The Book of the People: How to Read the Bible

by A. N. Wilson

Overview

From renowned historian, biographer and novelist, A.N. Wilson, a deep personal, literary, and historical exploration of the Bible.

In The Book of the People, A. N. Wilson explores how readers and thinkers have approached the Bible, and how it might be read today. Charting his own relationship with the Bible over a lifetime of writing, Wilson argues that it remains relevant even in a largely secular society, as a philosophical work, a work of literature, and a cultural touchstone that the western world has answered to for nearly two thousand years: Martin Luther King was "reading the Bible" when he started the Civil Rights movement, and when Michelangelo painted the fresco cycles in the Sistine Chapel, he was "reading the Bible." Wilson challenges the way fundamentalists—whether believers or non-believers—have misused the Bible, either by neglecting and failing to recognize its cultural significance, or by using it as a weapon against those with whom they disagree.

Erudite, witty and accessible, The Book of the People seeks to reclaim the Good Book as our seminal work of literature, and a book for the imagination.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062433473
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/13/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

A. N. Wilson grew up in Staffordshire, England, and was educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he holds a prominent position in the world of literature and journalism. He is a prolific and award-winning biographer and celebrated novelist. He lives in North London.

Table of Contents

A Prologue 1

1 This Mountain 5

2 The Vulgate of Experience 32

3 Prophets 59

4 Holy Wisdom 85

5 Job 104

6 Living in a Metaphor: Psalms 123

7 The Rebirth of Images 155

Epilogue 193

Notes 197

Selected Reading List 205

Permissions 209

About the Author 213

Editorial Reviews

Wilson’s delightful and unexpectedly moving book is characterized by intellectual humility.

New Statesman

A work of genius.

The Times (London)

An erudite, elegant, and quietly impassioned plea . . .an easy, pleasurable read.” — The Guardian

“A work of genius.” — The Times (London)

“A wide-ranging and richly stimulating inquiry into what the Bible is, what it means, how it works, and how hopelessly wrong the plodding fundamentalists of both atheist and religious persuasions are about it.” — Sunday Times (London)

“Wilson’s delightful and unexpectedly moving book is characterized by intellectual humility.” — New Statesman

From the Publisher

An erudite, elegant, and quietly impassioned plea . . .an easy, pleasurable read.

The Guardian

A wide-ranging and richly stimulating inquiry into what the Bible is, what it means, how it works, and how hopelessly wrong the plodding fundamentalists of both atheist and religious persuasions are about it.

Sunday Times (London)

06/01/2016
Recognizing the Bible's great influence on literature and culture generally, prolific fiction and nonfiction author Wilson (fellow, Royal Soc. of Literature; Victoria: A Life) offers a reflection on the text's impact on his own life as well as the various ways in which people have "read" the Bible, including Michelangelo's depiction on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the actions of Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement. Wilson rejects the fundamentalism of believers and atheists alike, saying that both groups misread the scriptures and thus fail to appreciate their richness. Dismissing the search for the historical Jesus, which Wilson at one time engaged in, the author concentrates on the words of the Bible itself, arguing that the content must be consumed imaginatively. His ideas are in the tradition of Robert Alter (The Five Books of Moses) and Frank Kermode's (coauthor with Alter, The Literary Guide to the Bible), who view the books of the Bible as great storytelling while respecting their religious elements. VERDICT The book will appeal to readers who have an ambiguous relationship with the Bible and those who appreciate the scriptures as literature.—Augustine J. Curley, Newark Abbey, NJ

Library Journal