….…I am obliged to respond to son Joel’s comment on the “biblical” blog I wrote yesterday. It might be more understandable if one reads that before my response which follows.
…..First off--I am not "implying" that reading the Bible is "onerous;" only the behavior of some of our ancient ancestors; there's a difference. JR is not privy to the book I am reading which contains translations of biblical selections about events in the Pentateuch—Genesis and Exodus—to begin with; there are still more translations to come that I haven’t read yet, including selections from the New Testament. This is the book I’ve chosen to read, without commentaries of explanation which I find unnecessary. I am not reading the Bible. But, nevertheless, the passages in the book are complete and faithful to the events selected, with nothing left out of the original according to the editor of this book, who also willy-nilly, selected his own choices to include, which is his right.
….. I have also chosen the events that lend themselves to satire, and of course as a “bloggist” I could not include every single detail in the selections that JR would have me do—like Noah bringing in seven pairs of an animal. Who cares? My blog doesn’t pretend to be a definitive biblical commentary, so I chose the ones that I enjoyed the most-- not every one that JR seems to require and therefore questions my humble attempt to entertain my readers, not educate them. Of course, JR is free to write his own version of biblical tales and include every detail that would please him. It is to be noted, however, that in his book, “Phases of the Moon” he obviously has left out many details including real names of living people, and only hints at what happened in the hayloft. That’s his prerogative. And insofar as “Hamlet” is concerned, writers from Shakespeare’s own time down to ours have examined everything there is to examine, and on occasion, leaving out Polonius when he’s not needed. But all else aside, I urge you to read Joel's book; it's probably for sale on Lulu.com or possibly on Amazon. It's quite interesting, even though it leaves out the person who wisely gave him permission to go to Israel right after high school instead of going straight to Cornell, and therefore, in some way, is responsible for the publishing of that book and deserves some credit.
First, thanks for the free publicity (http://www.facebook.com/pages/PHASES-OF-THE-MOON/201852566151).
ReplyDeleteSecond, thanks for encouraging me to delay my university training for a year, to allow me to encounter the real world first.
Third, you descriptions of your biblical readings are entertaining; it does not matter that they are based on fragments.
Finally, the Baron wrote this: "If the average reader attempts to read the Bible he's confronted with a volume of more than a 1000 pages printed in double columns and bound forbiddingly in black cloth or imitation leather. After a while he bogs down, gives up, and goes on to try 'War and Peace.'" I have to continue to contend that the above quotation clearly implies that reading the Bible is "onerous" -- imposing, a burden. I'm not disagreeing with the statement, just describing it.