This seemed like the best group to ask. I'm looking for a good history of the Bible. I'm not Christian and am not looking for a 'religious' history (inasmuch as any history of the Bible could be construed as non-religious) but my interest is not really in the theology behind it but its history as a text in its own right and its many incarnations. Can anyone suggest some good, informative ones? Not too 'coffee-table' but not so academic as to prove impenetrable - an educated introduction? Thanks ....

Asimov's Guide to the Bible: A Historical Look at the Old and New Testaments, maybe?

Though I believe that's less a history of the text then a look at the history contained in the text.

Not sure exactly the historical perspective that interests you.

History of the English bible
Canonization process
Source theories

Try Bart Erhman's book, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed The Bible And Why It will give you a good review of the history of its creation, and the book is not that long, although it is very detailed.

I do not consider myself a follower of Christian principles, although I do respect the messenger, Jesus Christ, and I found this book to be very informative.

Správa bola upravená autorom, Nov 5, 2009, 6:58am.

A short list might give some idea - I searched my library for bible history - 50 books came up.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/rich...

A History of the Bible, by de Hamel talks about versions. It has beautiful pictures. It talks about the transmission of the texts. It may be a good start. If that is the perspective you are looking for.

Updated to add link to de Hamel and to recommend some of the general commentaries.

Správa bola upravená autorom, Nov 4, 2009, 7:00am.

Thanks for replying. Jesse, although at first it was more the text itself, that also looks like something very interesting so it's going on my list. Thanks.

Richard, hmm, now you've made me think deeper. I'm interested in the history of the English bible for certain. Where I'm coming from is that I don't really know much about how the bible came about, the source theories, how these writings came to be 'the Bible'. Even from a literary rather than religious perspective, it's an important text and I'm trying to start to remedy my lack of knowledge. Obviously, I can read it because I have a variety of inherited copies of varying ages but, as a non-Christian, it's difficult for me to understand how this can be considered a document of fact. I thought that learning about its history might help me understand this a bit better. I'm never likely to be converted to a belief in the Christian concept of God but neither am I a dogmatic atheist so I'm interested in understanding more about why people's belief in it is so strong. I think the first step is to equip myself with some knowledge of the text.

Also, just because it's interesting and I like to learn about things ...

Any recommendations, especially on the history and source theories would be most welcome.

#6 Thanks, I'll look through it and definitely the de Hamel looks like a good starting point.

#5 KJ, also thanks, added to my list.

Source history might require that you either get a good commentary with chapters on the different books or to investigate books separately: Pentateuch, Prophets, gospels, Pauline letters - each has a distinctive development.

Ehrman is excellent recommendation. I have not read his new book Misquoting Jesus, but expect it to be as good as his other books.

for the Pentateuch, I very much like Friedman, The Bible with Sources Revealed. It may be technical, but you have the sources written out in color code.

For the NT in general, I cannot make a better recommendation than Burkett, NT and Origins of Christianity.

The Oxford Annotated bible has some good general chapters - get a recent augmented edition.

ETA- It might be fun to post a topic about your reading. I would probably like to join in. If you'd like.

Správa bola upravená autorom, Nov 4, 2009, 7:19am.

Thanks Richard, I'll look into them all. Once I get going, I'll come back and post a topic then. Interesting to talk to people about it.

For a slightly different approach try Karen Armstrong's The Bible: The Bibliography.

I believe the Armstrong book may actually be called The Bible: A Biography.

There is also

- Whose Bible Is It? A History of the Scriptures Through the Ages

- How We Got the Bible

- The Book: A History of the Bible (touchstone is incorrect); by Christopher De Hamel

- The Origin of the Bible (another incorrect touchstone); by Philip W. Comfort

- The Bible: A Very Short Introduction.

Edited to fix typo and tag and add authors.

Správa bola upravená autorom, Nov 4, 2009, 12:51pm.

Klarusu:

I seem to have typed in the wrong title, in my note, and I have since corrected it. Previously, I misstated the title as referring to the 'New Testament' when, in fact, it should read as it does now: 'Bible.'

Here, again, is my suggestion, with correction:

Misquoting Jesus:The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why

Správa bola upravená autorom, Nov 5, 2009, 7:02am.

The only one I've read specifically on the English language Bible is Brian Moynahan's God's Bestseller. There are some related recommendations on that page.

Správa bola upravená autorom, Nov 6, 2009, 2:51pm.

A couple of suggestions:

If you're interested in how such a diverse collection of books became corporately what we call the bible (OT & NT), a good starting point would be The Canon of Scripture by Frederick Fyvie Bruce.

For an account of the development of the English Authorized Version, with particular insight into the convergence of doctrinal enthusiasms within an over-arching politcal agenda, how about trying In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture, by Alister McGrath

>12, 13 - thanks, Essa - I mistakenly typed "bibliography" when I meant "biography".

But what has confused me for some time is whether it is called "A Biography" or "The Biography". On LT it seems 368 copies are catalogued as "A Biography" and 54 as "The Biography". I have my own copy, a paperback bought in South Africa in 2007, in front of me now and it is definitely "The". Are 368 copies wrongly catalogued, or did the title change, or does it have slightly different titles on each side of the pond (a la Harry Potter), or what?

>18 I have mine as The Bible: A Biography; but I cannot locate the copy right now. I generally use what is on the actual title page (not the cover) of the book, as if I were following AACR rules (believe me, I am happy not to have to do that here!), but I like accuracy. I use the ISBN whenever the book has one, but look at the results compared to the copy I have at hand, so I'd suppose mine is "A Biography."

It does not have a record in the catalog of the Library of Congress, alas. My copy was published by the Atlantic Monthly Press in 2007.

I found the book catalogued in the British Library. There are two records there, both published in London, by Atlantic, the hardcover in 2007 and the paperback in 2008. The subtitle is given as "The Biography."

So, if people list their books here on LibraryThing reasonably accurately, I'd say the book has definitely been "Potterized."

While I decry Scholastic's low opinion of American readers for substituting the meaningless "sorcerer's stone" for the time-tested "philosopher's stone," I think the change from "The Biography" to "A Biography" shows a little more humility on the part of the author/publisher/editor/whoever. "The" sounds much too authoritative to me, despite the admiration I have for Armstrong's works in general.

Who was it who said that the United States and Great Britain are two nations separated by the same language, or some such?

A sort of alternative perspective on the bible can be had from the two books by Jack Miles, God: a biography and Christ: a crisis in the life of God.

Thank you all for some great recommendations - I'm going to try and track some of these down.