Synopses & Reviews
A groundbreaking history of the single most influential text of all time, by the world's foremost religious historian.
As the single work at the heart of Christianity, the world's largest organized religion, the Bible is the spiritual guide for one out of every three people in the world. The Bible is also the world's most widely distributed book. Translated into over two thousand languages, it is estimated that more than six billion copies have been sold in the last two hundred years. It remains the best-selling book in the United States, year after year, with at least twenty-five million copies sold in 2005 alone.
But the Bible is a complex work with a complicated and obscure history. Made up of sixty-six "books" written by various authors and divided into two testaments, its contents have changed over the centuries. The Bible has been transformed by translation and, through interpretation, has developed manifold meanings to various religions, denominations, and sects.
In this seminal account, acclaimed historian Karen Armstrong discusses the conception, gestation, life, and afterlife of history’s most powerful book. Armstrong analyzes the social and political situation in which oral history turned into written scripture, how this all-pervasive scripture was collected into one work, and how it became accepted as Christianity's sacred text. She explores how "as the pragmatic scientific ethos of modernity took hold, scripture was read for the information that it imparted" and how, in the nineteenth century, historical criticism of the Bible caused greater fear than Darwinism. As she writes, "'If Jonah did not spend days in a whale,' asked a Lutheran pastor, 'did Jesus really rise from the tomb?'"
Karen Armstrong's history of the Bible is a brilliant, captivating book, crucial in an age of declining faith and rising fundamentalism.
Review
"While there are countless guides to reading the Bible, noted academic Karen Armstrong looks at the history of the book with a keen historian's eye....Armstrong condenses into a manageable volume the many ideas and traditions that influenced the creation of the Good Book." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"This is one terrific little book." Booklist
Synopsis
As the work at the heart of Christianity, the Bible is the spiritual guide for one out of every three people in the world. It is also the worlds most widely distributed book, translated into over two thousand languages, and the worlds best selling book, year after year. But the Bible is a complex work with a complicated and obscure history. Made up of sixty-six books” written by various authors and divided into two testaments, its contents have changed over the centuries. The Bible has been transformed by translation and, through interpretation, has developed manifold meanings to various religions, denominations, and sects. In this seminal account, acclaimed historian Karen Armstrong discusses the conception, gestation, and life of historys most powerful book. Armstrong analyzes the social and political situation in which oral history turned into written scripture, how this all-pervasive scripture was collected into one work, and how it became accepted as Christianitys sacred text. She explores how scripture came to be read for information, and how, in the nineteenth century, historical criticism of the Bible caused greater fear than Darwinism. This is a brilliant, captivating book, crucial in an age of declining faith and rising fundamentalism.
About the Author
Since leaving her religious order in 1969, Karen Armstrong has become one of the world's foremost commentators on religion. Her bestselling books include her acclaimed memoirs Through the Narrow Gate, which describes her seven years as a young nun in a Catholic order, and The Spiral Staircase, as well as the internationally renowned A History of God, Islam: A Short History, The Battle for God, Holy War and Buddha. Karen Armstrong lives in London.