Reading and Understanding the Bible

by Ben Witherington III

With his usual flair and reader-friendly style, Ben Witherington III brings us a fresh and distinctive guide to interpreting the Bible. Ideal for courses in Biblical Interpretation, Hermeneutics, and Introduction to the Bible, Reading and Understanding the Bible is unique in that it carefully examines the various genres of literature in the Bible while also explaining how to interpret each within its proper context. Taking a faith-friendly approach to historically based interpretation, it shows students how to read the Bible with a keen awareness of the many and profound differences between the modern world and ancient biblical cultures. It explains how ancient societies worked, how documents were created, who preserved them and why, the patriarchal nature of all ancient cultures, and, most importantly, how these cultural characteristics should affect our reading of the Bible.

FEATURES

* An exceptionally lucid and dynamic writing style, an eight-page color-photo insert, and helpful maps and charts keep students engaged

* Sample contextual interpretations of biblical passages illustrate foundational hermeneutical principles

* A comprehensive glossary and suggested further readings offer students additional support

Genres: Christian, Theology, Christianity

304 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 2014

About the author

Ben Witherington III (PhD, University of Durham) is Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky, and is on the doctoral faculty at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He is the author or coauthor of more than thirty books, including The Jesus Quest, The Paul Quest, and The New York Times bestseller The Brother of Jesus. He has appeared on the History Channel, NBC, ABC, CBS, and CNN.

Reviews

[Ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the best out of the four books we had to read for my class. It was simple and not pretentious.

[Daisy Pongratz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the best book I had to read for my class, I got a lot out of it and really learned how to read the Bible fully

[Aubrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a Hermeneutics professor at an evangelical undergraduate university, and I am adopting this as my course textbook. It is replacing How To Read The Bible For All Its Worth by Fee&Stuart (which, in turn, replaced Grasping God's Word by Duvall&Hays).

What I like:
--It is formatted how I think: in narratives. The book does not start from word studies and move to discourses. Instead, it begins with a short chapter that covers the "grand narrative" of the entire biblical text.

--Though it does not go into the technical, step-by-step details of how to examine a passage--which is something the professor ought to cover in class anyway--it does show the TYPE of critical thought that students need to use while they engage the text. One of the most valuable parts of the second portion of the book, which focus son in-depth textual studies, is that it gives a glimpse into Witherington's train of thought as he untangles a passage.

--It deals with social contracts of the ancient world

--It discusses the formation of the canon

--Most chapters are a sensible length for beginners

--The pages have wide margins for note-taking

--Witherington's readable prose and confident voice are a welcome change from the slightly defensive tone of Grasping God's Word.

What could be improved:
--The chapter on ancient rhetoric is unwieldy and long, and I will not be assigning to my students. I'll turn it into a lecture instead.

--Same criticism for the chapter on practical Hermeneutics, interestingly enough. It is quite unwieldy and I believe I can do a more strait forward job of explaining the tasks and steps of interpretation during lecture and workshops. I won't be assigning that chapter, either.

--The social contracts chapter would be more effective if it came earlier in the book. Of course, I'll assign it that way, so the problem is easily solved.

[Darrell Wolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best intro to biblical studies book, get this and Gordon Fee.

[Jeannine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to the topic. This was a text for a class entitled Introduction to Interpreting Christian Scripture. I highly recommend. Great for someone who wants an overview without getting too technical.