If You've Ever Thought You Ought to Read the Bible

 But it seemed like a whole lot more bother than it was worth...

Have I Got A Blog For You

Why read the Bible? Good question. We've always had a bunch of folks who like to use the Bible as a way of justifying what they do, how they think, how they perceive and treat other people.This has been going on for centuries. We also have a whole lot of literature, music, visual arts, important and not so important bricks in the edifice that is Western Culture, that are based on, or inspired by, or like to quote The Good Book. For these reasons and more I've felt for some time that if I want to consider myself well read as well as properly prepared to parse and, if need be, dismantle the arguments put forward, especially by elected and appointed officials who wave and quote and misquote and quote out of context in order to try to make themselves look righteous and worthy, I needed to actually read the darned thing myself. Not only read it, but take notes. And thus was born my new blog, "Book by Book Through The Good Book" which may turn into my next book, we'll have to see about that.

To be clear, I am not approaching this project as anything other than a discerning reader. I'm not going into this with the intention of making fun of it, neither am I approaching it with with awe and reverence, hoping to be reborn in my faith. I'm coming at it as a reader, looking for what is actually in the Bible, not what others have said about it or how they have interpreted it. I want to read the stories, get to know the characters, see what, if any of it, makes sense or even inspires. Also what may make me scratch my head and mutter "What is that all about?" I want to find out why it has had such a lasting impact on our world, for good or bad.

So here I go, making my way verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book (there are 66 of them, 37 in the Old Testament and 29 in the New Testament) through the entire thing. I'm even checking out the preface, which is called "To The Reader" and was written by a member of the committee that put together the New Revised Standard Edition, which is the text I am using.

My primary goal here is personal. I've gone through (mumber, mumble) decades without having read more than bits and pieces of the Bible, and it's time to correct that. Plus, it may toughen me up for another try at Ulysses or Infinite Jest, I don't know. So, honestly, anyone who comes along with me is a real bonus, but audience or not I'm doing this.

If you would like to join my journey through the Best Selling Book of  All Time, here is where you can find it...

Book by Book Through The Good Book

And here's an excerpt from my notes on Genesis.

CHAPTER 7:

    In verse 2 God fleshes out his instructions by telling Noah to not only gather his kin, but also "seven pairs*** of all clean animals, the male and its mate: and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and its mate,".

            ***Honest. It says it right there in Chapter 7, Verse 2. "Seven pairs."

    So all this time we've been telling the kiddos in Sunday School that it was a strict two-by-two sort of arrangement for the fauna. But in verse 2 we are told the ones who had established good grooming habits get to bring some of their friends and family along.