The Bible as Literature

[Peace Sells..]

i feel that a lot of the "stories" in the bible, if taken metaphorically, can be of educational use. i was wondering if there was an interpretation that takes the mythology for what it is, and is trusted enough for one of you to recommend. anything?

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

The Bible as literature is an inconsistent piece, jumping from one style to another and from decent writing to utter disaster, piece by piece forming a confusing morass of inane family trivia and bizarre supernatural mumbo-jumbo. It's way bloated. I think they should have reworked it to make it hang together a bit more. There's not much of red thread in places. The characterisation is very inconsistent. Publishers should have turned it back and told the author to rewrite it and cut a good deal of the redundant stuff there, and told the author to make sure he was consistent and make up his mind about what he wanted.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

It may be useful (and more interesting) to read the bible in a historical sense , not of course as history, but to follow how many bible stories are reworkings of more ancient myths, from the Sumerian "Epic of Gilgamesh" on. Old Testament stories contain many very ancient tribal legends and lore , much of which has evolved and been deliberately rewritten for complicated political reasons much later on.

The Book of Exodus, for examples, appears to be from several much earlier stories twisted and pasted together into a sort of patriotic salvation narrative.

Karen Armstrong talks about this in her books. She almost seems to have a historical materialist interpretation of religion, she talks about what was happening with a particular group of people and how this influenced the evolution of their religion.

Engels wrote an interesting interpretation of the bizarre apocalyptic imagery in the Book of Revelations.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/subject/religion/book-revelations.htm

If all else fails, parts of the bible can make for some half decent porn, or comes pretty close anyway..

[F9]

I would rather read Harry Potter or Cinderella:lol:...Its all the same in the end, they are all fictional story, which few "hidden meanings".At least the later 2, havent turned people against other, and caused wars.

[Sir Comradical]

If all else fails, parts of the bible can make for some half decent porn, or comes pretty close anyway..

Please explain this to me.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Some stories in the Bible, if stripped down to their basic elements, actually make for pretty interesting myths, in my opinion. One good example being Jacob wrestling with and beating God (as in physically wrestling with God, not metaphorically or mentally wrestling with God...he literally put God in a headlock and choked Him out, LOL). I love how misotheistic that story is.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Please explain this to me.

http://www.graspr.com/videos/erotic-love-poetry-in-the-Bible-Shir-hashirm-on-Passover-1

http://www.hvk.org/articles/0301/133.html



Keep Your KIDS
Away From The Bible!
Another Erotic SEX Story in The Corrupt Bible
[Proverbs 7:5-23]
5 That they may keep you from an adulteress,
From the foreigner who flatters with her words.
6 For at the window of my house
I looked out through my lattice,
7 And I saw among the naive,
And discerned among the youths
A young man lacking sense,
8 Passing through the street near her corner;
And he takes the way to her house,
9 In the twilight, in the evening,
In the middle of the night and in the darkness.
10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him,
Dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart.
11 She is boisterous and rebellious,
Her feet do not remain at home;
12 She is now in the streets, now in the squares,
And lurks by every corner.
13 So she seizes him and kisses him
And with a brazen face she says to him:
14 “I was due to offer peace offerings;
Today I have paid my vows.
15 “Therefore I have come out to meet you,
To seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you.
16 “I have spread my couch with coverings,
With colored linens of Egypt.
17 “I have sprinkled my bed
With myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
18 “Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning;
Let us delight ourselves with caresses.
19 “For my husband is not at home,
He has gone on a long journey;
20 He has taken a bag
of money with him,
At the full moon he will come home.”
21 With her many persuasions she entices him;
With her flattering lips she seduces him.
22 Suddenly he follows her
As an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool,
23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a bird hastens to the snare,
So he does not know that it will cost him his life.

[F9]

Some stories in the Bible, if stripped down to their basic elements, actually make for pretty interesting myths, in my opinion. One good example being Jacob wrestling with and beating God (as in physically wrestling with God, not metaphorically or mentally wrestling with God...he literally put God in a headlock and choked Him out, LOL). I love how misotheistic that story is.

link or it didnt happen(yeah, like if you link to it, it happened:lol:)
I knew they skipped the cool parts all this years :lol:

[scarletghoul]

yeah theres a bit where god shows his loins, another where he grabs jacob by the balls, one where he tells people to eat their faeces, etc.

I read most of the Old Testament a while ago, and it was pretty awesome. Not only are they epic stories but there is certainly some poetry there and due to its impact its obviously a historical curiosity.


The Bible as literature is an inconsistent piece, jumping from one style to another and from decent writing to utter disaster, piece by piece forming a confusing morass of inane family trivia and bizarre supernatural mumbo-jumbo. It's way bloated. I think they should have reworked it to make it hang together a bit more. There's not much of red thread in places. The characterisation is very inconsistent. Publishers should have turned it back and told the author to rewrite it and cut a good deal of the redundant stuff there, and told the author to make sure he was consistent and make up his mind about what he wanted.
This isn't really a valid criticism because there was no single author, and the contents weren't even originally intended to be made into a single book. It's a mixture of old jewish mythology with a load of random things written by people associated with jesus, later put together as a compilation and called the bible. It was never supposed to be a consistant thing, or the word of god, or anything. It shouldn't be considered as a single book, but rather a compilation.

I enjoyed the Old Testament more than the New (though ive not read a lot of the new). God is generally more of a douche and theres nothing about heaven and hell. Great story allround too. One cool thing in the New Testament is Revelations. I read it when I was young and it terrified me, and the power of its imagery has stayed with me ever since. Defintely recommended.

[Invincible Summer]

I would rather read Harry Potter or Cinderella:lol:...Its all the same in the end, they are all fictional story, which few "hidden meanings".At least the later 2, havent turned people against other, and caused wars.

I don't understand why religious people believe that their sacred text is sooooo holy and divinely inspired when comic books have similarly realistic and crazy shit going on but no one thinks that Dream from Sandman or even goddamn Superman are religious figures.


Please explain this to me.

Have you ever watched a porno? You don't need much of a storyline to get it going.

God: Thou shalt make no idols!
Woman: But.... what if I... *takes off shirt*

*Porno things ensue*

[danyboy27]

if you would ask me between a stephen king novel or the old testament, wich one to read, go for the old testament, much blood, horror, killing in the later.

[Il Medico]

Some stories in the Bible, if stripped down to their basic elements, actually make for pretty interesting myths, in my opinion. One good example being Jacob wrestling with and beating God (as in physically wrestling with God, not metaphorically or mentally wrestling with God...he literally put God in a headlock and choked Him out, LOL). I love how misotheistic that story is.
Never heard of this story. Link please.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Never heard of this story. Link please.

genesis 32.22-32

[Sir Comradical]

Have you ever watched a porno? You don't need much of a storyline to get it going.

God: Thou shalt make no idols!
Woman: But.... what if I... *takes off shirt*

*Porno things ensue*

LOL. I was expecting something more like a Zizekist comparison of Biblical stories and pornography coupled with his theories on ideology and the decadence of capitalism.

[Il Medico]

genesis 32.22-32
Haha. Jacob kicks God's ass.

[F9]

Haha. Jacob kicks God's ass.

oh come on, there must be an internet link, you make me really curious now, and i throwed away all stupid Christianity books i had:((though i dont think i had old testament, but then i have never paid attention to those books).and yes im too bored to google it :D

[praxis1966]

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+32&version=NIV

That's a rather useful website, btw. I've used it several times when debating the religious because it has several versions of the Christian Bible (in several different languages) transcribed online and it's searchable.

[scarletghoul]

Ezekiel 23:20-21 -

There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. So you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when in Egypt your bosom was caressed and your young breasts fondled.

[Os Cangaceiros]

dayyy-ummm....