The Original Story: God, Israel, and the World

by John Barton, Julia Bowden

Ideal for beginning students and readers of all faiths or none,  The Original Story  is a comprehensive and lively guide to the Hebrew Bible. This richly informative volume provides a complete introduction to Old Testament history, archeology, geography, and textual interpretation — all at an accessible level. The core of the book explores central biblical themes, including the character of God, the human condition, ethics, human suffering, and God's relationship with the people of Israel. The authors further consider various topics such as prophecy, law, and worship in the Old Testament.

The very readable text is complemented throughout by sidebars, fact boxes, maps, and illustrations. All features considered,  The Original Story  is one of the best guidebooks to the Hebrew Bible now available.
 

236 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

John Barton is Oriel & Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, University of Oxford. His publications include The Theology of the Book of Amos (Cambridge University Press, 2012) and Oracles of God: Perceptions of Ancient Prophecy in Israel after the Exile (2007).

For the Canadian poet, see John Barton.

Reviews

[Andy Todd · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this as a set text for a mission/ministry training course. It is packed with valuable information, much of it written in a high scholarly style. But it adopts a layout that is, regrettably, increasingly common, using multiple columns with callouts, text boxes, graphics and cartoons. I hated it. Many of these callouts are repeated whenever a particular term is used, so that some appear half-a-dozen times or more. And some are simply patronising e.g. 'Never confuse the Ark of the Covenant with Noah's ark'. Well, duh.

[Erin Gingrich]

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