IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: 

#1 The Bible, in the singular, does not exist. Different communities have different Bibles, and they have them in different orders, languages, and books.

#2 The Bible was used in the past to promote and defend different ideologies, and it continues to be used that way today. When read through Christian lenses, the Old Testament points to Jesus. When read through Jewish lenses, the Tanakh speaks to Jewish experience, without Jesus.

#3 The term Bible is derived from the Greek word ta biblia, which means the books. The term implies that a particular collection of books has priority. There is no such thing as the Bible; different religious communities have different Bibles.

#4 The term Old Testament is problematic, as it strips this work of its Christian context. To refer to the Jewish Bible, we use the medieval term Tanakh, an acronym of Torah (Hebrew instruction; the first five books, also known as the Pentateuch), Nevi’im (Hebrew prophets), and Ketuvim (Hebrew writings).

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