Religion: Biblical Studies

"A Dictionary of the Bible is the most acclaimed, accessible, and up-to-date dictionary of its kind. Containing over 2,000 authoritative entries it provides clear and concise information about all of the important places, people, themes, and doctrines of the Bible. Terms range from earthquakes and mice to martyrs and art, and new to this edition are entries on Act of God, Old Testament and New Testament theology, Hanukkah, the Koran, mysticism, and many more."

"Ranging far beyond the scope of a traditional Bible dictionary, The Oxford Companion to the Bible features, in addition to its many informative, factual entries, an abundance of interpretive essays. Here are extended entries on religious concepts from immortality, sin, and grace, to baptism, ethics, and the Holy Spirit. The contributors also explore biblical views of modern issues such as homosexuality, marriage, and anti-Semitism, and the impact of the Bible on the secular world (including a four-part article on the Bible's influence on literature)."

"A quick-reference guide to the Bible. Entries consist of the main people, places, customs, religious and cultural aspects, events, and institutions of the Bible."

"Presents one hundred twenty-five original maps showing prominent locations, journeys, battles, kingdoms, and empires discussed in the Bible and includes information on topography, geology, climate, vegetation, and key physical features of the region."

"A superb guide to the geography, history, and archaeology of Bible lands."

"Books of the Bible provides a single source for authoritative reference overviews of scholarship on some of the most important topics of study in the field of biblical studies. The Encyclopedia contains almost 120 in-depth entries, ranging in length from 500 to 10,000 words, on each of the canonical books of the Bible, major apocryphal books of the New and Old Testaments, important noncanonical texts, and thematic essays on topics such as canonicity, textual criticism, and translation."

"This work fills a crucial need in the field of biblical studies by providing detailed, comprehensive treatments of the latest approaches to, and methods for, interpretation of the Bible. Entries are written by expert practitioners and collectively provide a single source for authoritative reference overviews of the scholarship on some of the most important topics in the field of biblical studies."

"Religious historian Armstrong discusses the conception, gestation, life, and afterlife of history's most powerful book. Armstrong analyzes the social and political situation in which oral history turned into written scripture, how this all-pervasive scripture was collected into one work, and how it became accepted as Christianity's sacred text. She explores how "as the pragmatic scientific ethos of modernity took hold, scripture was read for the information that it imparted" and how, in the nineteenth century, historical criticism of the Bible caused greater fear than Darwinism."

"This book is an anthology which includes all the stories shared by both the Bible and the Qur'an presented side by side, showing verse by verse the similarities and differences between the two. Starting with creation in six days, it leads to the Last Day of Reckoning, with its promise of heaven or hell, ending with characteristics God and Allah share. In the New Testament Jesus saves souls, who become angels on passing through the gates of heaven; in the Qur'an deserving men and women return to the Garden of Eden. It also includes controversial topics such as the position of women, crime, and war."

"The Hebrew Bible represents no mere collection of books but a stunning array of literary genres. To fully illuminate the history and culture of the Old Testament, it is necessary to compare these ancient writings to similar texts written concurrently by Israel's neighbors. Beginning with an overview of the important literary archives of the ancient Near East, Sparks provides exhaustive references to the ancient literary counterparts to the Hebrew Bible's major genres. Surveying the ancient writings found throughout Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and Palestine, Sparks provides a brief summary of each text discussed, translating brief portions and linking them to literarily similar biblical passages."

"In Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies, Evans looks at the literature that had impact on, or is closely related to, NT texts. A summary is provided for each of the hundreds of important documents. A bibliography for each entry contains information as to where the texts may be found published both in their original languages and in English and other modern languages. The bibliographies also contain information about commentaries, scholarly discussions of the passages, and works of general discussion on matters of interpretation when applicable."

"A history of English translations of the Bible, from approximately the fourth century to the present day, explains the work of major translators, the history of influential translations following Tyndale, including Coverdale's, the Geneva Bibles and the King James Bible, and how greatly American translations have contributed in the late twentieth century."

"This collection of six essays by noted literary critics and biblical scholars--including Harold Bloom, Hans Frei, Frank Kermode, James Robinson, Donald Foster, and Herbert Schneidau--explores the Bible as poetry, rhetoric, and narrative. The authors treat such issues involved in biblical narrative as its genesis, its revisionist dynamic, its fictional character, its interpretive nature, and its contradictions, prejudices, and claims. McConnell's introduction elucidates and unifies the book's themes."

Volume 1: From the Beginnings to Jerome
Volume 2: The West from the Fathers to the Reformation
Volume 3: The West from the Reformation to the Present Day

"This book provides the first complete guide for students to the present state of biblical studies. The twenty-one specially commissioned chapters are written by established scholars from North America and Britain, and represent both traditional and contemporary points of view. The chapters in Part One cover all the methods and approaches currently practised in the academic study of the Bible, while those in Part Two examine the major categories of books in the Bible from the perspective of recent scholarship - e.g. historical books of the Old Testament, Gospels, prophetic literature. Major issues raised are: the relation of modern 'critical' study of the Bible to 'pre-critical' and 'post-critical' approaches; the place of history in the study of the Bible; feminist, liberationist and new historicist concerns; the relation of Christian and Jewish scholarship; and recent interest in the Bible as literature."

"The author offers an exploration of the 'Old Testament', illuminating its importance as history, literature, and sacred text. He provides an overview of one of the great pillars of Western religion and culture, a book which remains important today for Jews, Christians, and Muslims worldwide."

"Everyone has heard of of the Dead Sea Scrolls, but amidst the conspiracies, the politics, and the sensational claims, it can be difficult to separate myth from reality. Here, Timothy Lim explores the cultural and historical background of the scrolls, and examines their significance for our understanding of the Old Testament and the origins of Christianity and Judaism. Lim tells the fascinating story of the scrolls since their discouvery; their cultural context through the archaeology and history of the Dead Sea region. He explains the science behind their deciphering and dating, and does not omit the cast of characters, scandals, and controversies that have hastened the scrolls' rise to the status of cultrual icon."

"The words, phrases, and stories of the New Testament permeate the English language. Indeed, this relatively small group of twenty-seven works, written during the height of the Roman Empire, not only helped create and sustain a vast world religion, but also have been integral to the larger cultural dynamics of the West, above and beyond particular religious expressions. Looking at the New Testament through the lens of literary study, Kyle Keefer offers an engrossing exploration of this revered religious text as a work of literature, but also keeps in focus its theological ramifications."

"The Bible has been a positive force but also has been misread, mistranslated, and misused. Friedman and Dolansky address what the Bible has to say about key issues in current events, including homosexuality, abortion, gender, capital punishment, and the earth."