An Introduction to the Bible

By J.W. Rogerson

Book Overview

A casual reader enters a bookshop looking for a Bible. However, not all the Bibles on display have the same contents Some have more books than others, some are study editions, some use gender-free language. How did this come about? This Introduction works back through the processes by which the Bible was written, transmitted, copied and declared to be authoritative by various churches. The following topics are dealt with: What is the Bible?; How Biblical Writers Wrote; The Making of the Old Testament; The Making of the Apocrypha; The Making of the New Testament; The Canon of the Bible; The Study of the Bible; The Use of the Bible in Social, Moral and Political Questions. This updated edition takes account of developments in scholarship since the book was first published in 1999 by Penguin. The original edition has been translated into Spanish and Portuguese.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 184553039X
• ISBN13: 9781845530396
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.7" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Readable Introduction

For such a short book (188 pages) this is amazingly comprehensive and thorough. Especially interesting was the chapter on the differences between the Hebrew and Greek versions of some of the Old Testament books. The chapters on the use and the study of the Bible were also very good.

Ray of Sunshine!

I've read many laymen level books about the Bible, and this one is the best. This book is not written for professional scholars; however it does a good job of doing the following:1) It discusses the many English language versions and explains why a particular version might appeal to certain groups of people2) Explains the difference between the Bibles that the Protestant churches, Roman Catholics Church, and Eastern Orthodox Churches uses3) Explains the difficulties that Bible scholars encounter when they attempt to make a translation4) Discusses higher criticism of the Bible, and explains current scholarly thought. In my opinion, he is honest about where he stands, and yet he explains the position of scholars which disagree with him.The author also does a good job of directing the reader who wants to do further research. I'll probably never read the Bible in the same way again.