How to Read the Bible

A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now

By: James L. Kugel

Narrated by: Mel Foster

In How to Read the Bible, Harvard professor James Kugel leads the listener chapter by chapter through the "quiet revolution" of recent biblical scholarship, showing time and again how radically the interpretations of today''s researchers differ from what people have always thought.

The story of Adam and Eve, it turns out, was not originally about the "Fall of Man",l but about the move from a primitive, hunter-gatherer society to a settled, agricultural one.

As for the stories of Cain and Abel, Abraham and Sarah, and Jacob and Esau, these narratives were not, at their origin, about individual people at all but, rather, explanations of some feature of Israelite society as it existed centuries after these figures were said to have lived. And whatever the original Ten Commandments might have been, scholars are quite sure they were different from the ones we have today.

Such findings pose a serious problem for adherents of traditional, Bible-based faiths. Hiding from the discoveries of modern scholars seems dishonest, but accepting them means undermining much of the Bible's reliability and authority as the word of God. What to do?

In his search for a solution, Kugel leads the listener back to a group of ancient biblical interpreters who flourished at the end of the biblical period. Far from naïve, these interpreters consciously set out to depart from the original meaning of the Bible''s various stories, laws, and prophecies - and they, Kugel argues, hold the key to solving the dilemma of reading the Bible today.

How to Read the Bible is, quite simply, the best, most original book about the Bible in decades. Clear, often funny, but deeply serious in its purpose, this is a book for Christians and Jews, believers and secularists alike.

©2008 James L. Kugel (P)2008 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

very interesting thoughts on Bible

loved it had to really concentrate on parts asmi listened but to me it is a good start to really study the bible

This was a fantastic book

I'm not religious, and yet this is a work of breathtakingly good writing and fascinating scholarship, which simultaneously seeks to elucidate the Old Testament from the perspectives of both the ancient Jewish interpreters and the modern school of higher criticism, i.e. The attempt by, it seems mostly, late 19th and 20th century German scholars to understand the bible as a historical document written by humans with human concerns. The result is stunning, and worth listening to irrespective of one's own religious leanings.

Starts at Chapter 10 if downloaded to single part.

This book starts at chapter 10 but there is a resolution. It has to be downloaded in multiple parts to have it in order.

1.Go to "My Library" and left-swipe the title to "Delete from this device."
2. Go to "Home" then "Settings" then "Dowload by Parts" and choose "Multi-part."
3. Go back to "My Library" and click download.

What a Great Book!

This book walks through the Bible (Hebrew Bible/OT), laying out the text and the stories with traditional understandings, and then he discusses how modern biblical scholarship sheds light on or reinterprets them. Kugel always keeps an eye on the implications for believers, both Christian and Jewish, and his last two chapters are a meditation on the bigger meaning of scripture and religion in the world. So much to think about here! And the author is clearly a person of great scholarly depth but also great Faith.

A wonderfully thorough view of the Bible

I am a Liberal Jew. This book was a wonderful education I didn’t get as a child. It opened up the idea that I already had begun, that the study of Talmud is still important and has value.

Overall though, Kugel does a fantastic job showing both interpretation of the past and modern scholarship of much of the Hebrew Bible and while he is an Orthodox Jew, he came across very balanced and gave such an informative view on history, scholarship and interpretation.

If you can, get the unabridged. Not sure what was not in it, but I very much enjoyed all 60 some chapters.