You know the Bible is a great read if you don't take into account the fact that it's been manhandled throughout the ages. It's been added to, subtracted from and just basically changed from the true Bible of Jesus' time. Thoughts?
Agree.....but a rather large topic!
True, but I think we can tackle it
You know the Bible is a great read if you don't take into account the fact that it's been manhandled throughout the ages. It's been added to, subtracted from and just basically changed from the true Bible of Jesus' time. Thoughts?
I think it's a great read if you DO take into account that it's been changed a lot. Along with ideas about it over time.
A good book on the topic is How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture Then and Now by James Kugel. I'm not sure if I've posted about it before, but I just finished reading it not too long ago. It's basically a comparison of ancient interpretations of the bible with modern interpretations. It emphasizes that not one is "right" but that they are both interpretations, and they come from having different assumptions about the text. It also has a lot of information about how the bible was compiled, well as much as we do know about it anyway.
I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the bible.
I will look for this book...I would be interested in adding it to the church library.
Another one I recommend is Steven L. McKenzie, How to Read the Bible: History, Prophecy, Literature-Why Modern Readers Need to Know the Difference and What It Means for Faith Today (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2005).
I hate to break this to you all, but it hasn't changed THAT much.
Here is another good one:
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Interpretation of Scripture: In Defense of the Historical-Critical Method (Paulist Press, 2007).
Thanks David and Skyimp for the book recommendations. In the great pond where I swim, many dogmatic sharks infest the water cutting you into fine pieces if you happen to disagree with their interpretations of scripture especially soterology and eschatology. In my pond if you’re not a Calvinist or Darbyite, your ecclesiastical repudiation is kaput.