Bible Matters

Book excerpt: Does the Bible really matter in today’s multicultural, scientifically informed and technologically enabled world? Does Richard Dawkins have a point when he says that the Bible is plain weird … a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents, composed, revised, translated, distorted and 'improved' by hundreds of anonymous authors, editors and copyists"? Does studying the Bible have any place in twenty-first-century education, faith or life? Centuries of intensive biblical scholarship have made the meaning of the Bible less, not more, clear. Its authority and even importance has been called into question as questions about its historical accuracy have been raised and the apparent complexities of its authorship have been exposed. In clear and straightforward language and with plenty of lively examples, Bible Matters charts the development of Biblical Criticism and explores the philosophical assumptions which underlie Historical Criticism, more contemporary approaches to Biblical Interpretation.