How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now |  | Author: James L. Kugel
Publisher: Free Press
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
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Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 10359
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Pages: 848
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 1.5
ISBN: 0743235878
Dewey Decimal Number: 221
EAN: 9780743235877
ASIN: 0743235878
Publication Date: October 21, 2008
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Product Description
bScholars 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?/bPPIn IHow to Read the Bible,/i 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.PSuch 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. PIHow to Read the Bible is,/i 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 25 more reviews...
 How to Read the Bible December 22, 2008
Gina M. Glick (Dalllas TX)
How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and NowPrimarily covers the Old Testament and explains how risky translation and interpretation of ancient Hebrew can be. Reviews theories of translations through the centuries and how particular philosophies influenced interpretations. The author believes the bruhaha over translations caused much of the breakup of the Church during the reformation.
A terrific tool for reading the Bible. November 16, 2008
Thomas S. Burrell (Orange Park, Florida)
"How to Read the Bible..." is a terrific tool in helping an individual understand what he/she is reading in the Bible.
How to Read the Bible August 3, 2008
D. Umemoto
This is a truly excellent reference book for anyone interested in the history of Biblical interpretation. Indeed, the book might more accurately be called "How the Bible has been Read," since for any given section, it gives an overview of traditional readings, both Christian and Jewish, followed by recent scholarship and biblical studies. The latter includes advances in linguistic and archeological scholarship. Kugel writes in a clear conversational style, the product, no doubt of years of university teaching.
A Catholic Priest View July 17, 2008
Rev. Joseph Madden (Pittsboro, NC)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Though I have only read about a hundred and fifty pages, I have found Kugel's scholarship outstanding and his writing clear and easy. As a catholic priest it has been a wonderful exposure to good Jewish thought and scholarship. I have found the contrast between the ancient inperpreters and modern scholars extremely helpful. I would be more conversant with modern scholars and not so clear on the more traditional. It is a great help to interpret sections of the Hebrew Bible. br / br /Rev. Joseph Madden
An assesible guide to the meaning of the bible July 5, 2008
David Smith (Penn Valley, PA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book attempts to integrate both traditional and modern views of the bible. It does this well. It creates layers of meaning that transcend the theological and is well worth reading for those not immersed in a particular theological approach to the meaning of this complex book
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