Whose Bible Is It Anyway?

by Philip R. Davies

Philip Davies argues that the Bible may belong to the church or synagogue as an instrument of religious practice, but as an object of academic study it belongs to the world as a whole and as such can function in theory and practice as a secular discourse. A number of exegetical studies suggests that a genuinely academic discourse about biblical writings-one that distances itself from received canons of interpretation-can expose a subtext of deceit within the Creation narratives, re-conceptualize the relationship between Abraham and his deity, reveal lament psalms as texts of oppression, and identify the death of Daniel's God.

In a new chapter, Davies evaluates how the film Monty Python's Life of Brian contributes to "life of Jesus" research. Here is a challenge to conventional biblical scholarship and a bid to define and establish a genuine academic discipline of biblical studies.

Genres: Theology

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Ancient Weaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightfully subversive analysis and exegesis. It's been a long time since I've discovered biblical interpretation as witty and creative (and solidly plausible) as what you'll find in this book. You'll never read The Book of Genesis or The Book of Daniel in quite the same way again. Beyond an analysis of specific texts, Davies' chapter three, which asks "What is a Bible?", helps to disintegrate the notion that there was ever such a thing as a single, static Bible or biblical canon or "biblical theology"that existed over the millennia.