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[deleted] t1_j672yv0 wrote

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Lixlace t1_j67pke0 wrote

I'm an atheist, and I have to say the Bible is super cool as a literary work. It deals with big-ticket philosophical ideas that we still grapple with today, and it's done them powerfully enough to influence almost all of the West's philosophy.

Job, for instance, is a superior piece when viewed through the lens of existential works. Despite being supremely pious, Job suffers dearly from God's divine argument of vanity with Satan, and he doesn't even know why. Worse yet, if he did know why, it would likely make him even worse off. Job grapples with the near-disdain the universe has for him despite being morally righteous, and he is essentially punished for being just.

The book of Job nailed this theme so well-- as head-scratching as it still is for many-- that it has subsisted in the canon for millennia, and has for just as long influenced the West's philosophy.

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jimmy_the_turtle_ t1_j67rnb7 wrote

There's a reason that text is still popular at funerals, even secular ones without any church service. It's just very human.

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