Suggesting that the word of God is "boring," GQ magazine included the Holy Bible in its list of "21 books you don't have to read before you die."
"… Not all the Great Books have aged well. Some are racist and some are sexist, but most are just really, really boring. So we - and a group of un-boring writers - give you permission to strike these books from the canon," GQ writes in its intro.
The Bible comes in No. 12 on GQ's list, appearing in its May issue.
Novelist Jesse Ball pans the Bible as "foolish," writing that instead of reading the Great Book, readers should instead read "The Notebook" by Agota Kristof.
"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," writes Ball, the author of "Census."
The Holy Bible "is repetitive, self-contradictory, sententious, foolish, and even at times ill-intentioned. If the thing you heard was good about the Bible was the nasty bits, then I propose Agota Kristof's The Notebook, a marvelous tale of two brothers who have to get along when things get rough," Ball writes for GQ.
A sampling of other books GQ liberates its readers from having to read before the die:
- Catch-22
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- A Farewell to Arms
- The Catcher in the Rye
- Gulliver's Travels
Fox News religion contributor Father Jonathan Morris told "Fox & Friends" on Sunday the Bible's inclusion on the list is "just foolish and a shame."
“Took 21 books they think should be digitally burned, OK, which doesn’t sound like a very hip thing," Father Morris said.
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