Binding: Hardcover
Description: More people read the Bible than any other book. Indeed many try to live their lives according to its words. The question is do they understand what they're reading? As Steven Mc Kenzie shows in this provocative book quite often the answer is " No." Mc Kenzie argues that to comprehend the Bible we must grasp the intentions of the biblical authors themselves - - what sort of texts they thought they were writing and how they would have been understood by their intended audience. In short we must recognize the genres to which these texts belong. Mc Kenzie examines several genres that are typically misunderstood offering careful readings of specific texts to show how the confusion arises and how knowing the genre produces a correct reading. The book of Jonah for example offers many clues that it is meant as a humorous satire not a straight - faced historical account of a man who was swallowed by a fish. Likewise Mc Kenzie explains that the very names " Adam" and " Eve" tell us that these are not historical characters but figures who symbolize human origins (" Adam" means man " Eve" is related to the word for life). Similarly the authors of apocalyptic texts - - including the Book of Revelation - - were writing allegories of events that were happening in their own time. Not for a moment could they imagine that centuries afterwards readers would be poring over their works for clues to the date of the Second Coming of Christ or when and how the world would end. For anyone who takes reading the Bible seriously and who wants to get it right this book will be both heartening and enlightening.
Title: How To Read The Bible History Prophecy Literature - - Why Modern Readers Need To Know The Difference And What It Means For Faith Today
Author(s): Mckenzie Steven L. (Professor Of Hebrew Bible Professor Of Hebrew Bible Rhodes College Tn)
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Barcode: 9780195161496
Pages: 224 Pages, Tables
Publication Date: 9/15/2005
Category: Biblical Studies & Exegesis