The Bible: A Very Short Introduction
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This Very Short Introduction looks at the importance accorded to the Bible by different communities and cultures and attempts to explain why it has generated such a rich variety of uses and interpretations. It explores how the Bible was written, the development of the canon, the role of Biblical criticism, the appropriation of the Bible in high and popular culture, and its use for political ends.
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223 primary books224 released booksVery Short Introductions
Very Short Introductions is a 225-book series with 248 primary works first released in 1915 with contributions by Mary Beard, John Henderson, and Damien Keown.
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Short review: This is not nearly as good as Mark Noll's book in this series on Protestantism. It is just not organized all that well. About 50 pages are how the bible was written and the formation of the canon. That leaves about 110 pages that are about how the bible has used in politics and culture, or how different groups have understood scripture (Diests, Reformers, Feminists, Post-colonial liberation theologians, etc.)
What is here isn't all bad, but what is not here is pretty telling. There isn't any actual content about what is in the bible. So as a whole I think it is quite lacking.
My full review is at http://bookwi.se/bible-riches/