What I'm Reading
My last “What I'm Reading” blog entry was posted a couple months ago at which time I hard started reading the New Testament of the Bible. I made terrific progress through the Gospels but started losing interest after that. I'm currently finished with Galatians, but my reading pace has definitely grinded to a virtual halt.
The NT, after John, is a bit of a let down. The first four books, the Gospels, which chronicle Jesus's ministry and death, were really interesting and well-written. I had a hard time putting the book down to go to bed at night. But the books after that - Acts, Romans, Corinthians, and so on - are basically Paul just writing letters. Yeah, there are a few good gems in there, but all in all it's rather preachy and a tad boring.
So why are the Gospels such a better read? My guess is because they tell a story rather than just sort of blathering on about how one should live their life. And even though I'm sure Paul sacraficed a lot and did a lot of good in his ministry, you don't really hear about it. You just get Paul giving advice to the various Chuches, telling them to be nice and not to fratenize with pagans, and to have husbands and wives love each other, yawn, yawn, yawn. In the Gospels we get to see Jesus stand up against those who wish him ill. We get to hear his philosophy in parables, from his mouth to non-believers. Not in some formal letter to existing Church members.
Was this intentional? Were those books after the Gospels intentionally written in a style so as not to distract from the awe of the story of Christ? That would make sense, but maybe Paul just needed a better editor, one who wasn't afraid to tell him, “Paul! You've got to spice it up a bit, throw in some angry mobs, a prostitute or two, a pack of cursed pigs, and - well, this may be a bit trite - but why not a crucifixion or two? At least can we get you to spite a fig tree somewhere in here? These books don't just fly off the shelves on their own!”