Synopses & Reviews
For millennia, people have used the Bible as a touchstone on important social and political questions, and rightly so. But many use the Bible simply as a weapon to wield against opponents in a variety of debates — without knowing what the Bible actually says about the issue in question.
In The Bible Now, two respected biblical scholars, Richard Elliott Friedman and Shawna Dolansky, tell us carefully what the Hebrew Bible says or does not say about a wide range of issues — including homosexuality, abortion, women's status, capital punishment, and the environment. In fascinating passages that shed new light on some of today's most passionate disputes, the authors reveal how the Bible is frequently misunderstood, misquoted, mistranslated, and misused. For instance, those who quote the Bible in condemning homosexuality often cite the story of Sodom, and those who favor homosexuality point to David's lament over the death of Jonathan. But as the authors show, neither passage is clearly about homosexuality, and these texts do not offer solid footing on which to make an argument. Readers learn that female homosexuality is not prohibited — only male homosexuality. And on the subject of abortion, the Bible is practically silent, with one extraordinary exception.
The Bible has inspired people to do great good but has also been used by people to do great harm, so it is vitally important for us to pay attention to it — and to get it right. The Bible Now shows us how we can — and cannot — use this ancient source of wisdom to address our most current and pressing issues.
Review
"A refreshingly honest look at what the ancient Bible teaches us about contemporary controversies, as explained by biblical scholars who can write for lay readers. You will be surprised at their novel interpretations of texts that have been misused to justify both right and left wing positions on homosexuality, abortion and capital punishment." Alan Dershowitz, Genesis of Justice and The Trials of Zion
Review
"Friedman and Dolansky offer fascinating observations and, with lucidity, passion, and humor, they help all readers across the religious spectrum to ask the right questions." Amy-Jill Levine, University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies, Vanderbilt University
Review
"Friedman and Dolansky are accomplished and respected scholars who bring their knowledge to bear on all of the contemporary issues under discussion in The Bible Now...[C]apable of addressing a lay readership with perfect clarity and explaining even the most abstruse concepts in plain English. That is what makes The Bible Now not only an important book but a useable one." Jewish Journal
Review
"[Friedman and Dolansky] skillfully employ an impressive array of scholarly tools and insights, including literary criticism, archaeology, anthropology, and ancient languages...A fine example of careful scholarship, even if one may disagree with some of the authors' specific conclusions." Library Journal
Review
"There aren't many theological issues that could unite the ultra-Orthodox group Agudath Israel, the Catholic Church, and the International Communion of Evangelical Churches, but gay marriage is one of them. Last month, as so many people in New York and around the country celebrated the State Senate's vote to legalize gay marriage, it was easy to forget that this victory for civil rights appeared to these religious groups as a calamitous defeat. Traditionalist Jews, Catholics, and Protestants had all lobbied intensively against the marriage equality bill, and it received enough Republican support to pass only after religious organizations were exempted from having to perform or acknowledge gay marriages." Adam Kirsch, The New Republic (Read the entire New Republic review)
About the Author
Richard Elliott Friedman is the Davis Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Georgia and Katzin Professor of Jewish Civilization Emeritus of the University of California, San Diego. A nationally recognized biblical scholar, Friedman is the author of the bestselling
Who Wrote the Bible? as well as
The Disappearance of God, The Hidden Book in the Bible, Commentary on the Torah, The Bible with Sources Revealed, and
The Exile and Biblical Narrative.
Shawna Dolansky is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Northeastern University. She is the author of Now You See It, Now You Don't: The Relationship Between Magic and Religion in the Hebrew Bible and the editor of Sacred History, Sacred Literature.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Homosexuality
Chapter 2: Abortion
Chapter 3: Women's Status
Chapter 4: Capital Punishment
Chapter 5: The Earth
Epilogue