Genesis

I asked the following question of my used to be local homeschool group.

Is there such a thing as "Bible for Dummies" or a Cliff notes type book that I can use to have a proper discussion with Christian?

He (we) will be reading Genesis - Job as part of our history starting next week, and I don’t know how to approach the discussion. I want it to be like any other book discussion, not a religious study (if that makes sense.) We are using these books from the Bible as historic documents, as part of our Western canon/great books study.

Also... what version of the Bible would be best? I have a King James Version, and that is the one on Harold Bloom’s Western canon list, but I wondered if that is the best choice?

I am agnostic. I am raising my children to believe *whatever* they want to believe, and to understand and appreciate that everyone has their own belief system (because even a lack of "beliefs" is a belief system) and that they need to respect people whether they agree with their beliefs or not.

When it came time to sit down and pick from the 9th grade list in TWTM, the first thing I chose was the Bible portion. Two reasons:

1. It was an easy choice.

2. Whether or not you think the Bible is "the word of God" you have to acknowledge the Bible as a historic document.

So Monday with Cliff Notes in hand, we are starting Genesis. I am planning to take two weeks to get to Job.

I got a lot of good answers and even a few really interesting off list conversations. I'm glad I asked.