Reading the Bible

[RobertX]

I think that's an overwhelming amount of information. I still need to re-read again and again.

I think a good piece of literature, be it a work of fiction or a treatise, can be informative without holding anyone's hand.

In the movie "Green Mile," which explores itself in the issue of the death penalty, there were inmates who are on death row who are executed. These guys come from all parts of life. Some are good, some are monsters, and some are innocent. Good people are there, but they are executed for something they did, so the death penalty can be construed by the author to be something fair (although I don't agree with that assessment), and some good people are executed for something they didn't do but are punished because of the common view and prejudice, so, at the same time, the death penalty can also be construed as something that can be abused. It's originally a novel by Stephen King and made into a film starring Tom Hanks.

Of course, informational literature has to hold your hand because that's what's it's designed to do, but we can talk about that in another topic.

Back to Green Mile. A piece of literature that spreads a certain message will give you all the information you need, but you have to decide what you get out of it, not being hand-held.

On the other hand, documentaries by Michael Moore ("Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 11/9") are something different. He tells you what to think and gives you little room to explore the issue yourself. I like his approach in that his stuff is not baseless, but it tells you to believe something because it doesn't think you're smart enough to do so, even if the end result is that you'll agree with him.

Which of the aforementioned forms do you think the Bible takes, Green Mile or Michael Moore?

[vimcontrole]

By framing the Bible in a way or another you are missing the point, it is more than 60 books and 6000 years of knowledge for Kings.

The books that are history they had to document the history perfectly because the people who kept the books had reputation to keep it perfectly as it happened also it was a crime sentenced by death by the kings if anything fake was document, didnt matter if it was burning the kings reputation. It is not the same thing as writers today.

By comparing with Michael Moore, you can see his agendas by the way his exposes only what matters to his agenda, as you know politics agendas are ruling almost everything now a days and they dont care if everything is perfect, its not a crime sentenced by death.

In the time the bible was documented it was imperative to the kings that their children know what works and what doesnt work for survival and the good of the people. If anything was wrong the next king or all the nation could die by missing real knowledge.
It is not possible to compare to a documentary that there is no penalty if it is wrong or if they dont care if their children dies for using its false information.

So the question is: Would you trust your life and every one you love, also all the society in some information of a documentary if that there is no penalty if they recorded a fake knowledge in it also by incentive more sells if something was "interesting" even if was not true?
Any false document can never be compared with a real document. Your life depends on it even today. Imagine if today a little lie in document was written saying vaccines are safe but they are actually killing people? Would you be able to compare it with the real document that supposedly would save you life? Would the fake document give you knowledge?

By comparing with "Green Mile" You are also framing it in something that isnt real. Supernatural, super powers and magic. The bible say otherwise.

If you are categorizing it in something it would be something that doesnt exists yet. It has several ways to tell you history. Even using songs and poems. It tells the emotions of people, even the future and it is not sci fy. It is history that didnt happen (some did), maybe it does have a category and i dono it. It is historical documents with entertainment and comparisons and knowledge. It is alot of different things.

When you read the Bible you will see the authors were documenting everything that mattered to understand reality and God, the prophets used to talk to God (as the lady did with me in this days) i dont know that category, maybe fiction, but it was true, what category is that? "Real fiction"?

It also there is no opinion in it, it doesnt try to explain things, it just says what happened exactly as it happened and you are the one trying to figure out what happened. Maybe this one has a category.

Did i miss understood you, if i did, can you elaborate it please?

[RobertX]

No, you didn't misunderstand me; you saw through my attempts and made a hole in one (of them).

[parallelsurvival]

I read this topic months ago, and only now I get it, vimcontrole. You are trying to explain something you learned that can't be easily explained. That's why you wrote so many pages. When you acquire the human experiences the authors passes to you throught the printings, you learn things that are... how should i
put it? "The WEIRDNESS of your individuality" as nobody else you are talking to had this experiences. Those are your unique experiences. Everybody have this "wierdness" in a way or another but they hide it, its is not popular and for trying to explain it, i thank you. This is true philosophy right there, learning things that are really hard to explain to others, maybe impossible i dare to say. As more experiences you acquire, more you understand the reality (or the the truth). These things you talk about are parts of reality i don't understand... yet.

[MicroTitan]

My two cents about reading the Bible.
Personally, I read it so that I can identify what God is doing in my life and to know how to best communicate with Him.
As an example, my family experienced a tremendous loss over the past six months, near February 2023. We were unable to pay our bills and faced eviction from our home, it was a really tough time.
As soon i received this devastating news, i went to my bed alone, closed the door behind me and prayed in a very quiet and discreet manner, almost as if only moving my lips so that nobody could hear me: "God, it would be great to hear Your voice. If You want to talk with me, I would really appreciate it. But I understand that it's not necessary for You to speak because You're already in control of everything - even though this world is plagued by thieves, corruption and disease due to people who do not follow what You've asked us to do. It's just as you said when you created this world. However, I also know that we were created for happiness and prosperity and good health which is what You want for us all. I know You are always in control of everything, including this sad situation I'm in. I'm only asking You because my soul requires it, it would mean everything to hear You say that You're taking care of everything."
Two days later, while I was at work, a random client approached me and said: 'I know this might sound strange, but God told me to tell you that you will never go hungry. You'll always have food on your table.' He continued by saying "I don't know what difficulties you are are facing because you don't look like someone who have any problems but i felt compelled to share the message with you.'. After thanking him for his kindness, we carried on our conversation as if nothing out of ordinary had happened. That month, we borrowed some money from a family member to pay our house bills. After that, our income returned to normal and today our fridge is full again.
What does the Bible have to do with this? My prayer was in line with what the Bible teaches. God is the King, and I always try to show Him respect when talking to Him. He's the most important, powerful, wise, loving and kind person in the universe and I deeply respect that. I knew how to pray by following examples shown in the Bible. It taught me that God desires to talk with us, loves us, helps us and takes care of us ONLY IF we deeply want that too and we will always face consequences whether they're from our own mistakes or from others unless we give God the right to rule our life, guiding us to make better choices. Reading the Bible is to know God completely. One problem I see is that people don't take the time to learn what God truly wants because they assume they already know. This cause them to become fearful, judgmental and reject something very good for them
The Bible is the personal journal of God's work throughout history and it provides examples of how He has intervened in people's lives over time.
This approach has always worked.

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I read this topic months ago, and only now I get it, vimcontrole. You are trying to explain something you learned that can't be easily explained. That's why you wrote so many pages. When you acquire the human experiences the authors passes to you throught the printings, you learn things that are... how should i
put it? "The WEIRDNESS of your individuality" as nobody else you are talking to had this experiences. Those are your unique experiences. Everybody have this "wierdness" in a way or another but they hide it, its is not popular and for trying to explain it, i thank you. This is true philosophy right there, learning things that are really hard to explain to others, maybe impossible i dare to say. As more experiences you acquire, more you understand the reality (or the the truth). These things you talk about are parts of reality i don't understand... yet.

As I mentioned earlier, I have experienced similar things to vimcontrole which are not uncommon when you ask God for it.
Vimcontrole's approach can be highly intellectual and may not suit everyone's needs. It mostly caters to people who have studied extensively like yourself; however, every individual has their own perspective about details, some people care about them while others don't. In my case, I prefer to keep it simple by acknowledging that there are many things beyond my understanding and God can do anything since He created everything and reigns supreme over all.
I think i am like he said a "blind believer," I know deep down that God is a loving person who always wants the best for us. Sometimes when the problem doesn't come from us, we ask God for relief and He listens. Additionally, when we seek guidance and inquire about what we are doing wrong, He teaches us so that we can fix our mistakes.
Vimcontrole is right when he said that studying and experience is like gravity we just believe in it because it always works and never fails. Similarly, with God, our faith grows stronger as we witness His promises being fulfilled time and again, you just need to recognize the patterns of history and comparing it to what is written in the Bible, it proves that He is always truthful and does what He says He will do. Actually, not only can you compare generic history to what is written in the Bible, but you can also compare your personal history.

This post was very informative for me

[RobertX]

How do you think God treats "pirates?"

[tcwa920900]

"God told me to tell you that you will never go hungry. You'll always have food on your table."




and its just endless what "the big man", can do. ~ Very Inspiring, Thank you!

[leninski]

I'm done reading the whole Bible!!

The day I finished reading it, I started reading it again.

I read it from time to time, sometimes 20 pages one after the other.

I often change where I read the Bible, so I actually use multiple bookmarks. For me, it's not a good idea to read the Bible from beginning to end. I prefer to read according to my desire of the moment.

Sometimes I read poetry, which can be found in the Wisdom section, such as the Song of Solomon; sometimes I read apocalyptic literature, like Daniel; sometimes I read in the History section, like I Kings. Sometimes I read Prophecy or Letters from Paul.

So I started reading the Bible again, in this order: Epistle to the Hebrews, Book of Revelation, Genesis, Acts of the Apostles. I am currently reading Jeremiah.

Here is a good list of literary genres in the Bible:

The Law
History
Wisdom
Prophecy

Gospels
Acts of the Apostles
Epistles
Revelation

[RobertX]

How long did it take reading the whole Bible?

[leninski]

I started to read it the 15th of June 1993,

I finished it the 25th of July 2023.

So, it took me 30 years and 1 month to read the whole Bible.

But some books like Genesis, the Gospels or Revelation, I red them more than once.