Asimov's Guide to the Bible
A fantastic read for anyone interested in organised religion and history. He takes the reader on a journey of the bible through the eyes of the authors and readers. By providing historical backgrounds to the times and the peoples for whom the bible was writtten, he helps explain why this book should NEVER be taken literally. I'm sure parts are outdated by new research by now but it is still a legitimate examination of both the old and new testaments. It also created in me (for the first time) the desire to read the bible as the great work of literature that it is.
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What Hacker News says
- Isaac Asimov's Guide To The Bible. An agnostic atheist historian analyzes the history of every line of every book in the bible. Asimov is a good writer and he makes the bible a fun read.
- There's also tons of stuff on Internet Archive, including, just in time for Easter, Asimov's Guide to the Bible ;)
I love the opening sentence of "Lastborn" from Galaxy Magazine 1958:
Edith Fellowes smoothed her working smock as she always did before opening the elaborately locked door and stepping across the dividing line between the "is" and the "is not"
