How the Bible Came to Be (Paperback)

~ (Author) "This book describes how the various books of the Bible came to be written and how, in due course, they became the Scriptures of the..." (more)
Key Phrases: New Testament, Old Testament, Hebrew Bible (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 100 pages
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press (June 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0664257852
• ISBN-13: 978-0664257859
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #633,477 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An accessible survey of the formation of the Bible, September 19, 2009

By	TheoGnostus "Encycoptic" (Sketes,Theognostic America) - See all my reviews

"Throughout the book Barton states the consensus opinion of most scholars, only subtly inserting some of his specific theories and not mentioning many of his most interesting proposals." David Carr, M. Th. Sc.



Prelude to a review:
In the preface to his milestone classic, The canon of scripture, FF Bruce wrote, "..., that the process of canonization is indicated by the traditional threefold division of books in the Hebrew Bible - has been underlined in two important works of recent date: R. Beckwith's "the Old testament canon of the New Testament Church, and John Barton's 'Oracles of God'."
After you read 'How the Bible came to be', you will be initiated to examine Bruce's gem.
One year earlier, Barton wrote "People of the book," about the authority of the Bible in Christianity, in which was treated by lay readers to a lucid discussion of the role that the Bible has played and continues to play..., in the words of Dr. Robert Wilson of Yale Divinity.

Brief Lucid Introduction:
Before establishing a list of the sixty six books that belong to the Old and New testaments, he briefly surveyed the books themselves, writing the texts, collecting them, and considering them as scripture. Then he proceeds to discuss their dates and authorship, stressing how complex the process was. He then presents his own views on the main divisions, as groups or collections of writings like the Pentateuch, the Prophets, the Gospels and Pauline Epistles, the first new testament collection of writings. He elaborates on authorship, citation, date of authorship, and consistency with other scriptural texts. He concludes with his observations of the process of Bible formation.
Although the word Canon, or standard was first mensioned by St. Athanasius in his pascal letter of 367, yet its use for the Hebrew Bible which took stages in time was only declared as the book which render the hands unclean, in Jamnia.

Expert evaluation:
I very much agree with Dr. Carr's book review that,"Barton's book does a beautiful job of achieving its chief aim: providing an accessible and up- to-date survey of the formation of the Bible. Far too few Biblical scholars write with such balance, clarity and sensitivity to non-academic readers."

The Canon of Scripture, The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church: And Its Background in Early Judaism

0 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Swift Arrival, March 8, 2007

By	I. S. McRae "mrsladyrae" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was very pleased with the timely arrival which made the overall experience a good one.