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Surpassing Wonder: The Invention of the Bible and the Talmuds
With wit, elegance, and clarity, Surpassing Wonder illuminates the ancient Hebrew scriptures, the Christian "New Testament", and the Talmuds of the Rabbis by showing who wrote them, under what circumstances, and why they were given the shape they have. These works constitute the very core of our cultural consciousness and in every century have been hidden from us -- first...more
Hardcover, 672 pages
Published
October 1st 1998
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)
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'm not a Biblical scholar or professional historian, so I'm not sure that I'm a good judge of the worth of a book like this, which is somewhat geared toward the "educated amateur" but deals with historical methods and a tremendous quantity of literature. The subject of the book is the processes that led up to the creation of the main texts of Christianity and Judaism, from the Hebrew Bible up to the Talmuds.
One interesting point that he makes is that the thought and writings of Judaism have had...more
One interesting point that he makes is that the thought and writings of Judaism have had...more
Biblical scholarship spent much of the 20th century atomizing the text into the smallest bits of usable data. This book is a representative example of the next step in Biblical scholarship, taking all of these myriad bits of knowledge and synthesizing them into an accessible body of knowledge. Donald Akenson presents a thoroughgoing set of arguments on the origins and development of these texts. He presents a great deal of material and demonstrates using a wide variety of solid sources. 1)This i...more
Jun 16, 2009
Steve
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Biblical scholars and serious enthusiasts!
Akenson's book does a magnificent job of outlining the historical relevance of the foundational texts and the socio-political atmosphere on the creation of two new sister religions. Christianity and Rabbinical Judaism. Daughter religions of what he refers to as Judahism.
Akenson does an admirable job of bringing to life a dry and arid topic.
Be warned that there are still several long dry spells which I found
myself quickly skimming. Three chapters of Mishnah were more than enough for the non-rabb...more
Akenson does an admirable job of bringing to life a dry and arid topic.
Be warned that there are still several long dry spells which I found
myself quickly skimming. Three chapters of Mishnah were more than enough for the non-rabb...more
Mar 22, 2008
Adam
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
People who like to know the how and why of the various bibles
IF you really, really want to know how the bible(s) were created this is the dry book that will go over every little bit for you. Harmon Akenson give a very detailed explanation of everything from the 5 books of Moses, the Talmud, the new Testament and old Testament. He also gives great insight into what social, cultural or even political forces that gave rise to poetry in Psalms to Armageddon in Revelations. It is big and dry and uses big words, but is a good source for lively cocktail party ar...more
If you are interested in how the bible got to be written, non-theologically, this is a wonderful, fascinating, beautifully written book.
Jun 02, 2013
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Dec 14, 2011
Forrest Lillibridge
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
religion
Dec 01, 2011
Ryan
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