Bible Criticism

Because you know it's nonsense, but were never sure why.

The Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John - are four accounts of Jesus' life and teachings while on earth. But should we accept them as historically accurate? What evidence is there that the recorded events actually happened? Presenting a case for the historical reliability of the Gospels, New Testament scholar Peter Williams examines evidence from non-Christian sources, assesses how accurately the four biblical accounts reflect the cultural context of their day, compares different accounts of the same events, and more.

Bart D. Ehrman, the New York Times bestselling author of Jesus, Interrupted and God’s Problem reveals which books in the Bible’s New Testament were not passed down by Jesus’s disciples, but were instead forged by other hands—and why this centuries-hidden scandal is far more significant...

This thought-provoking audiobook helps listeners reconcile the teachings of the Bible with the widely held evolutionary view of beginnings and will appeal to anyone interested in the Christianity-evolution debate.

How was the Bible written? Who wrote it? Was writing material available then? Who decided what the Canon included and what it did not include. Has anyone seen the original manuscripts of the Bible? How can we be sure that what we have today is a faithful reproduction? All the above, and many more, questions are answered in this book. It is a book meant for the informed layperson, and is not a technical work.

In Hear Ye the Word of the Lord, biblical scholar D. Brent Sandy explores how oral communication shaped the ways that biblical writers received God's message—and even more importantly, how the ancient and modern faithful receive it through hearing.

This novella is the first work of fiction to be published by author Jon Kinyon. If you're into dark humor and biting satire, and you're not easily offended, you just might like this. It has more Easter eggs than the Easter Bunny's private stash! "A hilarious and campy send-up of 70's cop shows with a strange, pseudo-reverent twist. Featuring a duo of born-again evangelists fighting the forces of Satan and Hollywood." -- Doug Sakmann, Troma Entertainment SYNOPSIS: Our heroes, Brad and James, are caught in a battle of wills with Sarah, the daughter of a High Priest of Satan. Her father, ...

Interpreting the Bible is a comprehensive guide for believers who long to handle God’s Word with accuracy, reverence, and confidence. Grounded in the historical-grammatical method, this book equips readers to discover the single, Spirit-inspired meaning intended by the biblical authors, guarding against allegory, speculation, and modern distortions. From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture speaks with clarity and authority. Yet faithful interpretation requires careful attention to words, grammar, historical context, and literary form. This volume walks readers through each major genre of the...

"The more I read the Bible, the more evident it becomes that everything I have ever taught or written about effective leadership over the past 25 years, Jesus did to perfection. He is simply the greatest leadership role model of all time." Effective leadership—whether on the job, in the...

Forget what you think you know about the Good Book. The BC Bible is not a sermon—it’s a riotous, irreverent, and razor-sharp deep dive into the most bizarre, brutal, and brilliantly baffling stories in the Bible. Written with wit, bite, and a historian’s curiosity, Robert Ragnar takes you on a chronological journey through scripture with a scalpel in one hand and a shot of whiskey in the other. From talking snakes to cosmic floods, divine tantrums to circumcision revenge plots, Ragnar unpacks the ancient texts with equal parts skepticism, satire, and sincere wonder. Raised in the pews...

Understanding the Bible will provide you with a foundational comprehension of the entirety of Scripture with a focus on broadening your vision of Jesus Christ. This book answers foundational questions: Who wrote the Bible? What is its message? Why is it thought to be a "holy" book? How does one...

Philip Yancey has a way of confronting our most cherished--but misguided--notions about the Christian life. In The Bible Jesus Read, Yancey challenges the perception that the New Testament is more important than the Old, that the Hebrew Scriptures aren't worth the time they take to read and...

For over two thousand years, the Greek Septuagint has shaped the reading, translation, and understanding of Scripture—from ancient Jewish communities to the writers of the New Testament, the early Church Fathers, and modern Bible translators. Yet for many Christians, its story remains unfamiliar. In this comprehensive and accessible study, Edward D. Andrews guides readers through the origins, development, and significance of the Septuagint. You’ll explore its role in the ancient world, its use by Jesus and the apostles, its preservation in manuscripts and quotations, and its impact on ...

Is Your Bible Based on the Preserved Word of God or a Corrupted Modern Text? In a world filled with thousands of competing Bible translations, David Michael Curtis's Sentinel GPT: KJV vs Modern Translations equips readers with the tools to confidently defend the authority and completeness of the King James Version. This is not another academic debate about archaic language; it is a deep dive into the two separate manuscript traditions that have produced two different Bibles. This comprehensive resource dismantles the unstable foundations of modern textual criticism and constructs a powerful...

The easy accessibility of the Bible in most of the world's major languages can obscure a dramatic and sometimes unexpected story. In Know How We Got Our Bible, scholars Ryan Reeves and Charles Hill trace the history of the Bible from its beginnings to the present day, highlighting key figures...

New York Times bestselling author and Bible expert Bart Ehrman reveals how Jesus’s divinity became dogma in the first few centuries of the early church. The claim at the heart of the Christian faith is that Jesus of Nazareth was, and is, God. But this is not what the original disciples...

How are we to live out the Bible today? In this updated edition of The Blue Parakeet—which has sold over 100,000 copies!—you'll see how Scripture transcends culture and time, and you'll learn how to read God's Word in a fresh way. The gospel is designed to be relevant in every culture, in...

In this addition to the Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture, two well-respected New Testament scholars interpret the Gospel of John in its historical and literary setting as well as in light of the Church's doctrinal, liturgical, and spiritual tradition. They unpack the wisdom of the Fourth Gospel for the intellectual and spiritual transformation of its followers and connect the Gospel with a range of witnesses throughout the whole history of Catholicism.

What follows is not a translation in the ordinary sense of the word. It’s more like a paraphrase. Rather than worry over the letter of the text, the goal has been to illuminate the large scale patterns that structure it. The King James Version, for instance, renders Paul’s letter with uncanny beauty but is opaque as an argument. Modern translations tend to have the same problem. Their overriding concern is with the letter of the text, not with its logic. As a result, Paul’s forest is always getting sacrificed for the sake of his trees. But Paul’s work is too important, his good news...

What was a Galilean? And if the question of the ancestry and nationality of Jesus is possible to answer, what are its political and theological implications? These questions are dealt with in this volume, featuring works by the composer Richard Wagner, the British Germanophile historian Houston Stewart Chamberlain, the German-American Bible translator and groundbreaking Middle East scholar Paul Haupt, and the Romanian law professor and politician A.C. Cuza.