Making of the Bible - From the First Fragments to Sacred Scripture

"A landmark...If you have time to read only one book on the Bible this year, make sure that it is this one."-Katherine J. Dell, Church Times

"Excellent...With a sure touch, the authors lead the reader through the geopolitical context of the Hebrew Bible and the setting and background of the New Testament, finding something to say about practically every book's origins and development."-John Barton, The Tablet

"A remarkable deep dive into foundational books whose origins are often taken for granted."-Publishers Weekly

In this revelatory account of the making of the foundational text of western civilization, a world-renowned scholar of the Hebrew scriptures joins a noted authority on the New Testament to reconstruct Jewish and Christian scriptural histories and reveal the underappreciated contest between them.

The New Testament, they show, did not develop in the wake of an Old Testament set in stone. The two evolved in parallel, often in conversation with each other, ensuring a continuing mutual influence of Jewish and Christian traditions. A remarkable synthesis of the latest Old and New Testament scholarship, The Making of the Bible is the most comprehensive history yet of the long, transformative journeys of these texts on route to inclusion in the holy books, revealing their buried lessons and secrets.

About the author

Konrad Schmid is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism at the University of Zurich and President of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament. He is the author, most recently, of A Historical Theology of the Hebrew Bible.Jens Schröter is Professor of New Testament and Ancient Christian Apocrypha at Humboldt University in Berlin and the author of Jesus of Nazareth: Jew from Galilee, Savior of the World.

Summary

The Bible is full of ancient texts long predating the assembly of Judaism’s and Christianity’s sacred books. Why these texts, and how were they transformed on the journey from folk tale to holy writ? Konrad Schmid and Jens Schröter unearth the history, in the process overturning assumptions about the relationship between the Old and New Testaments.

Product details

• Authors: Peter Lewis, Konrad Schmid, Konrad Schroeter Schmid, Konrad Schroter Schmid, Schmid Konrad, Jens Schroeter, Jens Schroter, Jens Schröter
• Assisted by: Peter Lewis (Translation)
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.12.2023
• EAN: 9780674293922
• ISBN: 978-0-674-29392-2
• No. of pages: 448
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Biographies, autobiographies; RELIGION / Christianity / History, RELIGION / Judaism / History, RELIGION / Biblical Studies / History & Culture, Bibles, RELIGION / Biblical Biography / Old Testament, RELIGION / Biblical Biography / New Testament, History of Religion, Judaism, Biography: religious & spiritual, Biography: religious and spiritual, Criticism and exegesis of sacred texts, Biblical Studies & Exegesis