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01-10-2008, 03:57 PM
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#1
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 886
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Have you read the Bible?
I'm talking cover to cover. The whole thing. Didn't have to be all in one sitting or all in one week, but you actually worked through the whole book beginning to end. Referencing it from time to time doesn't count.
It's not a question about religion, simply if you've read it for any reason. Maybe read it as literature, maybe to learn about a faith other than yours, maybe for a school project or whatever.
So, cover to cover, have you read it?
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01-10-2008, 04:00 PM
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#2
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 127
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no
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If you think nobody cares whether you're alive or dead, try missing a couple of mortgage payments.
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01-10-2008, 04:01 PM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 7,746
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Tried but failed. Probably had to do with it being the KJV and the archaic words. I was mostly reading it from the point of view of it being a historical text. I did manage to read an interesting book about the bible dealing with such things as how it was written, by whom, transition from oral tradition to written tradition, the many different versions used by many different denominations of christian faith, etc...
I think this was the book.
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01-10-2008, 04:03 PM
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#4
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 4,764
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No
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01-10-2008, 04:23 PM
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#5
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: North-Central Illinois
Posts: 3,228
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Trek
I'm talking cover to cover. The whole thing. Didn't have to be all in one sitting or all in one week, but you actually worked through the whole book beginning to end.
So, cover to cover, have you read it?
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Yes, but it took several years to do.....especially when I'd get to the genealogies! Would have been an easier read if all those Old Testament folks had easy names like Sam, Pete, George, Elmer, and that sort of thing...and they lived in towns like Chicago, Dodge City, Houston, Hooterville, or places like that!
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01-10-2008, 04:42 PM
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#6
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Lake Livingston, Tx
Posts: 4,204
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I was assigned temporary duty to Zaragoza, Spain. Got a copy of 'The Living Bible' read it cover to cover.
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01-10-2008, 04:51 PM
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#7
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,500
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I did that in eighth grade, on my own because it interested me (both as a religious and historical document). I was going to the big kid/preteen version of Sunday School and felt like I was big enough to read the Bible. My parents never would have done such a thing, since church was pretty casual for them. So, maybe this was my version of a teenage rebellion.
Thank goodness, I had a King James version. People may differ on which translation is most correct, but I don't think anyone would argue that the King James version contains some of the most inspiring and beautiful passages ever written in the English language.
Still, Leviticus was pretty tough to get through, not to mention Numbers. I was amazed at the Song of Solomon, felt unsettled by Ecclesiastes, and found the gospels very inspiring and moving.
I'm glad I read it, even though I turned out to be agnostic for the past 40 years.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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01-10-2008, 04:54 PM
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#8
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Lawn chair in Texas
Posts: 14,183
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I've read a fair amount of the New Testament, but the Old Testament is, well, too old...
Too many begets and smotes...
__________________
Have Funds, Will Retire
...not doing anything of true substance...
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01-10-2008, 04:56 PM
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#9
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 3,323
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No...and never will.
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01-10-2008, 05:05 PM
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#10
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Lake Livingston, Tx
Posts: 4,204
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Orchidflower,
Interesting. So you are not a history buff? I went to a Church affiliated college. Two semesters of 'Study of the Bible' were required. Both dealt with the Old Testament as the 'History of the Jewish People'. I found it interesting as it was taught as a history course with religion as the glue that held the story together.
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01-10-2008, 05:13 PM
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#11
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 1,127
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I haven't read it. I keep thinking it would be a good idea, but I never get to it. Same way with the Koran.
Coach
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01-10-2008, 05:14 PM
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#12
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Moscow
Posts: 1,572
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Read all of the Old Testament. Required reading for a class I was taking at the time.
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01-10-2008, 05:18 PM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,500
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You know, its as though Trek read my mind. I have been thinking of actually buying a King James version of the Bible and reading it again.
I'm STILL not religious. I am a spiritual person, though, and I find the Bible to be intriguing. So much of who I am, as a person and as an American, comes from the Bible. It's intrinsic to our culture and heritage, whether we are Christians or not. I learned a lot, and really there are a lot of interesting stories in it too.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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01-10-2008, 06:09 PM
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#14
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Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 23,041
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Want2retire
It's intrinsic to our culture and heritage, whether we are Christians or not.
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I think one ought to read the Bible just as one ought to read Shakespeare (not all, but many of the plays). These are foundational documents for our culture.
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Living an analog life in the Digital Age.
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01-10-2008, 06:14 PM
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#15
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Pasadena CA
Posts: 3,346
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Read the whole thing a couple times and a (very) few parts have warn pages. The edition may matter, my Episcopal practice favors the KJV but for the OT I prefer a new age version. So much 'smiting' in the OT but essential to understand some of it as the context for the NT. I know the question is quite open and not requiring a religious response but it is not unreasonable that that could result... So...my reading is not to to understand the words but to get through them to understand Jesus.Sort of like reading about a coach that tells some kids to work harder and some to take a break; he should know what each one needs. You don't want someone just making an absolute rule from his advice to one party even if they quote correctly.
__________________
T.S. Eliot:
Old men ought to be explorers
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01-10-2008, 06:21 PM
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#16
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: LaLa Land
Posts: 4,698
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I've read the whole New Testament. I don't think I could read the Old Testament.
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01-10-2008, 06:25 PM
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#17
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: New York
Posts: 898
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I read the hebrew bible, the christian appendages, and the koran.
All in university.
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Money's just something you need in case you don't die tomorrow.
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01-10-2008, 06:29 PM
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#18
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Los Angeles area
Posts: 1,708
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Read it once, several decades ago. I remember the OT seemed more interesting than the new one.
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learn, work, save, invest, fire
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01-10-2008, 06:31 PM
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#19
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: New York
Posts: 898
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CyclingInvestor
Read it once, several decades ago. I remember the OT seemed more interesting than the new one.
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Agreed. That god character was my favorite, talk about attitude! Never a dull moment.
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Money's just something you need in case you don't die tomorrow.
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01-10-2008, 06:46 PM
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#20
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Independence
Posts: 7,298
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Bits and chunks - a tad in the Greek, which was enough to make one realise that translation is the very devil.
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