I just realized...

[Mouthwash]

I've never actually read the Bible. I probably know all of the content in it from a lifetime of books or sermons, but I have no idea what it actually says. I've never read the Talmud either.

I also realized this is probably common, even with religious people. Am I right?

 

[Bugfatty300]

I tried to read it once out of sheer boredom in a hotel room. Not even self-proclaimed Christians like to read it and I can see why. However pocket-sized bible pages make for perfect wadding if you like to shoot old muskets.

 

[AdamCrock]

I couldn't get through the Old Testament myself - to boring genealogy tree of Moses ... skip, skip, skip, Apocalypse = Fun ! Read the whole thing - it felt like a good horror flick but apart from that it's mostly boring oh and the "Jesus Adventures" - Please fogive me the title , I sincerly hope I will not offend religious persons by saying "Jesus Adventures" - were cool too I like to read it by parts and often at random - for example: I ask a question adressed to God in my mind and I open the Bible on a random page - I think he kinda responds to me by showing me a page. Once I asked God in my mind "Why am I so bad" and I believe he pointed me to a text in the Book of Laws (I think it's chapter name) where some guy explains to another that one does a horrible thing to another when he drinks too much wine and doesn't have a job ! I was shocked how this was accurate for me at that time...

 

[Old Hippy]

I've read it, start to finnish, mind you I would read the back of the Coco-pops packet every day at breakfast too, and once went along to bible study class with a friend, horrible experience they would break passages into fragments till they were in agreement and I was just plain wrong by looking ay the whole sentence and its relationship to the following and procceeding sentence, mind you they were all mostly young preachers from different faiths and it was an interdenominational study group of people who already knew alot, I never went a second time.

 

[Kyriakos]

The apocalypse is ok (at least some passages). The gospel by John is ok too. Most of the parables are boring in my view. Λεγεών εσμέν* -"We are Legion"- is a nice moment. The old testament seems badly written (or rather worse written than even the NT) and is generally more one-sided and even more absurd in a "i am god, i made you so i can kill you anytime i feel like it" way.

* Full form being 'Λεγεὼν ὄνομά μοι, ὅτι πολλοί ἐσμεν', meaning "Legion is my name, for we are many".

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I started reading the bible because of rock opera.

Back in 1978, both my neighbor's daughter (one of the kids I babysat) and the granddaughter of one of my grandmother's friends got parts in the children's chorus of a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. My grandmother thought we should go to see it, and at first I dragged my heels (an atheist, watching a religious-themed musical?). But I did go, and was completely blown away. The show was amazing, and because part of the lyrics helpfully pointed out "It's all there in Chapter thirty-nine of Genesis" I knew where to look to see what the play was supposed to be about. So I read the relevant chapters of Genesis, and saw the play twice more (I knew my mother would like the part where Pharaoh did his Elvis impression, and the last time was just because I enjoyed it).

The following year I started working backstage in the theatre, and a couple of years after that, we did Jesus Christ Superstar. Some of the songs baffled me, so again I decided to read up about the source material the play was based on.

Fast-forward a lot of years, and on to another production of Joseph; this time it was performed at Red Deer College, and as one of the front-of-house crew, I was allowed to see the play for free. This was also a very good production (someone who had seen Donny Osmond's version in Edmonton said ours was better). Where this led was me deciding to check out a series of novels by Peter Danielson - the Children of the Lion series. This series is based on the Old Testament, using biblical characters interacting with a dynasty of characters of Danielson's invention, and tying the stories to the books of Genesis, Exodus, etc. (the story of Joseph, among other strands of the overall series, runs from volume II-VII, with the main events occurring in volumes IV and V). I got curious about just how closely the novels matched the source material they were based on, so that's why I started reading the Old Testament.

 

[Leifmk]

I have, in fact, read the whole thing, many years ago so most of the details are forgotten. There's lots of interesting stuff in there but the pacing and editing is kind of awkward.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

I tried a few times in my childhood to read it cover to cover. I kept getting bogged down somewhere in Genesis. Should probably try to read it and skip the parts that aren't that interesting.

 

[classical_hero]

The only bits I haven't read are the massive genealogies in 1 Chronicles. Otherwise I have basically read the whole Bible.

 

[Smellincoffee]

I've read the entire bible through several times, though I'm sure I skimmed the columns of begats. I haven't read the Deuterocanonical stuff, the books Martin Luther axed, but I'm working on it. I was raised in a sola scriptura Pentecostal church that placed a HEAVY emphasis on knowing all of the Bible, and even during my nonreligious years it retained a fascination for me. Now I'm somewhere between faith and skepticism, that happy place called Anglicanism.

 

[Zack]

I've read the four gospels in their entirety, and other bits here and there. It's pretty dry reading.

 

[JollyRoger]

I read it several times as a youth (had a calendar in the back where you read a little bit of the OT and the NT per day).

I am currently in the middle of a close reading of the Bible (have made it through the Protestant OT and now reading the books that they deemed not worthy to make the cut).

 

[Peuri]

I also realized this is probably common, even with religious people. Am I right?

I am almost positive most christians haven't read their Bible. That's probably not a big deal since most of the central doctrines of christianity arn't really unquestionably deductible from the passages that are in the Bible. And some of the stuff in there is just plain weird if you arn't a historian (or otherwise in the know) of the kinks of the particular age when some of the stuff was written in.

I'm not religious and I can't boast to have read the bible. I read the Book of Revelation during my Confirmation camp, because all the other stuff they tried to teach us was exceedingly boring, and because I tried to be badass like that. I've read alot of the Brick Bible because that stuff is just hilarious.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I've read the new testament in its entirety, but not the old testament.

In response to Valka, I'd say that anyone who has listened to the soundtrack of JC Superstar more than a couple times probably has the gist of it as well as someone who has read the whole thing.

 

[Joecoolyo]

I haven't personally. But I'm pretty sure I've heard most of it, as opposed to reading it. As a kid I went to synagogue with my dad a lot (oneg is a fantastic motivator), and how synagogue worked was that we'd pray for a bit, then the rabbi would read that week's section of the Torah. The goal of course being, week by week we'd end up reading the whole Torah (Rosh Hashanah celebrates finishing the Torah, and starting again.)

Not sure if this is how church operates for Christians, or for Muslims as well, but this is how services work in Judaism.

 

[Kennigit]

I don't think I've ever actually touched a Bible.

I'm sure it'd burst in flames in my heathen hands.

 

[Mouthwash]

I haven't personally. But I'm pretty sure I've heard most of it, as opposed to reading it. As a kid I went to synagogue with my dad a lot (oneg is a fantastic motivator), and how synagogue worked was that we'd pray for a bit, then the rabbi would read that week's section of the Torah. The goal of course being, week by week we'd end up reading the whole Torah (Rosh Hashanah celebrates finishing the Torah, and starting again.)

Not sure if this is how church operates for Christians, or for Muslims as well, but this is how services work in Judaism.

Yes, fellow Jew.

 

[JollyRoger]

Given its violent and sexual content, I am shocked I was allowed to read it as a youth.

 

[timtofly]

Given its violent and sexual content, I am shocked I was allowed to read it as a youth.

Would it have made a difference?

 

[JollyRoger]

I would have stoned a few less people.