Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - What is the first influential book you read?

snowy · 05-07-2006, 08:53 PM

Really influential?

I read tons of influential works in college (Nietzche, Rousseau), but the first that comes to mind was a work I read a lot as a child and one that bored the hell out of me.

The Bible.

I discovered when I was about 13-14 that I'd been reading the wrong parts of the Bible. My Sunday School had always focused on the stories of the Old Testament, the stories you can get in a picture book of Bible stories. But those never interested me; Jonah and the whale simply didn't appeal. The God in the OT didn't appeal to me.

But then I read the Beatitudes, and went to look them up in the Book of Matthew. And through reading that, I discovered a God I loved, and a God who loved me in turn. It was a huge door opening. Matthew is a much more philosophical book, more thoughtful, and I suppose that was what appealed to me most. It still appeals to me today.

05-07-2006, 08:53 PM	#6 (permalink)
snowy Kick Ass Kunoichi Location: Oregon	Really influential? I read tons of influential works in college (Nietzche, Rousseau), but the first that comes to mind was a work I read a lot as a child and one that bored the hell out of me. The Bible. I discovered when I was about 13-14 that I'd been reading the wrong parts of the Bible. My Sunday School had always focused on the stories of the Old Testament, the stories you can get in a picture book of Bible stories. But those never interested me; Jonah and the whale simply didn't appeal. The God in the OT didn't appeal to me. But then I read the Beatitudes, and went to look them up in the Book of Matthew. And through reading that, I discovered a God I loved, and a God who loved me in turn. It was a huge door opening. Matthew is a much more philosophical book, more thoughtful, and I suppose that was what appealed to me most. It still appeals to me today. __________________ If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau