How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now Book PDF, ePub eBook

Join our eBook service for unlimited books & audiobooks. Get a free 7 day subscription! ↓↓↓↓↓


Book Descriptions:
Scholars from different fields have joined forces to reexamine every aspect of the Hebrew Bible. Their research, carried out in universities and seminaries in Europe and America, has revolutionized our understanding of almost every chapter and verse. But have they killed the Bible in the process?

In How to Read the Bible, Harvard professor James Kugel leads the reader chapter by chapter through the "quiet revolution" of recent biblical scholarship, showing time and again how radically the interpretations of today's researchers differ from what people have always thought. The story of Adam and Eve, it turns out, was not originally about the "Fall of Man," but about the move from a primitive, hunter-gatherer society to a settled, agricultural one. As for the stories of Cain and Abel, Abraham and Sarah, and Jacob and Esau, these narratives were not, at their origin, about individual people at all but, rather, explanations of some feature of Israelite society as it existed centuries after these figures were said to have lived. Dinah was never raped -- her story was created by an editor to solve a certain problem in Genesis. In the earliest version of the Exodus story, Moses probably did not divide the Red Sea in half; instead, the Egyptians perished in a storm at sea. Whatever the original Ten Commandments might have been, scholars are quite sure they were different from the ones we have today. What's more, the people long supposed to have written various books of the Bible were not, in the current consensus, their real authors: David did not write the Psalms, Solomon did not write Proverbs or Ecclesiastes; indeed, there is scarcely a book in the Bible that is not the product of different, anonymous authors and editors working in different periods.

Such findings pose a serious problem for adherents of traditional, Bible-based faiths. Hiding from the discoveries of modern scholars seems dishonest, but accepting them means undermining much of the Bible's reliability and authority as the word of God. What to do? In his search for a solution, Kugel leads the reader back to a group of ancient biblical interpreters who flourished at the end of the biblical period. Far from naïve, these interpreters consciously set out to depart from the original meaning of the Bible's various stories, laws, and prophecies -- and they, Kugel argues, hold the key to solving the dilemma of reading the Bible today.

How to Read the Bible is, quite simply, the best, most original book about the Bible in decades. It offers an unflinching, insider's look at the work of today's scholars, together with a sustained consideration of what the Bible was for most of its history -- before the rise of modern scholarship. Readable, clear, often funny but deeply serious in its purpose, this is a book for Christians and Jews, believers and secularists alike. It offers nothing less than a whole new way of thinking about sacred Scripture.

How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now by James L. Kugel

From reader reviews:

Adrian Woodson:

This How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now book is absolutely not ordinary book, you have after that it the world is in your hands. The benefit you obtain by reading this book is definitely information inside this e-book incredible fresh, you will get data which is getting deeper you read a lot of information you will get. That How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now without we know teach the one who examining it become critical in thinking and analyzing. Don't be worry How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now can bring if you are and not make your case space or bookshelves' grow to be full because you can have it with your lovely laptop even phone. This How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now having fine arrangement in word as well as layout, so you will not experience uninterested in reading.

Marie Boyd:

The reason why? Because this How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now is an unordinary book that the inside of the guide waiting for you to snap the item but latter it will surprise you with the secret it inside. Reading this book alongside it was fantastic author who also write the book in such awesome way makes the content inside of easier to understand, entertaining technique but still convey the meaning entirely. So , it is good for you because of not hesitating having this nowadays or you going to regret it. This amazing book will give you a lot of advantages than the other book have such as help improving your talent and your critical thinking way. So , still want to hesitate having that book? If I had been you I will go to the reserve store hurriedly.

Allen Scheiber:

Reading a book being new life style in this season; every people loves to read a book. When you learn a book you can get a great deal of benefit. When you read publications, you can improve your knowledge, mainly because book has a lot of information in it. The information that you will get depend on what kinds of book that you have read. If you want to get information about your research, you can read education books, but if you want to entertain yourself look for a fiction books, such us novel, comics, along with soon. The How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now provide you with a new experience in examining a book.

Robert Rascoe:

Reading a reserve make you to get more knowledge from this. You can take knowledge and information originating from a book. Book is published or printed or outlined from each source that will filled update of news. On this modern era like currently, many ways to get information are available for an individual. From media social similar to newspaper, magazines, science reserve, encyclopedia, reference book, novel and comic. You can add your understanding by that book. Ready to spend your spare time to open your book? Or just trying to find the How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now when you essential it?