Jesus teaching his disciples. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
This week, I read the King James Version of the Gospel of Mark. I had read this book of the Bible before in various small group settings, but had only previously read it in more modern versions. I chose the unit this week because I was interested to see how the different translation lends a new interpretation of the scripture. Historically, the King James text has been the most widely printed and distributed version of the Bible, so I wanted to see how scholars of the Renaissance and beyond might have studied it.
As I was reading, I'll be honest--I had some difficulty with the language (older versions of English have never been my forte, and even though I like Shakespeare's work and similar styles, I do not necessarily understand everything). To counter this, I just referred to another version that I had on hand. I appreciated the way the Un-Textbook was set up: there were no verse numbers--and, understandably, it would be very time-consuming to insert every single number throughout the book--but it was broken up into chapters, so if I got confused with the diction, I could read the same passage in another translation with relative ease.
If there was one book in the Bible that I would have picked to be a reading unit, it would have been the Gospel of Mark. At the heart of this text are all of the fundamental principles not only to be a good follower of Christ, but also to be a kind person and to have success in life in general. Obviously, Jesus's parables are meant to teach spiritual lessons, but even on a non-religious level, he preaches about generosity, the perils of envy, and the value of hard work.
For someone who has never read the Bible before, this may not be the best choice for a reading unit; admittedly, the Christian culture has a lot of jargon that is derived from the Bible, and especially with the older language, it may be a bit difficult to understand at times. However, if one were interested in religious studies, this would be a good bet to gain more insight into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and to learn about the foundation of Christian beliefs.
As I was reading, I'll be honest--I had some difficulty with the language (older versions of English have never been my forte, and even though I like Shakespeare's work and similar styles, I do not necessarily understand everything). To counter this, I just referred to another version that I had on hand. I appreciated the way the Un-Textbook was set up: there were no verse numbers--and, understandably, it would be very time-consuming to insert every single number throughout the book--but it was broken up into chapters, so if I got confused with the diction, I could read the same passage in another translation with relative ease.
If there was one book in the Bible that I would have picked to be a reading unit, it would have been the Gospel of Mark. At the heart of this text are all of the fundamental principles not only to be a good follower of Christ, but also to be a kind person and to have success in life in general. Obviously, Jesus's parables are meant to teach spiritual lessons, but even on a non-religious level, he preaches about generosity, the perils of envy, and the value of hard work.
For someone who has never read the Bible before, this may not be the best choice for a reading unit; admittedly, the Christian culture has a lot of jargon that is derived from the Bible, and especially with the older language, it may be a bit difficult to understand at times. However, if one were interested in religious studies, this would be a good bet to gain more insight into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and to learn about the foundation of Christian beliefs.
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