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Searching for the Original Bible
Noted researcher/archaeologist Randall Price tackles crucial, faith–challenging questions about the Bible’s claims to be divine communication. All dispute boils down to two fundamental Were the original writings given by God, or were they cobbled together from traditions, myths, and human ethical notions? And if divine, have they been faithfully passed down to us?
Price brings his expert knowledge of the Bible texts to examine crucial
what the key ancient manuscripts reveal ideas about how mere humans composed the writings evidence from the archaeological record the gathering of inspired texts into one book the transmission of those texts to us All evidence available today, concludes the author, upholds even more strongly the age–long views of orthodox Christianity. Not only is the Bible we have a trustworthy record of divine revelation, but it remains living and authoritative for every time, every place, and every person.
Price brings his expert knowledge of the Bible texts to examine crucial
what the key ancient manuscripts reveal ideas about how mere humans composed the writings evidence from the archaeological record the gathering of inspired texts into one book the transmission of those texts to us All evidence available today, concludes the author, upholds even more strongly the age–long views of orthodox Christianity. Not only is the Bible we have a trustworthy record of divine revelation, but it remains living and authoritative for every time, every place, and every person.
293 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2007
About the author
Randall Price
33 books13 followersPresident for World of the Bible Ministries. He is a Th.M. graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and holds a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Price received his bachelor’s (B.A.) from Texas State University, his master's degree (Th.M.) from Dallas Theological Seminary in Old Testament and Semitic Languages, and his doctorate (Ph.D.) from the University of Texas at Austin in Middle Eastern Studies with a concentration in Hebrew and Archaeology. He has also done graduate work in biblical and archaeological studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
In 2009, he drew media attention when fielding an expedition to Turkey to find Noah's Ark.
He has authored over 20 books and films on the Bible, and is often a guest on television programs.
Dr. Price received his bachelor’s (B.A.) from Texas State University, his master's degree (Th.M.) from Dallas Theological Seminary in Old Testament and Semitic Languages, and his doctorate (Ph.D.) from the University of Texas at Austin in Middle Eastern Studies with a concentration in Hebrew and Archaeology. He has also done graduate work in biblical and archaeological studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
In 2009, he drew media attention when fielding an expedition to Turkey to find Noah's Ark.
He has authored over 20 books and films on the Bible, and is often a guest on television programs.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 31, 2020
I'm giving this a 4-star rating instead of a 5-star rating only for readability. I'll explain that more in a minute.
This book is an excellent, evangelical survey of how trustworthy the Bible is (looking in-depth at the manuscripts we have, why we can trust the content of those manuscripts as historical documents, and at how textual criticism works to unite those documents into a reliable finished product). It also covers why the gnostic gospels and other apocryphal documents aren't in the protestant Bibles. He concludes with an overview of inerrancy vs inspiration and why it doesn't matter that we don't have the original autographs written by the hands of the authors.
So now for why I knocked a star off of this when I think the content is well-researched, well-written, and faithful. When you're talking about resources about Christianity, I think you can divide them into roughly four categories: books for people who know almost nothing about Christianity, books for the average person trying to grow in their faith, books for "students" who are taking things deeper either by going to school for Biblical studies or who are attempting a DIY seminary education, and books for scholars.
This book feels like a book written for the "student" category. It presents the evidence, but it often fails to draw conclusions from it or to pull it all together in a summary for the reader. This isn't a problem for someone like me who already has a master's degree in theological studies. It isn't a problem if this book is being used as a textbook where the professor will be able to add those missing elements. It is a problem for a Christian (or non-Christian) who isn't one of those things but wants to go deeper in their understanding. I suspect this happens in a book when the author is so familiar with their subject matter that those extra elements are obvious to them. They forget it won't be obvious to someone coming new to the topic.
For those reasons, I gave it 4-stars instead of 5-stars. Still a fantastic read that I would highly recommend.
This book is an excellent, evangelical survey of how trustworthy the Bible is (looking in-depth at the manuscripts we have, why we can trust the content of those manuscripts as historical documents, and at how textual criticism works to unite those documents into a reliable finished product). It also covers why the gnostic gospels and other apocryphal documents aren't in the protestant Bibles. He concludes with an overview of inerrancy vs inspiration and why it doesn't matter that we don't have the original autographs written by the hands of the authors.
So now for why I knocked a star off of this when I think the content is well-researched, well-written, and faithful. When you're talking about resources about Christianity, I think you can divide them into roughly four categories: books for people who know almost nothing about Christianity, books for the average person trying to grow in their faith, books for "students" who are taking things deeper either by going to school for Biblical studies or who are attempting a DIY seminary education, and books for scholars.
This book feels like a book written for the "student" category. It presents the evidence, but it often fails to draw conclusions from it or to pull it all together in a summary for the reader. This isn't a problem for someone like me who already has a master's degree in theological studies. It isn't a problem if this book is being used as a textbook where the professor will be able to add those missing elements. It is a problem for a Christian (or non-Christian) who isn't one of those things but wants to go deeper in their understanding. I suspect this happens in a book when the author is so familiar with their subject matter that those extra elements are obvious to them. They forget it won't be obvious to someone coming new to the topic.
For those reasons, I gave it 4-stars instead of 5-stars. Still a fantastic read that I would highly recommend.
March 3, 2010
I only got about half through it, but it was very good. I'll get it again when I need to finish my research.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews