Which Book of the Bible is the Greatest?

[Pope Joan]

In terms of personal favourite:

In my younger and more vulnerable years, I was inordinately fond of the royal chronologies of 2 Kings.

Grappling with the problems of the same chronologies gave me my first real taste of some of the issues that would be so important to my later professional career.


In terms of quality of prose:

Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians; especially for the extended sequence in 1 Corinthians 13 that for me stands as one of the great pieces of Classical prose, Biblical or extra-Biblical (honorable mention to the opening five verses of the Gospel of John).


In terms of theologically important:

The Gospel of John, for introducing Hellenistic philosophy to nascent Christianity.

Ned Rorem, master of art song, wrote an outstanding choral setting for 1st Corinthians 13.

[Murkwood]

Ecclesiastes has the best message; Revelation is the most interesting to read. Matthew is probably the best overall. If you wanna get into non-canon shit, Thomas is great.

When it comes to non-canonical, the Protoevangelium of James and the Shepard of Hermas are the only ones worth your time.

[The Archregimancy]

Pah.

We Orthodox don't just have Tobit, we also have an extra Book of Esdras and 3 Maccabees...

And you lot are also a Psalm short.

Reasons to pick Catholicism:
1. Boring Theology
2. The Book of Tobit

Reasons to pick Orthodoxy:
1. Boring Theology
2. The Book of Tobit
3. Psalm 151

Reasons to pick Ethiopian Orthodoxy:
1. Boring Theology
2. The Book of Tobit
3. Psalm 151
4. Book of Enoch
5. Book of Jubilees
6. Prayer of Manasseh
7. I, II, and III Meqabyan

Well, time to convert.

For the Ethiopians you forgot....

8. the 30 canons of Ser`atä Seyon
9. the 71 canons of Te'ezaz
10. the 56 canons of Gessew
11. the 81 canons of Abtelis
12. I Covenant
13. II Covenant
14. Ethiopic Clement
15. Ethiopic Didascalia

[Ifreann]

I found Genesis the most entertaining, but only barely, so I'll have to vote for that. Of course, I couldn't make it past Numbers. Perhaps it picks up later? I doubt it.

If you're looking for entertaining, I would suggest you try the book of Acts. If you don't believe in the Holy Spirit, it certainly will read very much like a fairy tale, but it's full of action, including some guy getting stoned

Blaze 4:20.

[Dumb Ideologies]

Humanity's relationship with God seems to have a lot of parallels with the relationship depicted in Fifty Shades of Grey.

Maybe the Bible isn't meant to be taken literally but instead as porn for middle-aged women.

[Murkwood]

Revelation shouldn't be interpreted literally, which is something many fundamentalists do.

Yeah, it is actually a nice primary source regarding the political climate at the time (e.g. the Four Horsemen are supposed to represent the Parthian Army).

The Whore of Babylon in literally the Catholic Church, guise. "Seven Hills"? "Vicar of the Son of God?" Checkmate, Papists. /s

[Murkwood]

Reasons to pick Catholicism:
1. Boring Theology
2. The Book of Tobit

Reasons to pick Orthodoxy:
1. Boring Theology
2. The Book of Tobit
3. Psalm 151

Reasons to pick Ethiopian Orthodoxy:
1. Boring Theology
2. The Book of Tobit
3. Psalm 151
4. Book of Enoch
5. Book of Jubilees
6. Prayer of Manasseh
7. I, II, and III Meqabyan

Well, time to convert.

For the Ethiopians you forgot....

8. the 30 canons of Ser`atä Seyon
9. the 71 canons of Te'ezaz
10. the 56 canons of Gessew
11. the 81 canons of Abtelis
12. I Covenant
13. II Covenant
14. Ethiopic Clement
15. Ethiopic Didascalia

Those are part of the broader canon, so I didn't include them, but point taken.

[Dalcaria]

Ecclesiastes.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." Always quite appreciated that verse personally.

[Ifreann]

Humanity's relationship with God seems to have a lot of parallels with the relationship depicted in Fifty Shades of Grey.

Maybe the Bible isn't meant to be taken literally but instead as porn for middle-aged women.

Ezekial 23:20 "She lusted after their male consorts, whose sexual organs were like those of donkeys, and whose ejaculation was like that of horses."

[The Archregimancy]

Humanity's relationship with God seems to have a lot of parallels with the relationship depicted in Fifty Shades of Grey.

Maybe the Bible isn't meant to be taken literally but instead as porn for middle-aged women.

Ezekial 23:20 "She lusted after their male consorts, whose sexual organs were like those of donkeys, and whose ejaculation was like that of horses."

I'd link to some of the erotic imagery in the Song of Songs, but the UAE internet filter is blocking me from access.

Let's just say that when the female narrator calls out "blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread everywhere; Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choice fruits", we're perhaps not supposed to be assuming she's literally quite that excited by the prospect of gardening...

[Ashmoria]

nooo

no one knows who wrote the gospels. the names associated with them were added much later.

Correction: no-one knows for certain who wrote the Gospels. Just like how no-one knows for certain that Paul is the writer of all of those letters, and that is why it will say unknown for the author in your Bible, even though it is obviously written by Paul. Tradition tells us that the Gospels are indeed written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but to your credit, I will admit that it has not been proven and probably never will be just because it was written so long ago and it would be highly unlikely to stumble upon an original copy.

no the gospels are a different problem than the letters of paul. they were written without attribution and names were assigned to them later. paul's letters were always attributed to paul but some that were attributed to him have since been decided to not be his actual work.

[Ifreann]

Ezekial 23:20 "She lusted after their male consorts, whose sexual organs were like those of donkeys, and whose ejaculation was like that of horses."

I'd link to some of the erotic imagery in the Song of Songs, but the UAE internet filter is blocking me from access.

I wonder if that's because it's the Bible, or because it's porn...

Let's just say that when the female narrator calls out "blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread everywhere; Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choice fruits", we're perhaps not supposed to be assuming she's literally quite that excited by the prospect of gardening...

Phwoar, etc.

[Devvo Mate]

Which one is the one with all the begats?

Genesis.

[Devvo Mate]

Revelations is my favourite hands down just because of all the mad apocalyptic imagery

[Murkwood]

Which one is the one with all the begats?

Genesis.

Chronicles, actually.

[Yakzistan]

I would say the Gospels and Revelations

[The Archregimancy]

Correction: no-one knows for certain who wrote the Gospels. Just like how no-one knows for certain that Paul is the writer of all of those letters, and that is why it will say unknown for the author in your Bible, even though it is obviously written by Paul. Tradition tells us that the Gospels are indeed written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but to your credit, I will admit that it has not been proven and probably never will be just because it was written so long ago and it would be highly unlikely to stumble upon an original copy.

no the gospels are a different problem than the letters of paul. they were written without attribution and names were assigned to them later. paul's letters were always attributed to paul but some that were attributed to him have since been decided to not be his actual work.

Broadly correct.

The undisputed epistles are:

1 Thessalonians
Philippians
Philemon
1 Corinthians
Galatians
2 Corinthians
Romans

The epistles attributed to Paul that are most likely pseudoepigraphic (ie, written by someone else) are:

1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Ephesians

Opinion is more divided on 2 Thessalonians and Colossians.

There's a 19th-century German school of thought known as the Hauptebriefe (referenced in some of the links I've provided above) that only accepts Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, and Galatians as unquestionably authentic, but the overwhelming majority of modern scholars would accept the list of seven authentic epistles referenced above.

Attribution of Gospel authorship is a more complex issue, but one I regrettably don't have the time to unpick in detail.

[Bunkeranlage]

How would one define "greatest"? I assume, as a Christian, that by "greatness", you mean "most epic an scale and narrative flow".

As a mangaka, I have to say Revelation. It's got some of the most vivid imagery, as well as lots of intricate details that I've never quite been able to do justice to.

[The Empire of Masyaf]

The gospels are the most important but I think Revelation is most interesting.

[The Third Nova Terra of Scrin]

Reasons to pick Catholicism:
1. Boring Theology
2. The Book of Tobit

Reasons to pick Orthodoxy:
1. Boring Theology
2. The Book of Tobit
3. Psalm 151

Reasons to pick Ethiopian Orthodoxy:
1. Boring Theology
2. The Book of Tobit
3. Psalm 151
4. Book of Enoch
5. Book of Jubilees
6. Prayer of Manasseh
7. I, II, and III Meqabyan

Well, time to convert.

For the Ethiopians you forgot....

8. the 30 canons of Ser`atä Seyon
9. the 71 canons of Te'ezaz
10. the 56 canons of Gessew
11. the 81 canons of Abtelis
12. I Covenant
13. II Covenant
14. Ethiopic Clement
15. Ethiopic Didascalia

Well, I for one, as a Protestant, like the Bible lite version.

[Dalcaria]

How would one define "greatest"? I assume, as a Christian, that by "greatness", you mean "most epic an scale and narrative flow".

As a mangaka, I have to say Revelation. It's got some of the most vivid imagery, as well as lots of intricate details that I've never quite been able to do justice to.

I think everyone likes Revelations. I have an atheist-agnostic friend who really enjoys writing, and he's told me that on multiple occasions while writing, he always starts slipping into vague metaphors and references to parts of revelations and other parts of the Bible. It's kind of funny actually, given that I usually try to avoid serious Biblical inserts into my stories, outside of maybe having Christianity or a hybridization of it present (ie. the Abrahamic God may be present without any specific reference to the Bible itself, Christ, or anything else that is a major influence on Christianity). Anyways, it's just ironic given me being the Christian and he not being one. But honestly, I never found direct inserts of Christianity into the story to flow very well for me, and it also felt vaguely presumptuous, like I was assuming to have some higher knowledge. At any rate, didn't like it, so I skip it. I do enjoy Revelations myself though, and the end raised some questions for myself. For instance, when God judges all mankind, do people who did good in their lives get considered for the New Jerusalem based on their actions? Possibly, and I will admit that I hope that in many ways. Anyways, I'm rambling, so I'll leave you with that.

[Jetan]

Whichever has Job in it. It nicely highlights the nature of god and the boss-henchman relationship between god and satan.

Book of the Helix Fossil.

Praise the Helix!

[Dalcaria]

Whichever has Job in it. It nicely highlights the nature of god and the boss-henchman relationship between god and satan.

Book of the Helix Fossil.

Praise the Helix!

Wouldn't the book with Job in it be the book of Job?

[Jetan]

Whichever has Job in it. It nicely highlights the nature of god and the boss-henchman relationship between god and satan.


Praise the Helix!

Wouldn't the book with Job in it be the book of Job?

It would indeed. I don't know where that brainfart came from.

[Ifreann]

Wouldn't the book with Job in it be the book of Job?

It would indeed. I don't know where that brainfart came from.

Satan did it.