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Title: Harlot by the Side of the Road by Jonathan Kirsch ISBN: 0-345-41882-4 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 03 March, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.07 (27 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Bible, R rated
Comment: Jonathan Kirsch hits the nail right on the head when he speaks of the general populaces ignorance of what is actually in the Bible. Most people have some kind of fairy tale idea that the Bible is full of wonderful, pretty stories that always conclude with a happy ending. God is always just and fair, and his messages are easy to understand. People that have this opinion, and I know a lot of them, have no idea what they are missing. As the famous line from Kerouac reads, "that Bi-ble has some hot stuff". Man, does it ever.
Instead of magical fairy tales, the Bible is one of the most brutal and violent books you are ever going to read. It's full of genocide, divinely inspired murder and human sacrifice, and some really complex sexual situations. To deny this is really to deny the true Bible, which is an amazing work of literature. That is not to say that these examples of extreme actions are without meaning; that is far from the case. Unlike modern literature which often uses murder and sex for no reason other than better book sales, the Bible delivers some deep moral pronouncements concerning a whole array of human situations. Using the horrible consequences of certain human action, the Bible can teach us a lot of harsh but important lessons.
Kirsch delivers this message brilliantly. Using a very interesting way of getting his point across, Kirsch writes some good little novellas of the various Bible stories he proposes, helping the lay reader get a clearer grasp on what actually happens in the story. These fictionalizations are bolstered by the requisite Bible passages. After the novellas, Kirsch presents some great commentary on the various stories, bring in all kinds of varying opinions and interpretations. It really is fascinating, as some of the stories are so complex and unclear that no one in the centuries of Bible study can get a clear grasp on their true meaning. We are left with a whole host of intriguing but disparate interpretations that make for some good reading nonetheless.
Kirsch does not go the route of cheapening the stories either. I was worried that this book would be some kind of sensational attempt to sell some books by showing that the Bible was really dirty and violent. That is not true at all. Kirsch does not dwell on the wild aspects of the story, he just means to explain what they mean to us today. Additional chapters deliver some good historical backgrounds concerning who actually wrote the Biblical stories, and the motivation behind many of the.
A great example of modern Biblical analysis.
Rating: 4
Summary: Bible enthusiasts should also embrace the darker tales
Comment: A true Bible scholar embraces the dark side as well as the good, and Kirsch dishes up the murkier details of the evil deeds people have done to one another throughout the ages. While fundamentalists often object to hearing anything less than squeaky clean coming from the Good Book, the Bible stories themselves are cautionary tales. The Bible is like an instruction manual for life, and all good manuals contain sections on troubleshooting. The Harlot By the Side of the Road has a few flaws, such as the author tends to hammer the same ideas over and over, but it is still an interesting read. I was particularly interested in the differences between the King James version and the New American Bible, and how we have lost the poetry in the new translations. It's as if we are "dumbing down" the Bible to make it more accesible, and at the same time glossing over some of the juicier tales. I feel that Kirsch's book should be placed on the shelf along side other Bible study books such as the History of God, and of course, the Holy Bible.
Rating: 5
Summary: An eye-opening journey through faith and doubt.
Comment: Respectful yet challenging, "The Harlot by the Side of the Road" is a a riviting read and a crash course in the history of the Hewbrew Bible. Kirsh tackles head-on the Bible stories most scholars sweep under the rug, and instead singles them out for spotlight attention. He examines how and why such incongruous, even irreligious seeming stories could be part of the bible by analyzing what message they were meant to convey, and in what cultural context they would have originally been understood. Fascinating stuff! I've given copies to a number of friends, some religious, some not, and all have agreed it's not only enlightening, but a page-turner as well!
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Title: Moses : A Life by Jonathan Kirsch ISBN: 0345412702 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 02 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Woman Who Laughed at God : The Untold History of the Jewish People by Jonathan Kirsch ISBN: 0670030090 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 11 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: King David : The Real Life of the Man Who Ruled Israel by Jonathan Kirsch ISBN: 0345435052 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 28 August, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism by Jonathan Kirsch ISBN: 0670032867 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 08 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: The X-Rated Bible: An Irreverent Survey of Sex in the Scriptures by Ben Edward Akerley ISBN: 0922915555 Publisher: Feral House Pub. Date: 1998 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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