How to Read the Bible

A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now

By: James L. Kugel

Narrated by: Mel Foster

Length: 36 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

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.

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.

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.

bible reading with head and heart

is the bible an important book ?
is it even the word of God ?
is it even significant literature ?

is it full of mistakes ?
does it apply to our modern daily lives ?
does it tell a coherent useful story ?

kugel tries to answer these questions
his style is both erudite and approachable
his university students are a fortunate group

one faction reads "from" the bible
they want to learn and believe and live better lives
for them it is an ancient and true compass

one faction reads "about" the bible
their knowledge is exhaustive and precise
but they deny any possibility of supernatural meaning

it is amazing to me how little these 2 groups overlap
kugel tries to have a foot in both factions
his background makes him more than qualified to try

the bible does matter and it is more than literature
evangelicals should not fear scholarly examination
scholars should not fear transcendent belief

there is stubbornness on both sides
kugel's thoughtful style wears both sides down
he shows how to read the bible with head and heart

A great book...after fixing download!

Before buying the Kindle version to study, I checked out the hardcover from the library. The Kindle version is a good and faithful version.
However, the chapters in the Audible version did NOT match the book. I sought solutions but only saw complaints on the internet (that is, no solutions).
Part of me wants to detail my (mis)adventures at Customer Service. However, Judy (the Audible rep) eventually found a solution IF YOU ARE USING IOS. (Apple):
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." (Click okay when you get the warning about syncing.)
3. Go back to "My Library" and click download. (You will need to click all parts...but don't panic...because you won't have as many parts as chapters.)

FINALLY: Enjoy your Audible book with the chapters in the right order!

A faith-building scholarly work

The narrator is very dull but don't let that stop you! The author makes up for the unemotional reading by having written in a well organized and interesting manner all sorts of Biblical insights which will challenge everything you ever knew about the Bible. The scope of this book is enormous!
You will learn Biblical archeology, ancient language interpretation, historical motivations for writing and many theories about the creation, organization and re editing of Holy Scripture.

As a Christian my faith in Christ was strengthened even while the Bibles contradictions and misinterpretations were brought to light. I always read the Bible thinking that this or that didn't make sense or add up. Now I have a greater understanding of Holy Scripture as well as a renewed faith in the sovereignty of God and His ability to use an imperfect collection of writings and transform them into His inspired word.

Seriously, this book was fantastic!

The results of modern Biblical Scholarship

Professor emeritus James L. Kugel has brought together A LOT of information about how the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament/ Jewish Tanach) was interpreted through the ages. He argues that modern Biblical scholarship has eroded the traditional ways in which the Bible has been read for centuries.

Book by book he introduces his listeners to how new insights from scholarship has changed the way the Bible is interpreted. He ends of seeking a way to reconscile the synagoge and the church's way of reading the Bible with that of scholars and ends off with a rather depressing conculsion that the two ways of reading is irreconcilable. He argues that the mistake that reformers like Luther made was to "canonize" only the text of the Bible and not the INTERPRETATION that came along with it. THis lead to a lot of problems in reading the Bible. For one, what if it is discovered that the old ways of reading this sacred text(s) was not what it actually meant. Should one try to return to the original author's meaning? What is the original meaning if a text have been adjusted and reworked through the centuries?

Though these questions and the arguments that go with it is important, I found that the tremendous overview Kugel gave of the Hebrew Bible and the state of current scholarship is the strength of the book.

He gives an overview of creation narratives from the Ancient Near East, the Gilgamesh epic and its relation to Genesis, the problem of the 10 plagues not being 10 plagues everywhere, David the dubious king, the way scholar's understand the Lord as changing from a tribal deity to a universal deity which has also influenced the way he was depicted. He touches on Ugaritic, an ancient language close to Hebrew in which we find texts about the gods of Canaan. He discusses the historical probability/ improbability of a Moses. He discusses the text of Jeremia and Isaiah and how it differs from the Septuagint text (the Greek translation of the Old Testament). He speaks about the Song of Songs. Should it be read as ordinary love poetry or the love between God and his people?

In the end the listener is empowered to understand the various issues that the rise of modern biblical scholarship has brought about. He argues that one cannot turn back after knowing what you know.

I think this is an important book worth listening to. Mel Foster did a fair reading of the text,

This book comes recommended to those that are interested in getting an informed overview of scholarly insight into the text of the bible. It is not everybody's cup of tea, especially if you venerate the text of the Bible within a very concervative environment.

Great

Eye opening book; full of insights compiled through the centuries. A must read for believers and non-believers, Christians or Jews