my dog earl

Will someone direct me on my quest for a basic description of the origins of the bible as we know it now. I guess the KJV would be the one I am interested in knowing about. I know pretty much nothing and I do get boggled down by all the history and would like a summary of the events leading to the bible today. Thanks.

Major Billy

The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts is an excellent book.

Celsus

The Bible Unearthed doesn't really tell you much about the development of the Bible. I can't recommend you anything on the NT since I'm an idiot when it comes to NT discussions, but you could try Lawrence Boadt's Reading the Old Testament or Friedman's Who Wrote the Bible? (I haven't read it though, but it seems fairly solid) for stuff on the Hebrew Bible (OT). Check the Recommended Reading and Reference Sticky at the top of the forum.

Joel

Javaman

You could try: The Bible And Christianity - The Historical Origins by Scott Bidstrup. It is subtitled "A rational, secular, historical perspective on the history of Christianity and its scripture". I don't know if Scott posts here but his essay seems worthy of a read... not too long, not too short.

Haran

Let me know if this sounds like what you're interested in (be sure and read the reviews):

The Origin of the Bible by Philip Comfort

Excellent for learning more about various Bible versions, also written by Philip Comfort, is:

Essential Guide to Bible Versions

I will say that this is a conservative scholar, but his books should still be well worth the read for their many facts, even for an atheist.

If you are interested in how the books of the New Testament came together into the Bible, I'd suggest Bruce Metzger's:

The Canon of the New Testament

Depending on how into the Greek and Hebrew you want to get and if this is the direction in which you're aiming, I have more detailed books to recommend.

Apikorus

Comfort prattles on about the "divine authorship" of the Bible. A bad sign!

Trebolle Barrera's book is outstanding.

Haran

I thought he would get knocked... I've read much of his stuff. I do not remember him "prattling on" about divine authorship. There is some conservative stuff in the book. However, it is a good read even for the atheist for its facts and information. If one is open-minded and somewhat discerning, one can glean good information from theist or atheist alike.

Javaman

All,

my dog earl asked for a 'summary of the events leading to the bible today.' While the books suggested are certainly fodder for such a summary, links to essays would seems to be what my dog earl is looking for. I'd certainly read what y'all would suggest.

Javaman

Here's a very succint (and slightly biased) account taken from Smith's Bible Dictionary and it has some interesting things to say about the KJV.

If you have the time, you might peruse Peter Kirby's links at his Early Christian Writings page.

my dog earl

Thanks one and all for your input. I was looking for the barebones summary of the events that made up the KJV though. Too much information boggles my mind.