The Rise and Fall of the Bible
Page 23
On Job 38 and the divine speech from the whirlwind, see Timothy Beal, Religion and Its Monsters (New York: Routledge, 2002), chap. 4.
Mark Twain’s “Bible Teaching and Religious Practice” is in his Europe and Elsewhere (New York: Harper & Bros., 1923), 387–93.
On Richard Hoskins’s Vigilantes of Christendom (Lynchburg: Virginia Publishing Company, 1990) and the Phineas Priesthood, see Timothy Beal, “The White Supremacist Bible and the Phineas Priesthood,” in Sanctified Aggression: Legacies of Biblical and Post-biblical Vocabularies of Violence, ed. Jonneke Bekkenkamp and Yvonne Sherwood (London: T & T Clark, 2003).
Passages in which God is identified primarily with liberation, reminding Israelites that they, too, were once slaves: Deuteronomy 15:15; 16:12; 24:18, 22; ci 6:20–25; 26:5–9; Exodus 23:9; Deuteronomy 10:18; 14:29; 16:11–14; 24:17–21; 26:12–13; 27:19; cf. Isaiah 1:17; 9:17; Jeremiah 7:6; 22:3; and Amos 2:6–8. Paul’s liberative proclamation is Galatians 3:28.
Amos on abuses of law and order: Amos 2:6–8, for example, is a strong indictment on injustices committed against the poor and powerless by the rich and powerful, including the priesthood. But Amos does not want the destruction of the institutions of social privilege and power themselves. Rather, he demands that power be used “justly” by them, that is, according to the legal traditions of justice-as-social-order. In fact, the abuses of justice described by Amos can be read in direct reference to laws now found in Torah (e.g., Exodus 22:25–27; Deuteronomy 24:10–14; cf. 21:7–11; Leviticus 19:20–23). The old Protestant dichotomy of prophet versus priest simply does not hold in Amos. See esp. Timothy Beal, “Specters of Moses: Overtures to Biblical Hauntology,” in Constructs of Ancient Israel: The Bible and Its Social Worlds, ed. David M. Gunn and Paula McNutt (New York: Continuum, 2002).
Adrienne Rich, “Power,” in her The Dream of a Common Language (New York: Norton, 1978).
Walter Brueggemann, “The Book of Psalms,” in his An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian Imagination (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 2003), 277–91. See also Walter Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1997), es p. 400–403 on “maintaining the tension” between “Israel’s core testimony” and “Israel’s countertestimony” about God.
The only differences between Job 2:7 and Deuteronomy 28:35 are pronominal: in Job, the curses are happening to Job, whereas in Deuteronomy, they will happen to “you,” that is, Moses’s audience. For more on the book of Job’s contention with the moral universe of Deuteronomy, see Timothy Beal, “Facing Job,” in Levinas and Biblical Studies, ed. Tamara Eskenazi and Gary A. Phillips (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2004); and Beal, Religion and Its Monsters, chap. 3.
Elie Wiesel and Timothy Beal, “Matters of Survival: A Conversation,” in Strange Fire: Reading the Bible after the Holocaust, ed. Tod Linafelt (New York: New York University Press, 2000). The conversation took place on March 19, 1999, in St. Petersburg, Florida. The play referred to is Elie Wiesel, The Trial of God (as it was held on February 25, 1649, in Shamgorod): A Play in Three Acts, trans. Marion Wiesel (New York: Random House, 1979).
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “The Grand Inquisitor,” excerpted from The Brothers Karamazov, trans. H. P. Blavatsky, Theosophist 3 (November 1881).
Interview from NPR’s All Things Considered (June 20, 2005), is available at www.npr.org.
“Although I can atheist anyone under the table . . .”: Timothy Beal, Roadside Religion: In Search of the Sacred, the Strange, and the Substance of Faith (Boston: Beacon, 2005), 22.
Blind Willie Johnson, “Soul of a Man,” with backup vocals by Willie B. Harris (Columbia Records, 1930).
Leonard Cohen, “Anthem,” The Future (Sony Music Entertainment, Inc., 1992).
8. And I Feel Fine
Harold Lindsell, The Battle for the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1976).
William Blake, Laocoon, in Milton: A Poem, and the Final Illuminated Works, ed. Robert N. Essick and Joseph Viscomi, vol. 5 of Blake’s Illuminated Works, gen. ed. David Bindman (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993).
Religare and relegere are themselves etymologically related: to read (leg stem) is to connect (lig stem) letters and words together into a meaningful utterance.
My description of rereading in Hebrew Scriptures is influenced by Michael Fishbane’s concept of “inner-biblical exegesis” as presented in his highly influential work, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985). Fishbane argues convincingly that biblical texts and traditions in ancient Israel “were not simply copied, studied, transmitted, or recited. They were also, and by these means, subject to redaction, elucidation, reformation, and outright transformation” (p. 542). The Hebrew Scriptures grew as earlier texts were reinterpreted in new contexts. See also Timothy Beal, “Glossary” and “Ideology and Intertextuality: Surplus of Meaning and Controlling the Means of Production,” in Danna Nolan Fewell, ed., Reading Between Texts: Intertextuality in the Hebrew Bible (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 1992).
I understand biblical interpretation as a “fusion” of two horizons—the horizon of the text and the horizon of the reader who encounters it—on which, see Hans Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method, 2nd rev. ed., trans. Garrett Barden and John Cumming, rev. trans. Joel Weinsheimer and Donald G. Marshall (New York: Crossroad, 1993); and William E. Deal and Timothy Beal, “Hans Georg Gadamer,” in Theory for Religious Studies (New York: Routledge, 2004).
Matthew 5:38–42. The phrase “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” appears in Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, and Deuteronomy 19:21. Note that Jesus’s next scriptural quotation in the Sermon on the Mount (5:43) diverges from the standard Hebrew editions of today: “You shall love your neighbor” does appear in our versions of Leviticus 19:18, but “and hate your enemies” does not. It appears that Jesus and/or the Gospel of Matthew may have been drawing from a different edition of Torah.
Ben Bag Bag is quoted in Mishnah Pirkei Avot 5:22.
The image of Torah as wheat and flax is in SederEliyahuZuta, chap. 2.
On the ways digital network culture is transforming society, see Manuel Castells, The Rise of the Network Society, vol. 1 of The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1996); summarized in Timothy Beal, Religion in America, 93–99.
Genesis: A Living Conversation with Bill Moyers, DVD (Hamilton, NJ: Films Media Group, 1997). The idea for this PBS series came from Rabbi Burton L. Visotzky, a professor at Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, who, in 1987, began hosting a monthly discussion group focused on stories from Genesis. The dozen or so members included a number of writers with various religious and nonreligious backgrounds, along with Jewish and Christian scholars. Moyers’s interest was sparked by a newspaper story about Visotzky’s group written by Eleanor Blau, “Writers and Editors Ponder the Bible,” New York Times, March 6, 1989.
The image of the words of Torah interpretation rising through the roof of the bet-midrash to heaven is in the Ben Ish Chai, a collection of sermons by Yosef Chaim (1832–1909).
Index
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
Page numbers in italics refer to images.
A
Aaron and the golden calf, 60, 83, 84
Abbot, Archbishop, 128
Abigail and Nabal, 60–61
Abraham
Isaac and, 100, 192
Sarah and, 13
Acts, 19–20, 103, 109, 110, 113, 169, 170
Adam and Eve, 66, 66
Adams, John, 130
Addy, William, 133
African Americans
Bible reading and, 51
Bibles per household, 51
value-added Bibles, 50–51
Albl, Martin C., 214
Alexander the Great, 98
Align, 42
American Bible Society (ABS)
; about/mission, 7–8, 136, 220
Authorized Version, 136
Contemporary English Version, 62
Good News Translation, 82, 212
history, 7, 220
novel formats, 137–38
print industry innovations and, 7
Scripture Collection, 125–26, 134, 136–37, 138, 143–44, 218
value-added Bibles and, 135, 136, 137–38
American Standard Version, 15–16, 17–18, 59, 88, 143
Amos (prophet), 159, 222–23
Apocalypse
of John (Revelation), 103, 107–8, 109, 128, 186–87
of Peter, 103, 109
Apocryphal Jewish texts, 117, 120, 128
Apologetics Study Bible, The, 170–71
Aquila and Prisca, 100, 113
Arabic language, 124, 125, 126, 127
Aramaic language, 93, 103, 124, 125, 126, 127
See also polyglot Bibles
aron kodesh, 76
Aspire: The New Women of Color Study Bible, 51
Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, 108–9, 110
Augustinian Fathers and Santa Prisca, 113
Authorized Version, 131, 136, 141
B
“back-to-back” (dos-à-dos) Bibles, 133
Bardin & Marsee, 49
Barker, Robert, 132
Barnabas, 103, 109, 117
Barna Group poll, 4–5, 201–2
Baruch, 120
“Basic English,” 139
Basilica San Clemente, 112
Bathsheba, 53
Battle for the Bible, The (Lindsell), 180
Beal, Timothy
Biblical Literacy, 81
childhood, 1–3, 13–15, 17–20
college experience, 20, 180–84
grandfather, 54
“Howling in the Wilderness” course, 37
“Magic 8 Ball” Bible, 2–3, 27
Man in Demand and, 45–47
My Utmost for His Highest and, 24–27, 28
National Public Radio interview 174–75
parents, 2, 12–13, 18–19, 24–26
Religion and Its Monsters, 201, 222, 223
religious autobiography and academia, 200–201
Roadside Religion, 174–75
teaching, 22–23, 36–38, 178, 192–93
Wiesel and, 165–66
wife, Clover, 26, 166, 193
Beck, 176
Becoming, 41–42, 47–48, 74
ben Bag Bag, Rabbi, 187
bere’shit (Genesis), 149–50
Berry, Chuck, 53
Betz, Hans Dieter, 217
Bible
accidental revelation with, 148
as answer book, 2–4, 27, 46, 146, 149, 178, 184
biblical conversations, 191–96
Blake’s views, 182, 183
canon today, 188
celebrity authors, 51, 144
as collection/library, 146–48, 179, 181, 183, 188, 196
community understanding, 188, 196
“continualness” of, 144–45, 178–79
contradictions and, 13–15, 171–73
conversations on biblical stories, 191–93
digital revolution and, 79–80, 189–91, 196
distinct from Jewish Scriptures, 202
evangelistic movement 1800s and, 6–8
“failure” and, 171–73
as “great code of art,” 182, 183
“higher criticism” of, 8–9, 142
iconicity of, 3–6, 144, 149, 159, 200, 202–3
influence on laws and, 202
multiple forms/contents (overview), 21–22, 85
mystery/questions and, 176–78, 183–84, 188
naming of, 146–47
as river vs. rock, 145
as “the Book”/“the books,” 146–47
as unimaginable to early Christians, 85, 106, 107, 116–17
See also polyvocality of Bible; scriptures (early)
Bible as Word of God
belief statistics, 4–5, 33, 201–2
felt need for, 50, 57
See also biblical inerrancy; fundamentalists/movement
Bible business, 20–21, 121, 131–33
See also Bible sales; specific Bibles/ types
Bible debunkers, 171
Bible evolution
Apocryphal books and, 120, 128
Bible business beginnings and, 121, 131–33
Bibles for the masses, 121
book revolution and, 120–22, 123, 124–26, 127, 128–29
canon determination/variants, 108–10, 117, 118–20, 126, 128, 148, 217
Constantine/Eusebius and, 116–17
cutting/pasting versions, 131
digital revolution and, 189–91
diverse roots, 102–6, 172–73
early value-added Bibles, 136–40, 137, 138
errors and, 132
Jerome’s work, 118–20, 126, 128, 129, 147–48
Latin translations, 118–19, 120, 142, 144
media limitations and, 114, 115, 116–17
“monopolies” and, 131–32
as perpetual, 143–45
polyglot Bibles, 122, 123, 124–26, 127
rereading and, 185–87, 188, 189–91, 196
Roman Christianity, 116–19
translations/versions, 121–22, 123, 124–26, 127, 128
See also codex/codices; scriptures (early); scrolls; Vulgate Bibles
Bible Illuminated, 82–83, 212
Bible Literacy Project, 30–31
Bible sales
Bible literacy and, 34–36, 45
felt needs and, 44–45, 67
free Bibles and, 49
general book sales comparison, 206
statistics on, 34, 205–6
Bible studies (current)
about, 12, 32, 74, 207
biblical literacy and, 32
Bible-study movement, 9, 204
“Bible Teaching and Religious Practice” (Twain), 155
Biblezines
biblical text and, 43–44, 47–48
description, 41, 42–44, 43
felt needs and, 44–45, 46, 47–48
overview, 41–48, 43
shelf life, 42
Thomas Nelson and, 42, 43, 44–45, 47, 207–8
See also specific Biblezines; value-added Bibles
biblical inerrancy
Apocalypse of John and, 107
Battle for the Bible, The (Lindsell), 180
fundamentalists and, 9, 30, 141, 142, 143
Lockman Foundation, 143
New American Standard Bible, 143
New International Version, 143
See also Bible as Word of God
biblical literacy
about, 30–32, 205
Bible Literacy Project, 30–31
Bible sales and, 34–36, 45
Bible studies and, 32
biblical consumerism and, 35–36
biblical reverence vs., 33, 35
college students and, 31–32
general book literacy and, 33
Huckabee’s comments and, 30–31
Biblical Literacy (Beal), 81
“bibliolatry,” 83
biblion, 88, 107, 146
bibliotheca, 147–48
Bielo, James S., 207
Blake, William, 182, 183
Blessed Virgin Mary statue, Rome, 111
Blossom, 42
books
Bible evolution and, 120–22, 123, 124–26, 127, 128–29
book literacy, 33–34, 65
idea of, 142
twilight of, 78–80
See also codex/codices
Book, The, New Testament, 82
Book, The, Old Testament, 82
Bourdieu, Pierre, 211
brand dilution, 77–78
brand extension, 77–78
Bratcher, Robert, 212
Bride’s Bible, The, 50
Briggs, Charles A., 9–10, 204
Britis
h and Foreign Bible Society, 7, 136, 137–38, 220
Brothers Karamazov, The (Dostoyevsky), 173–74
Brown, Dan, 31–32, 117
Brown, John, 135
Brueggemann, Walter, 161–62, 210
Bryan, William Jennings, 10
Bryce, David, 137, 137
Buddha, 178
Bunyan, John, 130