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annegard's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Amazing book. Wish it had photos
matthewwester's review against another edition
5.0
The author is pretty open throughout the book about his purpose. In the beginning of the project, he was emphatically not on a spiritual quest. His goal was to visit the places mentioned in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, interview biblical scholars, and spend time with the current-day residents of these biblical locations. As he reflects later in the book, his initial impulse was to test the facts of each story.
But of course as the project continues, the inevitable happens. The Bible seems less like an ancient text and more like a living document, reflecting timeless truths and encouraging personal application. And to fully understand the stories of Scripture, we must somehow step into the story ourselves. The author goes on to express how doubt and struggle can lead to a more complicated but richer understanding of the Bible.
I was surprised at how sensibly the author (and many of his interviewees) handled passages in the Bible. Often he shares several views on various questions/studies. This book probably doesn't answer every question it raises but I think that's kinda the point. And while he doesn't land spiritually where I would have liked to have seen (yes, I was rooting for a certain kind of internal shift in belief!), I really had a good time joining this guy on his trip. Good stuff.
But of course as the project continues, the inevitable happens. The Bible seems less like an ancient text and more like a living document, reflecting timeless truths and encouraging personal application. And to fully understand the stories of Scripture, we must somehow step into the story ourselves. The author goes on to express how doubt and struggle can lead to a more complicated but richer understanding of the Bible.
I was surprised at how sensibly the author (and many of his interviewees) handled passages in the Bible. Often he shares several views on various questions/studies. This book probably doesn't answer every question it raises but I think that's kinda the point. And while he doesn't land spiritually where I would have liked to have seen (yes, I was rooting for a certain kind of internal shift in belief!), I really had a good time joining this guy on his trip. Good stuff.
ehays84's review against another edition
3.0
Well, I'm glad this book is out there, and it might be a helpful starting point for some folks to learn about the Bible and the Middle East, but for me, who actually does know a fairly decent bit about both, this was too simplistic and not incredibly well-written. Certainly doesn't help that the book I just read before this was The Old Ways, which is a similar sort of book but completely blows it out of the water.
I did learn a few new things that I hadn't known, such as the possibility that the Israelites spent a good chunk of the 40 years at modern day Petra before entering the Promised Land and somehow I hadn't known or remembered that the concept of the Promised Land isn't in the Quran's account of the people of Israel.
But at the same time, there were many things that I just knew too much about to really accept. Just as one example, he says that Ishmael is seen as the father of the Muslims. That's not true--he's seen as the father of the Arabs. Yes, an Arab started Islam, but many Arabs through history have been other religions and today a majority of Muslims aren't Arabs. So, really, that's a big thing to mistake/leave out.
As for the author's personal journey of quasi-faith in this book, well, being in the land (although Walking the Bible is a huge misnomer--it should really be something like "Getting Chauffeured through the Pentateuch with an Archaeologist who knew much more than I did") did help him in some ways come to more faith, but it was such a watered down Oprah/Joel Osteen kind of faith, that there wasn't really much to latch onto here.
Another problem here of course is politics. He really sympathizes much more with ILLEGAL Israeli settlers in the West Bank than he does with the Palestinians. No mention of settlements as illegal. That said, the author isn't a Zionist as far as I could tell, and does well to get along with Muslims and Christians on his travels.
Not planning to read any more of his books at this point.
I did learn a few new things that I hadn't known, such as the possibility that the Israelites spent a good chunk of the 40 years at modern day Petra before entering the Promised Land and somehow I hadn't known or remembered that the concept of the Promised Land isn't in the Quran's account of the people of Israel.
But at the same time, there were many things that I just knew too much about to really accept. Just as one example, he says that Ishmael is seen as the father of the Muslims. That's not true--he's seen as the father of the Arabs. Yes, an Arab started Islam, but many Arabs through history have been other religions and today a majority of Muslims aren't Arabs. So, really, that's a big thing to mistake/leave out.
As for the author's personal journey of quasi-faith in this book, well, being in the land (although Walking the Bible is a huge misnomer--it should really be something like "Getting Chauffeured through the Pentateuch with an Archaeologist who knew much more than I did") did help him in some ways come to more faith, but it was such a watered down Oprah/Joel Osteen kind of faith, that there wasn't really much to latch onto here.
Another problem here of course is politics. He really sympathizes much more with ILLEGAL Israeli settlers in the West Bank than he does with the Palestinians. No mention of settlements as illegal. That said, the author isn't a Zionist as far as I could tell, and does well to get along with Muslims and Christians on his travels.
Not planning to read any more of his books at this point.
mimika9's review against another edition
5.0
I narrated this ok tape for the Jewish Braille institute and found it fascinating.
oregon_small_fry's review against another edition
2.0
Such high hopes for this, but I'm afraid its a little too much on the promotion of religion oppose to the study of what happened in ancient times. I keep throwing it down in disgust, but hopefully I can stick with it as I think its a very intriguing premise.
susangiardina's review against another edition
5.0
This book is just magnificent! Bruce Feiler is a terrific writer, so visualizing what he describes, and feeling what he is experiencing is so realistic. His travel partner, archeologist Avner Goren, is so knowledgeable and so wise. Just saw a picture of him and he's handsome too :) The perspectives from so many from every Abrahamic faith on the biblical experience are fascinating. It's a terrific read. I especially like the last 100 or so pages where it all begins to come full circle, and Feiler describes his personal changes in thinking after "walking the Bible." Whether you are Jewish, Christian, or Muslim, or whatever, this will bring you much introspective thought and historical knowledge around the 5 books of Moses, the history of the time and life then and today on the desert.
rachel_mft's review against another edition
This maybe could've been a good book if I had been in the mood for it, but I just couldn't get into it. I think the problem was that the book is about how the author traveled through the Middle East visiting all the places where the events of the Old Testament took place, with the intention of making those stories real for himself. Except I haven't been to the Middle East, and I couldn't picture the landscape or the cities at all, and so the whole intention was rather lost on me. It just didn't become real at all, so I put it down, even though I think I could've learned a great deal from it.
seshutts's review against another edition
2.0
Very dry and repetitive! But a great cure for insomnia!
arsilva's review against another edition
4.5
Very interesting read! I honestly wish there had been map photos throughout though.
trickyplanet's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book. I learned so much about all the names I had heard from the Bible but didnt know much about them. This was quite a journey through the Middle East and getting to know more about its peoples. Really interesting read.