西洋文化の発展に大きな役割を果たしてきた聖書は、さまざまな社会や文化の下で異なる形、独自の解釈で読まれ続けてきました。聖書が書かれた経緯や正典の発展、原典批判、聖書の文化への定着、政治への利用などに目を向け、この多大な影響力を持つ書物を浮き彫りにします。改訂新版は19-20世紀にかけての聖書の製作、翻訳、流通過程に着目する第4章、ガラテヤの教会を通じ異邦人教会の形成や東西への伝播、宗教改革下の欧州への影響を検討する第6章を追加し、より充実したものになっています。(cf. The Bible: What Everyone Needs to Know)
    

• A truly global history of the Bible from a leading expert in the field
• Looks at readings of the Bible from the world of theology, philosophy, music, the visual arts, and poetry, as well as post-colonial and feminist readings
• Examines the diversity of the Bible, from its numerous translations and complex textual history to the ways it has been interpreted by different communities
• Shows how the Bible has played a formative role in the development of human culture

New to this Edition:

• New chapter about the reception history of the Galatians, showing how it shaped different forms of Christianity, East and West, how it influenced the development of Europe at the Reformation, and how it continues to influence debates around gender
• New chapter outlining how bibles were produced, translated, and distributed around the world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

   
The Bible is one of the world's most read and most influential books. It has provided many rules for people to live by, and has shaped our language and our shared beliefs in ways that have both drawn communities together and fueled bitter disputes and conflicts. Having played a major role in the development of Western culture, the Bible continues to exert an enormous influence over millions of lives.
   
This Very Short Introduction explores the material, cultural, and religious history of the Bible. Looking first at how the books of the Bible came to be written down and collected as authoritative sacred texts, John Riches goes on to show how they were produced and distributed across the world, and how they have been read and interpreted by differing communities in different languages. Riches compares how Jewish and Christian communities have interpreted the same passage of the Bible, and looks at some of the strikingly varied readings a very short book like Galatians has received over 2,000 years. Finally, he explores post-colonial and feminist readings of the Bible, and concludes by surveying the uses of the Bible in art, music, poetry, and politics.