I've given up. I was trying to listen to the entire Old Testament, but it's finally beaten me. I got through Job and started on Psalms and I just can't do any more.
The Koran was a total drag, but this is the Koran times a hundred. At least the Koran was relatively short and full of repetitive chaff where you could tune out or yell at the windshield in unison with the Koran's endlessly repeated boilerplate paragraphs.
I've got some thoughts on the Old Testament that I'll leave for another blog post. In the meantime, I've decided to move on to something more modern and relevant - Edmund Burke's
Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790).
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| Edmund Burke. A smart guy and a snappy dresser. |
Yeah, I hear you. That's about where I couldn't take it anymore, too. Back when I was a kid I was always hearing certain people enthuse about what a great piece of literature the Bible was, so I was kind of expecting more. In my opinion, while it does have its moments here and there, the actual "litarary masterpiece" parts could probably be turned into maybe a 20-page pamphlet. The bulk of it is pretty dire, ranging from insipid and repetitious to incomprehensible - particularly the books of the Prophets. I will grant that the New Testament is a lot more readable than the Old, probably because it was more tightly edited over a shorter period of time, and the translations were mostly done by very dedicated and capable translators. But even that I don't think mostly rises above "serviceable" as far as literary quality.
ReplyDeletePhilosophy and theology books always have a limited appeal. To me, the question is whether or not it seems True. Theology, like any science or philosophy, has undergone an evolution since Ogg started it in 25,000 BC. To me, the Old Testament is the first real effort to thrash out the whole thing, sort of the way the early chemists tried to figure out compounds and atoms.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm not reading them for the literary value, but to try to learn what it is they're saying. In that, the Bible, new and old and the Koran have it all over Nietzsche and a few others who write like they wanted us all to suffer.
Job in particular was interesting, but good Lord, you're right, it could have been 8 pages instead of the 4000 it felt like.