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Light Beach Reading
I just finished reading the Bible. I mean, I read the whole thing for the first time, cover to cover, from "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." to "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."
I wanted to read it, to have it as context. I wanted to see where the cultural traces came from—the art, the philosophy, the history. Besides that, I am an American, and most Americans are Christians. A significant portion of them take the Bible very literally. I wanted to see where they were coming from.
And you know, I don't have too much to say about it. I was, and remain, an atheist. I boggled at parts of it and continue to do so, including, for example, the genocide of the Canaanites, including women, children, and domestic animals. Both God's endorsements of casual rape in the Old Testament and Saint Paul's exhortations to celibacy in the New Testament are stunning in their own ways.
In hindsight, I'd probably have had more to say if I had posted as I worked my way thorough it over the past few months. But I didn't, so I don't. At least now I can move to the next item on my to-read queue, as soon as I decide what it is.
I wanted to read it, to have it as context. I wanted to see where the cultural traces came from—the art, the philosophy, the history. Besides that, I am an American, and most Americans are Christians. A significant portion of them take the Bible very literally. I wanted to see where they were coming from.
And you know, I don't have too much to say about it. I was, and remain, an atheist. I boggled at parts of it and continue to do so, including, for example, the genocide of the Canaanites, including women, children, and domestic animals. Both God's endorsements of casual rape in the Old Testament and Saint Paul's exhortations to celibacy in the New Testament are stunning in their own ways.
In hindsight, I'd probably have had more to say if I had posted as I worked my way thorough it over the past few months. But I didn't, so I don't. At least now I can move to the next item on my to-read queue, as soon as I decide what it is.