Understanding The Bible

by Harris, Stephen L.

Edition: 6th

ISBN13: 9780767429160

ISBN10: 0767429168

Format: Paperback

Pub. Date: 2002-07-30

Publisher(s): McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages

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Summary

Stephen Harris' text is the best-selling nonsectarian guide designed for students undertaking their first systematic study of the bible, and it is the only single-volume text that provides both a comprehensive historical-cultural background for the entire biblical era and a rigorous analysis of each individual work of the Old Testament, Apocrypha, and New Testament. The purpose of the text is twofold: to acquaint readers with the content and major themes of each biblical book and to familiarize them with important contemporary scholarship.

Preface

List of Boxes, Tables, and Illustrations

CHAPTER 1 - The Bible: An Overview

Why we Read the Bible

The Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible (Tanak)

The New Testament

How the Bible Was Formed and Handed Down to Us

How the Bible Became Available in English

The Bible and Modern Scholarship

PART I: THE HEBREW BIBLE (OLD TESTAMENT)

CHAPTER 2 - History and Geography of the Near East

Prologe to the Biblical World

Mesopotamia, Site of the World's First Urban Civilization

Egypt, The First National State

Canaan and Israel

Alexander's Conquests and the Hellenistic Era

The Roman Occupation of Judea

The Promised Land

CHAPTER 3 - The God of Israel: A Composite Portrait

The Names of God

Yahweh: Leader of the Divine Council

Roles and Characteristics of the Biblical God

God in the New Testament

CHAPTER 4 - The Torah: Five Books of Divine Instruction (The Pentateuch)

Who Wrote the "Books of Moses"?

The Documentary Hypotheses: Four Sources of the Pentateuch)

Some Literary Forms in the Pentateuch

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

CHAPTER 5 - The Prophets (Nevi'im) I: The Deuteronomistic History

The Deuteronomistic Theory of History

Major Events and Their Meaning

Observing the Order of the Hebrew Bible

Joshua

Judges

1 Samuel

2 Samuel

1 Kings

2 Kings

CHAPTER 6 - The Prophets (Nevi'im) II: Collections Attributed to Individual Prophets

Spokespersons for God

The Three Great Crises

Order of the Prophets' Appearances

Amos

Hosea

Isaiah

Micah

Zephaniah

Nahum

Habakkuk

Jeremiah

Obadiah

Ezekiel

"Second Isaiah"

Haggai

Zechariah

"Third Isaiah"

Joel

Malachi

Jonah

CHAPTER 7 - The Writings (Kethuvim): Books of Poetry, Wisdom, Short Fiction, and Sacred History

After the Exile: A Reinterpretation of Judah's Religious Mission

Hebrew Poetry

Psalms

Wisdom Literature

Proverbs

Job

Ecclesiastes

Festival Scrolls

Ruth

Song of Songs

Lamentations

Esther

Reinterpreting Israel's History for the Postexilic World

Ezra

Nehemiah

1 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

CHAPTER 8 - Deuterocanonical, Apocalyptic, and Extracanonical Works

The Covenant People in the Hellenistic World

1 Maccabees

2 Maccabees

Apocalyptic Literature and the Book of Daniel

Daniel

Additions to Daniel

Other Apocalyptic Works

2 Esdras

Pseudepigrapha

1 Enoch (Ethiopic Book of Enoch)

2 Enoch (Slavonic Book of Enoch)

Sibylline Oracles

Other Deuterocanonical Writings (Books of the Apocrypha)

Tobit

Judith

Additions to Esther

Baruch

Ecclesiasticus (The Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach)

The Wisdom of Solomon (Wisdom)

Other Works of the Pseudepigrapha

Letter of Aristeas

Book of Jubilees

Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs

Books of Adam and Eve

CHAPTER 9 - Between the Two Testaments: Hellenistic Culture and the Growth of Multiple Judaisms

Political Events

Hellenistic Thought, Culture, and Religion

The Mystery of Religions

The Diverse World of First-Century Judaisms

The Messiah: First Century Expectations

PART II: THE NEW TESTAMENT (THE CHRISTIAN GREEK SCRIPTURES)

CHAPTER 10 - The Books of the New Testament: The Gospels

Literary Categories in the New Testament

The Synoptic Gospels

Four Distinctive Portraits of Jesus

Mark's Gospel

Matthew's Gospel

Luke's Gospel

John's Gospel

CHAPTER 11 - The Other Gospels: Additional Portraits of Jesus

Contrasting Portrayals of Jesus

The Gospel of Thomas

Secret Mark

The Gospel of Peter

Gospels about Jesus' Infancy and Childhood

The Continuing Quest for the Historical Jesus

Early Historical References to Jesus

Scholarly Portrayals of Jesus

Some General Agreements about the Historical Jesus

Jesus' Teachings about the Kingdom

CHAPTER 12 - A Christian History and the Pauline Letters

The Book of Acts: A Story of Christian Beginnings

Paul and the Gentile Mission

1 Thessalonians

1 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

Galatians

Romans

Phillipians

Philemon

The Disputed Pauline Letters

2 Thessalonians

Colossians

Ephesians

The Pastoral Letters

1 Timothy

2 Timothy

Titus

CHAPTER 13 - General Epistles and Some Visions of Endtime

Hebrews and the Catholic ("General") Epistles

Hebrews

James

1 Peter

Jude

2 Peter

1 John

2 John

3 John

Other Early Christian Letters and Tracts

The Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles)

1 Clement

The Epistle of Barnabus

Visions of Endtime

Revelation

The Apocalypse of Peter

The Judeo-Christian Bible and Subsequent History

The Growth of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian-Greek Scriptures

Shocks and Readjustments

Glossary of Major Biblical Characters, Terms, and Concepts

Selected Bibliography

Credits

Index