What are you currently reading?

[BurtReynolds]

This morning, I finished a book I've been making my way through all year: The Bible. Specifically the fifth edition of the New Oxford Annotated Bible, New Revised Standard Version, with the Apocrypha. I read all the books, all the introductory and explanatory essays, all the footnotes.

This seems to be the study bible most commonly used in academic courses in this field, and it certainly was an education all in itself. There's a lot of great info in there, focusing especially on the history of these texts and the context of the times they were written. I've been atheist and anti-spiritual since I was about 14, so this was not a religious exercise for me. It was more a historical and literary exploration.

It's not an especially good or interesting or wise book by itself, a lot of it is stupendously boring and irrelevant. Some of it is briefly interesting. The book of Ecclesiastes is great, struck me as very Epicurean. The book of Jonah is also great, very funny and short. The Gospels are also pretty good, there's some good stuff in there in between the supernatural stories of Jesus curing lepers and whatnot. Revelation was also pretty interesting to read.

But I read the thing, cover to cover. I feel like a more informed person now.

I'm currently making my way through the king James version, hoping some of the lyricism rubs off on me.

[The Argonaut]

The NRSV translation tries to be ecumenical, meaning useful to all churches. Accurate, but also legible to today's English speakers. But still useful in liturgy. The result is sometimes awkward because I'd read something that reminds me of a common expression but isn't quite what I'm familiar with. But when I look up the KJV of the same verse, that's where I find the phrasing I'm familiar with. And it's better, more poetic and impressive in the KJV. I was thinking of re-reading just the Gospels in the King James version, because that's where I noticed it the most.

[Simple Torture]

[bart]

Asher and Burt, highly recommend Christianity:The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch

[Rangi Guy]

Asher and Burt, highly recommend Christianity:The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch

How does that work? Christianity has only been a thing for a little over 2000 years

[bart]

Asher and Burt, highly recommend Christianity:The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch

How does that work? Christianity has only been a thing for a little over 2000 years

I don’t want to spoil it

[BurtReynolds]

prequel trilogy.

If you're super bored, I thought this lecture series was interesting: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... dMUujXfyWi

[The Argonaut]

prequel trilogy.

If you're super bored, I thought this lecture series was interesting: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... dMUujXfyWi

I started my read along with those lectures, but it got a little boring because she did a lot of re-cap. I didn't dislike it, it was just kind of covering ground I'd already covered in the footnotes and essays.

Two books that I did read and LOVED that were about early Yahwism and close readings of the biblical texts:





Also planning to read A History of the Bible by John Barton, and I'll look up your book, bart (though I will admit I'm not super interested in the history of Christianity specifically)

[lennytheweedwhacker]

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

[epilogue]

Finished up Olga Dies Dreaming. It was fantastic. Highly recommend.

Now I'm reading The Midnight Library. Wanted something a little lighter/easier after a couple of denser, literary pieces.

[dad]

Wellness by Nathan Hill

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[dad]

Wellness by Nathan Hill

I’m intrigued by this one but scared it could turn out like Franzen

It’s an easy read. I’m about 1/3 in and it’s still interesting.

I’ve never read Frazen. Actually, I started The Corrections, but never finished.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[washing machine]

The NRSV translation tries to be ecumenical, meaning useful to all churches. Accurate, but also legible to today's English speakers. But still useful in liturgy. The result is sometimes awkward because I'd read something that reminds me of a common expression but isn't quite what I'm familiar with. But when I look up the KJV of the same verse, that's where I find the phrasing I'm familiar with. And it's better, more poetic and impressive in the KJV. I was thinking of re-reading just the Gospels in the King James version, because that's where I noticed it the most.

The NRSV-CE and New Jerusalem bible were always the texts I used in college theology class. They are also for the passages that I am most familiar with from Catholic liturgy. I was very religious back then but am no longer, yet I can still appreciate the layers of symbolism and context the different books of the gospel use to help the words resonate to different audiences. I think this kind of things is where the bible succeeds as an interesting historical text. In particular, I love the choice of settings for the beatitudes. Mountain for the Jew-centered book of Matthew, and the plains for the gentile-centered book of Luke.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[washing machine]

The hardback has been sitting unread on my shelf for years, but I am currently listening to the audiobook version. The narrator on this one is great and I'm starting to get drawn into the story.

Some biblical themes in this too.

[blueviper]

I'm in the middle of this one. So far so good