Status
Available
Call number
Publication
New York : Penguin Books, 2006.
Description
A grand history of the Bible written by a major historian of theology. Pelikan takes the reader through the Bible's evolution from its earliest incarnation as oral tales to its modern existence in various configurations and translations. From the earliest Hebrew texts and the Bible's appearance in Greek, then Latin, Pelikan explores the canonization of different Bibles and why certain books were adopted or rejected by certain religions and sects, as well as the development of the printing press, translation into modern languages, and the varying schools of critical scholarship.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Scapegoats
This is a succinct look at how the Bible has changed over a few thousand years. It starts with the Hebrew Tanakh (Old Testament to Christians) and how it is presented. It makes good points that the Tanakh is about God speaking rather than writing things down, showing that scriptures were meant to
As the book moves into the Christian era, it shows how Christians tried to appropriate the Hebrew texts as their own, ofter ignoring or rejecting Jewish interpretations of the Tanakh. It shows how Christians started calling it the Old Testament as means to show how it was building up to Jesus's life.
As it gets to the Protestant Reformation, it discusses the emphasis on the infallibility of the Bible, which was not an issue prior to that. The Bible was used in tandem with Christian traditions of the Catholic Church. This was in keeping with the practice of early Christians who did not even have a codified Bible to work with, but rather used oral transmission and custom to organize the church. Protestants went back to the earliest known versions of the Bible, retranslated it into vernacular languages and then pushed their followers to read it for themselves as the only source of authentic christian doctrine. This practice had the unintended consequence of a more critical appraisal of the Bible, which led to "higher criticism", meaning questions about its authorship. Higher criticism coupled with Darwinism to undermine the legitimacy of the Bible as divinely inspired and unique among many but also drove others to double down on it as the infallible, despite the obvious problems of translation and the multiple versions of the texts.
Up to this point, Pelikan's work is interesting and informative, but it finishes in a disappointing manner. The last chapter appears more of a cheerleading exercise for why the Bible still matters and why it affects people so strongly. It ignores the fact that most people who are introduced to the Bible but aren't from a Christian tradition are not inspired or particularly affected. This last part detracts a little from what was otherwise an interesting journey of exploration by moving away from way is supportable and going to what the author wishes to be true.
Despite the lackluster finish, this is a book worth reading if you are interested in how the Bible developed over the course of millennia and how its interactions with societies changed.
Show More
be heard. It also discusses how the Bible was translated in Greek (the Septuagint) and then to Latin (the Vulgate). These two versions were meant to be authoritative and were the means by which millions of people were introduced to the Bible over generations. Nevertheless, they had significant problems in translations from the original Hebrew, which has made for significant misunderstandings.As the book moves into the Christian era, it shows how Christians tried to appropriate the Hebrew texts as their own, ofter ignoring or rejecting Jewish interpretations of the Tanakh. It shows how Christians started calling it the Old Testament as means to show how it was building up to Jesus's life.
As it gets to the Protestant Reformation, it discusses the emphasis on the infallibility of the Bible, which was not an issue prior to that. The Bible was used in tandem with Christian traditions of the Catholic Church. This was in keeping with the practice of early Christians who did not even have a codified Bible to work with, but rather used oral transmission and custom to organize the church. Protestants went back to the earliest known versions of the Bible, retranslated it into vernacular languages and then pushed their followers to read it for themselves as the only source of authentic christian doctrine. This practice had the unintended consequence of a more critical appraisal of the Bible, which led to "higher criticism", meaning questions about its authorship. Higher criticism coupled with Darwinism to undermine the legitimacy of the Bible as divinely inspired and unique among many but also drove others to double down on it as the infallible, despite the obvious problems of translation and the multiple versions of the texts.
Up to this point, Pelikan's work is interesting and informative, but it finishes in a disappointing manner. The last chapter appears more of a cheerleading exercise for why the Bible still matters and why it affects people so strongly. It ignores the fact that most people who are introduced to the Bible but aren't from a Christian tradition are not inspired or particularly affected. This last part detracts a little from what was otherwise an interesting journey of exploration by moving away from way is supportable and going to what the author wishes to be true.
Despite the lackluster finish, this is a book worth reading if you are interested in how the Bible developed over the course of millennia and how its interactions with societies changed.
Show Less
LibraryThing member vpfluke
This is a very nice introduction to the history of the Bible from the Hebrew scriptures up to present. Pelikan traces the development and use of the various parts of the Bible from Jewish origins of the Torah, prophets, and writings, through Christian beginnings and forming a canon to translations
Show More
and dissemination to the public. Pelikan is always lucid and fair to the various traditions who use or don't use the various parts of the Bible. Although there is no index, there is something of an annotated bibliography to help one find out more than this shorter book can provide. Show Less
LibraryThing member walterhistory
Mr. Pelikan's work is quite an interesting read on how the Bible came to be. The difficulty is sorting the theology from the history & for the most part he succeeds. He does understand that the Bible was meant to be read theologically rather than as a literary work by those who accept the Bible as
Show More
God's word. A few odd things. One is his use of "Palestine" which was not used until after 135 AD by Roman Emperor Hadrian to wipe out any Jewish memory after the end of the Bar Kochba revolt. The 2nd is his PC use of "social justice" which is again unknown in the Bible. There is only God's justice & nothing else. Third, is his strange refusal to connect the accuracy of the Hebrew Masoretic text with the accuracy of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Although there is at least a 850 year gap, the Hebrew texts in the Dead Scrolls are remarkably accurate with the Masoretic texts. Other than these anomalies, the author does well in defining terms used by commentators over the centuries as well as showing the historical progress in biblical writing & canon development. His concluding remarks stands, "As both the Jewish & the Christian communities of faith have always affirmed, the Bible is the Book of God & the Word of God, & therefore it does not really belong to any of us." Show Less
LibraryThing member sergerca
A quick overview of the history of scripture and how it has had a changing influence on society. Very accessible and interesting. I know that Pelikan is a very respected biblical scholar, but I do not know which faith he practices: he doesn't let on in this book. However, he does not seem to place
Show More
much stock in the sola scriptura approach that has been advanced since the Reformation. Show Less
LibraryThing member davidpwithun
Not quite what I was expecting, but I wasn't disappointed. I thought it would be a history of the writing and assembly of the canon of Scripture, but it's actually a history of how Scripture has been treated, viewed, and used throughout history. And, in this, it does an excellent job.
Language
Original publication date
2004
Physical description
xi, 274 p.; 22 cm