Reply to: Bible reviews

[d000hg]

20 years, probably. They're a ncie set of stories but there are hundreds of nice sets of stories; it's a new thing to have the massive film tie in which distorts things, but also means next year it'll be something else.

I can't see HP making the 'canon' in the same way Just William, Billy Bunter and Famous Five did, and I don't even know if those are still well-known to modern kids (I hope so).

[nomadd]

Such as? Euclid was 300BCE, Pythagoras ~600BCE.

The Greeks? Late arrivals on the scene (and as is famously known, the Pythagorean theorem was both known and utilised by Indian and Egyptian mathematicians centuries before the birth of Pythagoras.) Summerian and Egyptian mathematicians pre-date the Greek mathematicians by over 1500 years.

But, of course, the point I was making was that they were doing something intellectual challenging - not simply making up stories to entertain/control the masses.

The consensus among scholars about, for example, the book of Ezekiel (another x-rated portion of the Bible), is mostly the writings of one man who lived in Babylonia during the exile of Judah, about ~500BCE. The first chapter of Genesis is from about the same time - that's when most of the deuteronomical history was put together as well. The earliest portions - mostly in the first 15 chapters of Genesis - come from before 2000BCE - though again, the compilation and editing was during the exile. I struggle with the idea that texts originating between ~4000 and 1800 years old can be described as "modern".

Well, as I stated, if it's simple story telling, then look at the work of Homer (8th century BCE) and its sources - an oral tradition of story telling that stretches back many, many thousands of years. That oral tradition goes back many tens of thousands of years, certainly well into pre-history. Pictorial representations of hunting stories and the traditions surrounding them have been dated to 40,000 years ago. So, as I said, the current crop of religions are based on relatively modern stories and lead characters (so-called "prophets".)

I'd be surprised if Rowling is still well known in 20 years.

Like I said, who knows? I don't follow her work myself, but I honestly think she will still be pretty well known in 20 years. Don't underestimate the power of marketing and greed - these have a habit of keeping stories going far longer than their shelf-life; visit a local church and its resident preacher for a fine example of this.

[d000hg]

There used to be a great satirical website called The Brick Testament a few years ago, depicting scenes from the Bible in Lego. It's still online, but it's now basically just an advert for the same material that's been converted to e-book format.

Brick Testament is/was wonderful, and I don't recall it being satire. I've see it used in quite a few sermons

[NotAllThere]

...
In which case I suggest you research the history of mathematics. Some truly staggering works, both creatively and intellectually, penned many, many centuries before the Bible and all other leading modern religious texts....

Such as? Euclid was 300BCE, Pythagorous ~600BCE. The consensus among scholars about, for example, the book of Ezekiel (another x-rated portion of the Bible), is mostly the writings of one man who lived in Babylonia during the exile of Judah, about ~500BCE. The first chapter of Genesis is from about the same time - that's when most of the deuteronomical history was put together as well. The earliest portions - mostly in the first 15 chapters of Genesis - come from before 2000BCE - though again, the compilation and editing was during the exile. I struggle with the idea that texts originating between ~4000 and 1800 years old can be described as "modern".

I'd be surprised if Rowling is still well known in 20 years.

[nomadd]

There is nothing wrong in just talking about sex...

...depends what's in your mouth at the time.

[Paddy]

Oral sex between consenting males is mentioned eleven times in the Bible
and never censoriously, yet any mention of it has been edited out of the
Readers Digest condensed version.

There is nothing wrong in just talking about sex...

[mudskipper]

Don't think that was covered in "365 Bible stories for children", which is my reference point.

[darmstadt]

Oral sex between consenting males is mentioned eleven times in the Bible
and never censoriously, yet any mention of it has been edited out of the
Readers Digest condensed version.

[Paddy]

Genesis 19:34

The next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.”

Filth!

[EternalOptimist]

How else would you have answered the question "Where do we come from?" two to three thousand years ago?

or "What are these shells in this rock? We're "miles" away from the sea?"

or "What happens when we die?"

or "How do we keep the general population in line and maintain the status quo? We need something to put the fear of God in to people...

hows about

'I dunno'

[nomadd]

According to the Bible, all of mankind descended
from one man and one woman who had two sons. Think about that.
Take all the time you need.

(Apparently...)

Did they adopt, like Elton John?

[SupremeSpod]

According to the Bible, all of mankind descended
from one man and one woman who had two sons. Think about that.
Take all the time you need.

(Apparently...)

How else would you have answered the question "Where do we come from?" two to three thousand years ago?

or "What are these shells in this rock? We're "miles" away from the sea?"

or "What happens when we die?"

or "How do we keep the general population in line and maintain the status quo? We need something to put the fear of God in to people...

[darmstadt]

According to the Bible, all of mankind descended
from one man and one woman who had two sons. Think about that.
Take all the time you need.

(Apparently...)

[nomadd]

...an extremely influential book and has shaped the lives of millions.

I bet it hasn't shaped as many lives as this one: The Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight: Amazon.co.uk: Hairy Bikers: Books

[mudskipper]

For a moment there I thought the reviews were for the last series of Doctor Who.

Funny, but inaccurate. The parody makes as much sense as a review of the Works of Shakespeare as though it was one narrative. The Bible isn't a single book - it's a collection of over sixty seperate books, encompassing a range of literary genres - history, etiology, biograpy, poetry, historical fiction, sayings, apocalyptic, comedy, tragedy, hero, legal, personal letters, myth, prophecy... and probably a few others. From a literary perspective the King James translation of the Bible is tremendously important, containing some profoundly deep and insightful writing, and has had an enormous effect on the the English language; as much as Shakespeare and the OED. It's also one of the most important examples of ancient writings in existance. Certainly, for me, reading something first put down over twenty centuries ago, and see that the people are "just like us", is something to be respected. How much of Rowling will still be known in 4000AD? Sneering at the Bible just shows the ignorance of those who pretend to have knowledge, but have probably never actually read any of it.

It is a set of books, but with the connection of common 'character' - a bit like David Mitchell's 'Cloud Atlas'.

It is indeed an extremely influential book and has shaped the lives of millions.