The Secular Bible
Why Nonbelievers Must Take Religion Seriously

An exploration of the Hebrew Bible and its impact on current political debates.

Jacques Berlinerblau (Author)

9780521853149, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 September 2005

232 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.51 kg

'… crisply argued … a serious, scholarly, and well-argued treatment of issues surrounding the origins, tradition of interpretation, and contemporary (ir)relevance of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament.' Conversations in Religion and Theology

In The Secular Bible: Why Nonbelievers Must Take Religion Seriously, Jacques Berlinerblau explores the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, though an explicitly critical and secular perspective, reviewing how it has been interpreted from antiquity to today and how these interpretations impact our current political debates. In separate chapters, he looks at how the Bible continues to be invoked in disputes about Jewish identity, intermarriage, and about homosexuality - offering secular readers background and ideas for joining conversations about scripture. Finally, he suggests ways in which secularists in all countries need to pose such questions about all sacred texts and religious phenomena. Cumulatively, the book is a first attempt to re-invigorate a once-estimable secular, intellectual tradition.

Introduction: secularists and the not-Godless world
Part I. The Composition of the Hebrew Bible: 1. Who wrote the Bible? (Ancient response)
2. Who wrote the Bible? (Modern response)
3. The secular answer to 'who wrote the Bible?'
Part II. The Interpreters of the Hebrew Bible: 4. Why is there so much biblical interpretation?
5. Introducing biblical scholars and secular interpretations
Part III. Politics and Scripture: 6. On Jewish intermarriage: the Bible is open to interpretation
7. Same-sex eroticism and Jerry Falwell
8. The secular Qur'an?
Conclusion: beyond church and state: new directions for secularism.

Subject Areas: Judaism [HRJ], Biblical studies & exegesis [HRCG]