Obviously

[this human]

Without anybody's commentary, testimony or list of sources they should not consult, is there any obvious message which you believe an intelligent, literate person would conclude that the Bible teaches if they read it from cover to cover?

Would it make a difference if they (a) read the sixty-six-book Protestant Bible (using the Tanakh as the Old Testament) or if they (b) read the seventy-three-book Catholic Bible (using the Septuagint as the Old Testament)?

What would your impression be of someone who had read the whole thing and thought there was no over-arching message to it?

The message I got from studying the 66 and seeking the One whom they are about is: humans are just human but there is another who is more, whose ways and thoughts are above humanity's ways and thoughts. This other, who was before the beginning of universe, became human to provide that some of us may stand before Him and fellowship with Him forever more. If permitted to hang with This brother in humanity rather than remain in a grave on this little pebble in universe or whatever, I choose to hang with my brother, friend, Lord and God Jesus, crucified with Him or physically alive with Him by faith.

 

[KingJ]

There was, in the later writings of the Tanakh, the expectation of a world to come. As for a messiah, not from what I can see.

Judaism teaches a Messiah is coming. It is Judaism 101. Messiah in Judaism - Wikipedia

''Belief in the future advent of the Messiah is one of the fundamental requisites of the Jewish faith''

As for eternal punishment, it looks as if you are using the proof-text approach of using minor excerpts devoid of their original context, as well as changing the meaning of words which mean one thing into words which Christians would prefer them to be.

What is their original context?

Judaism agrees with my interpretation. Your interpretation conflicts with those who have studied the same books for thousands of years?

Now of course if I use the kind of midrash which the gospel writers use to claim that Jesus fulfils 'prophecy', I can do the same thing with quite a lot of people to say that they are the second-coming of Jesus. I can, in fact, apply the same commentary to myself and find I fulfil requirements in at least five ways. That does not, however, mean that I am him.

Your reply looks like a pre-conceived copy paste. Please quote me.

 

[David Young]

A typical example of a gospel-writer's midrash is to say that 'Out of Egypt I have called my son' is somehow fulfilled in Jesus because he had been taken to Egypt and then out of it. To call it a messianic prophecy is completely absurd. The same goes for 'They divided my clothing amongst them, they cast lots for my robe', 'He was bruised for our transgressions', or 'Not one of his bones shall be broken'. It was, however, fashionable among various rival versions of Judaism a couple of thousand years ago, with their own separate ideas of what kind of messiah was coming, with the idea of a messiah itself based more on post-Tanakh reinterpretations in an attempt at explaining the Exile than actual historical-based study of the parts of the Tanakh they were looking at.

However, if someone is absolutely convinced that someone is the messiah, they can find ways in which they can crowbar that person back into whatever they claim to predict him, in the same way I can do with myself and the New Testament.

 

[B-A-C]

One thing? I'm not sure you could put it into one sentence.

1. There is a creator who created everything, including us. You and me.
Once people accept that... the rest becomes easier.
2. There are moral rules, laws if you will. Penalties for breaking these laws. Eternal damnation and hell-fire.
The bad news is... we've ALL broken some of these rules. We all need to acknowledge this.
3. The good news is God loves us, and sent a "way" for us to avoid damnation and hell-fire. We can live for eternity with Him.
Belief, faith and obedience to Jesus is this "way".

I hesitate to say that's all there is... obviously the Bible is a long book that reveals the character of God among other things.
But if I had to condense it as small as I could, that's the best I could do.

 

[David Young]

That sounds like a summary of a particular version of Christianity. It is certainly not something I find pervades the entire Bible.