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A Biography
Atlantic Monthly Press
November 2007
On Sale: November 10, 2007
192 pages
ISBN: 0871139693
EAN: 9780871139696
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
As the work at the heart of Christianity, the Bible is the spiritual guide for one out of every three people in the world. It is also the worldβs most widely distributed book, translated into over two thousand languages, and the worldβs best selling book, year after year. But the Bible is a complex work with a complicated and obscure history. Made up of sixty-six βbooksβ written by various authors and divided into two testaments, its contents have changed over the centuries. The Bible has been transformed by translation and, through interpretation, has developed manifold meanings to various religions, denominations, and sects. In this seminal account, acclaimed historian Karen Armstrong discusses the conception, gestation, and life of historyβs 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 Christianityβs sacred text. She explores how scripture came to be read for information, and how, in the nineteenth century, historical criticism of the Bible caused greater fear than Darwinism. This is a brilliant, captivating book, crucial in an age of declining faith and rising fundamentalism.
 Media BuzzTalk of the Nation - November 12, 2007
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