Original language: Koine Greek.
I started with the King James Version (KJV) (published 1611), because it’s the most familiar and most literary. The KJV has lots of felicitous phrasing and poetry. I added a lot to my list of phrases from the Bible. But I found it difficult to understand what the KJV was saying sometimes. So midway through the New Testament I switched to the New International Version (NIV) (1978), which is a lot more clear to modern readers.
Matthew
Verses that resonated with me because they represent a positive way of life and helping others:
Matthew 19:21
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.
Matthew 19:30
Many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.
Matthew 21:21-22
If ye have faith ... if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Matthew 25:35-40
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
I noticed that Jesus often quotes or refers to the Old Testament, so I found a comprehensive article about those references.
Luke
The book of Luke is more poetic than Matthew and Mark.
Luke 3
He that hath two coats, let him impart [give] to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.
John
It says all over the New Testament that the Jews wanted Christ dead. Over and over.
Another verse I liked: John 13:34
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Romans
I hate Paul, the bigot. What he says leads to anti-Semitism. The Jews as the rejectors of Christ. He routinizes Jesus’s charisma. (1)
Romans 13:1-2 NIV
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
Had people followed those verses, there would have been no Civil Rights Movement, or any other questioning of authority. (Sidebar: Romans 13:1 in the KJV is the source of the familiar phrase “the powers that be.” The NIV uses the bland “the authorities that exist.”)
1 Corinthians
Paul preaches that women came from man and man came from God. And further that woman was created for man. Outdated and harmful ideas. Women are not allowed to speak in churches (1 Corinthians 14:34).
1 Thessalonians 2:14-15 NIV
You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus.
Oy gevalt! Paul is not good for the Jews.
Paul is reactionary. Homosexuality is bad, sex mostly is bad, women should remain quiet.
1 Timothy 2:12 NIV
I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.
Hebrews 10:29 NIV
How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the son of God underfoot?
In other words, the Jews, rejectors of Christ, need to be punished.
James
I like James and his advice much more than Paul. Much more merciful.
Revelation
Like a bad acid trip. (Not that I’ve ever had one.)
Guest comment: My son, 21, said “The Christians retconned the Bible.” What he means is that the Christians claimed that Jesus’s coming was predicted in the Old Testament. Take it from an atheist Jew (me) – it wasn’t.
Last thoughts on the New Testament, and the Bible in general
Jesus as depicted in the Gospels is kind, loving, and caring. But Paul and most of the other New Testament writers are awful.
The Bible has great value as history, law, and literature. It’s the founding document of most of the religions of the West. Would I recommend people read it? Absolutely.
And one great thing about reading the Bible is that you can summon up interpretation and commentary about any and all parts of it with a quick internet search.
(1) The routinization of charisma is a term coined by Max Weber in The Theory of Social and Economic Organizations (first published in English in 1947). It refers to the transition from charismatic leadership to rules, laws, and bureaucracies.
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