Publisher's Synopsis
The Bible is a much more convoluted, complicated and circuitous than anyone ever thought. It appears to be much more the product of a social evolution from the common stories of other ancient Near Eastern peoples with whom it shares so much (even its gods) than a singular revelation from on high. The Bible, in reality, is an unfinished mosaic of ceaseless interpretations right up to the present day. This book aims to show what is "out there" in current biblical discovery and commentary. What are the scholars saying? How compatible or non-compatible is what they tell us with traditional understandings? How do liberals and conservatives react? Why are people confused? Why do some sincere people find a literal reading of the Bible indigestible but a metaphorical reading unanchored? How do we read the Bible in a modern age? Above all, in these days of dwindling religious affiliation (at least in the western world), what is the Bible's authority? Keeping up with the Bible is an ongoing and ever shifting enterprise. This book is a frozen snapshot in that flow to give the reader a chance to catch up.
