read the bible as literature.

This was posted as a comment to me on Be a better Pagan, by this VioletDreamer finds that ‘Unusual travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God’ because until now there were no posts on this goal to comment on I am cutting and pasting the list here so that I know where to look for it when the time comes that I need it, that and it might help others with the same goal:

Just thot i’d pass on some reccommended reading on your “read bible as literature” goal. i’ve been at this ‘religious studies’ thang for about 14 yrs now, and amoung the many hyperbole muck books out there, are some decent biblical studies lit…

* Reading the Old Testament by Lawrence Boadt (a good overview anthology)

• “Epic of Gilgamesh”, and “The Enuma Elish” (any penguin classics edition)(these are contemporary texts that the ancient Israelites drew on for many stories/parables in Genesis
• a good scholars edition of the bible, like either “the Oxford Study Bible” or “Harper Collins Study Bible” (i like the ‘Oxford’ for its articles, but the ‘Harper’ has better notes)(and yes, i have both :)
• The Tanakh – published by The Jewish Publication Society (what we wrongly call the OT, this is the Masoretic translation of the original scriptures, authorized by the people who Created it)
• Genesis to Exodus by Everett Fox (prominant scholar & his critical translation of the Torah/Pentauch)
• From Text to Tradition by Lawrence Schiffman (covers period btwn 2nd Temple to early Xtian sects)
• Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography by John Dominic Crossan (and pretty much anything by Crossan, but this is my fav)
• Myth & Ritual in Christianity by Alan Watts (the perennial allegorical interpretation of christuanity)
• Texts produced by The Jesus Seminar (esp “the Five Gospels”)(about 25 of the world’s scholars on scripture & translations, who have critically examined biblical stories)
• the Origin of Satan by Elaine Pagels (shows how our modern view the so-called ‘satan’ is really a product of the middle ages perspective, not biblical)(tho we re-interpret it such)

And good authors in general are Marcus Borg, Wayne Meeks, James Robinson, Geza Vermes (tho his books are Very dense & academic), G.R.S. Mead,,,and anything you can find of history from 1000 b.c.e to 500 c.e. (i find that only by studying the historical background to times that the scriptures were written deepens one’s understanding to what the they were writing “against”)

hope these help. I find the more i study the bible, and all its background, the better i understand ALL religious, and see more parallels and similarities than differences. It also helped me get over my utter contempt for Xtianity that i’d always had (for reasons i still dont understand), & just accept that altho its not my path, i can see how & why it developed, and reconcil my own beliefs without being “defensive”.