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Wednesday, September 14, 2016

2017 Bible As Literature Group Read - Signup!



I've read the Bible from cover to cover only once in my life, and I'd like the opportunity to do it again more meticulously - this time interpreting from a literary perspective. I'm going to dedicate 2017 to reading the Bible and related nonfiction. I will read and post throughout the year regardless of whether anyone joins me, but I'd love it if I had company. If you'd like to join, please sign up below. Or, if you don't have a URL, you can leave a comment, email me at hibernators.library at gmail.com or tweet me @hibernatorslibr.


Here's the idea: I will read the Bible following a schedule as shown: 



Whenever I finish a Biblical book, I will publish one or more commentary blog posts on it. I will also have a sign-up for anyone else's input if they have posts of their own that they wish to share with the group. 

I'm using two resources as outlines for my studies: 


  • MIT Open Courseware has an outline for a Bible course available here. The nice thing about this course is that it provides some interesting discussion questions. It is available for free to anyone who wants to look at it. 
  • Great Courses has a lecture series called Reading Biblical Literature: Genesis to Revelation. I bought it from Audible and am loving what I've seen of it. I will listen to it, peruse some of the supplementary readings (as many as I can - they look well-chosen), and tell you what I've learned.
If you want to join the group read, you can simply read along with me or you can go all-out and delve into one of the courses. Also, you can read some sections of the Bible and not others, or you can read at a different pace. All that is cool! What is not cool is being rude or confrontational - this is meant to be a literary reading of the Bible for people of all beliefs. I reserve the right to delete rude or confrontational posts from my blog, though I'm hoping I won't see anything of the sort. 


In preparation I purchased a few different translations of the Bible:



For this project, I will focus mainly on the Literary Study Bible, but I'm hoping to have time to compare to the other translations and let you all know which translations are the most moving to me. 

21 comments:

  1. It is super that you are doing this. I have read the Bible a couple of times and its richness is incomparable. It offers such a great chance for discussion.

    My schedule is so busy that I cannot commit to joining but I look forward to your future posts.

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    1. Thanks Brian! I'm really looking forward to this. But I realized I totally didn't put the Apocrypha on that list. :) I'll have to read those the following year.

      I'm not surprised that so far there isn't anyone else signed up - my blog doesn't get many hits. I'm still hoping I'll entice someone to join me in the blogging world, but I've got several people joining me on LibraryThing, where my thread gets more people passing through. So it's all good. :)

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  2. I can't tell you how glad I am to see this. I've been wanting something like this lately and I would love to follow along with your reading and posts. I know that I won't keep quite the pace that you have listed here, but I would love to join in on some of the reading and conversation on the blog!

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    1. I'd love to have you join! I don't have much of a group read following here on my blog yet. I'm hoping that'll change as the season of new challenges approaches. I do have some people that are interested on LibraryThing, though, so if you have an account there and prefer that venue it's an option as well. :)

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    2. And by "join" I meant you can read along or just follow along, it's great to have you...don't mean to pressure anyone to try to read the Bible at a pace that's too fast for them. I'm worried about the pace myself!

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  3. What a great challenge! Having grown up in an atheist household, I've never read the Bible all the way through, and I feel that's a huge gap from a literary perspective - the Bible is such an important book whatever one's beliefs. I don't think I'll commit to reading/blogging about it in full, but I'll look forward to following your progress and hopefully it will encourage me to read at least some of the bits that I'm missing.

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    1. Reading it in one year can make sections seem rushed, especially when you've got other things going on in your life. So I totally understand that most people will only be able to join me for bits and pieces. I love the company, whether people are reading along or following my posts or even just popping by a couple times a year. :)

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  4. My hubby and I have been reading the NLT One Year Bible from Tyndale for several years now. I would love to join your 'literature' perspective. I'll just have to figure if I can do it with the schedule you are planning. I am often so impressed and awed at the paired selections in the One Year schedule. I will definitely check in on your posts and picking up Reading Biblical Literature: Genesis to Revelation on Audible is a great idea.
    Thanks for hosting.

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    1. Yes, I understand that the schedule I have planned is not for everyone. Reading the Bible straight through instead of combining passages like the One Year Bibles do is a great way to read the Bible, and probably much more spiritually enlightening than reading it straight through. I don't think that method works for a literary reading though, since it splits the narrative.

      I look forward to you watching our progress. :)

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  5. Oooh, I've been thinking about doing this too! I've already got my 2017 projects all planned out, though. Still -- I hope you won't mind if I follow along, and maybe do my own version of the challenge in 2018? I'm looking forward to reading about your experience!

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    1. Of course you're welcome to follow along and do your own version of the challenge in 2018. :) I think Roof Beam Reader might be hosting one next year, so hopefully HE doesn't mind that I'm doing my own version this year. lol

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  6. I do wish I could do this! I don't think I could possibly take it on in 2017, but I hope to make it a priority soon. I've read the Bible through once and have dabbled since then...

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    1. Reading the Bible through is a big task, especially when you're reading it cover to cover instead of reading it as inspirational fragments. However, I think when you're reading it from a literary perspective, it's better to read it cover-to-cover.

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  7. I'd love to take part in this. For me it isn't so much that I want to read the Bible as literature. But I do want to read it right through from cover to cover at least once. I always find it difficult to do so because I end up studying the verses in detail.

    I'll think about this one...if I can join in, I would love to read the KJV. It is a beautiful version!

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    1. The KJV is a fantastic version of the Bible. I have a KJV with Gustave Dore's illustrations. It's gorgeous. Hopefully you can participate in the challenge!

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  8. I am interested in this project, but know I can't take it on. I hope to pop in and out periodically however.

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    1. I know it's a lot to take on. I'm worried for myself being able to finish. Luckily I have a good group on LibraryThing who are reading it with me so I'll be held accountable.

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    2. Ahhh - I'm on library thing as markon, though I haven't been very active this year. Can I find your group through the 75ers?

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    3. Yeah, through the 75ers, exactly. Jim hasn't started the 2017 group yet, so I haven't made a Bible thread, but I'll let you know as soon as I have it up. Here's my thread, if you're interested: https://www.librarything.com/topic/242678

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    4. I expected that to automatically hyperlink. Blogger!!! Hibernator's Thread

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  9. Since I am kind of picking and choosing with the NYT 6 books, I thought I would join you in this too. I won't at all be posting the number or quality of posts that you have been. You have been writing up such beautiful posts. I will be reading along though (all caught up, BTW) and posting here and there.

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