How to Read the Bible: History, Prophecy, Literature--Why Modern Readers Need to Know the Difference and What It Means for Faith Today

by Steven L McKenzie

Overview

McKenzie argues that to comprehend the Bible we must grasp the intentions of the biblical authors themselves--what sort of texts they thought they were writing and how they would have been understood by their intended audience. In short, we must recognize the genres to which these texts belong. McKenzie examines several genres that are typically misunderstood, offering careful readings of specific texts to show how the confusion arises, and how knowing the genre produces a correct reading. The book of Jonah, for example, offers many clues that it is meant as a humorous satire, not a straight-faced historical account of a man who was swallowed by a fish. Likewise, McKenzie explains that the very names "Adam" and "Eve" tell us that these are not historical characters, but figures who symbolize human origins ("Adam" means man , "Eve" is related to the word for life ). Similarly, the authors of apocalyptic texts--including the Book of Revelation--were writing allegories of events that were happening in their own time. Not for a moment could they imagine that centuries afterwards, readers would be poring over their works for clues to the date of the Second Coming of Christ, or when and how the world would end. For anyone who takes reading the Bible seriously and who wants to get it right, this book will be both heartening and enlightening.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199840038
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/13/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Steven McKenzie is Professor of Hebrew Bible at Rhodes College, in Memphis, Tennessee. A renowned scholar of the Bible, his previous books include King David: A Biography and To Each Its Own Meaning: An Introduction to Biblical Criticisms and Their Application.

Table of Contents

Introduction JONAH AND GENRE Chapter One - NOT EXACTLY AS IT HAPPENED: Historiography in the Bible Chapter Two - FORTHTELLING, NOT FORETELLING: Biblical Prophecy Chapter Three - LIFE'S REAL QUESTIONS: Wisdom Literature in the Bible Chapter Four - NOT THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: Apocalyptic Literature in the Bible Chapter Five - ISSUES IN THE CHURCHES: The Letters of the New Testament Notes Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

"Thoughtfully considered and ably written, this book is highly recommended for all libraries."
—Library Journal

"Steven L. McKenzie offers a fresh take on the ancient texts of the Bible and allows us to see the familiar biblical landscape in wholly new and illuminating ways. How to Read the Bible is authoritative and provocative, often witty and always insightful and illuminating, an essential tool for modern readers of the Jewish and Christian scriptures."
—Jonathan Kirsch, author of God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism and The Harlot by the Side of the Road: Forbidden Tales of the Bible

"In order to determine what the Bible means, we must first determine the intentions of its authors, intentions expressed in the literary genres they used. In his examination of several genres used in the Bible, McKenzie demonstrates through detailed analysis how the identification of genre is as necessary for the understanding of biblical literature as it is of any literature. An important and insightful book."
—Michael D. Coogan, editor of The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Third Edition, and The Oxford History of the Biblical World

From the Publisher