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that's interesting. any suggestions for books, blogs etc about specifically such aspects of the bible?

i read the ot in german standard translation coined by luther and a modern (but conservative) translation of the nt by kammermayer.

my disappointing take away was how dull and boring the bible is. i didn't find much inspiration in it. and i am spiritually inclined with an open mind towards christian mysticism.

but of course the bible as we know it is a disfigured and violated excerpt of a larger partly secret canon. so to understand it better precisely stuff like apple/fruit or girl/virgin are relevant and also make it more interesting.

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I really like the /r/AcademicBiblical/ community on Reddit for these kinds of things. I'm also much more into the spiritual and mystical aspects of Christianity, which, IMO, were either obfuscated or intentionally removed. Couple this with the wide range of translations and you get a boring result.

The orthodox and coptic churches are much more mystical than the catholic church, and much much more than protestant denominations. Reading about the early Irish church is interesting, since it was very influential in the middle ages with many of the most famous saints, and it was a very mystical and ascetic branch of the faith.

I can't say about German bibles, but the Norton Critical Edition KJV is great for literary study of the bible in English. It's hard to beat the KJV in terms of poetic quality (not to mention its massive influence on the development of the language itself), but even simple archaisms like separate second-person singular and plural pronouns preserve meaning lacking in more modern English translations. This edition has copious notes providing deep textual analysis. It's definitely a very slow read.

Any recommendations on Christian (or not) mysticism? That's not something I've ever delved into at all.

> Any recommendations on Christian (or not) mysticism? That's not something I've ever delved into at all.

Read about hesychasm, read about orthodox monks living in deserts, read about Mount Athos.

> Any recommendations on Christian (or not) mysticism? That's not something I've ever delved into at all.

The Philokalia is worth checking out.

Check out The Symbolic World channel on youtube.

I would check out Jonathan Pageau's channel called The Symbolic World on youtube. This will bring a whole new light to what you are reading.

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