Twentieith century's greatest historian of christian tradition

This is a very nice introduction to the history of the Bible from the Hebrew scriptures up to present. Pelikan traces the development and use of the various parts of the Bible from Jewish origins of the Torah, prophets, and writings, through Christian beginnings and forming a canon to translations and dissemination to the public. Pelikan is always lucid and fair to the various traditions who use or don't use the various parts of the Bible. Although there is no index, there is something of an annotated bibliography to help one find out more than this shorter book can provide. ( )

A quick overview of the history of scripture and how it has had a changing influence on society. Very accessible and interesting. I know that Pelikan is a very respected biblical scholar, but I do not know which faith he practices: he doesn't let on in this book. However, he does not seem to place much stock in the sola scriptura approach that has been advanced since the Reformation. ( )

Jaroslav Pelikan is a Kluge Prize-winning historian and author. In this short book he traces what he says as the evolution of the Jewish and Christian Bibles from early Hebrew, Greek and Latin texts to the modern versions. He also examines the formation of the New Testament, influences of the Renaissance and Protestant Reformation.

The author is respectful and this work will appeal to a broad audience. He does correctly affirm the role of the Bible as the Word of God. Pointing out that the Bible has been through many revisions and was once a body of oral tradition. The author seems to mainly be summarizing his knowledge on the history of the Bible with broad-brush strokes as we follow its history over the centuries. But he does state the obvious, which I agree with, that it is important to study the Bible in the original languages. I suggest you take your time reading this book in order to gain the most benefit from it. ( )