THE TWO IMPORTANT BOOKS OF THE BIBLE

When I first began to look at the Bible and try to read and perhaps understand it, I quickly decided at that early childhood age, of around 8-9-10-11, that the two most important books were, from my limited viewpoint at the time, GENESIS & THE APOCALYPSE or REVELATIONS, and I used to amuse, startle, and probably aggravate-irritate, my school classmates with my expositions and comments on the BOOK OF REVELATIONS, especially the various predictions as I understood them at the time. I became interested in the Bible through some Bible stories, a book that my cousin Becky either read to me or allowed me to read that she had when we lived on the Farm in Cornish. The other influence on this Bible interest came from my Welch Uncle by marriage to my Aunt, Becky's mother, because he left his Masonic Bible around and urged me to read it, and somewhat obliquely made comments on its importance and high regard that Masons had for it, and also I might add he was a Shriner and had gone through nearly all, if not all, the degrees,etc. and always wanted me to joing De Molay and eventually the Masons, which I never did and which I somewhat resisted for various reasons. I have since read a lot about them,etc. and have had friends who were involved in the Masonic activities,etc. but I did not feel drawn to the charitable works and other things of a social nature,etc. that they emphasized.........then I also became aware of the various claims about Masonic groups, the position of the time by Catholicism and the hostilities that existed, not that I really sided with either position, and other extravagant claims such as Masons murder, kill, kidnap, conspire, etc. that are still with us.....and which I shall some late time perhaps examine....... There was nothing 'secret' or 'mysterious' about my Uncle's Bible which had the Masonic Emblem on its front cover.....or at least nothing that revealed the Masonic Secrets....other than what the Bible stated which is/was, as far as I know, the King James Version, which I still prefer over other versions for my own personal reasons that can be discussed another time..... My reading of the first books of the Bible, attributed to Moses, of course, though most scholars doubt he actually wrote any of them,led me to adopt or consider some of the early prohibitions of the Laws expounded, like not eating pork, butter, touching the dead and cutting one's hair as I sort of wanted to emulate the Nazarites, a special sect that needs more study by most than is usually done......I also became more interested in the New Testament in certain respects, and used to think of going around the country-side, walking,carrying a staff, preaching and so forth in the manner of prophets and disciples,etc. all the while riding in the car while my grandparents or others drove, and I kept this notion in my head through High School in varied forms....and, of course, my minister wanted me to become a minister as I was at the time a member of the Methodist Church in Claremont and had also attended Sunday School and Church at Cornish Center when I lived on the Farm. I have since kept somewhat distant from any church activities except for some which I may discuss another time..... I can say that I have studied Catholic Doctrines by Correspondence and with certain priests/missionaries at times, and so forth but then I have done such conversations and discussions with Jehovah Witnesses, Iglesia Ni Cristo (s),Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons,Christian Scientists, and other religious groups and sects and religions,including Bahai,Buddhist(s) of various sects,etc. and a lot more too numerous to mention here in full..... My personal religious 'experiences' are just that, of course, and of little interest to others except that they look to mine as some sort of confirmation of their beliefs, ideas, feelings, and positions on life which I do not encourage them to accept or adopt or the like......but to keep their own....unless....they want a life of peril and uncertainty and ambiguity and other things........and I also step on their toes when they proffer their personal and organized beliefes as being 'truth' and 'the only truth' and place claims on the Bible that are exaggerated and in the long run, unsupported in various ways and which are usually open to a long list of variations and differences when examined in the light of history and other things....and not necessarity from that of science or philosophy...... The Bible can be studied on several levels and the first level done by most persons who attempt to read it is:THE LITERAL LEVEL and this means word- for- word under the guidance of some religious doctrine, tenet, creed, code, belief, or position and not from a mere 'literary'interest which is also perhaps THE SECOND LEVEL where one can appreciate the poetry, history, proverbs, etc. and the biographies or their descriptions of the figures mentioned there, plus other topics and divisions.....like psalms or songs......