... thumbs down: Over and Under. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
I think the comment about the Bible being overrated is odd. It's not a single book, but a collection of books. I agree with Richard Grayson (down the bottom) is right about Leviticus - which I don't think I ever managed to get through - but Isaiah, the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Job? They're pretty darn good. The parables of Jesus aren't bad, either.
I come from a generation that read the Bible even if we weren't religious. By the time I finished high school, I'd read the King James Verson a couple of times. To me, the language is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIn college, I took The Bible as Literature and in grad school a class in Old Testament and Modern Literature, in which we also read 19th and 20th century works inspired by the Bible.
I agree with you about the books of the Bible you like, though I would add Jeremiah, Esther, Ruth (a short-short story!) and Song of Solomon. And in the Apocrypha, Tobit, Judith and the story of Susanna (addition to Daniel) are terrific stories.
As a college instructor, it amazes how ignorant my students are about the Bible -- and that includes active evangelical Christians! I can't take any biblical reference for granted anymore.
Yes, Richard, you're right - Esther, Ruth and the Song of Solomon are wonderful. I've always found Jeremiah somewhat cranky, though the Book of Tobit, Judith and the story of Susanna, as you say, are terrific. I simply don't think you can approach English literature without being acquainted with the Authorized Version. And yes, the language is glorious.
ReplyDeleteHi Frank,
ReplyDeleteThat is a very strange comment, that the Bible is overrated.
Whenever I read through the Bible, I do it in a year's time. I break it into sections--Pentateuch, Judges and so forth--and read from each each day. Before I begin, I do the division, dividing 365 into the number of verses per section, and fudge one way or the other to end on themes. For instance, if the pure math says to end with one verse left in Genesis, that day completes that book instead.
When I do this--and I have done it twice--I reflect on themes. The first time was how I am in relationships, in my thirties. The second time was in my forties, and I think it had to do with what I am doing in the world, vocation. After reading the verses, I reflect to bring whatever I can learn or reaffirm to the fore, and write what comes to mind.
I guess being in my fifties, I must be due again in an upcoming year. But there are not too many other books, or texts I should say, you can do this with. I know people have done Encyclopedias. But there is just so much wisdom and so much inspiration in the Bible.
I am pretty sure I am not the only one left in the world who has used the Bible to make very significant positive changes to his life. The Bible rates around #1 for me. And I think that's pretty obvious to anyone in the world, that there are many of us who think this way. So to say that the Bible is overrated, is simply to be looking for attention and an argument, an attempt to rewrite life.
Yours,
Rus