So many subjects, so little time.
Went out for Thai food tonight I think. (assuming Thai is the one with all the curries...) Had a decent meal with some friends before heading to the bookstore. I wanted to buy a Bible. I don't own one. I have a first edition English translation of Marx's CAPITAL Vol 1. which is probably the closest thing, and a personally bitten copy of Rollins' ART TO CHOKE HEARTS and PISSING IN THE GENE POOL which is probably the weakest substitute, but no Bible. Half way through the search among the many shelves of differing versions of Bibles I realized that whichever one I purchased couldn't have the word "HOLY" on it. I just don't like the idea of it. Yes, it's the Bible. But if it was really so damn "holy" I would imagine that would just be understood.
There seems to be a lot of compensatory rhetoric these days and it always seems to present itself in the most expected of places.
I went to a Private (Christian) School for my primary education through the ninth grade. I learned a bit about the bible and all of it's stories. A lot of it I had problems with... had even more problems with the answers to my problems. Answers generally involving advisement that I should just focus on the easily digestable moral of the story or a one-sentence summary provided by a teacher with an IQ considerably lower than most of the pupils. I found philosophy a few years later, noted it and moved on to music... then returned to it much later.
The line between philosophy and theology can be quite fine sometimes, and I've always wanted to do my own sort of "Fear and Trembling" thing a la Kierkegaard and wrestle with the dichotomies of biblical text. Bonhoeffer and the problem of the knowledge of good and evil is another favorite interest of mine that I have not worked on. The Problem of Salvation is something that interests me too. The history of the book being what it is though, I came to the ultimate conclusion that I couldn't just purchase a "Bible" tonight, but would have to pick up a translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls and a short history of the Bible and delve into all of that to begin the whole process right.
So I just picked up some Russian writers instead.
THE DEATH OF IVAN ILYICH and NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND. Both of which I've never read. Dostoyevsky and Chekov are two of my favorite authors. I've never read Tolstoy before, but I figured that any culture which could produce those two couldn't fail at least the potential of turning out a third author of brilliant impact. We'll see.
From there it was off to Avondale to the only liquor store in this town that stays open til 2am (that I know of) for some whiskey. I've been in the mood for drinking whiskey most of the day, but in tribute to Dostoyevsky, ended up changing my mind at the last minute to the selection of a good Vodka. (Much finer than Raskalnikov would've ever drank) After a few hours of that though... I'm now about ready to pass out. It's been a great evening, i hope yours has been equally enjoyable or more so by whatever standards you choose to apply (should anyone read this before I wake up and delete it for what I'm sure are a fuck ton of grammatical and spelling errors).
Do good things; take care.
-Steve
Went out for Thai food tonight I think. (assuming Thai is the one with all the curries...) Had a decent meal with some friends before heading to the bookstore. I wanted to buy a Bible. I don't own one. I have a first edition English translation of Marx's CAPITAL Vol 1. which is probably the closest thing, and a personally bitten copy of Rollins' ART TO CHOKE HEARTS and PISSING IN THE GENE POOL which is probably the weakest substitute, but no Bible. Half way through the search among the many shelves of differing versions of Bibles I realized that whichever one I purchased couldn't have the word "HOLY" on it. I just don't like the idea of it. Yes, it's the Bible. But if it was really so damn "holy" I would imagine that would just be understood.
There seems to be a lot of compensatory rhetoric these days and it always seems to present itself in the most expected of places.
I went to a Private (Christian) School for my primary education through the ninth grade. I learned a bit about the bible and all of it's stories. A lot of it I had problems with... had even more problems with the answers to my problems. Answers generally involving advisement that I should just focus on the easily digestable moral of the story or a one-sentence summary provided by a teacher with an IQ considerably lower than most of the pupils. I found philosophy a few years later, noted it and moved on to music... then returned to it much later.
The line between philosophy and theology can be quite fine sometimes, and I've always wanted to do my own sort of "Fear and Trembling" thing a la Kierkegaard and wrestle with the dichotomies of biblical text. Bonhoeffer and the problem of the knowledge of good and evil is another favorite interest of mine that I have not worked on. The Problem of Salvation is something that interests me too. The history of the book being what it is though, I came to the ultimate conclusion that I couldn't just purchase a "Bible" tonight, but would have to pick up a translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls and a short history of the Bible and delve into all of that to begin the whole process right.
So I just picked up some Russian writers instead.
THE DEATH OF IVAN ILYICH and NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND. Both of which I've never read. Dostoyevsky and Chekov are two of my favorite authors. I've never read Tolstoy before, but I figured that any culture which could produce those two couldn't fail at least the potential of turning out a third author of brilliant impact. We'll see.
From there it was off to Avondale to the only liquor store in this town that stays open til 2am (that I know of) for some whiskey. I've been in the mood for drinking whiskey most of the day, but in tribute to Dostoyevsky, ended up changing my mind at the last minute to the selection of a good Vodka. (Much finer than Raskalnikov would've ever drank) After a few hours of that though... I'm now about ready to pass out. It's been a great evening, i hope yours has been equally enjoyable or more so by whatever standards you choose to apply (should anyone read this before I wake up and delete it for what I'm sure are a fuck ton of grammatical and spelling errors).
Do good things; take care.
-Steve
binkymcqueen:
The Russinas-I just re-read Notes as a matter of fact--I hear you on what you are saying -I went to a christian school--I actually bought a 2 box set of the bible with introductions to each book by writers, artist, and the likes ( everyone from Bono-to nick cave-to the Dali Lama) it is packed up right now so I do not recall the publisher but it comes in a black and orange box--well worth the money with a whole new take on the stories --you might do well to pick up a copy of Grahm Hancock's Fingerprints of the gods as well-cheers