hey /lit/, I was at a local bookstore and I picked up an 1856

>>8673489
>breadpilled
Martyr yourself.

>>8673489
>Is the Old Testament very relevant to Christians?
Yes. The New Testament will not be nearly as edifying without the OT, because the NT is built entirely upon the OT.

My advice is read the books in order. The more you study the History of places and names you don't know, the more you will get out of it. If you are unfamiliar with Babylon, Assyria, Canaan, etc...the less those stories are going to stick. Carthage is a good way of vicariously studying Canaan btw, as Carthage is Phoenician, and Phoenicians are closely related to the Canaanites.

Also, don't be afraid to read other translations. The arguments for King James Onlyism are not very strong if you study the process by which they chose the base Greek texts, while tracing its own Pagan corruptions (that aren't present in the earlier contemporary Bibles that it evolves from). There is no perfect translation, but the KJV is solid, and good to read.

And don't be afraid of the Apocrypha! They were present in both the 1611 KJV and the Septuagint, which was a translation of the OT into Greek by 72 Jewish rabbis in ~200's BC, commissioned by Ptolemy II for the Alexandrian Library. It was widely loved by the Jewish community and the Greeks alike, considered very accurate to the Hebrew, and was considered to be divinely inspired by many. None of our English OT translations base themselves on the Septuagint though, which is a shame. They all use the Masoretic text from ~900s a.d., because this was the de facto Hebrew text during the time of the Reformers, who thought it best to get their Old Testament straight from the Hebrews, thinking they would be the most official source, and not the Greeks. Ironically, "the Greeks" of the Septuagint were indeed also Hebrews, from the pre-Christ era, who did not have the "Jesus is not the messiah!" bias that the Masorites did, since the Septuagint pre-dated the Messiah. The only reason all translations today use the Masoretic text for the OT (which has many significant differences from the Sept.), is simply to uphold the tradition of the Reformers and the 1500's era translations from which all of ours stem. The Reformers were simply not aware of the quality and historical significance of the Septuagint (which was the "Bible" that Christ and the Apostles used)

Luther, being the most influential Reformer, had much to do with defining Protestant theology. He argued to remove some "apocryphal" books because they contained things that disagreed with some of his beliefs, and he used the writings of Jerome (translator of the Latin Vulgate in ~350 ad) to substantiate his claims. Jerome argued that certain, now apocryphal books were "not inspired" based on learnings from his Hebrew tutors, as he was one of the first translators to try and learn Hebrew himself for direct translation instead of going from the common Greek Septuagint into Latin.

Just another example of post-schism Jews indirectly influencing Christian theology, from Jerome down to Luther.

>Is the Old Testament very relevant to Christians?

The Old Testament is substantially the sign and shadow that the New Testament casts light on and reveals the true meaning of. Although there are many beneficial stories, precepts, and reflections in it even without the light that the New Testament casts upon it.

>any advice on how I should read the Bible?

Don't read it like a novel, cover to cover. It's not a single book, but a library or collection of books; that said, you pick a book to read according to your need, e.g. Genesis & Exodus for sacred history and the foundations of the whole Bible; Deuteronomy and Leviticus for knowledge of the Mosaic Law; Judges and Kings for history of the Israelites; the Psalms for theological poetry and reflection; Proverbs for advice; Ecclesiastes and Job for reflection on suffering and futility, etc.

For first time reading, I recommend this:

Ecclesiastes, Genesis, Exodus, the Four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles.
Then feel free to read what you like, but I especially recommend the Epistles (of the New Testament), Samuel & Kings, and then the Major Prophets.
Also, feel free to dip in and out of the Psalms at any time.

>>8673873
>Genesis & Exodus
>Four Gospels & Acts of the Apostles

These are basically the foundations of the two testaments, which is why I recommend them first.

I put Ecclesiastes before them because I think it's a nice prologue. Almost everyone likes Ecclesiastes, if only because of its literary excellence.

>>8673865
>>8673873
>>8673877

This is really helpful, thanks