Holy Fable Volume 2: The Gospels and Acts Undistorted by Faith

by Robert M. Price

A New Testament Introduction and Commentary from the perspective of radical "Higher Criticism," but informed by scholars from a wide spectrum of opinion and spiced with humor. It is facile to say that the Gospels (and Acts) are not accurate history reporting. It is more complicated, but also much more fascinating to dive deep into these texts to discover why they differ from one another and what their authors were trying to do rather than writing history. Holy Fable volume II employs source, form, and redaction criticism to make these scriptures newly intelligible. Author Price has a unique knack for making this kind of specialist scholarship understandable in plain speech. And he shows how even critical scholars have been timid in following these methods to their logical conclusions.

Genres: Religion

450 pages, Paperback

Published December 18, 2017

About the author

Robert McNair Price is an American theologian and writer. He teaches philosophy and religion at the Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary, is professor of biblical criticism at the Center for Inquiry Institute, and the author of a number of books on theology and the historicity of Jesus, asserting the Christ myth theory.

A former Baptist minister, he was the editor of the Journal of Higher Criticism from 1994 until it ceased publication in 2003. He has also written extensively about the Cthulhu Mythos, a "shared universe" created by H.P. Lovecraft.

Reviews

[Jc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Bob... This series is Bob P’s in-depth overview and discussion of the entire “Bible,” Old Testament, “Apocrypha,” and New Testament. He covered the entire Old T. in one volume. But, with the New T. he wants to go into more detail, and he surely does – this is almost a verse-by-verse discussion of the four canonical Gospels (and the tag-along book, Acts). It is very detailed, so I would only recommend it to those who really want a thorough study of (and already have some background in) biblical criticism) – even then you either better have it all memorized, or have a copy of the New T. open next to you as you read. Bob expects you, the student, to keep up. Personally, I loved it – Dr. Price is a masterful teacher, with a great sense of humor (“always with the jokes”). His books have made me much more informed than the average believer – which is pretty good, as I haven’t been one in almost 40 years. Bob, I am sure you don’t remember me from your Montclair State years, but keep up the good work!

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

DETAILED bible study of the four Gospels and the Acts. Price's focus is on history and what feels like the bible as literature. Price really unpacks the writers' styles, and by doing that the late additions to the bible become obvious. He shares a lot of info about the sources used by the gospel writers [Acts was written by the same author who wrote Luke]. I was surprised to learn how many bible stories actually came from, or were based upon, Greek poetry and plays.

If you want a book to reinforce your christian dogma and beliefs this is, probably, not it.
If you are open minded and willing to learn, you will like this book.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough explanation of the gospels

Dr Price explains the gospels from an historical perspective explaining how and why the gospels were written. His scholarship regarding religions of ancient times gives him the knowledge to analyze these ancient texts.