Leviticus is a slog, but it's still important to know). I think that list makes a horrible mistake in not including any of the histories.

It is a bit much to read the entire thing all the way through, from beginning to end, so here's a reading plan that goes through the most important parts in each book:

https://www.biblegateway.com/reading-plans/chronological?version=NIV

I think after that, when you have a good view of the Bible's outline, then you can read what you want and better fill in the gaps that way.

[Anonymous No.8735232]

>>8735084
Yeah maybe I am a fedora but I think that's better than calling myself a Christian without having read the bible.

[Anonymous No.8735245]

>>8735078
>Apocrypha
No one references that.

[Anonymous No.8735247]

>>8735109
Thanks, that looks quite helpful

[Anonymous No.8735263]

I mean, shit, you have to read the two books of Samuel. King Saul and King David are not only hugely important to the OT canon, but the stories of their immediate family are referenced everywhere.

I'd add Judges to the list, too, since it has some sick-ass stories about a relatively lawless period for the Israelites. It's basically a proto-Western.

My quick outline of the OT:
* Pentateuch (Genesis to Deuteronomy) = basic history lesson of the Hebrews. The first half of Exodus is certainly the most memorable part. Otherwise, it's always been meant to be a list of Israelite ancestors and a story book for the things they did and their customs.

* Deuteronimistic History (Deu/Joshua to 2 Kings) = the real "guts" of the OT. A look of how the Israelites tried and failed to combine religion, semi-modern society (that is, modern by the time it was written: everyone had kingdoms and such, but the Israelites finally begged to have their own king in 1 Samuel), and being God's favorite people. One could easily argue that Ezra-Nehemiah is the logical follow-up. The Books of Chronicles basically reiterate Genesis to 2 Kings, but they have enough minor differences to perhaps be taken as an alternate history.

* Esther to Song of Solomon, and many Apocryphal books (Tobit, Judith, et al) = Poetry and narratives directly inspired by the Deu History, this is . Many of the themes stated/suggested in the Deu History get repeated here.

* Prophetic books as a reaction to the Deu History. I have my own negative opinion on them (you know the deranged modern ministers who scream about how modern people are perverse/doomed/etc.? The prophets aren't *that* different.). These books were basically about how God was going to fuck everyone up because they didn't believe and didn't practice their faith correctly. However, the books could be interesting in parts: Ezekiel is a trippy read, especially the beginning.

From a Christian perspective, those prophetic books "hint" at Jesus's coming -- however, they don't necessarily say that in actually reading them. Even worse, if you read a modern translation of the OT/NT with good textual sources, you'll find that there are notable differences in the OT quotes used by NT writers versus what's actually in the OT (in other words, the Septuagint not being as accurate to the original OT as one might think).

--

But in a nutshell, you pretty much have to read the Deuteronomistic History if you want a truly good feel of the Old Testament. Some parts of the Pentateuch can be skipped (in truth, the rules and lists were old/archaic even when the time the books were written -- they're in the books as a way to say, "This is how far we've changed from what was originally OK.")

[Anonymous No.8735266]

This is perfect for you OP. A really good general overview.

https://www.biblegateway.com/reading-plans/chronological?version=NIV