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Writing the Bible: Origins of the Old Testament

By: Martien Halvorson-Taylor, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Martien Halvorson-Taylor
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Summary

Who wrote Great Expectations? That’s easy: Charles Dickens. Who’s the author of Beloved? Toni Morrison, of course. Now how about the Old Testament?

You’d think for a book as widely known, studied, and distributed as the Bible, the question of authorship would have been sorted out by now. But the question is more complex (and fascinating) than it seems. Why? Because asking it is to challenge everything we might assume about the Bible’s identity as a book, about what “writing” and “authorship” really mean, and about how a written text could become sacred to Jews and Christians, both in the ancient world and today.

In Writing the Bible: Origins of the Old Testament, work through these fascinating questions (and their related assumptions) in the company of biblical expert Martien A. Halvorson-Taylor of the University of Virginia. As you chase down answers, you’ll travel back in time to explore how oral traditions — ancient songs and stories — shaped the identity of an emerging nation, Israel, and how those traditions came to be written down, reinterpreted, and gathered into a collection of books that resonate with us even now.

The Old Testament reflects the profundity and timelessness of human experience. It has the power to shape our sense of our own lives, to frame our fears, and to inspire our ultimate hopes. What could be more interesting than finding out who, exactly, we should thank for that?

©2021 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC.
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well written and eead, clear consise and informative

it is restricted to the Hebrew Bible and it would be interesting to have a second series on the ' New Testament

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Interesting history and wonderful voice.

Beautifully presented delve into the mysteries from which a founding document of our civilisation emerged.

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a very good start

I am just looking into the bible and this was a wonderful outlining of the book and has really helped set the scene for how and why the bible came about. you will need more though and I wish they didn't keep asking you to go to their website!

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splendid

So much one can learn from this. Written and read with superb, gentle authority What is the feminine of Masterly? .

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2 people found this helpful

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Scripting the scriptures

This is scholarly but listenable podcast style series of lectures considers the origins of the Old Testament of the Bible. Most people will be aware that there were several authors of the various books and the Bible (meaning "books") is a compendium from different sources of documents, scrolls, psalms and letters. Various denominations of Christians and Jews chose which to include / exclude in their particular version to suit their needs.

I was fascinated by the forensics involved in determining the various sources ("J source", "P source" etc) and until listening to these lectures had not appreciated the concept of "doublets" in which the same Biblical story is told by different authors occurring as early as Genesis I and II which tell slightly differing accounts of The Creation. Nuances occur throughout the various source documents that make up the Bible for example Ester feints in the Greek version but not the Hebrew version of her story. Translations have also had an impact of out interpretation and it is clear that the concept of "The Bible" has evolved through history to suit those having power at the time.

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It's great

I would recommend this to anyone interested in an academic view of who wrote the Old Testament.

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