The Bible Without Illusions

This book has been prompted by the dishonesty of much contemporary treatment of the Bible. It is not a 'debunking' of the Bible, but an attempt to show what qualities and what preliminary assumptions are needed for the Bible to be genuinely understood and interpreted. Honest scholarship and honest interpretations must acknowledge that a revolution has taken place in the understanding of the Bible during the last two hundred years and that to try to deny or play down or disguise the results of this revolution is to be faithful neither to God nor to ourselves. With that conviction, and with their customary panache, the authors then go on to look at the facts about the Bible; the New Testament interpretation of scripture; the interpretation of the Bible in the early church; historical criticism; fundamentalism; and prophecy. 'They analyse the books of the Bible, examine the canon and the Bible as norm and as the church's book, consider the role of faith and conclude with a chapter 'In Praise of the Bible'. Here, in the last book together, the Professors Hanson are indeed on top of their form.

While, for many, the old and destructive controversy as to whether the Bible is to be taken literally has long since been resolved, modern research and scholarship has progressed far beyond this debate. The point of the research has not been to destroy the credibility of the Bible but rather to understand Scripture better. In the process many popular and traditional certainties have fallen by the wayside. Scholars doubt that Moses led the Israelites across the Red Sea or into the Sinai; that David is the author of the Psalms, or indeed that Solomon was even wise. These and dozens of other illusions are being stripped away -- and more will surely follow. Beyond this there are the larger contradictions which exist between the law and spirit of the Old and New Testaments. The modern believer needs both to know of these findings and put them into a perspective which will enhance rather than diminish understanding of the Scriptures.

Cynicism has become almost a cliché. It pervades the culture and defines the age--and threatens to derail faith. Andrew Byers identifies the primary factors in the church that inspire disillusionment rather than faith, but he goes beyond that to help struggling cynics channel their frustrations into the redemptive vocations found in the Bible: the prophet, the sage, the tragic poet. These all find their fulfillment in Jesus, and he in turn inspires cynics from the apostle Paul to you and me to embrace our saintly calling--hopeful realism.

From the beginning of the New Testament era, there have been disputes over what individual passages meant, who wrote them, when they were written, and whether certain sayings could be directly attributed to Jesus. McKenzie's aim is not to destroy the credibility of the New Testament, but rather to enhance belief by allowing it to rest on a foundation freed from various manmade illusions and historically inaccurate assumptions that modern biblical research has discovered from both internal and external evidence about the writings. Father McKenzie takes on a variety of topics -- the real Jesus and the Son of man; gospels and gossip; the roles of Peter and Paul; divorce; the resurrection; the meaning of the Apocalypse -- to name but a few, in this highly informative look at key themes and episodes of the New Testament.

Looks at the task of interpreting Scripture as "witnessing tradition," "authoritative canon," "inspired word," and "experienced revelation".

From the beginning of the New Testament era, there have been disputes over what individual passages meant, who wrote them, when they were written, and whether certain sayings could be directly attributed to Jesus. McKenzie's aim is not to destroy the credibility of the New Testament, but rather to enhance belief by allowing it to rest on a foundation freed from various manmade illusions and historically inaccurate assumptions that modern biblical research has discovered from both internal and external evidence about the writings. Father McKenzie takes on a variety of topics -- the "real Jesus" and the Son of man; gospels and gossip; the roles of Peter and Paul; divorce; the resurrection; the meaning of the Apocalypse -- to name but a few, in this highly informative look at key themes and episodes of the New Testament.