Has anyone actually read the Bible?

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Cover to cover. I have two observations.

1. I can't imagine why anyone finds that stuff even vaguely compelling.

2. The new testament is dull.

I have probably read it through a couple of times. More important, I use it. The Bible is full of promises from God that are powerful. I really like the promises of protection, provision, guidance, heart transformation, hope, healing, exorcism and prophecy.

This is important. A nice big book like that
shouldn't be wasted. You can prop up wobbly
furniture and all sorts of other good uses with it.

I signed up on a newsletter called "Read the Bible in a year" - every day it sent a bit of the OT, a psalm, and a bit of the NT. I read it all, except the begats. This was a few years ago. Also I dip into it occasionally. I like listening to people reading it aloud. I don't know what to say about the spiritual importance of the Bible. It is important to me that way, but I read it all with a Jungian slant. For example, Balaam's ass - is that a valuable story or what? And the psalms - if I read them that way, they are about things that happen to everybody everywhere - ps 155 "O that I had wings like a dove" = "I'm outta here" only much better said.

I read it, that's how I became a christian. Like a couple of others here, I also skipped the begats begats begats book.

Favourite books are mostly OT, some beautiful stuff there. I can see how people find the NT dull. I think they probably left out a lot of the interesting stuff about Jesus, but he still comes thru. I also like apocryphal books like the Nag Hammadi, some great stuff there (along with a lot of duplication and repetition).

I tried reading it one time. I wanted to be fair, you know, give it a chance... Well, I got about as far as "And John begat Paul and Paul begat Simon and Simon begat Garfunkle..." The Bible really needs an update. I mean, if I were an English teacher I'd have to give whoever translated it an F. There's a reason words have synonyms. You don't say "and this and this and this and this" unless it's part of some meditative exercise or you're trying to put your reader to sleep.

I always wondered at the praise given
to the King James version. Maybe it's
the best that can be done with the
material though.

Of course to really appreciate the Bible, you have to know Hebrew and Greek and read it in its original language. Particularly in the Old Testament, a lot of its subtleties were lost in translation.

I read the King James. I like the archaic language. I think you can skip the whole of the jewish histories bit really. Just read Genesis then go straight to Job and read on from there. Ecclesiastes if probably my favourite, I think it's highly regarded as a work of literature too. I like Job and Isaiah too. Great images there.

Kinda saw them as the most interesting.
Like the list of ships in the Iliad. Really
seems to tie things into something likely
to be real. I'd guess that the Bible was
a history first, and took on the monotheism later.

I've read a lot of extracts, but I'm far from the whole thing. I liked the Job-bit - God seems comically senile in it.

I don't read particularly well (didn't really learn until the fifth grade). Even now, although I read fluently, I still read slowly. I have never read the Bible from cover to cover, but have tried to several times. I have read many excerpts over the years which probably add up to about 75% - 80% of the texts. I have also read some of it in the original Greek although that takes even longer as you can imagine.

My belief in God has fluctuated over the years and so my interpretation of the texts has changed from time to time. It's amazing what a difference belief makes, not to mention multicultural experiences.

I have found often that what Jesus says in the gospels echo many things I've read in Eastern literature. In many respects, I think the medieval scholastics did a disservice to Biblical interpretation by incorporating Greek philosophy into it.

I'm curious why you asked the question about the Bible. what do the answers people give you tell you?

If you're a dyslexic christian, and you can't read the bible, will Dog send you to hell??

Actually, this is (oddly) a good point. There is a lot of poetry, a lot of puns (Yes, Bible writers made puns. Especially Paul, he was particularly notorious for it), and quite a bit of things the authors are inferring by their use of language, that don't translate well into English.

Of course, most of us are never going to learn greek or hebrew. (Though I do know a little greek...) Which is why when I read it, I usually read more than one version and refer to a commentary or two, to learn from men who do know the ancient languages and might have some insights I don't.

Last edited by JonnyBGoode on 19 Aug 2007, 12:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I've read bits of it - Ecclesiastes, some of the gospels, the apocalypse, bits of genesis, bits of other parts of the Old Testament. I think I've read all the bits I'd have any interest in reading, save maybe the song of songs.