SquareOne Posted February 11, 2013 Posted February 11, 2013 Hey everyone Is anyone able to provide a recommendation for a good book about the history of the gospels? A secular history, of course! I have been reading Karen Armstrong's "A History of God". It's good, but does not focus for too long on the history of the gospels, and how they came to be written. Many thanks for any good recommendations. SQ
DrNo Posted February 11, 2013 Posted February 11, 2013 Anything by Bart Ehrman. Misquoting Jesus goes into how the gospels were miscopied and why. 2
Geezer Posted February 11, 2013 Posted February 11, 2013 Anything by Bart Ehrman. Misquoting Jesus goes into how the gospels were miscopied and why. I agree. Ehrman is a good scholar to read for anything having to do with the authenticity of scripture. Robert M Price is a good scholar to read when it comes to discrediting Jesus Divinity. If you want a different perspective on Paul's Epistles then I would recommend Earl Doherty and his book The Jesus Puzzle.
SquareOne Posted February 11, 2013 Author Posted February 11, 2013 Thanks for your responses. I've ordered a copy of Ehrman's Jesus Interrupted. Thank goodness for Amazon. What an age we live in.
HymenaeusAlexander Posted February 11, 2013 Posted February 11, 2013 Thanks for your responses. I've ordered a copy of Ehrman's Jesus Interrupted. Thank goodness for Amazon. What an age we live in. I actually found a copy in the Christian Religion section at my local public library here in Fundieville, GA sitting next to a book by Jerry Falwell of all things. I got about two-thirds of the way through it before I decided I needed to own a copy for myself.
SquareOne Posted February 11, 2013 Author Posted February 11, 2013 I actually found a copy in the Christian Religion section at my local public library here in Fundieville, GA sitting next to a book by Jerry Falwell of all things. I got about two-thirds of the way through it before I decided I needed to own a copy for myself. I love the library. I loved it more when I had zero money. Now that I have a bit of spare change (bit being the operative word) I am investing in a personal library of science and theology books. It's slender at the moment. Basically just A History of God by Karen Armstrong and The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. But, now I have on order this Jesus Interrupted as well as The Extended Phenotype also of course by Dawkins. I suppose this will chart my new voyage of discovery into text that I previously feared to read.
DrNo Posted February 11, 2013 Posted February 11, 2013 You know, I had started my own library by ordering various books on my Kindle. I think now that I'm going to order print copies from now on so that they will be easily accessible to my kids when they get to the age where they could read and appreciate them. 1
SquareOne Posted February 11, 2013 Author Posted February 11, 2013 Kindle... I hate Kindles so much. Paper is so much better. On the other hand... Cut down ALL the trees! Probably not a good idea. Hmm. This is why I shouldn't have opinions. 1
wndwalkr99 Posted February 13, 2013 Posted February 13, 2013 . Hey everyone Is anyone able to provide a recommendation for a good book about the history of the gospels? A secular history, of course! I have been reading Karen Armstrong's "A History of God". It's good, but does not focus for too long on the history of the gospels, and how they came to be written. Many thanks for any good recommendations. SQ Try "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris.
SquareOne Posted February 13, 2013 Author Posted February 13, 2013 Sam Harris. Whenever I see him I just see Ben Stiller.
SquareOne Posted February 21, 2013 Author Posted February 21, 2013 Over half way through Jesus, Interrupted now. Oh my word - why are there still Christians? Clergy don't tell the full story do they. Some might be able to claim to tell "the truth" on a certain twisting of the word, but they certainly don't tell "the whole truth".
LifeCycle Posted February 21, 2013 Posted February 21, 2013 I'm currently reading this one... God Is Not Great: How Relgion Poisons Everything
RipVanWinkle Posted February 21, 2013 Posted February 21, 2013 That Christopher Hitchens' book is really good. I read that twice! bill
SquareOne Posted February 21, 2013 Author Posted February 21, 2013 Nice one LifeCycle. That's on my list of books to read... I'm going to have to get through A History of God and the Extended Phenotype first... plus I've bought "Genome" by Matt Ridley - anyone read that?
R. S. Martin Posted February 24, 2013 Posted February 24, 2013 Has anyone mentioned The Jesus Puzzle by Earl Doherty?
SquareOne Posted March 22, 2013 Author Posted March 22, 2013 Have any of you read Who Wrote The Bible by Richard E Friedman? It's a fantastic summary of the formation of the Torah in line with the JEDP theory / Documentary Hypothesis. He makes a very compelling case that the Deuteronomist(s) were Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch. I'm halfway through it now, it's a wonderful read. It's an historical hypothesis that reads almost like a whodunnit or a thriller. Like the Da Vinci Code without the bullshit. Great stuff!
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