A radical and iconoclastic re-evaluation of what the Bible is really all aboutMentioned by Matthew Parris in his books of the year in The Times: ''My Christmas wish is that Mr Loveday finds a publisher''Guaranteed to ignite controversy and debate with believers and non-believers alike

Autorentext

Simon Loveday

Klappentext

'Loveday's case is that the mantle of historical truth and divine authority has placed upon the Bible an intolerable weight, crushing it as a creative work of immense imaginative and inspirational power. His argument is both fascinating and persuasive.' Matthew Parris

The Bible for Grown-Ups neither requires, nor rejects, belief. It sets out to help intelligent adults make sense of the Bible - a book that is too large to swallow whole, yet too important in our history and culture to spit out.

Why do the creation stories in Genesis contradict each other? Did the Exodus really happen? Was King David a historical figure? Why is Matthew's account of the birth of Jesus so different from Luke's? Why was St Paul so rude about St Peter? Every Biblical author wrote for their own time, and their own audience. In short, nothing in the Bible is quite what it seems.

Literary critic Simon Loveday's book - a labour of love that has taken over a decade to write - is a thrilling read, for Christians and anyone else, which will overturn everything you thought you knew about the Good Book.

Zusammenfassung
A startling new look at the Bible that is 'fascinating and persuasive' (Matthew Parris)

Inhalt

List of illustrations

About the author

Permissions

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Part One: The Old Testament

1. The structure of the Bible

2. The authority of the Bible

3. The historical context: the world in which the Old Testament took shape

4. The structure and purpose of the Old Testament: the mission statement for the Israelites

5. The Old Testament as history: what story does the Old Testament tell? And is it true?

6. The Old Testament as morality: what kind of god is God? What morality does the Old Testament teach? And is it 'right'?

7. Who wrote the Old Testament? First attempts at a scientific reading 8. So- who did write the Old Testament?

8. Conclusion: if there is no single message in the Old Testament, what are its messages?

Part Two: The New Testament

1. The historical context: the world Jesus was born into (587 BC - 1 AD)

2. The structure and purpose of the New Testament: the mission statement for Christians

3. The New Testament as history: is the story true?

4. The New Testament as morality: what morality (and what theology) does the New Testament teach?

5. The historical context (continued): the events 130 of the 1st century AD, the world in which Jesus lived (4 BC to the early 30s AD) and the New Testament was written

6. So- who wrote the New Testament?

7. Who did Jesus think he was?

8. The New Testament: conclusion

Part Three: A Vision of Freedom

1. Is there a different way to read the Bible?

2. Three Bible passages: a literary appreciation

3. The sum of the parts: reading the Bible as a unity

Appendix 1: Books of the Old Testament

Appendix 2: Books of the New Testament

Bibliography

Notes

Index