Right, so... This is going to be one of those projects. You know, the kind that I update only occasionally, and that I'll probably never finish.
A while back, I got into an argument with someone who claimed that almost no atheists had read the Bible. I responded that, in my experience, most atheists had read the Bible, and were frequently better-acquainted with it than many Christians. She responded that no, most atheists had only read verses from the Bible; they hadn't read the whole thing. That struck me as deeply misguided on several levels, but it's true that I haven't actually sat down and read the Bible from cover to cover that way. So, partly, this is going to be a reading project.
I honestly wouldn't have bothered, but I've also found myself thinking about The Black Book of Children's Bible Stories, and what it might be like to rewrite the entire Bible from the perspective of, say, Cain. So this will also, and primarily, be a writing project.
I'm going to have to make some fairly big decisions fairly early on, and some of those of decisions are going to affect the shape of the entire retelling. The biggest one, of course, is How am I going to deal with the supernatural elements? Do I take them as they are? Do I dismiss them as mythical, and/or explain them away? If there's nothing supernatural going on, then Cain can't be my only narrator; he'll only have a mortal lifespan, after all. And I'd end up essentially skipping over a lot of the most interesting stuff in the Old Testament. So I think the supernatural elements stay, and remain supernatural -- no Ancient Aliens, just the Bible stories taken at face value. However, that might mean addressing some other questions, like How can we put satellites into orbit if the sky is actually a vault that separates the waters above from the waters below?
I suppose I should also note that Karl Edward Wagner's Kane stories and Vampire: The Masquerade are almost certainly going to play into this, though there aren't going to be any vampires in this story... At least, not unless the Bible turns out to be a whole lot stranger than I realized.
If anybody is actually reading this, and wants to add some thoughts before we get going, feel free to comment.
"How can we put satellites into orbit if the sky is actually a vault that separates the waters above from the waters below?"
ReplyDeleteWell, I can answer that one. in Jewish cosmology, the sky is little more than a bubble in the waters that represent chaos. Satellites can still orbit the earth or "dry land". When they're not in the sky above dry land, they must be traveling through firmament, through water or through heaven. The following diagram should help: http://wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/blogs/exploringourmatrix/files/2012/11/Ancient-Hebrew-view-of-universe.png
"She responded that no, most atheists had only read verses from the Bible; they hadn't read the whole thing. That struck me as deeply misguided on several levels, ..."
ReplyDeleteI believe it is deeply misguided. In my experience, most Christians just read verses if they read anything at all. What they think they know about the Bible is what they've been taught, not what they've read for themselves. I was nominally a Christian at one time and I was aghast to find out when I actually read parts of the Bible for myself that what I had been taught about some of the Bible stories (like the expulsion from Eden) are not what the Bible actually says.
I've recently finished reading a book about what the archaeological evidence regarding Kings Saul, David and Solomon has to say. Not only does the Biblical account make claims that run against what we know about those times but what we actually know is so much more interesting than what the Bible has to say.
This sounds like fun. Please do let me know how I can be of assistance.
ReplyDeleteI would be interested in reading your Cain book. How's it coming along? Also, I enjoyed your critique of Mr. Warrens lecture. Finally I wanted to let you know I appreciate your art of words.
ReplyDeleteThank you. As with most of my writing projects, this one hasn't taken off into a book; instead, it's become a small repository for certain kinds of religious-storytelling thoughts.
ReplyDelete