I have occasionally been reading 18th and 19th century authors who have written their objections to religion, the Bible and Christianity. Recently, I started Diegesis by Robert Taylor and The Testament of Jean Messlier.
I find Diegesis to be a jumbled collection of the author's thoughts and opinions of the origins of Christianity based on his interpretation and understanding of ancient myths, legends, and writings. It is arrogant in tone and often sarcastic. There is also a strong thread of anti semitism. Many of his point are obscure and don't seem especially valid. However, he does make some interesting references to scripture and the writings of early christians.
Testament is written by a Catholic priest who was disgusted with his religion. It was not distributed till after his death. I've only started reading it today, but I noticed that the author also referred to the writings of early christians and their references to the Bible. So, I decided to look at Jerome, who translated the bible into Latin and created what is known as the Vulgate.
From there I went to Christian Classics Ethereal Library and found translations of some of the writings of Jerome. I read his preface to the book of Job here. Apparently, even in the 4th century, there were abundant problems with various translations of scripture. Passages were often altered, added, or left out. Jerome mentions a few instances. I find this fascinating. Also, he decided to translate the old testament into Latin from the Hebrew instead of the Greek Septuagint. This was an unpopular decision because many Christians believed the Septuagint to be divinely inspired. (And the Hebrew wasn't?) This reminds me of the modern arguments regarding the King James version of the Bible.
I may spend more time exploring the writings of prominent figures in the early church.
Edited for an error in the language of the Septuagint.
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