Bible as Literature Challenge

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Adam at Roof Beam Reader is setting up a very ambitious challenge for 2016.  (He's also dropping the TBR Challenge, so we'll have to find others.)  Adam says:

About the Event: The Christian bible is one of the most influential texts in western literature. As someone who reads literature for pleasure/edification and who teaches Literature in English at the college level, I frequently re-familiarize myself with many historically rich texts from a variety of mythologies and cultures....


As a special note, I will be reading the bible as literature and crafting my posts as such. This challenge is not specific to nor exclusively meant for Christians; instead, it is for readers who are interested in learning more about a very important text in the western canon. As such, I invite anyone and everyone to participate, regardless of faith or lack thereof. Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Atheist, Hindu, Agnostic, Mormon, Humanist? Come along!

What I would love is a lively and spirited discussion of the stories, philosophies, history, and cultural issues. We might discuss allegory, parables, comparative religion, metaphor, and symbolism to name just a few topics. The text will be treated respectfully and the discussions will follow in that same spirit — disparaging remarks about anyone’s beliefs will not be tolerated (and therefore all comments will be moderated). We’ll do our best!...

The Reading Plan
  • January: Genesis 1 through Exodus 40
  • February: Leviticus 1 through Deuteronomy 4
  • March: Deuteronomy 5 through 1 Samuel 17
  • April: 1 Samuel 18 through 1 Chronicles 2
  • May: 1 Chronicles 3 through Esther 10
  • June: Job 1 through Psalms 89
  • July: Psalms 90 through Isaiah 17
  • August: Isaiah 18 through Ezekiel 8
  • September: Ezekiel 9 through Zechariah 14
  • October: Malachi 1 through Luke 18
  • November: Luke 19 through 1 Corinthians 8
  • December: 1 Corinthians 9 through Revelations 22
Adam has chosen a fun edition of the KJV to read--the B&N edition with Doré illustrations, which will be easy for anyone else to get too.  I thought about getting a copy, but it's $20, and since I already have several KJVs sitting around the house, it seemed silly to get a new one just because it has cool illustrations (that I can borrow from my mom's house).  Anyway, it is not a rule to read the KJV -- read whatever edition you want.

I don't actually plan to post about this challenge here--I'll read along and participate in the discussions, which will be posted on Mondays.  I'll maintain an image link on my sidebar, but that's about all you'll hear from me here, I think.  If you want to join in, pop on over to Adam's blog to sign up.

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 4, 2015 at 6:06 PM

    What a great challenge! I'm super looking forward to reading more about it. You definitely won't be posting about it on your blog? Not even linking to the ongoing discussions?

    ReplyDelete
  2. JeanDecember 4, 2015 at 11:17 PM

    Hm, I might link up, that's a pretty good idea. :)

    ReplyDelete

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