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How to Read the Bible : A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now by James L. Kugel (2007, Hardcover)

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About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherFree Press

ISBN-10074323586X

ISBN-139780743235860

eBay Product ID (ePID)10038836560

Product Key Features

Book TitleHow to Read the Bibles : a Guide to Scripture, Then and Now

Number of Pages848 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicGeneral, Biblical Biography / Old Testament, Biblical Studies / General, Biblical Criticism & Interpretation / Old Testament

Publication Year2007

IllustratorYes

GenreReligion

AuthorJames L. Kugel

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1.8 in

Item Weight35.3 Oz

Item Length9 in

Item Width6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2007-023466

Dewey Edition22

Dewey Decimal221.6

Table Of ContentPreliminaries1. The Rise of Modern Biblical Scholarship2. The Creation of the World -- and of Adam and Eve3. Cain and Abel4. The Great Flood5. The Tower of Babel6. The Call of Abraham7. Two Models of God and the "God of Old"8. The Trials of Abraham9. Jacob and Esau10. Jacob and the Angel11. Dinah12. Joseph and His Brothers13. Moses in Egypt14. The Exodus15. A Covenant with God16. The Ten Commandments17. A Religion of Laws18. Worship on the Road19. P and D20. On the Way to Canaan21. Moses' Last Words22. Joshua and the Conquest of Canaan23. Judges and Chiefs24. The Other Gods of Canaan25. Samuel and Saul26. The Psalms of David27. David the King28. Solomon's Wisdom29. North and South30. The Book of Isaiah(s)31. Jeremiah32. Ezekiel33. Twelve Minor Prophets34. Job and Postexilic Wisdom35. Daniel the Interpreter36. After Such Knowledge... Picture CreditsA Note to the ReaderNotesSubject IndexVerses Cited

SynopsisScholars 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?InHow 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., 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 ofdifferent, 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 naive, 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., A renowned scholar and professor of biblical studies presents this essential introduction and companion to the Bible that combines the controversial discoveries of modern scholarship with the wisdom of ancient interpreters.

LC Classification NumberBS1171.3.K84 2007