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The Bible 2.0
- Thread starter Kelly of the Phoenix
- Start date
If I understand your question correctly, and possibly I don't, the closest I can suggest is to read the book of Job as a play.
Thief
Rogue Theologian
for example.....the Screwtape Letters.....Why does it have to be the Bible?
There are thousands of other spiritual works that are far more interesting and insightful.
by C.S. Lewis
BilliardsBall
Veteran Member
Many/most are written this way, with the caveat that in the Ancient Near East, not every story is told chronologically. Many of the books of the Bible would make for amazing films if they stuck to the story instead of "dramatizing" them...
Ruth is an immigration story and seems like a lesson about being good to non Jews. Ruth has a 'Skip to the end' courtship that turns out well for her as the man has good character, and its not about their conversations and the ups and downs of their relationship. They just get married, and there is very little talking or dreaming. There is romance, its not about Obed and Ruth. Ruth doesn't dream of Obed or have chance encounters with him or have time to be impressed by his manners, and there are no steamy scenes or arguments. There's no discussion about whether either of them is good looking. She's been married to a Jewish man before and has a Jewish mother in law. Its all about her conversion, so she has a romance with Obed's people rather than with Obed. She loves Naomi, and she wants to join Naomi's people. Ruth is the main title, but Naomi is Ruth's hero. Naomi tells her that Obed is a good guy, and so she immediately commits to him, but she has also already been married to a Jewish man before. She knows all about what she is getting into and is happy to be joining the family.
I view David's story as a tragedy not a romance. Job is an epic poem, probably a play. It could be portrayed as comedy and still get its points across. None of the boy-girl relationships in the Bible are about getting to know each other and then committing. They commit, and then they live together.
ThePainefulTruth
Romantic-Cynic
That was the way I read it, and the Book of Job would have been my answer. Of course it's very long winded and the punch line sucks, but hey, that doesn't disqualify a lot of stuff from showing on Broadway or Hollywood.
The entire Bible is written as a novel, a love story about God's redemptive plan for man. From the opening Chapter and the fall of man, to the close of the book in Revelation. The complete story of how God will save us and how to live our lives so that He we can live our lives according to His will for us.
ronandcarol
sandy whitelinger
Veteran Member
If God is a novelist I can see why He has only 1 book.
That's like saying lip sync is singing.
Ha now that is an interesting reply and maybe accurate at least to a degree.Watts?
Muffled
Jesus in me
I believe Esther would qualify but it is more like a short story. There is a Jewish holiday to celebrate it and her Jewish name is Hadassah.
Absolutely. Jungs red book or libre novous which I happen to own a copy of. The difference is that the bible manifests across time of many many individuals and places so it is infinitely way way more complex. Religion generally tries to reduce it to dogma or a singular kind of interpretive structure like libre novous. We are dealing with the unconscious after all and is way bigger than, well, everything.
The other book is the Lord of the rings. Tolkien is exploring language in his writings he was a linguistics expert after all, an artist, scholar, catholic, and an expert on Beowulf.
All the above makes zero sense If you are not in a sense what we call today an artist.
The other book is the Lord of the rings. Tolkien is exploring language in his writings he was a linguistics expert after all, an artist, scholar, catholic, and an expert on Beowulf.
All the above makes zero sense If you are not in a sense what we call today an artist.
Muffled
Jesus in me
Ruth would qualify but the plot is a bit thin compared to Esther.
sealchan
Well-Known Member
I'm a big fan of Nikos Kazantzakis' The Last Temptation of Christ which is closely modeled on the gospel narratives. Is that the sort of thing you are asking about? I would also recommend Martin Scorcese's movie adaptation.
sealchan
Well-Known Member
Tolkien's Silmarillion has some clearly Biblical influences.
Yes yes yes. Tolkien is like Nietzsche they actually have the same degree but Tolkien isn't insane Nietzsche is. I find Tolkiens faith, his actual deep loss in ww1 of very close friends and his recognition that the mundane little things in life are in fact very very important. I read that his wife was not a scholar and that helped him be much broader take a step back, enjoy his pipe, enjoy a bit of the tree life, and appreciate life in ways that were healthy for a scholar intellectual. Nietzsche has zero breath in his writings, Tolkien is very grounded. Another tree person I admire is john muir very mentally healthy as well. Strange in fun ways. Both wrote with great presence.
Tolkien
Muir. Whom btw felt he was just like John the Baptist and was called to bring what he called mountainanity, to the world. He is old old testament and new testament as well. Presence is throughout his writings.
sealchan
Well-Known Member
I should say that I have a collection of books and movies on my bookshelf which I see in part as an Expanded Bible. Some are later Christian influenced works such as Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur. Other works include those which protray the individual's sacrifice for the salvation of others as of a kind with the story of Jesus including The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe; Harry Potter series; The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix Trilogy, Dune series...
I'm also studying the various mythic epics: The Greek Cycle, The Mahabharata, The Bible and finding they have common sources, perhaps a framework of oral epic involving a sort of story of generations which get involved in a series of greater and greater compromises to their moral integrity and virtue until some ultimate battle (Trojan War, Kurukshetra, Apocalypse) decides the final outcome. I suspect from this I will be able to find a framework supporting later, more modern epic stories.
Given that ...
- I am unclear what you mean by "written more like modern novels would be," and
- all responses should be viewed as opinions, some more informed than others,
Kelly of the Phoenix
Well-Known Member
Ugh. Such smarmy BS. I mean, thanks for the offer, but I mean writing the bible as though it were a modern novel, not some hateful Christian's revenge porn.
Thanks. That would be closer, yes.
Because after I'm done with my religious fiction trilogy, I want to see if I can write it.
I mean, if Muslims can argue that no one can improve the Quran, why not have a similar writing challenge for the books of the bible?
Agreed.
To be fair, Labyrinth very much copies some of the (30's era) movie themes from TWoO.
Yeah, you're right.
Like, I wonder what Genesis would read like if using modern novel tropes instead of ancient oral ones.
This really wasn't that upsetting. We cool.
LOL, I don't like to write romance scenes. I'd have to ask my brother to cowrite those.
I like Deborah and Jael better. Action women are better than women known only for their hotness.
Yeah.
But he's such a hack.
LOL. I'm sure you'd find people who say it's still better than Twilight.
I'm looking for less "Dracula" by Bram Stoker and more "Harry Potter". In other words, the bible is only a novel if you REALLY stretch the definition of one. Stoker's Dracula is a proto-novel, where page length is achieved not through a unified story but by slapping together "letters" and "memos" and stuff. It's a good book, don't get me wrong, but it's not the style I'm looking for.
I haven't seen it or read it, but it smacks too much of Fifty Shades to me.
Two if you remember the sequel wasn't around for centuries after the first was written.
Then you have the obligatory Reboot Story with the Quran.
This would be pretty much what I'm looking for, but I think it sells the stories short to treat the bible as one unified work when it clearly isn't.
I really need to watch that. And The Life of Brian.
Middle Earth is WAY better than Narnia.