The Bible As Literature: An Introduction

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, Non-Sectarian Look at the Bible.
Review: I think that this book is wonderful! I am a student of Dr. Anthony York's and we have utilized this book in our classes. The Bible As Literature discusses the Bible in a manner that helps the reader actually read what is/was written without all the religious jargon. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is curious about "The Bible" or to anyone who thinks they "really" know what the Bible states.

Rating:
Summary: A liberal approach to the Bible
Review: It is difficult to separate the literary and religious aspects of the Bible, but the authors' focus is on the book "as literature" and in the space of 357 pages (in my copy of the 4th edition - 432 according to Amazon.com), they cover literary forms and strategies, historical and geographic settings, the major components of the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha and Pseudoepigrapha, and issues concerning the text and its translation. A valuable final chapter considers the religious use and interpretation of the Bible. Although the book is concise, it manages in its 18 chapters and 3 appendices to be comprehensive and is consistently readable. I find the sensible, scientific approach credible and while it frequently causes me to reflect on my religious beliefs, they are not seriously undermined by this liberal approach. I do not know of a better introduction to the Bible.

Rating:
Summary: A liberal approach to the Bible
Review: It is difficult to separate the literary and religious aspects of the Bible, but the authors' focus is on the book "as literature" and in the space of 357 pages (in my copy of the 4th edition - 432 according to Amazon.com), they cover literary forms and strategies, historical and geographic settings, the major components of the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha and Pseudoepigrapha, and issues concerning the text and its translation. A valuable final chapter considers the religious use and interpretation of the Bible. Although the book is concise, it manages in its 18 chapters and 3 appendices to be comprehensive and is consistently readable. I find the sensible, scientific approach credible and while it frequently causes me to reflect on my religious beliefs, they are not seriously undermined by this liberal approach. I do not know of a better introduction to the Bible.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: The Hebrew and Christian Scriptures have come to mean many different things for many different people. Regardless of how one may finally understand the place of the Scriptures in religion and faith, the many-varied writings contained therein are still, by their very nature, works of literature: composed by specific people in specific times, who had specific assumptions, understandings, purposes, and audiences in mind. Understanding these specifics is a step in reading these Scriptures that no reader can afford to neglect, and it is to this end that this volume is directed.

Two words that may prove helpful in describing this volume are "unbiased" and "objective," in every positive sense of both of these terms. The trio of authors (two of whom are emeritus professors of English) have accomplished a remarkable feat in approaching the Bible on its own terms as a composite literary work. Appropriately, the volume includes surveys of the major literary traditions represented in the Scriptures: Torah, prophets, the wisdom tradition, apocalyptic literature, gospels, letters/epistles, etc. Interestingly enough, however, these brief yet erudite surveys do not comprise the majority of the final content of the book. Rather, the authors have devoted much needed attention to some of the oft-neglected history and traditions surrounding these works, i.e., canonicity, conventional ANE literary techniques, historiographical issues, Palestinian geography, and apocrypha and pseudepigrapha. Knowledge of such information is all but imperative in attempts to read the Scriptures "correctly," as much as such a thing can be done.

Well strucutred, well researched, well informed, and simply well done, this volume is an invaluable companion text to the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, and it moves the reader closer to answering the all-important question of "How are these texts meant to be read?" A wonderful, comprehensive, and remarkably objective survey of the literature that comprises the collected Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: The Hebrew and Christian Scriptures have come to mean many different things for many different people. Regardless of how one may finally understand the place of the Scriptures in religion and faith, the many-varied writings contained therein are still, by their very nature, works of literature: composed by specific people in specific times, who had specific assumptions, understandings, purposes, and audiences in mind. Understanding these specifics is a step in reading these Scriptures that no reader can afford to neglect, and it is to this end that this volume is directed.

Two words that may prove helpful in describing this volume are "unbiased" and "objective," in every positive sense of both of these terms. The trio of authors (two of whom are emeritus professors of English) have accomplished a remarkable feat in approaching the Bible on its own terms as a composite literary work. Appropriately, the volume includes surveys of the major literary traditions represented in the Scriptures: Torah, prophets, the wisdom tradition, apocalyptic literature, gospels, letters/epistles, etc. Interestingly enough, however, these brief yet erudite surveys do not comprise the majority of the final content of the book. Rather, the authors have devoted much needed attention to some of the oft-neglected history and traditions surrounding these works, i.e., canonicity, conventional ANE literary techniques, historiographical issues, Palestinian geography, and apocrypha and pseudepigrapha. Knowledge of such information is all but imperative in attempts to read the Scriptures "correctly," as much as such a thing can be done.

Well strucutred, well researched, well informed, and simply well done, this volume is an invaluable companion text to the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, and it moves the reader closer to answering the all-important question of "How are these texts meant to be read?" A wonderful, comprehensive, and remarkably objective survey of the literature that comprises the collected Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: This book is great. I have Dr. Anthony York, one of the authors of this book,in class, and his book is wonderful. It really helps to see the various opinions of the bible. It is also great for people who want to study the bible as literature and not from a religious stand point.