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The Bible: The Biography
 
 
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The Bible: The Biography (Paperback)

by Karen Armstrong (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Atlantic Books (1 Mar 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1843543974
  • ISBN-13: 978-1843543978
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 6,910 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #4 in  Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible > Criticism & Interpretation
    #13 in  Books > Religion & Spirituality > Sacred Texts

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Product Description

Review
"'The best sort of popularizing: there is no sacrifice of integrity and no dumbing down.' Edward Norman, Literary Review 'A remarkable history... fascinating and highly readable... profoundly relevant.' Julie Wheelwright, Independent 'This book deserves nothing but praise.' Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times"

Product Description
The Bible is the most widely distributed book in the world. Translated into over two thousand languages, it is estimated that more than six billion copies have been sold in the last two hundred years alone. In this seminal account, Karen Armstrong traces the gestation of the Bible to reveal a complex and contradictory document created by scores of people over hundreds of years.Karen Armstrong begins her analysis with the origins of the very earliest books of the "Hebrew Bible", in which God was called both 'Yahweh' and 'Elohim'. She then traces the development of both the "Hebrew Bible" and the "New Testament" to reveal the disparate influences that helped to form these sacred texts. From the Jewish practice of Midrash and the Christian cult of Jesus; to the influence of Paul's letters on the Reformation and the manipulation of Revelations by Christian fundamentalism, Armstrong explores the contexts in which these sixty-six books were understood and explains the social needs they answered. In the process she reveals an unfamiliar and paradoxical work that will permanently alter our understanding of the Bible.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews
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3 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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80 of 102 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars profound contribution to our shared culture, 28 Oct 2007
This review is from: The Bible: The Biography (Hardcover)
I am not usually lost for words, to say the least. But I am struck alternately dumb and gibbering by this beautiful, beautiful book. Surpassing even Frances Yates in consummate scholarship, spanning millennia of allegory and exegesis Armstrong stands alone in her total mastery of the religious understanding which beats in the heart of all cultures. Here in following "the Bible" through four millennia of conflict and resolution she presents in the clearest possible narrative (aided by comprehensive glossary, footnotes and bibliography) how Logos and Love are inseparable in theology and praxis and how the greatest treasure of Western philosophy remains The Golden Rule.

I am neither Jewish nor Christian ( our family is half Rasta, half Muslim) but for me this is simply the most important book our century has produced. A book of immense transformative power: buy it, read it, share it around.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A New Perspective on the Bible, 17 Nov 2008
By James Gallen (St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Bible: A Biography (Books That Changed the World) (Audio CD)
This book provides an overview of the story of the Bible, not the text itself, but how it was written, how the canon was selected and how it has been interpreted and used over the centuries. Spanning the millennia from the writing to the present, it gives a view of the place of the Bible in the world that is often missing when reading about a particular book or thene of the Scriptures.

Author Karen Armstrong introduces, or reminds, the reader, about the sources of the Old and New Testament, the multiple authors of Isaiah and the way the Bible shaped the Jewish self-image. As it progresses, she cites comments by many writers, Christian and Jewish, including Sts. Augustine and Jerome, Martin Luther and many others.

I have read a fair amount about the Bible (see my Listmania, "Thinking of God") but I learned things I had not previously known. From my perspective, telling the story in a continuum is the most helpful aspect of this book. For one who has studied the Bible less deeply, it will provide a good introduction.
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45 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A skilled popularizer but faults within, 5 Mar 2008
This review is from: The Bible: The Biography (Hardcover)
This book has attracted predictable criticism from religious conservatives, evident in some of the reviews here. One suspects the author would be entirely unperturbed by this - avoiding the ills of higher criticism is the concern only of fundamentalists. Their criticism that Armstrong's tone of scholarly detachment fails when she addresses twentieth-century fundamentalism is easily answered - this brand of Christianity has nothing to do with detached scholarship, they parted company a long time ago. The argument over Arianism is just one case in point. As just about any serious scholar who has studied early Christianity will tell you, early Christians were not Trinitarians.
On a more general level, Armstrong shows an ability to draw together an impressive amount of material into an accessible synthesis, and she has few peers in this regard. Her treatment of the twentieth century is, as noted by others, sketchy. More seriously perhaps, her knowledge of early modern history is inadequate. Whilst generalisations are unavoidable in a work of this kind, her treatment of the early modern period is simplistic and often misleading. Deism was not a 'new religion' (p.185), nor was it espoused by John Locke, author of a Paraphrase of the Epistles of St Paul. To say that Isaac Newton 'scarcely mentioned the Bible in his copious writings' (p.184) is utter nonsense. Had Armstrong read Newton's copious unpublished manuscripts on scripture, or any of the published works analysing these manuscripts in the last twenty years, she would know that Newton spent at least as much time buried in scripture and prophecies about the end of days as he did thinking about the laws of gravity. Armstrong's understanding of the Enlightenment is simply out of date, historians have realised that the so-called "age of reason" was a far more complex time in European history than this author realises.
Whilst Armstrong is to be congratulated on opening up the history of the Bible to a wider audience in such an engaging manner, her analysis should be treated with caution, not taken as gospel.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bible past and present
Karen Armstrong's 'biography' of the Bible is part of the 'Books that Shook the World' series. The Bible, of course, is not simply one book, but many books gathered together in a... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jon E

5.0 out of 5 stars Armstrong At Her Best
To avoid any misunderstanding, this is not a biography of characters within the Bible but rather a history of how the Bible was compiled and the role that it has played in the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Ukhuman1st

3.0 out of 5 stars Superficiality Supreme


Although Karen Armstrong claims to have produced a biography of the Bible she has instead produced a biography of herself. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Neutral

1.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyment and context lost by robotic narration
No doubt this book is another excellent exercise for the mind from Karen Armstrong, yet it seems that I will need to buy the hard copy to find out. Read more
Published 7 months ago by L. Duncan

4.0 out of 5 stars An Exellent Rendition Of The Many Influences That Has become The Bible As We Know It.
This is my first title Ive read from this author, and I have to say that her work rightfully sits as some of the best on this topic. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Astore Stargazer

5.0 out of 5 stars Mind-altering book
The hopes and fears of all my years of Bible study have been met in this book!

Mostly it gave me a new appreciation for the strong influence of the Jewish faith and... Read more
Published 14 months ago by D. K. Bagshaw

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written and essential reading
Armstrong has produced a cogent and necessary book. She demonstrates immense skill in absorbing a mass of complex historical information and presenting a concise and erudite... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Marco

4.0 out of 5 stars For those with open minds only - you know who you are.
Authors are on a hiding to nothing when taking on this sort of subject. I found this well written and obviously well researched but was amazed at how short it was. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Big Jim

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating survey of how the Bible was written and received
Despite impressive scholarly apparatus (copious references, index, glossary), this book seems to be aimed at a popular readership. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Jarvis Pickwick

5.0 out of 5 stars Where would the world be without Ms. Armstrong?
As usual, Karen Armstrong's consummate scholarship is equalled by an almost scientific approach towards a subject that in others tends to invoke other responses. Read more
Published 16 months ago by E. A. Parfitt

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