Customer Reviews

The Rise and Fall of the Bible: The Unexpected History of an Accidental Book

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"The icon of the Bible as God's textbook for the world is as bankrupt as the idea that it stands for, as religious faith as absolute black-and-white certainly. Just as the cultural icon of the flag often becomes a substitute for patriotism, and just as the cultural icon of the four-wheel-drive truck often becomes a substitute for manly independence and self-confidence, so the cultural icon of the Bible often becomes a substitute for a vital life of faith, which calls not for obedient adherence to clear answers but thoughtful engagement with ultimate questions. The Bible itself invites that kind of engagement. The iconic image of it as a book with answers discourages it."

That quotation from the introductory first chapter summarizes the principal argument that Timothy Beal makes in this book: that the Bible has become a "cultural icon," and it is regarded by many (Christians and non-Christians) as primarily a book of rules, a how-to and don't-do manual for life. Fundamentalists defend every word of their favorite translation as divinely inspired and develop convoluted arguments to explain away inconsistence such as the multiple incompatible Creation stories or the differing accounts of the empty tomb; scoffers point at the inconsistencies and conclude that because it can't all be literally true, that it is nothing but a worthless volume of fables.

The view of the Bible as an inerrant rulebook is a relatively modern (19th century) view of Scripture. The Bible is ill-suited to such a role, Beal argues. It was never intended to play that role. The inconsistencies and contradictions in it mean that it cannot serve as a source of guidance for every important question about how to live one's life. He also argues that the view that the Bible was the work of a single (divine) author is simply not supported by any rational evidence. And, as the quotation above makes clear, those that insist on regarding the Bible as an infallible cultural icon not only dishonor the Bible, but also do Christian faith itself a tremendous disservice.

Beal makes these points repeatedly - and somewhat convincingly, though nowhere nearly as comprehensively and authoritatively as some other books that take the same line. And then he fills out the book with a lot of padding - a detailed description of how to make parchment, including how many sheepskins it takes to record the scroll of Isaiah; a long dissertation on the Bible publishing business, and how dumbed-down niche market Bibles are making a lot of money for some people; a brief (and inadequate) history of the development of the New Testament canon; a truncated history of English-language Bible translation (it would appear that the so-called word-for-word translation history ended with the RSV of 1952; what about the NRSV or ESV?); and other marginalia. None of these are completely without interest, but all have been done much better.

I would ordinarily give this book three stars - not a complete waste, but not something you absolutely need to go out and buy and read. I'm bumping it up by one star to help counter the expected onslaught of one-star ratings from people who disagree with its presumed conclusions even though they haven't read it.

(As an aside, the Android Kindle edition is woefully lacking; it is essentially impossible to go from text to source notes and back again. This does not play any role in my evaluation, however.)

The Rise and Fall of the Bible by Timothy Beal

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011

196 pages*

Non-fiction; Christian

5/5 stars

Source: Received a free review copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book but it looked interesting so I requested it. I was pleasantly surprised. Beal wants us to revise and rexamine our notions about the Bible and our interactions with it. The prevalent way of viewing the Bible seems to be that it is God's Word and that it contains the answers to every question in life. But that view is only about 150 years old and comes from the American evangelicalism of the time period.

But Beal finds that belief incomplete. Instead he challenges us to view the books of the Bible as retellings and reinterpretations of earlier Scripture. He wants us to bring ambiguity back in to our relationship with the words. One definitive answer is not necessarily what we should take away from our reading of the Bible. He further decries the outpouring of Bibles with value-content added. Meaning added sections that provide one interpretation as if it is the only one and are sometimes more read than the actual Scripture thus giving people a false sense of their understanding.

The production of so many different types of Bibles is also describing the sacred capital that has been accrued, something Beal applauds as it will help readers acquire their own thoughts and feelings instead of having them imposed on them by history.

Overall: Fascinating read; highly recommended!

*The first page of each chapter was missing so I didn't quite read the complete book but I read enough to know.

Who knew that an unvarnished, objective view of the bible's place in history would yield so many surprising insights??

I find my own personal faith energized:

- curious to look futher into the historical contexts during which the texts were written,

- viewing today's various approaches to the bible as a part of our current cultural landscape.

Very readable, great new perspectives.

Biblical Literacy: The Essential Bible Stories Everyone Needs to Know

If you're a fan of Marcus Borg or Karen Armstrong like I am, you'll appreciate the message of this book. Like a Quentin Tarentino movie, it shifts time from the Biblezines of today back to the Isaiah scroll that Jesus is described as reading from in the Gospel of Luke. The book tells the story of the development of the ancient scriptures from collections of manuscripts used by early churches into a single bound volume and official canon. Throughout the book, the author describes how the physical nature of scriptures affects how we think about the Bible and what we expect to find when we read it. He makes the case that the scriptures were never intended to be in agreement with each other, but rather to be in dialogue with each other across the millennia. Beal makes the case that the scriptures were not created to provide concise answers about how to live, but rather to provide a "library of questions" with many varied perspectives on the universal challenges faced by anyone trying to live a life of faith.

This broader, richer, and deeper understanding of scripture is not a recent post-modern development, but was the basis for centuries of Jewish and Christian interpretation and understanding of the Bible. In fact, it is the literal understanding of the Bible as historical in every detail that is a recent post-Enlightenment development which departs radically from traditional understandings. A faith which uses the Bible to explore the mysteries and paradoxes of faith does not have to be threatened by new evidence and scholarly insights. To the contrary - learning more about how the Bible has developed over the centuries can enrich your faith and make it more resilient and meaningful. This is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book.

I found this book quite interesting to read, although it did tell me a lot about the Bible that I had already known. It seems that the author is trying, through this book, to state that the commercialization of the Bible through numerous editions geared to specific groups or problems diffuses the message of the Book, and therefore makes it less relevant to everyone. He backs up this premise by giving a history of the many different bibles put out by various publishers that differ from the King James version, with particular emphasis on the proliferation of Bibles in the present day. What he fails to do is give some account of the versions of the Catholic bible, which means that he feels they are irrelevant or that there isn't such a diversity of editions.

He doesn't go into the controversy about the many different authors and points of view that make up a lot of the contradictions in the Bible, nor is there much said about the Redactor, who "stitched together" disparate accounts into one, thereby causing some contradictory views of events, especially concerning the Creation. That was bound to happen when you get different books written by different authors, and then try to make a coherent and comprehensive whole out of them.

The author wants to make the point that, in his opinion, the Bible is not the inerrant Word of God that it is believed to be my many very religious folks. Be that as it may, there is a lot that we can learn from reading the Bible, no matter how we feel about it's importance to daily life.

I can state with conviction that, no matter what is the truth about the bible, it has not, nor will it, shake my faith and my belief. "Faith" is believing in something that you can't explain, but know in your heart is true. Some people may laugh at that statement, but they are the same folks who make fun of Tim Tebow's outward expression of his faith. Why is that annoying to some? Perhaps we should all acknowledge that we believe, if we do, and not let the doubters of the world take that belief away from us, or belittle it.

"The Rise and Fall of the Bible" is best viewed as making a very significant contribution not so much to the scholarly history of the Bible as a book, but rather to an understanding of the sociology and intellectual underpinnings of non-Catholic Christianity in late 20th and early 21st century America, and the role various printed Bibles played in the formation and identity of that group. I am of the same generation as the author of this book, and I grew up in the Midwestern US surrounded by people our age who were "born again" and/or evangelical and/or fundamentalist Christians. Being from a very different religious and theological tradition myself, I was baffled and perplexed by their literalism as well as what I saw as their selectively dogmatic approach to the "Bible". While Beal may not have written this book in order to offer 'outsiders' like myself a cogent explanation for the attitude of those Christians towards the Bible, Beal has actually done an excellent job on that score. In this easy to read volume, Beal restates some history of the Bible that (as other reviewers noted) has been discussed more extensively elsewhere, but what he does best, in my opinion, is to offer detailed insight and perspective on the role of the Bible for many non-Catholic, Christians in modern America (particularly in the late 1970's and early 1980's), as well as the direction he would like to see Christians take in their "Bible study" for the future. I would highly recommend this book, but more as a work of the sociology or history of one large and important subset of modern American Christianity, than as a history of the Bible per se.

Dr. Beal has masterfully taken the Bible from the cultural icon it has become in the last century or so to the collected books it was intended to be. In doing so he demonstrates that rather than being a book of answers, it's a book of questions that we must deal with in living our day to day lives.

I am in general agreement with the reviews of Messrs. Hartz and Bloom, but the issues the later takes with describing the preparation of parchment and the Bible publishing business were informative rather than aggravating to me, and these detours took up very little space in the narrative.

The Rise and Fall of the Bible has provided me with a plethora of insights. I intend to keep it handy for reference.

Highly recommended.

Just got my copy of this book today and read it (the first time) cover to cover. As a grad student working on my Master's in Biblical Studies much of what Tim says I already learned; however, never before have I read it so well organized, with tons of facts to support his controversial "claims" and I was delighted by his quick wit and dry humor reminding me of some of the best professors I've ever met that made Bible Study fun.

If you're determined to believe today's KJV Holy Bible (and all others) are the inspired word of God and without errors then you don't want to read this book. If life is so hard for you that the rock of the Word can't change for you right now into a flowing river (instead of a life-saving rock) you might want to put this book off until things settle down.

99.9% of Bible believing Christians learn the Holy Bible like a child digging in a sand box with a tiny plastic shovel. Timothy Beal takes the Bible student in this book into the very origin and history of the Bibles of today using powerful deep well drills going back in time to the very core beginning and he then unfolds the evolution of the marketing of the Bible over time and how that has influenced the context, message, and manner delivered clearing proving how this is the Greatest Story ever Sold. No objective reader can finish this book and not see clearly that there is no original Holy Bible; never was one and never will be. Since the original scriptures numbered over 5,000 volumes much has been lost over time and during orthodox translations.

If you want light on the contradictions and errors you've seen in the scriptures this is the book for you to learn the most likely way those errors came to be. If you want to learn facts of major turning points in the context of the Bible at certain points this work is very easy reading and descriptive of those major historical points when the Word radically changed and how it happened and continues to change today.

If you have the intellect to see the Bible as a book of questions and not one of answers this will be an inspiring scholarly exploration of the evolution and revolution of today's Bibles.

"The Rise and Fall of the Bible" isn't for everyone. It requires facing some hard facts that many Christians may be too blown away by with the risk of shattering their faith. If your faith is greater than a commonly held holy book you will cherish and love this man's book for it can give you a greater understanding of the Holy Bible (and where it's headed in today's digital age).

If you can't handle early Christianity' truths; don't read it. If you can; thou shalt read Tim Beal.

Brilliant, if thorough, presentation of why the Bible - better called the bibliotheca - is not what modern and mainstream Christianity claim, but much more. Beal posits that the Bible is not "a Book of answers, but a library of questions," and may better be compared to a river of meaning than a rock of univocal agreement about its meanings and intent.

If you prefer faith without question, and would hear your truths first digested by others before taking them obediently for your own, look elsewhere.

If you seek Truth, and are willing to embrace paradox as a truth its own, and understand that the spiritual journey is a ambiguous path along an uncertain road to a journey yet unknown, you will find this work a welcome companion on the way.

Insightful examination of history and development of Bible. From parchment scrolls to codex to the Book as we know it today, author skillfully debunks claims of inerrancy, and argues for its mystery, and its value as narrative and human struggle from the ancient pre-literate to pre-modern world.