Wertbag Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 I tried to read the bible cover to cover a few times but it was always such a dull read, especially the genealogy parts ("and Rupert begat Jim-Bob and had twenty seven sons, let me list every single one of their irrelevant names for you..."). I've heard some estimates that as little as 10% of Christians have read the whole thing. Did any of you guys struggle through it? How did you get motivated to do so? I remember as a kid being told "its a book with everything, sex, war, revenge, magic, murder and action" but being really disappointed to find my pick-a-path adventure books had more excitement than this overhyped text. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stargazer95 Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 I tried, too. I had one of those "bible in a year" plans, with a designated reading each day. But I'm terrible at sticking to plans, and I ended up missing so many days that I just gave up. Plus, like you said, it was a major snooze fest. Boring as hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted October 22, 2018 Super Moderator Share Posted October 22, 2018 I confess I did do a little skimming through the "begats." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOHO Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 I read the NT through 2x in the years leading up to my deconversion. As for the OT I have read major portions of all books but only over a very long period. Early on I found the OT to be relevant and, eventually, the NT as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TruthSeeker0 Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 I got to the middle of Genesis and it just didn't add up with what I was supposed to be teaching in Sunday School. Then I decided to start "sinning" by reading material that was off limits, and that was the end of it all. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disillusioned Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 I've read it. A couple times. It wasn't an option. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eugene39 Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 I read it clear through because my SS teacher challenged us to read it through in a year. And it's why I'm no longer a Christian. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Joshpantera Posted October 22, 2018 Moderator Share Posted October 22, 2018 Twice, some ten years out of the church. For research reasons. Found a lot of bullshit along the way that I hadn't notice before...... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConsiderTheSource Posted October 22, 2018 Share Posted October 22, 2018 All of it. Three time. At least it helps on Jeopardy, which seems compelled to bring religion into the show every other episode. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TrueFreedom Posted October 22, 2018 Moderator Share Posted October 22, 2018 I also may have snoozed through a few begats, but I've read all of it many times. I majored in it in undergrad, as a matter of fact. I can at least paraphrase a good portion of it. It's not the most interesting or original, but it's got its share of porn-level sex and violence. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ Fuego ♦ Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Lost count of how many times all the way through. I would read straight through, then start over and do at least a chapter a night, usually more for 30 years. That came in handy when my fundy brother in law said he dumped his girlfriend for not knowing who Lydia was (the "seller of purple"), and wanted to know if I knew. He's more fundy in some ways than I was, less in others (different branches of charismania vs tradition). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wadori Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Yeah, I read it through from beginning to end once, but most parts I've read over many times. Don't ask me how I could accept it as being "god's word", but I was young. That's my excuse. Lots of violence and sex. (Many "men of god" went through a few prostitutes or concubines along the way.) Not too much drugs, unless the stuff those priests put in their censors is more potent than I realize. Now I've read through the whole damned thing again, but with quite a different perspective, because I am writing a parody of it. (All those years of Bible study ought to be worth something to me. Maybe I can make a buck or two off my book.) The Bible isn't the dullest read. The Koran gets my vote on that (although at least it's a bit shorter.) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
★ Citsonga ★ Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 Yes, I have read the entire Bible twice (KJV & NIV) and the NT four times, plus a bunch of additional reading that wasn't straight-through (including other translations, most notably NASB), as well as a significant amount of memorizing (NIV). It's mind-boggling that I was so indoctrinated that I fully believed that what I was reading really was the Word of God. It was only after seeing irreconcilable discrepancies during systematic studies that I began questioning. These days I don't read it much anymore, but on the rare occasions that I do, it looks completely different from what it did when I read it through brainwashed eyes. I've considered reading the whole thing again now as a skeptic, but alas I always feel that my time could be better spent doing something far more useful and enjoyable. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1989 Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 I came so close, stopping at the last two books of the Old Testament (read the New Testament first). After reading how God was going to punish the Jews over three books I gave it all up as torture-porn. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lerk Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 I never read it straight through, even though the church would occasionally hand out a plan to read it through in a year before January 1st. But I went to Bible class and worship Sunday morning, worship Sunday night, and Bible class Wednesday night, so I didn't feel like I was missing anything. Every once in a while I'll see something in the Bible that I don't remember reading before, but it doesn't happen a lot. My older son became an atheist when he decided that he wasn't reading his Bible enough and that he ought to go straight through it. Even if you've seen most of it, when you read straight through you catch a lot of context that you didn't know about. When you do "Bible study" the NT gets imposed on the OT, and you have your context wrong. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator LogicalFallacy Posted October 23, 2018 Moderator Share Posted October 23, 2018 I've read probably 80%, but many parts I've read over and over to the point at one stage I could quote entire chapters. I think if you skip the begats entirely, but read everything else you can claim to have read the entire bible IMO. Genealogies are not going to convince anyone either way 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
★ Citsonga ★ Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 On 10/22/2018 at 4:15 PM, MOHO said: Early on I found the OT to be relevant and, eventually, the NT as well. I'm guessing that you meant irrelevant. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
★ Citsonga ★ Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 23 hours ago, Joshpantera said: Twice, some ten years out of the church. For research reasons. Found a lot of bullshit along the way that I hadn't notice before...... Yeah, I'm sure that a lot more of the bullshit would stand out to me now than even what I noticed during and shortly after my deconversion process. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TruthSeeker0 Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 3 hours ago, Lerk said: My older son became an atheist when he decided that he wasn't reading his Bible enough and that he ought to go straight through it. Even if you've seen most of it, when you read straight through you catch a lot of context that you didn't know about. When you do "Bible study" the NT gets imposed on the OT, and you have your context wrong. The context can look so different when you go back and read the entire thing, instead of bits and pieces taken out of context and put in lesson plans, as some "rules" we are supposed to live by. The behaviour of the biblical patriarchs in particular was enough to make me say enough with this BS, I can't believe I'm teaching young girls to idolize this shit. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShackledNoMore Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 I had read it through the first time by my mid-teens for the Royal Rangers Bible badge. Between the archaic language (KJV), boring material, my young age, and shit that just couldn't register because it didn't make sense, or didn't mesh, it was kind of a blur that I just glossed over. It was far better on the second full read many years later as an atheist with a more readable translation and critical thinking skills. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOHO Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 16 hours ago, Citsonga said: I'm guessing that you meant irrelevant. yes, sir! Thanx for catching that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
◊ DestinyTurtle ◊ Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 I read it almost from cover to cover. There might be a prophet or two, such as Ezekiel, that I did not read all the way through (I did read the juicy bits about psychedelic monsters and wheels though). I even plowed through Deuteronomy and Numbers. There were a couple books I read over and over again, like the book of Revelations. I did it as a kid long before I had the context to understand the implications of some of the stories (Lot got drunk and raped his daughters WHAT??) and I would not recommend children reading that kind of content. I've seen a lot of Christians boast about hot many times they've read the bible, but I've usually found that they just mindlessly plow through it without thought or understanding. They just gloss their eyes over the words so they can boast about how holy they are later. When I read the bible it is deliberate and slow because I was actually trying to understand it (and let's face it, it's a difficult book with a lot of weird historical context). I still don't understand it - but at least I know I don't! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VerbosityCat Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 I didn't read the whole thing. I was too disgusted by it to read the whole thing. I read more than enough, though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TruthSeeker0 Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 12 minutes ago, DestinyTurtle said: (Lot got drunk and raped his daughters WHAT??) and I would not recommend children reading that kind of content. That's about as far as I got, and mind you, I was teaching that (but yes, that little detail was skipped over in the lesson plan). It ranks right up there in my top 3 WTF moments in life. By the time we got to Lot offering his daughters to the crowds I knew I was going to have a really rough time completing my last sunday school year. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
◊ DestinyTurtle ◊ Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 12 minutes ago, TruthSeeker0 said: That's about as far as I got, and mind you, I was teaching that (but yes, that little detail was skipped over in the lesson plan). It ranks right up there in my top 3 WTF moments in life. By the time we got to Lot offering his daughters to the crowds I knew I was going to have a really rough time completing my last sunday school year. I always wondered how Sunday school teachers coped with that! Glad you made it here, though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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