The Bible

Title: The Bible

Author: Karen Armstrong

Pages: 5 discs

Genre: Non-fiction

Grade: D

Synopsis: This book is a biography of the Bible. It discusses how the Bible began, how the books in the Bible were chosen for inclusion and controversies surrounding these decisions.

My Review: I was really looking forward to this book, but it did not meet any of my expectations. While the basic history of the Bible was interesting, I had no idea what the book was talking about for most of the time. The book seems to be written more as an academic type biography than one that is accessible and interesting to the average person (and I imagined that I already knew more about the Bible than most people considering that I've actually read it...). I think that if I was willing to read the book once or twice more I would start to understand the history of the book and the Jews, but it was a little over my head right now. The book takes the stance that we take the Bible far too literally these days. There is no proof that Jesus was actually born of a virgin or that any of the miracles in the Old Testament actually took place. In fact, in the author's opinion, the only reason that Matthew and Luke allude to a virgin birth, is because Isaiah and other Old Testament prophets foretold of it. I would have enjoyed this book more had it been written by more of a believer than the author appears to be.