Holy Writ as Oral Lit: The Bible as Folklore / Edition 1

by Alan Dundes

Overview

With great reverence for the Bible, Dundes offers a new and exciting way to resolve some of the mysteries and contradictions that evolved during the Bible's pre-written legacy and that persists today. Using his expert knowledge of folklore, Dundes unearths and contracts multiple versions of nearly every major biblical event, including the creation of women, the flood, the ten commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord's Prayer, and the inscription on the Cross.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780847691982
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/14/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	140
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.95(h) x 0.45(d)

About the Author

Alan Dundes is known as one of the world's leading authorities on folklore. In more than 30 books he has unveiled the meanings in the oral traditions of many cultures. He lives in Berkeley, where he is professor of anthropology and folklore at the University of California.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 What Is Folklore? Chapter 2 Written Folklore Chapter 3 Previous Studies of Folklore and the Bible Chapter 4 The Bible as Folklore: Variation in Number, Name and Sequence Chapter 5 Variation in Number Chapter 6 Variation in Name Chapter 7 Variation in Sequence Chapter 8 More Duplicate Texts Chapter 9 The Ten Commandments Chapter 10 The Lord’s Prayer Chapter 11 Still More Duplicate Texts Chapter 12 Conclusion Chapter 13 Bibliography Chapter 14 Index

Editorial Reviews

It has long been recognized by professional biblicists that the Bible is full of duplications and that the Bible originally circulated orally. Folklorist Alan Dundes’ original contribution, carried out with the spriteliness and verve for which he is celebrated, is to show how the duplications are not contingent but inherent in the nature of folklore, and thereby to show how the folkloristic nature of the Bible continues in even its written form. A wonderful book.

Robert Segal

In the most recent of Dundes's three important contributions to the study of religion. It is our good fortune that this most eminent of American anthropologists and folklorists well known for his work on folklore theory and on subjects as diverse as German national charachter and American joke cycles, has now brought his scholarship to bear on religion. Dundes's work is already widely influential in the United States and deserves to be better known among British scholars of religion.

Journal of Contemporary Religion

This study provides an explanation for several of the discrepancies found in the Bible. It also gives the reader insight into the method used in this kind of study.

The Bible Today

The Holy Writ as Oral Lit is a very worthwhile book. It is enlightening, convincing, entertaining, and familiarizes the reader with the most important research done on Scripture and folklore.

Evangelical Review Of Theology

Holy Writ as Oral Lit offers insight into the Bible without diminishing it.

Columbus Dispatch

While written for the novice studying the orally discursive nature of the Judeo-Christian canon, the book will also be useful to more advanced scholars, especially for its survey of the literature and comprehensive biography.

Christianity and Literature

The idea that the Bible contains elements of folklore is not new. What makes Alan Dundes's latest book so remarkable, however, is his claim that the Bible is more folklore than anything else. Even more remarkable is the fact that after reading this book, such a claim seems absolutely convincing. This is an outstanding book that belongs on the shelf of anyone concerned either with folklore or the Bible.

Michael P. Carroll

'Holy writ as Oral Lit,' a brief but illuminating excursus into the Bible.

Los Angeles Times - Johnathan Kirsch

A worthwhile book. It is enlightening, convincing, entertaining, and familiarizes the reader with the most important research on Scripture and folklore. In addition, it gives the reader a bird's-eye view of the nature and genres of folklore.

Auss

Dundes persuasively makes his case for the folkloristic origins of biblical literature.

Western Folklore

In the most recent of Dundes's three important contributions to the study of religion. It is our good fortune that this most eminent of American anthropologists and folklorists well known for his work on folklore theory and on subjects as diverse as German national charachter and American joke cycles, has now brought his scholarship to bear on religion. Dundes's work is already widely influential in the United States and deserves to be better known among British scholars of religion.

Journal Of Contemporary Religion

The fact of variation in the Bible is an important point, which Dundes documents abundantly. . . Dundes's emphasis on folklore analysis for understanding the biblical writings is salutary.

Religious Studies Review - Ronald S. Hendel

Might there be more than Ten Commandments? Applying the analytical framework of folklore, Dundes (anthropology and folklore, U. of California-Berkeley) seeks to comprehend variant versions of biblical narratives. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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