As the work at the heart of Christianity, the Bible is the spiritual guide for one out of every three people in the world. It is also the world's most widely distributed book, translated into over two thousand languages, and the world's best selling book, year after year. But the Bible is a complex work with a complicated and obscure history. Made up of sixty-six "books" written by various authors and divided into two testaments, its contents have changed over the centuries. The Bible has been transformed by translation and, through interpretation, has developed manifold meanings to various religions, denominations, and sects. In this seminal account, acclaimed historian Karen Armstrong discusses the conception, gestation, and life of history's most powerful book. Armstrong analyzes the social and political situation in which oral history turned into written scripture, how this all-pervasive scripture was collected into one work, and how it became accepted as Christianity's sacred text. She explores how scripture came to be read for information, and how, in the nineteenth century, historical criticism of the Bible caused greater fear than Darwinism. This is a brilliant, captivating book, crucial in an age of declining faith and rising fundamentalism.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
As easily readable overview of the History of the evolution of the written scriptures:
I found this book to be very informative, thought provoking and engaging. I did not find it difficult to understand, but rather thought it was a good basic primer in the history of the scriptures and the political shaping of the current day version of the The Bible. I was impressed by the citations that supported the text, and found the style to be without judgment. Often her passages left me searching for her conclusions - only to realize that Ms. Armstrong was careful to leave the conclusions up to the... more info
A New Perspective on the Bible:
This book provides an overview of the story of the Bible, not the text itself, but how it was written, how the canon was selected and how it has been interpreted and used over the centuries. Spanning the millennia from the writing to the present, it gives a view of the place of the Bible in the world that is often missing when reading about a particular book or thene of the Scriptures. Author Karen Armstrong introduces, or reminds, the reader, about the sources of the Old and New Testament, the... more info
Not Bible 101:
A good knowledge of the Bible, I think, is required to really follow and understand all the historical facts jammed into the middle of this small book. But if you don't know the Bible well and slog on through this book anyway you will still gain a general impression of how long, rich and complex the history of the development of the Bible is. It is actually many books written by many different people in different settings for different purposes. It has been significantly edited by other people. It is full... more info
More Curates Eggs:
I quite liked parts of this book, but parts were appalling, in factual and discursive content. Karen Armstrong is a well respected religious writer, whose sincerity and efforts to bring different beliefs together in harmony cannot be doubted. All the more disappointing that she gets so much wrong in her latest effort.
One good test of a non-fiction work is to examine the dating of the source material quoted by the author. For the first part of the book, which deals with the Hebrew version of biblical... more info
