Blog this

I'm not really much of a Slate fan, but I do sometimes listen to Day to Day on NPR, which is co-produced by Slate (or something like that). Between one thing and another, I found out about this:

Blogging the Bible
What happens when an ignoramus reads the Good Book?
By David Plotz

I've only read bits of it, so far, but I'm finding it rather interesting. Mr. Plotz is "a proud Jew, but never a terribly observant one" and fairly obviously intelligent, and his ideas about the stories he's reading are by turns amusing and thought-provoking.

Here's his own description of the blog from its introduction:

My goal is pretty simple. I want to find out what happens when an ignorant person actually reads the book on which his religion is based. I think I'm in the same position as many other lazy but faithful people (Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus). I love Judaism; I love (most of) the lessons it has taught me about how to live in the world; and yet I realized I am fundamentally ignorant about its foundation, its essential document. So, what will happen if I approach my Bible empty, unmediated by teachers or rabbis or parents? What will delight and horrify me? How will the Bible relate to the religion I practice, and the lessons I thought I learned in synagogue and Hebrew School?