Forgot the Title Again

February 16, 2009 in Three Good Things | 10 comments

Today was a good day.  Here are Three Good Things:

  1. Last night I finally finished the sections of Plutarch’s Lives that were “assigned” in my ten year plan reading the Great Books.  I read about Lycurgus, Numa Pompilius, Alexander, and Caesar.  I found the stories of Lycurgus and Caesar interesting, but I was bored to tears by Alexander.  Not so great, after all.  Next, I’m supposed to read sections of the New Testament, but I’m going to read The Bible for Dummies instead.
  2. I danced a waltz with my daughter in my living room.
  3. I took Samantha to Target to pick up a few things.  I had a shopping list written on a sticky note, which Sam was holding for me.  After interrupting our shopping to give a woman my solicited advice on the pros and cons of Swiffer products, I couldn’t find the list.  I asked Sam if she knew what happened to it.  We looked in and around the cart and through all our pockets but could not find it.  We moved on.  Later, Sam was pushing the cart and suddenly stopped and said, SHOPPING LIST, MOMMY!  She must have found the note in the cart, and she was holding it up to me with a look of pride and pleasure – oh, it was so beautiful.  That is the feeling I hope she can achieve throughout her life.

  1. Man o' Steele on February 17, 2009 at 3:21 am

    My only response to your third good thing is: Yesch.

    That Samantha term, “yesch,” is becoming a distinctive concept in my mind and a part of my vocabulary and the vocabulary of some of my friends. If I had to define yesch, I would define it as an interjection used to express understanding and finding delight in a particular fact of reality. “…and that’s how I met your mother. Yesch.”

  2. Amy on February 17, 2009 at 8:41 am

    MOS: That is so cool! I love it!

  3. Diana Hsieh on February 17, 2009 at 4:31 pm

    I listened to the whole Bible (KJV) a few years ago. It was well worth doing — if you can tolerate it. Some of the Hebrew Bible was actually entertaining, whereas the Greek Bible was mostly morally horrifying. Nonetheless, it put Christianity in a whole new light for me.

  4. Diana Hsieh on February 17, 2009 at 4:34 pm

    Oh, but I would recommend the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version). Apparently, that’s the best modern translation. Then again, nothing beats the King James Version for phrases like “over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

  5. Amy on February 17, 2009 at 4:51 pm

    Diana – It’s already a 10 year plan! But really, I have always wanted to learn more about religion and the bible. I was lucky enough to be raised without any faith, but it left my historical and intellectual understanding of religion lacking. Do you think I’d get a lot more from reading the NRSV than just the cliff’s notes, which my dummies book is essentially? Also, do you have a suggestion for a book that objectively compares and contrasts the major religions including their moral systems and their history? That would be interesting.

  6. Diana Hsieh on February 17, 2009 at 5:34 pm

    Oh, I regard almost all secondary sources as suspect. Many are really, really bad. Some are decent and helpful. Very few are truly excellent, i.e. consistently careful and accurate. (Personally, I completely trust only two secondary sources: Robert Mayhew and Thomas Aquinas. Seriously.) Consequently, I try to read primary sources in conjunction with any secondary sources whenever possible.

    I definitely recommend reading the actual Bible. Particularly in that case, you’re likely to find much of it seriously distorted and whitewashed by commentators. Christians are big fat liars about their own Scriptures; they’ll distort the text whenever it suits their purposes. And the skeptical “Jesus Seminar” types are often just as bad: making stuff up is their basic MO. Plus, the Bible is not difficult reading.

    I don’t have a comparison book that I can recommend, but I do highly recommend Bart Ehrman’s work on the history of early Christianity. He began his studies as a fundamentalist Christian, but from what I understand, he abandoned his faith as he learned the actual historical facts. He’s done some very eye-opening Teaching Company courses. He’s cautious in his conclusions, and he gives you compelling evidence in support of them.

    Sorry to pile on more reading! I know what it feels like to have too much to study. But like you, I was raised without any faith, so reading the whole Bible was really an education for me. (Or rather, listening to it. I’ve had almost no time to read in the past few years, but I do enough driving to be able to listen.)

  7. Amy on February 17, 2009 at 5:47 pm

    Diana – you’ve convinced me! I think I’ll read what my Great Books series suggests as a start and go from there. For me, reading is more practical than listening. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me that, in regard to the bible in particular, secondary sources would not be accurate. Of course they won’t be. I’m not sure if I’ll ever go through the whole Bible, though. I’ll try a little taste first.

  8. Diana Hsieh on February 17, 2009 at 6:05 pm

    Indeed, I don’t think you need to read the whole Bible — although it does give some credibility in arguments with Christians. The Hebrew Bible is full of all kinds useless junk, but pretty much all the stories are worth reading. (The whole of Genesis consists of such stories, if I recall correctly.) I would recommend reading the whole Greek Bible at some point. The four Gospels and the Acts are the most important, but various epistles have some amazing rants against the rich et al. And listening to Revelations was just freaky; I began to wonder whether I’d been drugged. The idea that Christians can take that text seriously is just mind-boggling.

  9. Amy on February 17, 2009 at 8:21 pm

    Diana – I think the Hebrew Bible is the Old Testament, right? You see where I’m coming from in terms of ignorance, now. What is the Greek Bible? Maybe that’s another name for the New Testament? But why would that be Greek? When I Google these things I don’t get clear answers, I think because everybody else in the world probably already knows the answers.

    You’ll see on my post tonight that I’ll be starting with St. Matthew and the Acts, so I might even expand that to all the Gospels. We have a KJV in the house so that’s what I’m using.

    Thank you for your input!

  10. Diana Hsieh on February 17, 2009 at 10:52 pm

    Hebrew Bible = Old Testament = written in Hebrew
    Greek Bible = New Testament = written in Greek

    Shoshana Milgram convinced me to use those terms, as they’re neutral. (But clearly I should explain them!) OT & NT embody a thoroughly Christian view of the texts. But that’s not fair to Judaism.

    Matthew and Acts are good selections! Matthew has the Sermon on the Mount. And just wait until you get to Acts 4 & 5. You’ll fall off your chair.