Favorite Non-Gospel Stories

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Does anyone have a favorite story from the Bible, not counting the many great stories from the Gospel? I mean I assume you do. What makes you like it that much?

I have always loved the story of the defiling of Dinah (Genesis 34). The fact they actually tricked hundreds of men to circumcise themselves to get revenge for their little sister was great. I of course immediately identified with the story, since i am the oldest of three children, with my brother right below me, and our sister the youngest. It felt good to see Jacobs sons standing up for their little sister like I felt like we did. Also that last line (should we have let them treat our sister like a prostitute?) always felt very Godfather to me. Maybe thats a juvenile understanding of the story but I still like it.

Within the gospel my favorite story would be either that of the penitent thief from Luke, or the scene where Jesus meets Peter, and Peter begs him to leave because he is a sinful man. Those were always very moving to me.
 
nfinke said:
Does anyone have a favorite story from the Bible, not counting the many great stories from the Gospel? I mean I assume you do. What makes you like it that much?
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In the Old Testament I love the story of Suzannah. I admire her courage to do the right thing, and that her innocence was proven.

From the Gospels, probably the Good Samaritan. I need to be him more instead of the priest or levite.
 
I know it may seem commonplace now…but the story of Moses is one of my favorites…an oldie but goodie…maybe from watching The Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston every year since I was a kid has something to do with it.

Joseph…

Samson…

Balaam and the donkey…

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego

The story of Rahab…

Elija on the mountain…

Nebuchadnezzar…

Those are some of mine…
 
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I love the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis. He went from being abandoned by his brothers to being second in command of the Egyptian empire. He also interpreted dreams, which I think is fascinating. The story of the Exodus is good, too. It’s a story of how good will overcome evil. God killed Pharaoh and saved the Israelites from slavery and genocide.
 
Although it’s not a coherent story, Lot’s “story arc” is somewhat intriguing.

He lives with Abram, they wind up separating (under somewhat tense circumstances), he moves towards Sodom, but it isn’t until later he moves into Sodom.

Somewhere along the way, he acquires a wife and has daughters, and seems to have high status in Sodom, although he is righteous enough for his family to be rescued from the city’s destruction.

Here’s where the story takes a really bizarre turn—his daughters get him drunk and seduce him so they can have babies.
I mean seriously, what had those girls been exposed to growing up to even get such an idea???

His story ends there…
 
0Scarlett_nidiyilii said:
Here’s where the story takes a really bizarre turn—his daughters get him drunk and seduce him so they can have babies.
I mean seriously, what had those girls been exposed to growing up to even get such an idea???
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To be fair, after seeing the fire and brimstone destruction of their home town of Sodom and all of the surrounding territory, it is at least possible that they wrongly believed themselves and Lot to be the last people alive, in which case their actions (wrong though they were) could have seemed like the only realistic way to keep the human race going.

As for the topics original question: I have always loved the story of the prophet Elijah’s contest with the prophets of Baal in 1 kings chapter 18.

And my favorite non Gospel New Testament story would be the Apostle Peter’s rescue from prison by an angel in Acts chapter 12 and how he thought that he was having a vision and didn’t realize at first that he was really free.
 
Old Testament. Nehemiah building the Jerusalem wall in 52 days while surrounded by enemies.

Acts. Peter baptising Cornelius and his followers. And Philip baptizing the Ethiopian.
 
Well, I suppose you meant only Biblical stories. There are so many to choose from, that show the foreshadowing of God’s Grace, Mercy, Forgiveness through Jesus The Christ.
Please don’t ask for a source, it’s very difficult to find, but sounds plausible regarding the
Dormition/Assumption, a Holy Legend.
(I do plan to research through google searches to bookmark where I saw this for future reference.
I came across it in 2008, at the time of my mom’s passing. The Catholic Funeral Home Director
thanked me for sharing it with him.)
The reason it seems plausible is that the pagans would have
misunderstood very easily, so that would be a good reason to keep it secret.
But the story goes that The Blessed Virgin Mary did fall Dormant, and was placed in a Tomb.
Some women went to the Tomb to put spices on her, (similar to Jesus, but not exactly), but her
body wasn’t in the Tomb. Thomas the Disciple having come to pay homage to God through Jesus,
said to the women, let me see.
Since the ancients because of the bones of Elisha as an instrument of a revival of someone who died and fell on the bones; and some of the Early Church relics; did search for the body of Mary. They never found it.
If this happened for sure, I don’t know. And no one is certain exactly how The Assumption took place.
Peace.
 
here is a close reference.
“According to the Sacred Tradition of the Orthodox Church, at the time of her Dormition, the Theotokos was buried by the Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem. Three days later, Thomas the Apostle, who had been delayed and unable to attend the funeral, arrived and asked to have one last look at the Virgin Mary. When he and the other apostles arrived at Mary’s Tomb, they found that her body was missing. According to some accounts, the Virgin Mary appeared at that time and gave her belt (cincture) to the Apostle Thomas. Its history prior to the reign of Justinian in the sixth century is not preserved.”
source: Redirecting...
 
Book of Job . I love this Sermon from movie “Tree of Life” (excerpt)

Job imagined he might build his nest on high – that the integrity of his behavior would protect him against misfortune. And his friends thought, mistakenly, that the Lord could only have punished him because secretly he’d done something wrong.

But, no, misfortune befalls the good as well. We can’t protect ourselves against it. We can’t protect our children. We can’t say to ourselves, even if I’m not happy, I’m going to make sure they are.

We vanish as a cloud. We wither as the autumn grass, and like a tree are rooted up.

Is there some fraud in the scheme of the universe? Is there nothing which is deathless? Nothing which does not pass away?

We cannot stay where we are. We must journey forth.

We must find that which is greater than fortune or fate. Nothing can bring us peace but that.
 
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The true stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses & Miriam & Aaron & Joshua & The Israelites (Exodus, the whole first 5 Books, so Epic for Salvation History), King David, when partially or even more holistically absorbed with love & gratitude to know GOD, preparing the world for The Divine in The Form of a Man, Jesus Beloved Redeemer, The Mediating Theophany; -
helps bring joy & strength to the heart of GOD’s Faithfulness to a humanity that cannot save itself.
It seems that 1 & 2 Maccabees, with real humanity trials & tribulations connect much of the history from Patriarchs, Prophets, & Kings of The Israelites to the time of The Incarnation of Christ.
The parting of the Red Sea on dry land to take the Israelites from peril to safety to hear and live out of knowing and loving GOD, The Benevolent Compassionate Law is one of the greatest stories in history.
There was a man who found pillars on both sides of the Red Sea.
There are Egyptian chariots wheels petrified on the sea floor that almost looks like between the pillars from one side to the other like a platform at the bottom of the Red Sea’s surface. There is a lot of evidence that it was The Red Sea, and dry land, which the Holy Bible refers as opposed to the Reed Sea, by a tidal wave from a volcanic eruption whereby the sea water went out to sea, and the inland brackish water went further inland exposing a muddy bottom.
~
Well, we will know at the end of time as we know it. At the climatic Marriage Supper of The Lamb, which every Mass participates in The Spirit because God is not bound by time.
~
Peace.
 
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