We tackle the most well known book in the WORLD, the Bible!
The Bible for Grown-ups – the blurb
The Bible for Grown-Ups neither requires, nor rejects, belief. It sets out to help intelligent adults make sense of the Bible – a book that is too large to swallow whole, yet too important in our history and culture to spit out.
Why do the creation stories in Genesis contradict each other? Did the Exodus really happen? Was King David a historical figure? Why is Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus so different from Luke’s? Why was St Paul so rude about St Peter? Every Biblical author wrote for their own time, and their own audience. In short, nothing in the Bible is quite what it seems.
Literary critic Simon Loveday’s book – a labor of love that has taken over a decade to write – is a thrilling read, for Christians and anyone else, which will overturn everything you thought you knew about the Good Book.
A Confession
I have a confession to make, I’ve never read the Bible. I’ve tried: I was given a children’s version (all tracing paper thin 400 pages) as a thank you for being a bridesmaid. I’ve picked it up once or twice but have never gotten past the seventh day. So when I stumbled upon The Bible for Grown-Ups and read the line:
“[The Bible is] a book too large to swallow whole, yet too important in our history and culture to spit out.”
I thought I would give it a go and see if I did better with an adult version.
Who did Jesus think he was?
Author Loveday starts off with a helpful guide as to the structure of the Bible. The differences between the Old and New Testament and the various ‘books’ within each. Which was all good. He then goes on to provide a historical context for the book, what was going on in the world when it was written. Again, all good. Loveday then poses several questions such as: What morality does the Old Testament teach? Does the Old Testament predict a crucified messiah? And even, Who did Jesus think he was?
I found this structure surprising. I had thought I was going to read a book that explained the stories in the Bible in a way that gave me an understanding of it without having to struggle through it. Instead as I read I became more and more confused as Gentiles, Pharisees and Sumerians were added into the mix. Loveday was more interested in who wrote the Bible, when and why as opposed to why the Red Sea parted for Moses.
Wasn’t there an ark?
Perhaps it was my expectations of the book that lead to me feeling disillusioned. I expected to find out who Ruth was, where Bathsheeba fitted into the story and why David had to fight Goliath. Instead I was left wading through mud as Loveday questioned whether Jesus was born from a virgin womb and whether both Luke and Matthew would have believed this. It wasn’t what I wanted to read and for that reason it disappointed.
If anyone knows of any good books that explain the Bible to a literary appreciator rather than a religious person please let me know. I haven’t given up all hope of one day having ‘read’ the Bible.