The Oxford Bible Commentary John Barton, John Muddiman

The Bible stands in a category of its own among the world"s literature. How you view the Bible, however, depends on what spectacles you are wearing. Like statistics, the Bible can be used to prove almost anything. As a result Bible commentaries are notorius for giving the author"s particular angle on the Bible as if it is the only viewpoint. In the case of The Oxford Bible Commentary the angle is "objectively academic." John Muddiman and John Barton are the pair of Oxford dons who have put together the laest weighty book of Biblical scholarship. Happily, they are aware of the limitations of academic comment and don"t pretend the book is more than it is. Contributing scholars are mostly British and American and most of them come from a mainstream Protestan background. The articles are therefore polished, precise, and professionally pedantic. No one can fault the meticulous scholarship and wealth of detailed content. That"s just what you want from a hefty Bible commentary. On the other hand, what struck me rom dipping into this tome is how slippery Biblical scholarship has become. At the turn of the last century Biblical criticism shot fundamentalism full of holes, but the new generation of scholars have now shot the certainties of old fashioned Biblical crticism full of holes. As a result the articles exhibit an odd mix of solid content with honest supposition, guesswork, and shoulder shrugging. This actually makes the book better. It"s refreshing to read academics who admit their uncertainties. Their honety allows some questions to remain open-ended, and that"s exciting for any serious Biblical student. -- Dwight Longenecker, Amazon.co.uk Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге The Oxford Bible Commentary (John Barton, John Muddiman)