As a Work of Literature The Bible is Just Dreadful

cofty

Of course it's easy to criticise the bible for all manner of serious flaws, but it fails on a more basic level.

It is just a terrible piece of literature.

This piece on "Southern Skeptic" is well worth a read.

Finkelstein

But it is a valuable historical reference to the study of ancient human sociological behavior within ancient civilizations.

Unfortunately some people have used it to incite interest to their own published writings and theological ideas exploited contextually from the writings of the bible ...... no names mentioned

breakfast of champions

Ok COFTY, now you're dashing even my "hopes"!

I've thought to myself, "Well, at least the bible is a stunning piece of literature. . . ."

I have also appreciated Robert M Price's "take" on the bible, and even Jesus himself (most likely all made-up crap).

I'll check out this link. . . .

Thanks,

BOC

CalebInFloroda

Very good points in the article and well though out.

Of course, the author of the article is writing from what appears to be a stand specifically against a Fundamentalist Christian approach of Scripture. Jews acknowledge that these books were never meant to be the basis of a religion or many of the things pointed out in the post.

The Hebrew Scriptures are a product of a religion, not the basis for it or the foundation for its theology. Judaism was alive and well, functioning with a liturgy and even a Temple by the time the Scriptures began to take their shape. This is contrary to Fundamentalists and JWs who claim that true religion should be based on the Scriptures.

At least for the Jewish Scriptures I can say that since the Tanakh was not planned to be an exhaustive source or doctrinal foundation for our religious thought, practices or culture and there was no intended plan for them to ever be that. In fact these books were never written with the thought that Gentiles would ever read them or even handle them, let alone use them to create a religion that would persecute us for 2000 years.

The Hebrew Bible is not the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Live Forever book, or the Book of Mormon. It's definitely NOT the New Testament! Jews already had beliefs and a religion by the time they wrote this book. Unlike many Christians, the book did not come first and the religion second. Jews and Judaism came first, with the Scriptures based upon and not the basis for what we are.

And it wasn't made to be literature like a grand masterpiece of fiction. It's the writings of a tribal people. It's ancient, reflects our beliefs at the time they were composed (not necessarily held today), and not what JWs or Christians claim it is.

It's not that the Tanakh is not what Jews think it should be, it is that too many Gentiles think the Jewish Bible is something we Jews never said it was and that it plainly isn't.

sparrowdown

If you were to pick one book from all of human history to live your life by which one would it be?

Put that way it's ludicrous that people even try. Even the best of books would be impossible to live by, let alone something so contradictory and divisive.

"Beware of the man who only has one book."

CalebInFloroda

Or beware of the man who steals the book you wrote and then claims it gives him permission to hit you over the head with it.

sparrowdown

Ha! Good one Caleb.

TD

Not to be argumentative, by I'm not sure if it's consistent to criticize the Bible purely as a piece of ancient literature while retaining the anachronistic idea that god is the author.

There are certainly parts of it that aren't bad as ancient literature goes.

Heaven

I have never been able to get through reading the entire book.

The so-and-so begat so-and-so section stops me in my tracks every time. I guess as a kid I tried to relate myself to the people documented in the Bible but was unable to. So now I just use Google / Bible Gateway to pull out specific scripture.

I do love using scriptures that are rather shocking with believers since most of them have never read the Bible either.

A couple of my faves to use are:

Song of Solomon 2:3: As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

Ezekiel 23:20: There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.

CalebInFloroda

As ancient literature there are indeed parts that are highly unique, especially when one considers the monotheism and the way this is reflected in the poetry sections.

I think what most people expect as literature, the Old Testsment can't really be placed in that section because few have read ancient literary works of the same period.

Jonah is actually one of the best pieces of ancient humor I have ever read, but most people don't know it's a comedy. The flood of Noah has comedic gestures in it meant to tease the defeated Babylonians, but many Christians have obscured Jewish research and our claim that there are redactions we added after the time of Cyrus to make fun of the pagan absurdities in their similar tales. And Psalm 23 is universally recognized for its cadence and simplicity, but again how many have read works from the similar period of other cultures to recognize and appreciate why?

Outside of Jewish works, the only piece from the New Testsment I would consider literary is Luke. He writes the infancy narratives in Septuagint Greek and the rest in Koine as if to offer a flashback, and he puts songs in it. He writes the parables with the flavor seen in Aesop and draws the Passion narrative with the best drama the Gospels have to offer. His Prodigal Son and Rich Man and Lazarus parables are colorfully produced. He is Hellenistic but he is often more accurate than Matthew in his Jewish details.

The problem is that these examples were not intentional. The writers weren't trying to win awards in literature but were catechists and seekers. What JWs and Fundamentalists have done is make claims of Scripture being this and that when their claims have done more to discredit the books in the eyes of logical thinkers more than anything.

My personal opinion is that like any writing you have to take these on their own merit, whatever that might be, and not try to build them up as something they aren't. Only when you do that can you appreciate them for what they really are.

As a Work of Literature The Bible is Just Dreadful

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