Enter your mobile number below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Getting the download link through email is temporarily not available. Please check back later.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone
  • Android

To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number.
Download to your computer
Kindle Cloud Reader

Understanding the Bible 5th Edition

by
Stephen L. Harris (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Stephen L. Harris Page
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
Stephen L. Harris (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars 46 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0767405935
ISBN-10: 0767405935
Why is ISBN important?
ISBN
This bar-code number lets you verify that you're getting exactly the right version or edition of a book. The 13-digit and 10-digit formats both work.
Scan an ISBN with your phone
Use the Amazon App to scan ISBNs and compare prices.
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Buy used
$3.88
Condition: Used - Acceptable
In Stock. Sold by The Wright Sales, Fulfilled by Amazon
Condition: Used: Acceptable
Comment: There is writing throughout the book. OVERNIGHT and 2-DAY SHIPPING AVAILABLE. The item is in Amazon's warehouse and shipped to you by Amazon. You have the assurance that you will get your item in a timely manner. In the unlikely event something should go wrong with the shipping, you can contact Amazon to assist with the customer service, tracking or hassle-free returns! Shop with confidence!

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and .

If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you increase your sales. We invite you to learn more about Fulfillment by Amazon .

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
30 Used from $0.01
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.
More Buying Choices
5 New from $13.00 30 Used from $0.01
35 used & new from $0.01
See All Buying Options
Free Two-Day Shipping for College Students with Prime Student Free%20Two-Day%20Shipping%20for%20College%20Students%20with%20Amazon%20Student

Best Books of the Year So Far
Looking for something great to read? Browse our editors' picks for the Best Books of the Year So Far in fiction, nonfiction, mysteries, children's books, and much more.
click to open popover

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
Back
  1. The Oxford Study Bible: Revised English Bible with the Apocrypha
    M. Jack Suggs
    4.3 out of 5 stars 79
    Paperback
    $30.87 Prime
  2. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version
    Michael D. Coogan
    4.3 out of 5 stars 490
    Paperback
    $26.57 Prime
  3. HarperCollins Study Bible - Student Edition: Fully Revised & Updated
    Society of Biblical…
    4.5 out of 5 stars 192
    Paperback
    $29.46 Prime
  4. Saint Mary's Press College Study Bible: New American Bible
    Virginia Halbur
    4.5 out of 5 stars 26
    Paperback
  5. The New Interpreter's Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version With the Apocrypha
    Walter J. Harrelson
    4.4 out of 5 stars 282
    Hardcover
    $29.91 Prime
  6. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version
    Michael D. Coogan
    4.3 out of 5 stars 490
    Hardcover
    $28.57 Prime
Next
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE
New York Times best sellers
Browse the New York Times best sellers in popular categories like Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Books and more. See more

Product Details

  • Paperback: 610 pages
  • Publisher: Mayfield Pub Co; 5th edition (July 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0767405935
  • ISBN-13: 978-0767405935
  • Product Dimensions: 1 x 7.8 x 9.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,997,229 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsfine textbook
By HDB III on July 10, 2003
Format: Paperback
This book has been required reading in my Bible as Literature class for 15 years. It provides a good, basic introduction not only to each book of the Bible, but also to such topics as the formation of the cannon, the Documentary Hypothesis, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Harris quite sensibly has little to say about theological matters. His concerns are literary, historical, and archaeological.
I do agree with a previous reviewer that Harris has packed a bit too much into the most recent editions -- but that is my only complaint.
Comment 38 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
4.0 out of 5 starsCompetent, Clear, and Challenging, but Cumbersome
By Micheal W. Palmer on May 10, 2001
Format: Paperback
Harris' book has much to recommend it. He is a competent scholar who writes clearly, and the book fairly represents the scholarly consensus on most issues without loosing sight of the real-life concerns of most readers of the biblical texts. Each edition of the book has become more detialed, and the major problem with this current edition is precisely this: it is overly detailed for a freshman level college class. Earlier editions worked well at this level, but too many students struggled to complete assigned readings in this edition.
Comment 34 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsWonderfully Helpful
By A Customer on November 12, 1998
Format: Paperback
Literary scholars attempting to study the Bible for the first time should refer to this book. Chronologically ordered, the chapters in this book allow for easy reference, as they coincide with the order in which the books of the Bible are placed. Also, as it is fairly easy reading, I find that the insight and background information (such as the literary history) Harris presents for each work of the Bible is truly an asset to my studies.
Comment 29 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsComprehensive, clear, and well laid out
By Forbidden Planet on September 7, 2004
Format: Paperback
Harris's _Understand the Bible_ is thorough, extremely well documented, and much more digestible than the cumbersome textbook I'm using in Bible as Literature now. It's nicely laid out and contains great illustrations. I doubt readers who are secure in their beliefs would find such sound scholarship threatening. My only complaint is that, with our school's pre-set spending limits, I can't require this book and the Oxford Annotated New Revised Standard bible at the same time--though the book is a bargain for what it contains.
Comment 16 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsMassive Wealth of Unbiased Information
By THE-DEADLY-DOG on August 15, 2012
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Very rarely do we find books, articles, news, facts, whatever that remains unbiased in the face of a heated topic such as religion or in this case The Bible. Harris' "Understanding The Bible" is just that work though. I was asked to buy this book in tangent with a copy of The Bible and used this tool as another source for understanding and being able to react to The Bible. From the perspective of someone trying to learn more about one of the most influential compilation of works to-date, Harris' nonsectarian guide hits the spot. Although that class was over a semester go, I find myself going back to this guide and refreshing my own knowledge on some of the most talked about events of our history. While the book is geared towards students, anyone can pick it up, search for what they desire to learn more about, and easily indulge in the wealth of information this book has to offer.

Bottom line is that this book is a must have, student or not, religious devotee or not.
5 Illuminated Stars out of 5!
Comment 8 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsAmazingly dense
By Jacob P. Greene on February 14, 2008
Format: Paperback
Harris's book was not the easiest thing to read. However, the reason for this is that nearly every sentence in the entire book was something new to me! I describe the book as "dense," therefore, not to insult it, but to marvel at the sheer amount of information contained within.

The book is not theological, though there are places where the author's own biases shine through slightly. This isn't a huge deal to me, because I'm not sure I've ever read a book where the author's beliefs didn't in some way affect the text. Just read carefully. If there's something you don't understand or agree with, read the text yourself and try to "see it from his point of view." It's not important at all that you AGREE with his reading of the Bible, but you SHOULD be able to UNDERSTAND his reading of the Bible.
Comment 11 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsThe Best Biblical Introduction Available
By Nachem on December 13, 2005
Format: Paperback
As a Harvard-Divinity-School-trained professor of Biblical Literature, I am constantly amazed by Harris's detailed, precise, and cogent analysis of the Bible. Those misguided Christians who believe the Bible to be the literal word of God will find the text very threatening. But for those of us who believe in studying the Bible from an academic or scholarly perspective, one that is secular and nonsectarian, and one based on "scientific method," the text is thrilling.

Engaging in an academic-scholarly-secular-scientific study of the Bible means that Harris views the Bible as a collection of written texts produced by the human imagination, within a historical, philosophical, and political context. Harris's study is admirably based primarily on the great European and American biblical scholarship of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (known as "higher criticism"), such as Wellhausen's "Documentary Hypothesis" and the great archeological and linguistic discoveries in the Near East.

Anyone interested in learning about the Bible in an academic and secular way will be pleased by the way Harris assumes in general the superior accuracy of modern historic and scientific method (including the fact of evolution), compared to science and history as they are represented in the Bible. As such, anyone reading the text must be willing to maintain a scholarly and academic objectivity throughout; indeed, Harris tries his best to reject all supernatural claims made in the Bible itself, and find scientific/anthropological/sociological explanations instead. Modern science rejects the supernatural, and embraces only natural phenomena and proof. This means that anyone reading the text must be ready to suspend supernatural religious beliefs they may now hold, and agree to read an interpretation of the Bible that may be difficult or uncomfortable for them, especially fundamentalists, evangelicals, and others anti-rationalists.
3 Comments 36 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

great product

Published 2 months ago by Dan Hallstrom
3.0 out of 5 starsThree Stars

Ordered for a class. Heavy material to cover. Wish it were available via kindle when you purchase. Expensive book.

Published 8 months ago by KS
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Excellent!

Published 8 months ago by Books_and_More
1.0 out of 5 starsShould be entitiled "Contradictory Theories of the Bible by Modern...

This book is the text for a class I’m taking at a local community college. I took the class to learn about the Old Testament; however, all I’m learning is ‘theories’ that... Read more

Published 8 months ago by Anne15
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Great experience couldn't ask for more!

Published 9 months ago by Charlyn Neal
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

This textbook helps when taking the college class.

Published 12 months ago by Devin Phaly
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

My RCIA teacher recommended this book, very informative

Published 16 months ago by Mary A. Rose
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Definitely a more secular bias, but in general very respectful of moderate religious beliefs as well.

Published 17 months ago by Brandon Thomas
5.0 out of 5 starsThorough and well balanced

Harris is an exceptional scholar. This textbook has become a core part of my course on Introduction to the Bible at a secular university.

Published 21 months ago by Nathan C. Walker
5.0 out of 5 starsNot a leisure read.

I bought this book for my bible as literature class. It is very dense and hard to read but has very interesting information in it.

Published 21 months ago by skylar

There's a problem loading this menu right now.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.