A Concise Dictionary of Bible Origins and Interpretation
Alec Gilmore
A Continuum imprint
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Copyright © Alec Gilmore, 2006
First published by Sheffield Academic Press Ltd in 2000 as A Dictionary of the English Bible and its Origins
This edition published 2006
Alec Gilmore has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the Author of this work.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0567030962 (hardback)
ISBN 0567030970 (paperback)
Why a Dictionary?
Several factors have contributed to this book. One is the good biblical tradition of British nonconformity in which I grew up, with a sound emphasis on the importance of biblical scholarship and a firm rejection of anything approaching bibliolatry or fundamentalism, both of which I associated with people who had either got on the wrong bus or not been sharp enough to alight in time and strike off in a different direction. So it was something of a shock to discover highly intelligent beings preparing themselves for Christian ministry and seeking to explain, let alone defend, many of the issues which for me had never been a problem.
A second factor was a fascination with biblical languages, biblical texts, textual transmission and the growth of the canon which I wanted to share with everybody else. I thought that if only people knew how it all came together they would handle it differently, enrich their understanding and avoid many a heartache. But how? Most people were not going to learn Greek, never mind Hebrew. ‘Text and Canon’ sounded just about the dullest topic you could imagine. Somehow they needed the fruit of scholarship to arouse their interest.
A third factor was the discovery that once the light began to shine many of them did want to know more. Some were the product of very conservative environments from which they longed intellectually to escape. Some were in congregations finding new light and interpretation and wondering whether they could safely believe what they were being told. Some were Bible students who wanted to distract me from what I was trying to say and force me back to first principles.
A fourth factor undoubtedly was a change of climate. In Britain, unlike the USA, from the launching of the Revised Standard Version shortly after the war new translations caught on. J. B. Phillips, William Barclay, Ronald ...
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About A Concise Dictionary of Bible Origins and InterpretationConcise, convenient and comprehensive: this handy dictionary will inform and enlighten all who want to understand how the Bible came together, the history of the various texts behind it, the versions in which it has appeared, the process of editing and compilation, and the different methods of interpretation that have developed over the centuries. Much of this material can be found in larger reference works and commentaries, but most students and lay people find that most of these books are written by scholars for scholars, which means the reader can feel bogged down in too much technical detail. Informed by the latest advances in biblical scholarship, this handy dictionary provides the reader with concise, manageable information on all the key issues and topics. It will be especially helpful to students of religion and related subjects, as well as to religious educators in schools, colleges and churches of all denominations. |
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