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Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1st Samuel 2nd Samuel 1st King 2nd Kings 1st Chronicles 2nd Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther job psalms proverbs Ecclesiastes song of songs Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habbakuk Zephaniah Haggai Zachariah Malachi
I'm pretty sure I can do the New testament also but I think you get the point.
Something something Bible. I have no idea what any of this means.
It's just the list of the books of the old testament.
I went to a Christian School and one of the tasks one quarter was to memorize them and recite them.
After you've done it a handful of times you realize that there is a rhythm or a cadence to the words and it's easier to memorize them by memorizing the cadence then it is by memorizing the words themselves.
What a useless thing to teach to children. By reciting the names you still don't know anything about the content.
I'm sorry they made you do that.
Not actually reading the content was the point. If you don't read it, you won't learn how fucked up it really is.
I've read the Bible cover to cover multiple times. There's a lot of interesting stuff in there, things that don't make sense in modern times, things that are practically infeasible in the modern world, miracles that haven't been repeated or verified by any measure.
I have many criticisms of modern Christianity, but I still believe in the basic tenets.
Do unto others as you would have God do unto you, or rather (do unto others as they would have done unto them the way that you would have God do unto you, e.g. treat people the way they want to be treated so that you have justification to be treated the way you want to be treated)
Psalms 1: "blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the council of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sin". To me, that reads as "you'll be happier if you keep your nose clean and mind your own fucking business".
However, I cannot abide the concept of original sin. It's absolute baloney. If we are little gods and we are made in the image of god, we are pure beings born into a corrupt world, not corrupt beings living in what should be a perfect world.
However, that does not diminish the sacrifice of Jesus christ, he died to "cross the gap" for us between where "the rising ape meets the falling angel", so to speak, but we are all charged to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.
I believe that there will be people of all races and religions (and absences of religion as well) in heaven, because I believe that God cares a whole lot more about what you do than who you love or what you worship.
My argument for that belief is that modern Christians believe that if you do not accept Jesus Christ you definitely go to hell, no ifs ands or buts.
I'm native American. There are at least 1500 years of my ancestors who never heard of Jesus, never had the chance to hear of Jesus.
If Jesus is the only way then God condemned 1500 years minimum of every single one of my ancestors to eternal hellfire for failing to meet his command when they literally could not meet his command under any circumstances whatsoever.
That would be the act of a monster that must be destroyed.
And forget mormons, they're just making stuff up, Jesus didn't come to America.
Therefore I go back to Paul who said that those who do not have the word will be judged by the tenets of their own heart. I also go by the words of Jesus who, in Luke 16 told us to go and make ourself friends of other religions so that when we fuck up we've got a fall back plan, and if we do that when we meet God in heaven he'll say "good job on getting in my dude".
So yeah, I said all of that to say I'm a fairly heretical Christian but I have read the Bible multiple times back to back and working out my own salvation with fear and trembling has led me here.
Its to help you navigate to the right book when the Pastor says "Open to Revelations 1" and you open to Malachi. It also helps the good little Protestants know that Catholics and Mormons are wrong cause they have extra books. In the context of religious indoctrination it makes sense.
We had a song in Sunday School that was just the books of the Bible. I could hear it in my head while reading your post.
I had to do that too. Luckily I dont remember past the first five.
Aaargh, me too. I can still hear Sister Bernadette singing and see her little spectacled face bobbing from side to side as she taught us the songs.