What books/parts of the Bible should someone who is interested in the Bible as literature read?

Question

I'm looking for a list from someone who is familiar with the Bible of books or sections that are of particular literary significance. I am not looking for what someone finds most uplifting or meaningful, but rather the sections that have had the most influence on western thought.

Essentially: I want to be able to understand the Bible's impact on western culture, but I don't want to read the entire thing at this point. So what is most important for me to read?

Thank you. :)

Answer 1

http://crain.english.missouriwestern.edu/bible_as_literature/chapter_one.htm

This is an excellent link from a professor who lists specific types of literature in the Bible and specific places in the Bible where you can find an example of each.

Answer 2

The Book of Genesis, as that starts with the Creation, and also has a lot of the famous Bible stories in it, such as the story of Noah and his Ark, the Tower of Babel, and most importantly, the story of Abraham, which is very important to understanding not simply the Bible, but the three main monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The Book of Job is often assigned as literature, and is quite short. I think it's popularity has to do with the fact that it addresses the question of why bad things happen to good people. However, I don't think its contents are really important to Western thought.

In the New Testament, I think you can probably get away with reading the four main Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Paul's books, such as his Epistle to the Romans (also called simply Romans) and his Epistles to the Corinthians (called First and Second Corinthians) have had a tremendous influence on Western thought, because he interpreted the gospel. His works had a great influence on the young Christian church and on the works of later Christian writers. However, I personally prefer the simple Gospels, which tell of the actual events, and in every history or literature class where we read Paul's writings, we read the Gospels first, as a foundation.

So, in summary, I would say you should hit Genesis, in the Old Testament, and then Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament. Paul, who is one of the most prolific writers in the Bible, is optional, even if he has had a lot of influence. My recommendations are based on the fact that I studied English in college, and those were the books we had to read (along with Paul) when reading as literature, and also the fact that when you read history, those are the ones that end up being assigned as having influence on Western thought and later theologians.

(From a purely artistic point of view, you should also just briefly read a few of the Psalms. They are extremely beautiful in the King James Version of the Bible, and the language of the era really stands out in that context, but that's only if you are interested in language for the sake of language.)

Answer 3

I'd read the Gospels if you're interested in the influences on western culture. I'd start with the Book of Matthew, then read the other three. I'd consider the rest of the New Testament irrelevant as far as modern western culture is concerned.

Answer 4

According to the list of 100 meaningful books (formerly, great) of all time as listed in the attached web site, The Book of Job (No. 43) in the Old Testament is recommended to read as literature. As for the others, you might consult some professors for recent research or definitive texts/references on the matter.

Answer 5

Genesis.

The Book of Job (important to understand the notion of tragedy).

Psalms (beautiful, and important in Western protestant culture).

Ecclesiastes: for the notion of vanity.

Matthew.

Romans.


Edit: I forgot the Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon. Beautiful as well, love poetry.
The Book of Revelation (or the Apocalypse) is also important.


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Answer 6

I would think the Gospels would give you what you are looking for; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Answer 7

Genesis, Matthew, and Romans.