Bible books worth reading

>>8875778
Moses' books are notoriously dry, most don't make it through Deuteronomy.
OT is mostly Bible stories, poetry, aphoristic wisdom, and prophecy
if you want to just skip around:
>Ecclesiastes
>Job
>Isaiah(read before gospels)
>Gospels(Matt, Mark, Luke, John)
>Corinthians
>Revelations
that should get the ball rolling

Might as well just read a fairy tale

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>>8876233
edgy teenage atheists pls go

>>8875807
Isn't Samuel like the book where you can read about King David? That's a short list anon. Don't worry making a wider list.
Maybe the questions should be what are the books that are only relevant to a Jew or Christian but have not much of a cultural value besides that? And are not books generally referenced in literature or philosophy after that.

Last try.

>>8875778
You should definitely read Genesis. Pay specific attention to vocabulary.

>>8877911
Chronicles, Exodus, Wisdom, The Synoptics, Acts, Judges, Maccabees, Psalms...

I have the Oxford and there is tons of stuff. Read the whole thing, there are some great essays in it.

>>8876290
>King David
First and Second Samuel, yes and also part of First Kings. Also David wrote Psalms and Proverbs
>what are the books that are only relevant to a Jew or Christian but have not much of a cultural value besides that?
I really can't think of anything outside the Pentateuch. The Bible is referenced to death, as you read through it you'll see that. I honestly can't think of any. Maybe Lamentations? That's a stretch though.
The book of Jonah is only alluded to by Moby Dick, to my knowledge.
I'd just read through it, you're out of the first five anyway

All of them

>>8877967
Psalms is mostly attributed to David, but it's likely he didn't write most of it.

Proverbs is definitely NOT attributed to David. Solomon is historically considered the author of it (see: Proverbs 1:1, "The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:" [NRSV]) -- although, again, it's more likely an anonymous author/group wrote it and attributed to him.

>>8876290
>what are the books that are only relevant to a Jew or Christian but have not much of a cultural value besides that?

Weirdly enough, many Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal books fit this bill, especially with regards to Jews. Tobit, Judith, (the full text of) Esther, Maccabees. In a lot of these cases, even though the books weren't considered to be "divinely inspired", the stories contained in them are still as important to Jewish culture as the ones before them.

Also, the Pentateuch is kinda sorta the backbone, but the real focal point is the Deuteronomistic History: Joshua to 2 Kings. The Israelites only really began taking their religion seriously after the Babylonian exile (recorded in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles) -- the various writings basically then amount to:

1) Pentateuch: the history behind the establishment of old laws and the covenant with God. If our had taken it seriously here, we wouldn't be here (in exile, that is).
2) Deuteronomistic History: this is the story of our ancestors continually messing up and yet being forgiven again and again. But eventually God got fucking tired of them and we got fucked. The good news is that we can do better than them.
3) Ezra-Nehemiah and on: And so, we *are* doing better than them!
4) Prophetic books: ...but it's not going to be enough, and the end of times will eventually come anyway!

>>8877930
>>8877967
>>8877990
>>8878060
Ok that's it, you convinced me. I'm ready everything, or almost everything since I still have a question: does the apocrypha have any value whatsoever when it comes to the criteria stated in the OP?
I'm having a good time with the Oxford Bible. The introductions are excellent and the notes are superb. There's so much shit going on and so many references.

>>8878173
>does the apocrypha have any value whatsoever when it comes to the criteria stated in the OP?
yes and no. non-canonical works are referenced less in literature, but it's apocalyptic so it's nothing "new".
Also some of the best reading, a lot of it is like a fucking fever dream

>>8878211
got it, I'm reading fucking everything then.
One last question. I want to read The Brothers Karamazov, the only big work by Dosto that I haven't read. What are the most relevant books in the Bible to read before starting it? And does any of those books have a requirement of their own?

>>8878223
I just did an in depth research paper on bros K. You absolutely must read Job. You must read the Gospels and you must read the story of Abraham. Also read 1&2 Kings (you'll fond out why eventually). And read the apocryphal texts and the apocalypse. It would also help to read an orthodox bible and to read some of the saint's lives from the Greek/Russian Orthodox churches.

>>8878237
care to go a little bit more in depth with the last two?

>>8878243
~60 pages of the novel are devoted to The Life of Zosima. You will underatand the novel and appreciate the literary traditions Dostoevsky is interacting with if you have some experience with Saint's lives. Also Dosto is hard core Russian Orthodox it just helps to use bibles that are relevant to that faith. Also read Apocryphal legends because it will make The Grand Inquisitor and The Devil and An Onion all make a lot more sense.

>>8878284
you're being extremely helpful anon. Any resources for the Saints?

>>8878325
I would reccomend doing a google search for pre 19th century orthodox Saint's Lives. Unfortunately the source I used is at my school library and I can't remember its title off hand. And Robarts is so massive that when I search for it I get a ton of results.

>>8879942
Got it anon. Thank you.