Jaroslav Pelikan, widely regarded as one of the most distinguished historians of our day, now provides a clear and engaging account of the Bible’s journey from oral narrative to Hebrew and Greek text to today’s countless editions. Pelikan explores the evolution of the Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic versions and the development of the printing press and its effect on the Reformation, the translation into modern languages, and varying schools of critical scholarship. Whose Bible Is It? is a triumph of scholarship that is also a pleasure to read.

Presents a family guide to the Bible that, told through historic art and artifacts, tells the stories of biblical characters and highlights their greater meaning for mankind.

Biographies of biblical characters in the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha. Biblically-inspired works of art and literature are appraised.

Philip Davies argues that the Bible may belong to the church or synagogue as an instrument of religious practice, but as an object of academic study it belongs to the world as a whole and as such can function in theory and practice as a secular discourse. A number of exegetical studies suggests that a genuinely academic discourse about biblical writings—one that distances itself from received canons of interpretation—can expose a subtext of deceit within the Creation narratives, re-conceptualize the relationship between Abraham and his deity, reveal lament psalms as texts of oppression, and identify the death of Daniel's God. In a new chapter, Davies evaluates how the film Monty Python's Life of Brian contributes to "life of Jesus" research. Here is a challenge to conventional biblical scholarship and a bid to define and establish a genuine academic discipline of biblical studies.

Contains entries that identify people whose names appear in the Bible, arranged alphabetically according to spellings in the New Living Translation, and includes more in-depth profiles of important men and women.

It is equally true that the Reformation was inspired and defined by the Bible and that the Bible was reshaped by the intellectual, political, and cultural forces of the Reformation. In this book, a distinguished scholar--whose contributions to the field of religious studies have won him wide renown--explores this relationship, examining both the role of the Bible in the Reformation and the effect of the Reformation on the text of the Bible, Biblical studies, preaching and exegesis, and European culture in general. Jaroslav Pelikan begins by discussing the philological foundations of the "reformation" of the Biblical text, focusing on the revival of Greek and Hebrew language study and the important contributions to textual criticism by humanist scholars. He then examines the changing patterns of interpretation and communication of the Biblical text, the proliferation of vernacular versions of scripture and their impact on various national cultures, and the impact of the Reformation Bible on art, music, and literature of the period. The book is richly illustrated with examples of early printed editions of Bibles, commentaries, sermons, vernacular translations, and other works with Biblical themes, all of which are identified and discussed. The book serves as the catalog for a major exhibition of early Bibles and Reformation texts that has been organized at Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, and will also be shown at the Yale Center for British Art, the Houghton Library and the Widener Library at Harvard University, and the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University.

A comprehensive, easy-to-use, and beautifully illustrated guide to more than 500 Biblical characters What made Abraham, a peaceful man, become a warrior? Who were the women in King David’s life? When was the last king of Judah led off into captivity? Was Mary Magdalene a sinner or a woman possessed? The pages of the Bible are filled with stories of fascinating men and women: saints and sinners, the faithful and the foolish, lovers and liars, giants and generals, priests and prophets, the brave and the cowardly, heathens and healers, the pious and the pitiful. Originally published in 1994, Who’s Who in the Bible offers in-depth portraits of more than 500 biblical characters, both well-known and more obscure, including: Jacob, scheming to win his brother’s birthright and his father’s blessing David, whose adultery led to murder Saul, persecutor of Christians transformed into the tireless missionary Paul Gehazi, struck with leprosy for his greed Lydia, Paul’s first convert in Europe In addition, this beautifully illustrated, clearly written, easy-to-use reference features: Nearly 400 color illustrations, including 50 specially commissioned paintings, put faces behind the names Maps pinpoint 10 turning points of biblical history Genealogies help make sense of the people in the Bible, from the generations of Adam to the family of Herod the Great Boxes about such diverse topics as Israel’s hostile neighbors, surrogate motherhood, Jewish festivals, sources for the four Gospels, the fate of the 12 apostles, and more Origins and meanings of names clarify and give new insight into stories Pronunciation guides make reading the Bible simpler Biblical citations speed you to chapter and verse Cross references and a full Index lead you quickly to where you want to go “Everyone in the Bible,” a comprehensive 24-page list of nearly 4,000 names, identifies each person and gives the first biblical citation for each All in all, Who’s Who in the Bible is an invaluable companion to your family Bible as well as an outstanding reference book. You will turn to its attractive, fact-checked pages again and again for essential background information and spiritual enrichment.

When world-class biblical scholar Bart Ehrman first began to study the texts of the Bible in their original languages he was startled to discover the multitude of mistakes and intentional alterations that had been made by earlier translators. In Misquoting Jesus, Ehrman tells the story behind the mistakes and changes that ancient scribes made to the New Testament and shows the great impact they had upon the Bible we use today. He frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultraconservative views of the Bible. Since the advent of the printing press and the accurate reproduction of texts, most people have assumed that when they read the New Testament they are reading an exact copy of Jesus's words or Saint Paul's writings. And yet, for almost fifteen hundred years these manuscripts were hand copied by scribes who were deeply influenced by the cultural, theological, and political disputes of their day. Both mistakes and intentional changes abound in the surviving manuscripts, making the original words difficult to reconstruct. For the first time, Ehrman reveals where and why these changes were made and how scholars go about reconstructing the original words of the New Testament as closely as possible. Ehrman makes the provocative case that many of our cherished biblical stories and widely held beliefs concerning the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the divine origins of the Bible itself stem from both intentional and accidental alterations by scribes -- alterations that dramatically affected all subsequent versions of the Bible.

The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.

This easy-to-read reference covers 500 of the most important people and places of Scripture, from Aaron to Zacchaeus and Babylon to the Sea of Galilee. Full color.