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Biblical Literacy: The Essential Bible Stories Everyone Needs to Know Paperback – October 12, 2010
| Timothy Beal (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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“The Bible…is a locked treasure for those unfamiliar with the Scriptures….Beal offers a key with his accessible guide.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer
“With skill and insight, Timothy Beal has given us a great gift: a lucid and engaging introduction to the most important book ever published.” —Jon Meacham, author of American Lion, winner of the Pulitzer Prize
In the tradition of Stephen Prothero’s Religious Literacy, and with the deftness of Bill Bryson’s Mother Tongue, Timothy Beal’s Biblical Literacy is a one-stop course in the Bible passages and background information that everyone needs to know to navigate our nuanced cultural landscape—from devout believers to decided atheists, average citizens to pop-culture aficionados. Like Religion in America, Religion and its Monsters, and other of his highly acclaimed books, Beal’s Biblical Literacy is a must-have handbook for understanding today’s world.
- Print length368 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateOctober 12, 2010
- Dimensions0.9 x 5.2 x 7.9 inches
- ISBN-10006171867X
- ISBN-13978-0061718670
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“Tim Beal has written about the rich, thick connections between the Bible and popular culture . . . In a society of deep and dangerous disconnects, the connects of this book serve exceedingly well.” — Walter Brueggemann, author of The Prophetic Imagination
“With skill and insight, Timothy Beal has given us a great gift: a lucid and engaging introduction to the most important book ever published.” — Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Lion and editor of Newsweek
“No book has shaped more culture, value and meaning [than the Bible]. Beal skillfully retells key biblical narratives but also cogently relates them to significant events in history. This is a readable, informative and timely book.” — Harvey Cox, Hollis Research Professor of Divinity, Harvard University, and author of The Future of Faith
“For those who are approaching the Bible for the first time . . . there is no better place to turn than Timothy Beal’s Biblical Literacy. Here you will find numerous gems of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, along with pithy, helpful, and at times even witty, introductions.” — Bart D. Ehrman, James A. Gray Professor of Religious Studies, University of North Caroline, Author of Jesus, Interrupted
“A fun and refreshing reference that gives a fresh look at Bible stories many people thought they knew.” — The News-Herald
“Beal, who compiled need-to-know Bible stories in his new book, Biblical Literacy, talks about how these Sunday school stories are ingrained in pop culture. They are making appearances at your dinner parties, in your favorite music and in a theater near you.” — Religion News Service
“Beal makes a case for reading, and yes, enjoying, the Bible.” — Interfaith Voices
“In his new book, Biblical Literacy, he introduces readers to key biblical passages and their cultural significance.” — United Methodist Reporter
“Beal… makes a well-stated case that a knowledge of the Bible is essential to understanding our culture. His book will serve as a handy first step toward that goal-- especially for the reader who may feel intimidated by ‘the boring bits.’” — Bookpage
From the Back Cover
Everything You Need to KnowAbout the Bible’s Most Important Stories.
About the Author
Timothy Beal is Florence Harkness Professor of Religion at Case Western Reserve University. He has published ten books as well as essays on religion and American culture for the New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Washington Post, and The Plain Dealer.
Product details
- Publisher : HarperOne (October 12, 2010)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 368 pages
- ISBN-10 : 006171867X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0061718670
- Item Weight : 11.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 0.9 x 5.2 x 7.9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #411,848 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,319 in Christian Commentaries (Books)
- #2,436 in Christian Bible Study Guides (Books)
- #4,013 in Christian Bibles (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Timothy Beal is Distinguished University Professor, Florence Harkness Professor of Religion, and director of h.lab at Case Western Reserve University. He has published sixteen books, most recently When Time Is Short: Finding Our Way in the Anthropocene (Beacon Press, 2022) and The Book of Revelation: A Biography (Princeton University Press, 2018), for which he won a Public Scholar Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has written popular essays on religion, Bible, media, and culture for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNN.com, The Christian Century, and The Chronicle of Higher Education, among others. Interviews with him have appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered, The Bob Edwards Show, WBUR’s On Point, and Interfaith Voices. He was born in Hood River, Oregon and grew up near Anchorage, Alaska. He now commutes between Cleveland, Ohio, where he works, and Denver, Colorado, where he lives with his wife, Clover Reuter Beal, a Presbyterian minister, and skis whenever possible. Tim and Clover have two grown kids, Sophie and Seth.
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Beal chooses these stories because he believes that "Biblical literacy is a prerequisite for cultural literacy" (p. XV) and goes on to provide copious examples, both in his introduction and in the text, of the role of Bible stories and Bible characters in shaping our culture.
About two years ago, I read Beal's "The Rise and Fall of the Bible: The Unexpected History of an Accidental Book," which was published in 2011. That book was most enlightening about the process by which the contents of today's Bible were collected, revised, translated, and retranslated, approved by orthodox clerics, and entered into the Jewish and Christian canon of beliefs over a period of thousands of years. Beal was able to make sense of all that history.
"Biblical Literacy" is not an attempt to understand the history of these stories. It simply takes the stories as they are, presents a little introduction to each, and then lets the Bible verses themselves do the storytelling. (Beal uses the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.) With many of the stories, there is a sidebar that presents another way of looking at the story---maybe an allusion from a Charlotte Bronte novel (p. 53) or an Indigo Girls song lyric (p. 67). Sometimes a sidebar presents another telling of the story from a different book of the Bible. After presenting the Sermon on the Mount from the gospel of Matthew, Beal provides a sidebar asking us to compare this with the Sermon on the Plain in the gospel of Luke (pp. 204-5). All of this deepens our understanding of the Bible and enables us to see how words and ideas from the Bible are woven into our culture and throws new light onto old stories.
Sprinkled throughout the book there are ten boxed elements that provide a little historical or theological background to the Bible texts. "A Quick History Lesson" (pp. 78-9) provides a quick overview of the history of ancient Israel. "How to Read a Parable" (p. 207) warns us against trying to reduce each parable of Jesus to a single meaning. Beal encourages us to look for the two parts of the metaphor contained in the parable. He prods us with questions we might ask ourselves about the parable. "Signature Paul?" (p. 260) informs us that some of Paul's epistles were not even written by him. We get these little theology lessons in small bits at strategic points throughout the book, and they enrich our understanding of the Bible.
This is not a book that needs to be read straight through from beginning to end. It might better be thought of as a reference book (although I could not resist reading it straight through). Place it on the shelf next to your Bible and reach for it when you hear or read some mention of Jacob's Ladder, Jonah in the Whale, or Doubting Thomas.
Making Biblical Literacy even more handy as a reference are the "Extras" in the back of the book: Familiar Biblical Phrases and Images ("Am I my brother's keeper," "Blind leading the blind," "Eye for an eye," and so on) and Glossary of Biblical Key Words (from Aaron to Zipporah). Suggestions for Further Reading and an index fill out the back matter.
"The Bible is far from culturally irrelevant," Beal writes, "Indeed, I would argue that you can't be culturally literate without being at least basically familiar with biblical literature." Hence, this book.
Beal does not assume the reader already knows the Bible, and offers helpful introductions to each section, along with "sidebars" touching on topics like how the Jewish and Christian Bibles are similar, but different, the role of Prophets, the nature of biblical poetry, how to read a parable, or symbolism in Revelation. Add to this a list of familiar biblical phrases and images, a glossary of biblical words and suggestions for further reading, "Biblical Literacy" is a valuable resource for anyone, no matter how much or how little you may know about the Bible.
It's really easy to get our students to prepare for class by reading about ten pages per session. They typically come to class with personal observations, questions, and connections so participation is guaranteed. We have both high school-aged kids and adults in our class and have found the used books a great buy because we encourage marking key points/questions. By using this approach, we can get through the selected Bible topics in nine months. While we don't always agree with the author's viewpoint, Beal's book is a good tool for our class.









