How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture Then and Now
Language: English
Published by Free Pr, 2007
- Hardcover
- Used

Seller: World of Books Inc, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.World of Books Inc
AbeBooks seller since March 23, 2026
Condition: Used - Good
£ 7.58
Quantity: 2 available
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In How to Read the Bible, Harvard professor James Kugel leads the listener through the quiet revolution of recent biblical scholarship, showing 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, they were not about individual people at all but, rather, explanations of Israelite society as it existed centuries after these figures were said to have lived. 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 their real authors: David did not write the Psalms, Solomon did not write Proverbs.Such findings pose a 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 listener back to ancient biblical interpreters who flourished at the end of the biblical period. Far from na ve, these interpreters consciously set out to depart from the original meaning of the Bible's various stories and prophecies--and they, Kugel argues, hold the key to solving the dilemma of reading the Bible today.How to Read the Bible is, quite simply, the best, most original audiobook about the Bible in decades. Clear, often funny, but deeply serious in its purpose, this is an audiobook for Christians and Jews, believers and secularists alike.…
Seller Inventory # CIN074323586XG
- Title
- How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture Then and Now
- Author
- James L Kugel
- Publisher
- Free Pr
- Publication year
- 2007
- Condition
- Good
- Binding
- Hardback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 074323586X
- ISBN 13
- 9780743235860
- Edition
- 3rd Edition
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
"Who should we believe about the Bible--our Sunday-school teachers or our university professors? James Kugel cuts through this dilemma with a breathtaking new look at the world's most popular book...No writer on the Bible has wrestled so profoundly with the most basic, important questions raised by our conflicting knowledge and desires." --"The Best Books We Read in 2007," The A.V. Club
"To say that this would be the college course you never got to take about the Bible would be damning with faint praise; it would be the college course, the graduate seminar, and reading for comprehensive exams you never got around to, all in one. It may be the most popular book about these modern critics ever written; it's certainly one of the best popular books on the Bible in many years." --Haaretz
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World of Books Inc
Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since March 23, 2026
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Founded in 2002, World of Books is a leading online destination for buying and selling both preloved and new books, committed to making sustainable reading accessible to all. With a mission to help people read more and waste less, World of Books offers a huge range of affordable, high-quality books — giving both new and preloved titles a second life. The company also operates World of Books – Sell Your Books, an easy-to-use platform that allows customers to trade in unwanted books for cash, helping to keep books in circulation while promoting sustainability. As a Certified B Corp, World of Books is driven by a vision to become the world’s largest and most sustainable dedicated online bookstore. The company measures its success through the positive environmental impact it creates, the value it provides to customers, and its ability to operate profitably while supporting its sustainable mission …
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