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A review by mdavids
The Bible: A Biography by Karen Armstrong
4.0
I really enjoyed this.
Started a bit weak; I felt the pre-Jesus bit could've been more crisp distinguishing between history and legend. It's hard to judge the veracity of the old testament when the old testament itself is your primary source. It's a tough line to walk.
Where this book really shines is in tracing the history of Christian thought about the Bible from early days to now. The real epiphany for me was Armstrong's argument that the current opposing fads in Biblical interpretation (extreme literalism on the one hand, and textual/historical analysis on the other) both stem from the Enlightenment and its attitude towards text. Our framing of texts in terms of truth and fiction is modern.
I'm still puzzling through the ramifications of this, but it's the first time I've come across this argument, and it's stuck with me.
Overall a solid piece of Biblical history with some great insights. Recommended.
Started a bit weak; I felt the pre-Jesus bit could've been more crisp distinguishing between history and legend. It's hard to judge the veracity of the old testament when the old testament itself is your primary source. It's a tough line to walk.
Where this book really shines is in tracing the history of Christian thought about the Bible from early days to now. The real epiphany for me was Armstrong's argument that the current opposing fads in Biblical interpretation (extreme literalism on the one hand, and textual/historical analysis on the other) both stem from the Enlightenment and its attitude towards text. Our framing of texts in terms of truth and fiction is modern.
I'm still puzzling through the ramifications of this, but it's the first time I've come across this argument, and it's stuck with me.
Overall a solid piece of Biblical history with some great insights. Recommended.