The Secular Bible: Why Nonbelievers Must Take Religion Seriously - Softcover

Berlinerblau, Jacques

Softcover

ISBN 10: 052161824X ISBN 13: 9780521618243

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2005

Synopsis

In The Secular Bible: Why Nonbelievers Must Take Religion Seriously, Jacques Berlinerblau explores the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, though an explicitly critical and secular perspective, reviewing how it has been interpreted from antiquity to today and how these interpretations impact our current political debates. In separate chapters, he looks at how the Bible continues to be invoked in disputes about Jewish identity, intermarriage, and about homosexuality - offering secular readers background and ideas for joining conversations about scripture. Finally, he suggests ways in which secularists in all countries need to pose such questions about all sacred texts and religious phenomena. Cumulatively, the book is a first attempt to re-invigorate a once-estimable secular, intellectual tradition.

About this title

About the Author

Jacques Berlinerblau, who holds separate Ph.D.s in ancient Near Eastern studies and sociology, is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Languages and Director of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at Hofstra University. His second book, The Black Athena Controversy and the Responsibilities of American Intellectuals, was published in 1999 and his articles have appeared in The Journal of the Academy of American Religion, History of Religions, Biblical Interpretation, and other scholarly as well as more mainstream publications.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 052161824X
• ISBN 13: 9780521618243
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 232