Thursday, April 05, 2007

Booking through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday


  1. Just out of curiosity, as we enter into Passover and Easter season... have you ever read the Bible? Just the odd chapter or Psalm? The whole thing? (Or, almost the whole thing? It's some heavy reading, of course, and those "begats" get kind of tedious.) I've read the entire New Testament, but only about 2/3 of the Hebrew Bible - which is odd, since I am Jewish. (Or, should I say, I'm a Jewess. I've been called "Jewess" by more people than you would believe!)

  2. If so, was it from religious motivation or from a literary perspective? Stuck with nothing else to read in a hotel room the Gideon's have visited? Any combination? I took a course as an undergraduate, "The Bible as Literature," which was one of the more useful courses I took as an English major. It illuminated the Biblical references in English and American lit and opened up a new path of understanding. At that point, I had never read the New Testament at all. A few years later, some friends became involved in the Christian Movement and I read it to please them before they took me to visit a Christian commune. (Loved the commune!)

  3. If not, why not? Against your religious principles? Too boring? Just not interested? Something you're planning on taking care of when you get marooned on a desert island? Not to be controversial, but how could it be a problem to read about other peoples' beliefs? If nothing else, it may begin to illuminate the differences amongst people. (Forgive me, it's my hippie sensibility. My freak flag always will fly!)

  4. And while we're on the subject... what about the other great religious works out there? Are they more to your liking? Neither more nor less, actually, except for the Tao Te Ching, which I almost included on my list of 10 books I could not live without. I'm not a believer, so I read all religious works (and I do, actually, read all religious works) as literature, and as food for my love of mythology and teaching stories.
melanie

4 comments:

Bridget said...

This was very interesting, and I enjoyed reading it.

But you are obviously some kind of hippie commie freak. You'd better hope that Homeland Security doesn't read your blog. (Do they read in the first place??)

jenclair said...

I love seeing the similarities among many religions. Learning about other religions gives insight into both individuals and societies.

I guess I'm a believer in principles, so the Tao Te Ching works well for me!

Paula said...

I read everything.

...and now that you mentioned the Tao Te Ching I am going to have to read that too.
I Love the Bible.
Both for the Historical and Religious aspects.
Mostly too because it reminds me of some wonderful bonding time when I was little with my Grandmother who would read me the stories from the bible (and not in the "scary your going to hell" tone, but the "look what these brave and ordinary people did in really tough times" version.
I love the Woman in the Bible too. I think my favorite is Rachael.
I have never read the Bible from cover to cover.
So I chose it as my 'Cunkster Challenge" Project to encourage myself. It is a slow process at the moment, but I am making progress.

Chris said...

Hi all! I just nominated Tea Reads for the Thinking Blogger Award. To find out more, check out my blog: http://chris-book-a-rama.blogspot.com/