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Contrary to many here, I find the Bible to be enormously fascinating.
Of course, some parts are more interesting than others. The countless genealogies – page after page of who begat who – are for the most part boring, but far from meaningless if you’re a student of the Bible and are interested in how the writers justify the relations between the various tribes.
And some of its authors are better writers than others. I consider the Yahwist (according to the "documentary hypothesis" one of the four main authors of the Pentateuch) to be an excellent storyteller; rarely equaled, never surpassed. The Adam and Eve Creation Myth is so simple a child can relate, yet so subtle that scholars are still debating it’s depths.
In the New Testament—in the letters nearly universally believed by scholars to be genuinely his—Paul displays a remarkable outlook for a first century man that is both cosmopolitan in its scope and enlightened in its view of women.
In the later Deutero-Paulines (the books having a secondary standing because of the serious doubt as to their authorship) the beginnings of the subjugation of women by the Church can be traced as it begins to take shape. I find it mesmerizing to have such a ring-side seat, so to speak, at historical developments that still affect our lives today.
In the final analysis, however, not every book — or collection of books — is everyone’s cup of tea. And that’s OK.
What I really find mind-boggling is how anyone can NOT like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy! Starships powered by Improbability Drive? A book that begins with the destruction of the Earth — on a THURSDAY? C’mon, people — what’s not to like about that?
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