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Well certainly its enormous influence attests to its greatness, but I also think the Bible holds up as a masterpiece just reading it as a work of literature and not as the word of God. If you want to seriously read Western literature, you HAVE to be familiar with the Bible.Quote:
Originally Posted by IronPlant
And I'm a fuckin nihilist, straight up.
it undoubtedly is. Countries rose and fell because of it. Wars were fought over it. Crimes against humanity were committed through wrongful interpretations of its teachings. The greatest art in the history of the world were inspired by it. It was the muse to the greatest music the ear has ever known, the greatest architecture, and the some of the greatest literature.Quote:
subjectively, yes, it probably the most important book in Western civilization.
Yes, I know, that is why I said it was most likely the most influential. Most important, I don't know. The word "important" opens this discussion up to philosophical debate because what is important to one person, does not have to be important to someone else. Importance is very subjective. However, the concept of something being influential is not open to debate. Something either does or does not influence others to action. From a numerical standpoint the bible has caused more world altering events than any other book in our culture. So yeah, it is the most influential.Quote:
Originally Posted by diffusionx
I read the bible (old testament) many years ago, and I didn't think it was all that great as a work of literature. It was very inconsistent and had pacing problems throughout. The characters were largely undeveloped and unconvincing. The whole thing just screams 'too many cooks in the kitchen!"
I've yet to read the new testament in its enteirety, but it seemed to have similar issues. I may give the whole series another chance someday, but I think the next time I want to take on a big book, It'll either be Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, or something by Tolstoy.
Uhh... yea... we're talking about whether its important to Western civilization, not you or I. I dont think there can be any doubt that its the important book in Western civilization, considering how virtually every other book that is important in the Western civilization was inspired by it.Quote:
The word "important" opens this discussion up to philosophical debate because what is important to one person, does not have to be important to someone else.
People who say "I'm not religeous, but have read/do read the bible" are usually liars.
"It's a great book like (insert any other book here) is a good book"
Whatever.
You are also a dope if you pretend it is a novel. It is so cliche, and yet everybody does it to look smart/cool.
Well you can go to hell then. Certainly the Bible is a special case as far as literature is concerned. You can't really read it as you would a novel, but still, the Bible as literature is an important area of study. Not everyone interested in Western literature is a Christian, yet an understanding of the Bible is crucial to understanding a large chunk of these works, especially early British lit. The Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost, Beowulf--any of these require a fairly comprehensive understanding of Biblical stories.Quote:
Originally Posted by Master
You can say I'm trying to be bad or whatever, but if some professor tried to teach you about Milton without having read the Bible, you'd have to call bullshit on them. And I can count the number of Christian English professors I've had on one hand.
I don't even know if you could teach English lit, and especially boring gay American lit with out bringing up the Bible. There is a fuck ton of crap written about peoples inner struggles of faith, those things in the Bible, and life.Quote:
Originally Posted by flux=rad
The whole problem for me was the very fact that it's not a novel. Given its age, there's no way it could be.
Depending on what you believe, it's either a very concise history text, or it's a book of christian mythology. Either way you look at it, it's one of, if not the best work of its kind. The problem is that those types of books are generally quite primitive, so it's not like there's a lot of competition.
I hated early British lit because it was so religious, it's just so dull. I actually got a D on my English midterm because I suggested that a religious work was fiction (my professor was a Lesbian Episiscipalian Minister).Quote:
Originally Posted by IronPlant