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Review Summary: Excellent Resource |
Date: 2008-05-09 |
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Details: One would expect, from the various contributors to this book, both excellent scholarship and conservative presentations. Both of these are true. What is unexpected is the easy readability of the materials covered. The contributors have bypassed the theological jargon for understandability. Whether the discussion is authority, inspiration, or infallibility, on the one hand, or the issues of canonicity on the other, the material is covered in brief, well written, understandable language. The section on English translations is every helpful in both critiquing the various translations and explaining the types of translations available. All together, this is an excellent resource for understanding the conservative perspective on the origins of the Bible. |
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Review Summary: Posturing And Proof Of Godly Inspiration & Origin |
Date: 2007-09-27 |
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Details: Some are concerned for theologians who supposedly no longer can or will with certainty assert historical pronouncements of right and wrong. The divide caused by broad evangelicalism has steadily developed into a theological Grand Canyon, through mass appeal to indifference to the truth. The modern church is no longer recognizable by an appeal to historical doctrinal truth, but by its ability to master relationship advice, enhance work ethics and promote psychology - and by its power to muster finance.
FF Bruce looks at the introduction to general canonics, stating that 'the New Testament records the final word which He spoke in His Son, in which all the earlier revelation was summed up, confirmed, and transcended.' pg 8 He also stipulates the taxonomical canonization of the New Testament: 'Whereas the writing of the Old Testament books was spread over a thousand years or more, the New Testament books were written in a century.' pg 9 Bearing upon the redemptive nature of the Bible, Bruce declares 'the heirs of salvation, the covenant people, are the Israel of God, the church of God.' pg 11 As to the Mediator's work, he states 'Jesus provides in Himself the vital continuity between the old Israel and the new, and His faithful followers were both the righteous remnant of the old and the nucleus of the new.' pg 12
This genre of authors did not capitulate to revisionist biblical history, but with adept insight gave us a timely reminder of how the authority of the Bible came to be.
Milton Fisher does extensive inquiry into the canon and its historical origins in 'The Canon Of The New Testament': 'The church's concept of canon, derived first of all from the reverence given the Old Testament Scriptures, rested in the conviction that the apostles were uniquely authorized to speak in the name of the One who possessed all authority - the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence, the believers (the church) did not establish the canon, but simply bore witness to its extent by recognizing the authority of the word of Christ.' pg 76-77
This pre-supposition, the a priori of the Christian faith, agrees with Herman Ridderbos' brilliant work on how the Scriptures came to be canonized in Redemptive History and the Scriptures.
While Carl F H Henry looks at the authority of the Bible, J I Packer looks at the inspiration of the Bible, and Harold O J Brown looks at the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible. In fact, all matters pertaining to the Word of God are given a thorough presentation by these faithful theologians.
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Review Summary: Solid, hype-free, but dry Biblical origins starting point |
Date: 2004-12-27 |
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Details: Recent works of fiction have regenerated interest in the Bible's origin. Many new best-sellers and best-seller hopefuls have been rushed to market in an attempt to capitalize on the interest to prove or disprove the "facts" behind the fictional "Da Vinci Code." Although I must be one of the last people not to read the Code (I read one of Brown's other books and it was so bad I didn't feel the need to torture myself with another) I wanted to start my own journey of understanding of Biblical origins. I turned to a couple of seminary students I know for book recommendations but unfortunately they had none so I struck out on my own. My main criteria was to read something that was written by a Christian Biblical expert or experts, that it was written prior to Brown's novel so it isn't a reactionary book, and that it cover a range of issues regarding Biblical origins and the authority or lack thereof of individual books that are or aren't included in the modern standard Bible.
This book fit all of these criteria. It is a collected work (some of the chapters appear to be articles from scholarly publications). The positives I gained from it are a good foundation to allow me to understand other books on the topic. I think having read this I can now arm myself with the questions to read and analyze books more specific to apocryphal works and the accuracy of our current translations relative to original writings.
The problems I faced in reading this are that parts of it were redundant from article to article and author to author. Parts of it were also well over my head as a lay person, introducing scholarly terms that were never explained or defined. In general, I was able to follow most of it by context. The writing is also extremely dry, and I believe it was never intended for a general audience. This paperback edition was probably released (following the original hardcover 10+ years ago) in reaction to seeing the new found interest for other books.
Fortunately, it's also easy to skip around in, and doesn't require a complete front-to-back read. I'd recommend it for you if you have a real interest in starting a solid understanding of Biblical origins and translations and you are looking to avoid the books being turned out by the current hype machine. But, it isn't an easy read, so prepare yourself for some work.
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Review Summary: The Origin of the Bible |
Date: 2004-09-17 |
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Details: Back in August while on vacation in Pennsylvania, I "stumbled" across a sizeable Christian bookstore. (Those who know me realize that happenstances don't exist with me and bookstores.) To my delight, one of the books being carried was _The Origin of the Bible_. This book is a compilation of essays from writers, some of whom I would classify as modern stalwarts of the evangelical stream within Protestantism. Notable contributors include F.F. Bruce, J.I. Packer, R.K. Harrison, and R.T. Beckwith to name a few.
In providing a brief review of _The Origin of the Bible_, I feel it necessary to state a couple of important observations upfront: Firstly, this book is written from a perspective which assumes an evangelical readership. Secondly, and consequently, this book is not an apologetic for, say, the divine origin of Sacred Scripture; this belief is assumed a priori. Thirdly, _The Origin of the Bible_ is not overly ecumenical. It is a Protestant presentation of the Bible's origin. While this is not an overt emphasis in the book, the scattered references to Roman Catholicism, for example, are not always flattering, though I would not say they are acerbic or malicious either.
The content of the book is subsumed under five sections, the first of which deals with two prominent characteristics of the Bible, namely, its authority and inspiration. This treatment is followed by sections on canonicity, the Bible as literature, textual criticism and manuscript evidence, and translational theory/biblical languages/history of the Bible.
Admittedly, this breakdown is, to all appearances, pedantic and prosaic (a nice way of saying, "Boooooring"). However, the authors write in a popular and accessible style. (There are next to no footnotes.) This makes the material palatable even to the reader who has nothing more than an inkling of interest in the origin of that Book, which has had the greatest influence on the world in general and on western civilization in particular, not to mention western literature.
_The Origin of the Bible_ is a general treatment of a subject for which a huge corpus of material exists. It will whet the appetite of the neophyte just beginning to embark upon a journey of discovery of the Bible's origin and transmission through time. For those of us with a little knowledge in the area, _The Origin of the Bible_ serves as a well-written summary of what we already know, while also solidifying some things that we didn't catch from other sources the first time around.
One particular section with which I was pleasantly surprised was Section Three on the Bible as literature. From my own church experience, I have found that the Bible is more often manipulated and treated as a "magic" book than viewed for what it really is: A literary text, albeit with God as author. Nonetheless, this section reinforced what I had heard elsewhere: "The Bible is more than mere literature, but it is literature."
I commend this book to the evangelical Christian reader. For those coming from other perspectives, unless you're a glutton for frustration and/or have a genuine interest in the evangelical understanding of the Bible, I recommend you look elsewhere for a book on the Bible. |
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Review Summary: More posturing than substance |
Date: 2004-09-02 |
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Details: The first thing anyone who reads this book needs to realize is that all of its contributors are recognized in evangelical circles, but do not reflect more widespread scholarly opinion. Few academics today will tell you that the Bible is infallible, and even fewer will point to statements from the Bible as proof.
Also, a lot of statements in the book were made without adequate factual backing. Most of the opinions expressed were supported only by rhetoric, making me even more wary of a book that is already questionable. Refutations of common beliefs in Biblical scholarship, including multiple authorship of the Old Testament, were dismissed with cursory arguments that lacked real depth.
Overall, "The Origin of the Bible" failed to be convincing. This book was clearly designed for those who are already Christian fundamentalists, and not for someone searching for well-developed answers to tough biblical questions. |
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out of 8 Reviews
