How to cite (not smite) The Bible.

Recently I was working on a paper for another class and I wanted to reference The Bible. That is when I thought, "how do you reference The Bible?" In all seriousness I have never once used The Bible as a reference in any paper. However upon reading some of The Bible I now know that I have inadvertently quoted The Bible many times over the course of my academic career however this was the only time I have payed any intelectual royalties to it. So first I hunted down my McGraw-Hill Handbook (another type of bible). However that proved to be fruitless because they did not include any specific citations for The Bible or at least citations fitting to The Bible. Then it was off to the internet (another infinite bible) to look for the answers. Low and behold there it was the answer, on the internet. The Bible gets its own special kind of citations. If you are curious go to http://hbl.gcc.edu/citingBIBLE.htm for MLA, APA, Turabian, and Chicago style formats. The Bible realy is a uique thing in many way it truly is a stand alone text in terms of fame and infamy. Also if you notice the word bible I have capitalized in reference to The Bible, however I also use The Bible for its extended meaning. In the dictionary the term bible has taken on the extended meaning of: any book, reference work, periodical, etc., accepted as authoritative, informative, or reliable. Very interesting I find that The Bible has almost become a in and of itself a cliche.

Progress not perfection.

Kudos and Congratulations to those in our class who have enlightened me as to what blogging can do. I found upon sifting through our class blogs that I am not taking the the blogging medium seriously. Until recently I had presumed that the blogging sphere was a cyber realm filled with those cyber geeks who would who hide behind cyber anonymity  ranting and criticizing- people and various topics. How ignorant I was. Some of the members of our class have created some superbly interesting blogs. Some have taken a journalistic approach like Jennifer's blog and others have made theirs a gathering place for ideas and information which they have researched like that of Russell Rickers blog; which includes some interesting definitions and clarifications of words from Exodus, "Thank You Russel." I am coming to the realization that all of your blogs are resources and assets to my journey through the intellectual landscape of The Bible.

In addition to this I am realizing that I am a slacker of the worst kind. I have hid behind the a veil of ignorance and righteousness. Ending with my own ineptitude in the realm of cyber social networking, and cyber communication. I would like to issue an amends by making a formal apology for my ignorance and my slanderous thoughts against facebook, blogging, twitter, so on and so forth.

The Bible, Words with Power, The Slave, The Good Book, Folklore in the Old Testament. I am behind considerably with these five texts looming ominously above, waiting for due dates to exact their wrath upon my head, for I have worshiped false idols: the Internet, television, work. That said it is time to focus on the task at hand.

Currently I have only read up to the book of Leviticus and I am more and more convinced of my beliefs about The Bible. It for me as an individual it as a text and nothing more. I would sooner worship Plato's Gorgias as my religious doctrine (no offense to those who believe in The Bible, like I say to each his own). When I say the bible is a text and nothing more that does not be any means denote that The Bible is meaningless. The Bible has great meaning it has almost single handedly shaped our literary traditions, and the foundations of our country. Most of western societies canonical works bare some reference to The Bible whether or not intentionally or accidentally. So regardless of religious ideals The Bible for me from the perspective of an English and Literature major is a a piece of literary dogma. In terms outside of "truth" The Bible has the ability to influence: people, places, events, things, and even thinking which are all reflected in literature. It is for this reason I continue reading in spite of the daunting task before me. The Bible will be read by the end of this semester or the next.

Till Then.

40 Years and 54 pages in the desert with Moses (Exodus)

Just for fun. Moses parting the red sea. Courtesy of Godview Earth (LOL). Actually found this on http://alfg.wordpress.com/2007/12/21/bible-scenes-via-satellite-as-seen-from-google-earth/moses-parting-the-red-sea/



Enough Shenanigans. I would like to start with a piece I only have now come to appreciate while reading The Bible.

        The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
        It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
        Crushed. Why do men then now not reck
           his rod?
       Generations have trod, have trod;
           And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared, with
                  toil;
           And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell:
                 the soil
        Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

       And for all this nature is never spent;
                 There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
       And though the last lights off the black West went
                  Oh, morning at the brown brink eastward,
                        springs-
       Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
                   World broods with warm breast and with ah!
                         bright wings.
        -1918 (written 1877) Gerard Manley Hopkins

I read this about a year ago and upon reading Exodus (specifically about moses and his convo with god) all I could think of, "Why do men then now not reck his rod."The image of the rod turning to a snake and back again is powerful. I just love how moses says they won't believe me, and God tells him to through down his rod and it turns to a snake, and then back again. You do get this feeling that if Pharaoh doesn't believe him then that should do the trick (which it doesn't). Only the plagues will suffice. Very interesting content in terms of Literature. It is a story of the noble quest.

Two things that I wanted to discuss quickly then I am done. First, typically when I read aloud I read slower than I do when I read to myself. This however is not the case in terms of the bible. The when I read the bible to myself I find myself getting lost, skimming, and lacking comprehension. Now when I read the bible out aloud I find that my pace is quicker, I comprehend more, and it is general kind of fun because who doesn't like speaking Biblicley. Secondly recently my girlfriend was listening (from the kitchen) intrigued. Periodically she will remark, "That is in the Bible?" Neither of us has ever been religious, or the church going type so this is the most Bible exposure we have ever had. When I was reading about moses in Exodus she also said something that cracked me up, "It is like that Disney movie Prince of Egypt." Funny because now I have to watch it in terms of comparison. I am beginning to see that the Bible is the epitome of intertextuality. It is everywhere. Hell I am pretty sure that some of the words used as names/titles for places have become descriptive words in our modern language (e.g. Sodom which is now used as sodomy/sodomize/etc...). If anyone can relate to what I am saying please let me know what examples you find.

"And god said to Abraham, Kill me a son."
               Johnny Cash

Exodus!

The Bible is rough. I don't consider myself to be completely inept when it comes to reading and comprehension but the Bible is starting to make me reconsider. I feel like I am on a plot line that looks like a roller coaster with bends, turns, dips, dives, curly ques and whoopdy doos. For context I am just now reading the book of Exodus. Genesis I thought would be the straight forward book, the one I would just fly through (not true). Now I know why they have bible college, LOL.

David Plotz has thus far been my life line and partner in crime. I feel his pain, and laugh when he laughs. By reading Plotz  I am able to go back and pick up what I had missed in various chapters. The book should be called the bible buddy.

To add insult to injury my Penguin Bible is falling apart. Genesis has completely fallen from the book, I now have Genesis leaflets. My bible is on a diet plan, getting thinner as time goes by. I didn't know I bought a biodegradable Bible (does it have an expiration date?). At this rate my Bible will have disintegrated by the time I get to Leviticus.

One book I haven't been able to put down is the Slave by Singer. My goodness it is just a good book to read, and brings to life some of the little tidbits we have read in the Bible.

I am reaching a kind of plateau. I find myself just staring at the Bibles tissue paper pages trying to draw meaning from seemingly endless and repetitive chaos. I was having fun at first but now it is a chore. Every time I pick it up I become ill (not really but that is how I feel). If the King James version is the most updated version then we need a even more updated version. There should be a George W. Bush edition of the bible written in terms even he could understand (myself included). I am an English Lit major and I am at the limit of what I can swallow. I would gladly take War and Peace at this moment. However to quote Wilfred Owen, "Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge." I will keep up the good fight.

P.S. Still have not received my Frye and Frazer books damn you UPS!

Non Literary text as Literary text and Bible Progress not perfection.

It would seem that more often than not in Literary studies of any kind, readers must do close readings of the texts that they are studying. For example we in class together did a pseudo close reading of Sam's receipt. We gained all sorts of interesting insight from the information on the receipt, like dates times, there was kegger hosted by Sam (at that point the receipt becomes evidence). That word for me is key, "Evidence." To clarify I am not talking about evidence in a case like criminal evidence, I am talking about evidence as it pertains to historical record, something to be looked back on. A piece for reflection.

For instance I just got a new job. So recently I had to read through the orientation hand book, and it has all sorts of rules and regulations, as well as the businesses mission statement etc... What is funny is that it is like a bible for an Italian restaurant. In the beginning it says, "Paul and Karen Ward, as proprietors, welcome you...this franchise brought to you through an agreement with Fired-up Inc., the corporate owner..." really the opener that I extracted these lines from is a creation story of another kind not unlike Genesis. The CEO of the corporation goes by the name Abdallah (biblicalish). Then there is a sort of 10 commandments of working at the Italian restaurant and I quote:

"In the Villages of the Italian Countryside:"

1. The elderly are revered and respected for their wisdom.
2. Children are adored, and well attended.
3.Romance is cherished, so couple receive warm, yet unobtrusive, service and hospitality.
4.There is room for families to gather around big tables to enjoy a leisurely meal.
5.Single diners may be alone, but not lonely-they are welcomed with gracious service.
6. No on is a stranger-all are made to feel at home.

I could go on and on with the biblical type similarities. This presented to me how much of the Bible really acts as an ancient and archaic orientation hand book for life.

Another thing I wanted to add quickly is that I have got to read the Bible Carefully. I would read the Bible then read Plotz's "The Good Book" and see that I missed something in my reading. I would then go back over the Bible reading and what do you know I read right of it. For instance Plotz was talking about the three wise men coming to Abraham, and I thought, "Whoa! When did that happen?" Then I would go back over it an what do you know three wise men. Bottom line my reading is going really slow because otherwise I am just not picking up what the God put down (text on the page). Just finished Genesis, going on into Exodus, slow and steady wins the race?

Detour Ahead

So there I was minding my own business, reading some material for my Rhetoric and Composition class and boom! There is some information on the Biblioteca ("I believe that is spanish for bible" Ron Burgundy), and given that I am concurrently looking at the Bible I decided to look into it. The piece was called "Pursuasion in Greek Literature before 400 B.C." taken from a book titled, A New History of Classical Rhetoric by George Kennedy. In it, on page 12 he refers to, "the Gospel according to Saint John and, "In the Begining was the Word," where it refers to God's plan and thus to Christ. Logos is thus a very broad concept." So in the begining there was the word, well at least according to John. Later Kennedy goes on to write about christians problem with rhetoric and his evidence is this from the bible, "Saint Paul in first Corinthians (2:4) rejects the "wisdom of this world": "My speech and my proclamation are not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, in order that your faith may not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." If I may interject Mr. Paul, but if I am not mistaken the Bible was written by men. Even if it is in fact the word of God it was transcribed by men. Hell, one transciptionists error in that text could have changed history, and who's to say that there weren't errors in the transcription of the bible; additions, subtractions, revisions, reversal of wording. Robin Williams once had said, "what if thou shall not kill was actually supposed to be thou shall not wear kilts."

As far as the differences between Genesis 1 & 2 they seem slight yet still noticeable. The shift from, "God" to "Lord God" are interesting, because in the first paragraph the writer uses the just "God" then starting in the second paragraph lines 4 and 5 the writer switches to the use of "Lord God." Why you ask, I don't know seems fishy, jesus fishy. Then it is true that the writer goes on to recapitulate the creation myth in different terms. This second version, or creation 2.0 if you will, is by far more poetic in style. Now was this just to one up the first writer I don't know I wasn't there, but there must be purpose for it. One more tid bit I noticed was that the second piece was on the borderline of giving out the directions to the garden of eden (some lattitudes and longitudes would be helpful). I will continue to not read everyones blogs to find the answer, just kidding.

Till next time blogging bible buddies.

And on the third day I rest (out of shear exhaustion)

Currently I am reading the bible (as many of you already know). Thing is that holy moses it is thick/dense. Thus far I am really struggling with the book of Genesis, and believe you me I am filled with contempt. In terms of literature the Genesis comes off like an elementary student wrote it. Now, I am not saying that the content is giving me trouble it is the writing itself. Like in most stories and literature there is exposition, and in the case of the Bible I find myself scratching my head. For instance in Genesis at the "Beginning" (both literally and figuratively) days are simplified into a mere sentences and it would seem if there where anytime for descriptive language in a 1,900 page book now would be the time (not that I care for any description, just an observation).

The writer(s)/author(s) in Genesis have personally written the hand book for Misogyny, and Anti-Eco friendly treatment of our planet (I am not a vegetarian, I just like our planet, I live here.) Look at verses 1 line 30-31 for the Eco stuff, and Verse 3 lines 8-14. This is not to say that there aren't more examples I have found I just wanted to provide evidence for my claims so I am not here blowing smoke up my own ass.

Good Night, and Good Luck