Have you actually read the Bible?

[The Vorlon]

all of the bible
all of the Kuran
all of the Torah

O_O Wow! That's quite a menu.

Foundational works of our society.

Mind you I had a very tragic youth... mostly squandered in Libraries and institutions of higher learning...

[12th Doctor]

Not cover-to-cover, no, but I would say that I am resonably familiar with all most of it.  I think I have read every book, at some point and most of them several times.  James and John are my favorites.

P.S.  Also, 1 & 2 Samuel

[AkSaber]

Foundational works of our society.

Mind you I had a very tragic youth... mostly squandered in Libraries and institutions of higher learning...

It's still pretty impressive to have read all those books. I didn't have a tragic youth like you. I never read.......

-_-;

[The Dowager Mod]

her ancestors?  she's texan.  therefore probably of czech or german descent.  maybe english.  in any case, on the other side of the alps from any one who might have been mentioned in any book of the judeochristoIslam holy text. 

I think she was being sarcastic, by the way.  I agree, it's not exactly riveting.  but then neither are the Feynman lecture series.  Like I said, you can sit down, pour a big glass of red, smoke a big hooter, and have every intention of reading a reference book.  but they just don't work that way.  Not to mention the fact that after the first couple of puffs, you start to notice that loose screw in the hinge on the door.  Or the fly in the panel covering the fluorescent lighting.  Then all bets are off.  know what I mean?

100% Scottish

[nclib]

non-Christian - read bits and pieces of it.

3000 posts, BTW.

[Emsworth]

Non-Christian: I have read some parts, mostly Old Testament. I would agree that, whether one reads it or not, and whether one believes it or not, general familiarity with Biblical references is essential to cultural literacy.

I considered reading the Gospel of Matthew, but the opening was a little disappointing:

Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;

And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;

And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;

And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;

And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;

And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;

And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;

And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;

And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;

And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:

And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;

And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;

And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;

And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;

And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

[J. J.]

All of it in bits and pieces (Good News and King James).  Some of the Apocrypha.  Also the Koran, in toto.

Some people have called me an Islamic scholar, which I am not.

[Gabu]

Some of it, enough to basically know most of the stuff that happens in it but not enough to be able to pick out a verse for every single occasion imaginable like some pastors can do.  I'd say less than half.  There's a lot of really boring stuff in there that I honestly don't particularly feel like reading start to end.

[MaC]

non-Christian, probably about 4-7 pages altogether. (it got boring fast and I really had no reason to pursue)

[opebo]

Certainly not!  I may have been forced to read some of that propaganda as a child, but can only hope I have forgotten it.  I can remember thinking it was crap then, even at a very young age.

[Alcon]

Certainly not!  I may have been forced to read some of that propaganda as a child, but can only hope I have forgotten it.  I can remember thinking it was crap then, even at a very young age.

So, Opebo, were you raised as a Christian?

[KEmperor]

Well, I sat down with one and decided to try.  I got about halfway though Genesis, couldn't maintain my suspension of disbelief, and had to stop.  That happens sometimes with fiction, if the beginning is too unbelievable, I can't continue the book.

[Platypus]

I finished Leviticus....

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Yes

[Democratic Hawk]

Less than half of it - Christian

I've only ever read bits, usually about David whenever I'm in need of an ego boost [NB I'm not being serious]. I may one day read it from beginning to end

Dave

[Peter]

More than half (agnostic/deist); A large chunk in both Testaments

Essentially it turned me non-Christian because I refuse to believe that a perfect God would behave in the way that the Old Testament God does. The New Testament God is related to us more through Jesus Christ, and seems to me to be a more realistic perfect God.

[angus]

I finished Leviticus....

man, that's the one that would put most people off monotheism for good.

[WiseGuy]

I've all the way through it a few times, and I read certain parts sometimes too.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

man, that's the one that would put most people off monotheism for good.

All that stuff about mildew and the dangers of mixed fibres?

[minionofmidas]

I picked by far the most popular option, it seems.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

her ancestors? 

100% Scottish

Didn't Scottish royalty claim descent from the Hebrew kings somehow?  Kinda like how the English royal line can be traced back to Julius Caesar (although the supposed lineage becomes completely apocryphal as you get back into the 8th century)?

[Emsworth]

Didn't Scottish royalty claim descent from the Hebrew kings somehow?  Kinda like how the English royal line can be traced back to Julius Caesar (although the supposed lineage becomes completely apocryphal as you get back into the 8th century)?

I wouldn't doubt that. After all, I have heard claims that any person of European ancestry is probably somehow descended from Charlemagne. If we go as far back as Caesar, or the ancient Kings of Israel, then almost anyone should be able to claim descent in some line or the other.

[WMS]

More than half, Christian. Or in other words, I'm doing a years-long process of reading the entire thing. I've finished the New Testament, and am partway through the Old Testament (and I intend to read ALL of it, including all of the books that some branches but not all use, plus stuff like the Book of Enoch, etc.). Not that I'll stop there...there's still the holy books of other faiths (Torah, Koran, Bhagavad Gita (sp?), and the other stuff Frodo listed), plus the best additional Christian works (Origen and Augustine, Aquinas, etc.), plus additional works from other faiths, etc, etc, etc. This will take some time.

Hughento, congratulations! Leviticus is one zillion rules with a little action in the center - 'And Aaron's sons offered unholy fire to THE LORD, and THE LORD fried their asses', or something like that.

Vorlon, I am impressed.

[ilikeverin]

Essentially it turned me non-Christian because I refuse to believe that a perfect God would behave in the way that the Old Testament God does. The New Testament God is related to us more through Jesus Christ, and seems to me to be a more realistic perfect God.

Yes, that's the nice part about an extremely loose interpretation of the Bible, it let's you ignore those nasty bits and let's you concentrate on nice parts like the Golden Rule

My pastor gave a sermon on that (nastiness of the Old Testament vs. New Testament) last year, though I don't really remember what he said, except we didn't say "Thanks be to God" after the Bible verse (something nasty about God commanding some fellow and his army to butcher 5,000+ people) for about the first time ever.

[Storebought]

One Gospel, the Book of Matthew. A great many of it I didn't understand, so I've put it off.

Although some of the "stories" -- I mean, compact verses that describe one particular instance in Jewish history, not the (incredibly rude) KEmperor/opebo slur -- are interesting unto themselves. E.g. The degenerate and apostatic priest Balaam and his Talking Ass, which was absolutely unlike the Children's Bible version.