{"id":2742,"date":"2018-05-22T15:39:56","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T20:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nltblog.com\/?p=2742"},"modified":"2021-12-08T09:22:42","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T09:22:42","slug":"what-gqs-bible-evaluation-gets-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/2018\/05\/22\/what-gqs-bible-evaluation-gets-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"What GQ\u2019s Bible Evaluation Gets Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"
Read the response from our partners at the Institute for Bible Reading concerning what GQ got wrong in its Bible evaluation. Glenn Paauw is a leading expert on Bible reading and development. Here is what he has to say:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n by Glenn Paauw<\/a>, Institute for Bible Reading<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The editors of GQ magazine recently assembled a list of 21 no-need-to-read so-called Great Books, along with a parallel list of recommended alternative choices. [Read the article here.<\/a>] The point was to challenge the idea that there\u2019s a mandatory list of books that anyone claiming to be well-read will know from firsthand experience. Don\u2019t worry, say these guardians of the hipster style scene, because the whole idea of a canon is, well, already shot.<\/p>\n Many of the Great Books aren\u2019t actually so great, so feel free to take a pass.<\/p>\n The list itself is pretty eclectic, taking aim not merely at older classics from authors like Henry James, Mark Twain, and Ernest Hemingway, but also newer offerings like those of David Foster Wallace and Paulo Coelho. The original sin apparently afflicting all of the list? The snore factor.<\/p>\n No doubt some of the questioning, along with the suggested Plan B, are spot on. Instead of J. D. Salinger\u2019s \u201cnot profound\u201d\u00a0Franny and Zooey<\/em>, try Willa Cather\u2019s \u201ccalm and contemplative and open\u201d\u00a0Death Comes for the Archbishop<\/em>instead. Sound advice there. But sometimes the list limps, as when Tolkien\u2019s\u00a0The Lord of the Rings<\/em>\u00a0fantasy novels are relegated to \u201cbarely readable\u201d status.<\/p>\n It\u2019s probably not surprising that the Bible also made the cut list. These days there is a rather standard list of objections to the Bible, including but not limited to being sexist, violent, and generally approving of all manner of cultural regressions.<\/p>\n It is interesting and worth noting that not so long ago the standard story about the Bible was that it was The Good Book, albeit the one rarely read. Pollster George Gallup called it the best-selling, least-read book in America. Today the Bible remains largely unknown, but now it\u2019s increasingly The Bad Book. And yes, boring too.<\/p>\n GQ\u2019s list is not made up of review essays; it is as it claims to be, merely a list. But a few dismissive comments are included with each entry.<\/p>\n American novelist Jesse Ball\u2019s cool brush-off of the Bible goes like this:<\/p>\n The Holy Bible is rated very highly by all the people who supposedly live by it but who in actuality have not read it. Those who have read it know there are some good parts, but overall it is certainly not the finest thing that man has ever produced. It is repetitive, self-contradictory, sententious, foolish, and even at times ill-intentioned.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So there you have it.<\/p>\nThe Bible and the List<\/h2>\n