Wednesday 28 May 2008

Why doesnt the bible have me on the edge of my seat?

A top notch speech writer will get their point across in a way that even an idiot can understand. They will explain even the most complex issues in a way that even the most retarded person on the planet can understand without even thinking. They will make sure that their oponents cannot twist their words and leave no ambiguities.

Now imagine a novelist who had a writing style that meant it took years of studying their works before you knew what they were on about.

Someone like Dan Brown has these qualities, his arguments, plot line etc are easy to follow. Is his true for the bible? No. Why wouldn't skydaddyum have written the bible to be like the da vinci code? Think about it, Bart Ehrman asks how many people have read the bible and how many have read the da vinci code. if the bible was the word of a skydaddy the wouldnt reading it have you on the edge of your seat instead of the da vinci code?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

The documents that were compiled to form the text known as The Bible were written in a different time, for a different audience, and for a different purpose than The DaVinci Code. Therefore, it has to be read in a different way than The DaVinci Code.
Tell me... In High school, did you read Shakespeare the same way you read the DaVinci Code?

Nick said...

Because you don't know how to appreciate fine literature and you expect everything to be packaged for you in a way you prefer.

FiFi said...

Hang on one cotton-pickin' minute there. Shakespeare at least makes some kind of sense!! I studied Shakespeare at school as part of literature. The Bible surfaced nowhere as part of my formal education, that was my own study when I believed all that clap-trap. Don't insult the Bard by comparing his work to a vastly inferior piece of writing.

Chaotic void - what is the best way to read the Bible then? Upside-down? Using x-ray specs? Honestly, you guys crack me up!!!

Nick said...

Sorry Fifi. The Bible has to make some kind of sense to you if you're arguing contradictions. After all, how can you say "I have no clue what the author is saying here" and "I have no clue what the author is saying here as well" and then say "But I know they contradict!"

Anonymous said...

Fifi... The best way to read the Bible is to read it like any other form of older literature and do some research in regards to the culture of the time [it's also a good thing to know a bit of the original language[s] it was written in, but that's optional].
Doing that really helps put things into context. I'm amused with the fact that an alleged "Free Thinker" like yourself didn't figure that out when you were studying Shakespeare, as the same principles apply in both situations.

And like Nick said, you can't say that "it doesn't make sense", then say that "it Contradicts" without being contradictory yourself. It has to make sense to you before you can say that it is contradictory.

JB said...

I'm going to have to venture that this post is one of the most terrible arguments I've ever seen. And I've seen a great deal of horror in my days.

Anonymous said...

"No. Why wouldn't skydaddyum have written the bible to be like the da vinci code?"

Because he wanted a well written piece of literture instead of a crappy pulp novel?

Anonymous said...

Sorry about the double post, I hit post too soon

"Now imagine a novelist who had a writing style that meant it took years of studying their works before you knew what they were on about."

That could be just about any good piece of literture. Most good literture actually has multipule levels of meaning. Theres a surface level where the story is, but as you dig deeper new meanings emerge.

Dante was a master of this. On the surface his Divine Comedy is about a guy's journy through the afterlife, but he underscoared it with all of his political and religious beliefs. As well as a number of barbs against his enemies.

A modern author who does this well is Orson Scott Card. Ender's Game is on the surface about a kid who is raised to kill aliens threatening earth. But if you read it all sorts of moral and political questions emerge, and while Card is excellent at provokeing questions, he's not so good at answering them. Which leads to all sorts of interesting discussions on any of his works.