Abstract
The reader of this voluminous book is well advised not to read it from cover to cover. Begin with the first three of the general essays at the end and read Josipovici's essay on the Epistle to the Hebrews as another such general essay. These four articles thoroughly shake up our common conceptions of the Bible. Josipovici demonstrates how Hebrews is an appropriation of the Bible yet is not monolithic; the Epistle as a text is contradictory, its stance impossible. Greenfield and Elsom present the Hebrew and the Greek Bibles respectively in their Canaanite and Greco-Roman contexts and in relation to genre, poetic techniques, and mythical elements. These presentations are more than merely useful; they are indispensible to begin thinking about the Bible not as the religious handbook it culturally has been assigned to be, but as a set of literary texts. Leach's analysis of a recurrent mythical structure proposes an even wider context and performs the master-stroke of showing that religious truth-his nice phrase is mytho-logic-requires in itself a tendency to unification; hence the similitude in various mythical materials. This similitude, then, undermines any pretentions to uniqueness and truth. And that seems a good starting point for a fresh perspective.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
