One of the most popular men's monthly magazines, GQ, recently released a list of 21 classic books that you "don't have to read," and one of those books is the Bible.
"The Holy Bible is rated very highly by all the people who supposedly live by it but who in actuality have not read it," said Jesse Ball, a novelist and poet who wrote the article's section on the Bible. "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. It is repetitive, self-contradictory, sententious, foolish, and even at times ill-intentioned."
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Instead, Ball recommends people read "The Notebook" by Agota Kristof, which he believes is "a marvelous tale of two brothers who have to get along when things get rough."
The magazine is already receiving backlash. Among the outlets criticizing the article is Fox News, who spoke with its religion contributor Father Jonathan Morris about the story.
"Even if you don't believe this is an inspired word of God, in the last 50 years 3.9 billion have read the book," he said.
Morris also said the Bible being listed in GQ's article is "just foolish and a shame."
Other books named on GQ's list of books you don't have to read include "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain, "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien and "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller.