Whose Bible Is It? A History of the Scriptures Through the Ages [Hardcover]

Jaroslav Pelikan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 7, 2005

No book has been more pored over, has been the subject of more commentary and controversy, or had more influence not only on our religious beliefs but also on our culture and language than the Bible. And certainly no book has been as widely read. But how did the Bible become the book we know it to be?

In this superbly written history, Jaroslav Pelikan takes the reader through the good book’s evolution from its earliest incarnation as oral tales to its modern existence in various iterations, translations, and languages. From the earliest Hebrew texts and the Bible’s appearance in Greek, then Latin, Pelikan explores the canonization of different Bibles and why certain books were adopted by certain religions and sects, as well as the development of the printing press, the translation into modern languages, and varying schools of critical scholarship.

Both an enduring work of scholarship and a fascinating read, Whose Bible Is It? will be eagerly welcomed by the many fans of Elaine Pagels’s books and Adam Nicolson’s God’s Secretaries.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Pelikan, Sterling professor emeritus of history at Yale University and author of a number of respected books in the area of Christian belief and tradition (e.g., Jesus Through the Centuries), presents an outstanding introduction to the development, use and acceptance of the biblical canon over the centuries. As the title suggests, different groups have claimed ownership to the canonization process. Even today, Bibles vary in their content and in their philosophy of translation. Beginning with the long heritage of the oral tradition, then exploring the writing and editing of the biblical texts, Pelikan takes the reader through the process of scripture building with a fluency and ease that is both accessible and understandable to the nonscholar. His treatment of modern critical methods is particularly well done. Pelikan has a sure sense of history and context, surrounding the story with a wealth of detail, including some well-chosen anecdotes that add to the reader's enjoyment. He appreciates the ways in which tradition and commentary have influenced both the text itself and our understanding of the text, all the while expressing a love for the Bible and a perceptive grasp of the processes that brought it to its current state. This excellent work merits wide circulation and study. (Mar. 7)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

As the sacred text of Jews and Christians alike, the Bible has never lacked for claimants. Beginning with the ancient oral traditions surrounding Abraham and Moses, Pelikan recounts how the early Israelites finally recorded their beliefs in a Hebrew text. Continuous addition of historical and prophetic texts, the growth of rabbinic commentaries, and the translation of the text into Greek made construing scripture a complex task even before adherents to a new scriptural faith reinterpreted the entire Hebrew Bible as an Old Testament important chiefly for prophecies fulfilled in a radical New Testament. The writing of this Christian New Testament itself sparked controversies among divergent branches of Christianity, but it is the endless battles between Jews and Christians that Pelikan takes as his primary focus. In the surprisingly parallel strategies of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Jewish and Christian leaders defending scripture against rationalism, Pelikan sees a tragically missed opportunity to heal the religious breach. Hoping the twenty-first century brings something better, Pelikan concludes with an appeal for an interfaith understanding of the Bible that will sweep away centuries of antipathy. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (March 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670033855
• ISBN-13: 978-0670033850
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #521,260 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant Introduction to the Bible, May 15, 2005

By 

Ryan L. Lanham (Blacksburg, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Whose Bible Is It? A History of the Scriptures Through the Ages (Hardcover)

This book is not going to serve certain views very well--particularly those of readers who hold some form of close biblical literalism as a stark basis for their faith. Still, there is nothing here that, say, a fairly orthodox Catholic would find shocking or offensive. Nevertheless, because of the topic, a fair number of faithful readers won't agree with some of Pelikan's historical insights or with the straightforward explanations he offers in support of his perspectives. Doctrinal issues bubble up less than they might. Overall, the author is respectful and gentle--one might say rabbinical.

Set down as an elegant but approachably brief history filled with a number fun touches for the more aware (e.g. it is written in 12 chapters), it is the sort of casual brilliance only the most learned writers achieve after a life of dealing with contested but essential ground. It might be compared to a light work on the law by a great constitutional scholar or a text by a famous physicist explaining some basic idea to us all. To call it liberal or conservative or this or that is simply unfair. This is a thoughtful but understandable piece by a great scholar. It isn't doctrine; it is serious but introductory history.

Professor Pelikan has written or translated well over 200 major works in a career spanning over 60 years. He has been praised by virtually every learned theologian and biblical historian including Pope Benedict XVI (when he was Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger). One might not agree with parts of it or with the implications some treatments serve up for doctrinal issues, but it isn't false or unfair in any historically honest way I can see.

If you seek a gentle introduction to the concept of scripture(s) from a multi-faith or simply historical perspective, this is a good, solid place to start. If you have solved all of your issues of faith with regard to scriptures and are looking to buttress your own ideas, you most likely won't be happy. For many, this work will help build a legitimate, spiritual view of the written Word and a sense of the necessity for tolerance and humility--indeed for real faith. Well worth it.

92 of 111 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tracing the journey, March 30, 2005

By 

John Zxerce "[e-mail]" (Colorado ^^^) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whose Bible Is It? A History of the Scriptures Through the Ages (Hardcover)

Pelikan provides an exceptional overview on the happenings of the Bible since its inception. He does so in a humble and accessible approach by limiting scholarship as an end in itself. Rather, he knows when when to convince the reader with compelling evidence, and when to back away from mere dogmatic assertion.

Certainly the Bible possesses some of the finest, most staggering, and beautiful statements every recorded. Additionally, it's a book placing love, fear, and conviction in the hearts of people through various times, and in diverse places. As a result, it's been the subject of some of the most contested battles witnessed through the corridors of history.

The central 'shift' in history which Pelikan outlines is the reaction against a highly symbolic form of biblical interpretation common in the middle ages, and in some ancient times. The conviction that perhaps the Bible literally means what it says was, to put it mildly, revolutionary. Of course this assertion manifested itself in the reaction against Rome as it played out in the reformation. And Pelikan allows these events to come to light and life.

Pelikan's last chapter is a compilation of reflections on the Bible, including its persistent mystery, its enduring qualities, and its ability to capture our hearts and minds. Here is the pinnacle of the book as Pelikan finishes strong on one of the most captivating of subjects - Holy writ.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rich in historical insights, July 7, 2005

By 

meadowreader (Sandia Park, NM USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Whose Bible Is It? A History of the Scriptures Through the Ages (Hardcover)

To answer the title question by saying that the Old Testament belongs to the Jews and the New Testament to Christians is far too simple. The Septuagint not only made the Tanakh available to the Greek-speaking Jews of the Diaspora, it also made those texts available to early Christians, who promptly ransacked them for prophetical "proof texts" foretelling the story of Jesus Christ and the New Covenant. In Christian eyes, Jewish Scripture was properly appropriated to become their Old Testament. The closing of the Hebrew canon was partly motivated by this incursion as, ironically, the closing of the Christian canon was later to be in part motivated by Marcion's preemptive strike.

Scripture originated in oral form, only later "reduced" to writing. Even then it was transmitted primarily by being read aloud to assemblages of believers. It was only relatively late in the game that the authority of commentary and interpretation, also originally oral, was seen to depend on a reading of the texts in their original, spoken languages. But the communicative superiority of the spoken word was never entirely superseded. Pelikan quotes Luther as observing that "nowhere in the New Testament does Jesus command his disciples to go out into the world and write books."

In 250 pages, Pelikan provides summaries of the biblical texts, reviews a range of issues concerned with problems of translation (Jesus said "Repent," not "Do penance" as the Vulgate mistranslated it), describes and evaluates the Protestant reformers approach to the Bible ("Calvin maintained that whatever church practice was not commanded by Holy Scripture was forbidden, whereas for Luther it was permitted but could not be required"), considers the challenges presented by rational and historical analyses ("If it is profoundly true that there are truths in the Bible that only the eyes of faith can see, it is also true that the eyes of unfaith have sometimes spotted what conventional believers have been too preoccupied or too bemused to acknowledge"), and much more. Many questions are raised that cannot be handled in depth, but there are entry-level bibliographical suggestions in the notes for each chapter.

The focus of the book is on the competing claims of Jews and Christians for ownership rights to the Old Testament, or Tanakh. The problem has been simplified by more accurate translation; but it can't be solved that way, because precisely the same text may be subject to quite different interpretations. For Pelikan, the Bible is God's book, and thus does not belong to any religious community. We can only be temporary custodians of tradition, and to claim ownership of the Bible is, he argues, not only presumptuous but blasphemous. That's probably about as judicious as it's possible to be on the question, but if I were Jewish, I'm not entirely certain I could look at it that way.