Author: Michael D. Coogan Retail Price: $12.99 Our Price: $8.49
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Eminent biblical scholar Michael D. Coogan offers here a wide-ranging and stimulating exploration of the Old Testament, illuminating its importance as a historical and literary document as well as a sacred text.
In The Old Testament: A Very Short Introduction Coogan explains the differences between the Bible of Jewish tradition (the 'Hebrew Bible') and the Old Testament of Christianity, while also examining the different contents of the Bibles used by Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and Protestants. He looks at the rise of modern biblical scholarship, the recovery of ancient Near Eastern literatures and the scholarly debate concerning interpretation.
This leads Coogan to also explore the use of invented dialogue, historical fiction, the presence of mythic elements in apparently historical accounts, and the relationship of ancient Israelite myths to those of their neighbors. The book considers the Old Testament's idea of divine justice, especially in Ecclesiastes and Job, and looks at notions of the afterlife in the ancient Near East and in ancient Israel.
Finally, Coogan highlights the significance of the history and literature of the Old Testament and describes how non-biblical evidence, such as archaeological data and texts, has placed the Old Testament in a larger and more illuminating context. The book also discusses law and ritual in the Bible as well as the biblical understandings of prophecy.
Thus, this little book is a marvelous overview of one of the great pillars of Western religion and culture, a book whose significance has endured for thousands of years and which remains vitally important today for Jews, Christians, and Muslims worldwide.
