The Bible
I think I'll make it my New Years resolution to read the Bible. I've always meant to but just never got around to it.

I also think it should be taught in schools. Not as an introduction to Christianity, but as the basis of a lot of western literature and a pseudo-historical document.
( monkeyboyalpha jumping on the bandwagon since, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 10:36, 20 replies)

Teaching History and English,
along with the overview provided by Religious Studies, ought to be sufficient for anyone to understand, and critically evaluate, the (English translation of the) Bible. I can't see a need to introduce Bible Studies to the curriculum.

Are you Michael Gove?
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 10:43, closed)

Why not teach something that has influenced society, morality and literature even more than Shakespeare.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of religion, I just think it's an interesting text to examine.
I looked at parts of it when studying ancient Egypt at uni and found deconstructing it to useful points quite rewarding.
( monkeyboyalpha jumping on the bandwagon since, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 10:54, closed)

I can't see it fitting in to the Eng Lit curriculum,
and I'm not convinced that you should be devoting significant chunks of History time to it, either.
I studied Latin at GCSE, which is another foundation of the modern world, but I can't see that it should be compulsory. The Bible could be worked into Classical Civilisation, but that's very much an optional subject, that's generally avoided, and not offered in many schools.

The more I think about this, the more convinced I am that Christianity's influence of modern, British society, is best conveyed through Religious Studies, and probably elements of the Citizenship course.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 11:05, closed)

OK, I can't remember much of my Religious studies, but I'm pretty sure they weren't very critical of the Christianity/the bible.
My hope in the teaching of the bible in other aspects of the curriculum is that the bible/Christianity could be the subject of criticism, in terms of literary criticism, the dubious nature of it's value as a historical document, a criticism of it's inconsistent morality.
Also, a knowledge of the stories and symbolism in the bible can be rewarding when reading other literature.
I'm not suggesting a bible studies GCSE, just that the text itself is not as widely read as it should be. Maybe the same could be said of the Koran and other religious texts as well.
( monkeyboyalpha jumping on the bandwagon since, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 11:13, closed)

I can certainly see your point,
and would agree that some knowledge of the Bbile would help put things in context, which would be a good thing.
I'm not up to speed on the latest RS curriculum, but I'd certainly hope it was more informative than what I was subjected to (mostly copying pictures out of an illustrated book of Bible stories, if memory serves).
That said, I think that the Bible, like many other works of literature, is best discovered for yourself (few, if any, works deserve a defacto place on the curriculum (yes, Shakespear, I'm looking at you)), and I'd like to think that, if an allusion to the Bibe was present in a work of literature, or if Christian thinking was influential on a particular period of history, the teacher of that subject would make his/her pupils aware of this.

Gosh, what a grown up discussion, this is - have I stumbled onto the wrong website?
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 11:25, closed)

Your bum smells of sailors.
Nyerr nyerr na-nyerr nyerr!
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 14:41, closed)

Don't read all of it
you'll be bogged down in Leviticus or Numbers or some shit like that. After Exodus skip all the way to Joshua, where it actually becomes a proper story again. Don't miss Ecclesiastes or the Song of Solomon, which are actually both awesome.
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 10:44, closed)

I'd like to get bogged down in Leviticus.

( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 11:27, closed)

That's probably some kind of abomination
Like homosexuality and eating shellfish (funny how those Southern Baptists get to tuck into a bowl of jambalaya or clam chowder after a hard day's homophobia, but since when did religion ever pay attention actual religious texts?)
( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 12:14, closed)

The new covenent with God described in the Book of Acts
means that Christians don't have to follow all the crazy Leviticus rules. This is why Southern Baptists get to eat shellfish, but are wrong to say that the Bible makes homosexuality a sin.
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 12:50, closed)

I'd like to eat a Southern Baptist's shellfish.

( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 14:10, closed)

Can you just direct me to the dirty bits
so I can get on with wanking? I don't have the patience to wade through the dull sections, and there do seem to be many of those.
( Infidel , shit and wrong, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 13:24, closed)

Song of Solomon (AKA Song of Songs)
is a very passionate, very overtly sexual love poem. Biblical scholars like to pretend it's about love of God or some such bullshit, but to anyone who's ever actually had sex, it's obvious what it's about.

Not much wanking material though, unless "Your navel is like a round goblet Which never lacks mixed wine; Your belly is like a heap of wheat Fenced about with lilies" does it for you, or "This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes. I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples"
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 14:21, closed)

No that's good thanks, that does it for me
I'm all for navels and heaps of wheat. I've come over all funny, I'm off for a lie down.
( Infidel , shit and wrong, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 14:48, closed)

To be honest
I'd love any woman whose belly button was always full of wine.
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 14:52, closed)

Oh yes.
I've never been keen on the sticky out kind of navel and this convinces me that my preferences are correct.
( Infidel , shit and wrong, Fri 6 Jan 2012, 15:00, closed)

Can you explain...

...My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.

No criticism implied or intended, just can't quite work it out.

Really liked it, btw.
(zebideedoodah likes florence but prefers venice, Sat 7 Jan 2012, 2:42, closed)

Your guess is as good as anyone's
I've no idea how it translates from the Hebrew, and I'm no bible scholar. For what it's worth, my opinion is that this bowel movement has nothing to do with the modern English euphamism, and that 'the hand on the whole of the door' is more likely to be a literal description than a metaphorical one. So I reckon the line means somthing simple like "my heart stirred when he entered my room".

I'm glad you liked it. I'm not particularly fussed about the religious implications or the translation history, but think it's one of the best love poems in the English language. You should listen to Bob Dylan's song the Changing of the Guards, which is a clever re-working of the imagery from the Song of Solomon.
(leviticus no longer likes the cut of your gib on, Mon 9 Jan 2012, 9:53, closed)

Ezekiel 23 compares two cities to prostitutes and includes the line: "There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses."
The sauciness stops there though, after that it's just God being vengeful and killing them etc.
(MC Toffeehammer, Sat 7 Jan 2012, 14:52, closed)

Have fun
With the begats

and King James Version obviously.
(unclestinky, Sun 8 Jan 2012, 5:27, closed)