Feeling a desire to reconnect to the Bible, award-winning author Bruce Feiler set out on a perilous, 10,000-mile journey retracing the Five Books of Moses through the desert. Traveling over three continents, through five countries, and four war zones, Feiler is the first person to complete such a historic expedition. He crosses the Red Sea, climbs Mt. Sinai, and interviews bedouin and pilgrims alike, as he attempts to answer the question: Is the Bible just an abstraction, or is it a living, breathing entity?
Both a pulse-pounding adventure and an uplifting spiritual quest, Bruce Feiler's Walking the Bible is a stunning and elevating work of courage, scholarship, and heart that revisits the inscrutable desert landscape where the world's great religions were born—and uncovers fresh answers to the most profound questions of the human spirit.
Feeling a desire to reconnect to the Bible, award-winning author Bruce Feiler set out on a perilous, 10,000-mile journey retracing the Five Books of Moses through the desert. Traveling over three continents, through five countries, and four war zones, Feiler is the first person to complete such a historic expedition. He crosses the Red Sea, climbs Mt. Sinai, and interviews bedouin and pilgrims alike, as he attempts to answer the question: Is the Bible just an abstraction, or is it a living, breathing entity?
Both a pulse-pounding adventure and an uplifting spiritual quest, Bruce Feiler's Walking the Bible is a stunning and elevating work of courage, scholarship, and heart that revisits the inscrutable desert landscape where the world's great religions were born—and uncovers fresh answers to the most profound questions of the human spirit.
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Overview
Feeling a desire to reconnect to the Bible, award-winning author Bruce Feiler set out on a perilous, 10,000-mile journey retracing the Five Books of Moses through the desert. Traveling over three continents, through five countries, and four war zones, Feiler is the first person to complete such a historic expedition. He crosses the Red Sea, climbs Mt. Sinai, and interviews bedouin and pilgrims alike, as he attempts to answer the question: Is the Bible just an abstraction, or is it a living, breathing entity?
Both a pulse-pounding adventure and an uplifting spiritual quest, Bruce Feiler's Walking the Bible is a stunning and elevating work of courage, scholarship, and heart that revisits the inscrutable desert landscape where the world's great religions were born—and uncovers fresh answers to the most profound questions of the human spirit.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780060872687 |
---|---|
Publisher: | HarperCollins |
Publication date: | 08/16/2005 |
Edition description: | Abridged |
Pages: | 400 |
Sales rank: | 1,076,198 |
Product dimensions: | 5.62(w) x 5.96(h) x 0.76(d) |
About the Author
Bruce Feiler is the author of six consecutive New York Times bestsellers, including Abraham, Where God Was Born, America's Prophet, The Council of Dads, and The Secrets of Happy Families. He is a columnist for the New York Times, a popular lecturer, and a frequent commentator on radio and television. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and twin daughters.
Hometown:
New York, New YorkDate of Birth:
October 25, 1964Place of Birth:
Savannah, GeorgiaEducation:
B.A., Yale University, 1987; M.Phil. in international relations, Cambridge University, 1991Read an Excerpt
Chapter One
In the Land of Canaan
The guard eyed me squarely as we approached his post, moving one hand from his belt to his walkie-talkie. His other arm rested on a rifle. He had gel in his hair and three stripes on his sleeve. "Yes?" he said, arching his eyebrows.
It was 9:35 on a late-autumn morning when Avner and I strode toward the security checkpoint at the Damia Bridge, an Israeli-Jordanian border crossing about thirty miles north of Jericho. We had driven up from Jerusalem that morning to start the next phase of our journey, visiting sites in the Promised Land associated with Abraham, his son Isaac, and his son Jacob. Together they form the holy triumvirate of biblical forefathers, the patriarchs, from the Greek words patria, meaning family or clan, and arche, meaning ruler. The Five Books describe several forefathers who preceded these men, notably Adam and Noah, as well as many who follow. But the three patriarchs receive special distinction because it's to them -- of all humanity -- whom God grants his sacred covenant of territory, and through them that the relationship between the people of Israel and the Promised Land is forged.
The story of the patriarchs takes up the final thirty-nine chapters of Genesis and covers the entire geographical spectrum of the ancient Near East, from Mesopotamia to Egypt, and back again, all within several verses. For Avner and me, this scope posed a challenge. Soon after our return from Turkey, we huddled in the living room of his home in Jerusalem and set about devising an itinerary. It was a sunny, comfortable room, with whitewashed walls, bedouin rugs fromthe Sinai, and pictures of his two children, as well as the two daughters of his second wife, Edie, a Canadian who served as office manager for the Jerusalem bureau of the New York Times. Avner sat at the table with his computer, online Bible, countless topographical maps, dozens of archaeological texts, and the handheld GPS device, while I paced the floor.
Our most immediate problem was that with no archaeological evidence to relate any of the events in the Five Books to specific places, we were left to the often-contradictory claims of history, myth, legend, archaeobiology, paleozoology, and faith. There are nearly two dozen candidates for Mount Sinai, for example, and nearly half a dozen for the Red Sea. There are countless theories about which path the Israelites took through the Sinai. In addition, we faced the competing constraints of religious wars, political wars, terrorism, climate, budget, and health, as well as the desire to have fun.
Ultimately we settled on a guiding principle: Our goal was to place the biblical stories in the historical and cultural context of the ancient Near East. Time and again, rather than focus on every story in the text, or even every interesting story in the text, we decided to concentrate on stories that could be enhanced by being in the places themselves. The story of Jacob and his brother Esau wrestling in Rebekah's womb, for example, while fascinating on many levels, struck us as not likely to be enriched by traveling to a specific location. The stories of Sodom and Gomorrah, by contrast, and the crossing of the Red Sea might easily take on new meanings by visiting their settings. In Judaism, the traditional process of analyzing scripture is called midrash, from the Hebrew term meaning search out or investigate; in Christianity, this process is referred to as exegesis, from the Latin word meaning the same thing. In effect, what Avner and I undertook was topographical midrash, a geographical exegesis of the Bible.
In that spirit, we decided to begin our travels in Israel with a bit of a long shot. Our destination this morning was Shechem, the first place Abraham stops in Canaan and the next place the Bible mentions after Harran. The text makes no mention of what route Abraham, his wife, Sarah (she's actually called Sarai at the moment, as he is still called Abram), and his nephew Lot took to Canaan. Based on road patterns in the ancient world, one of the most logical places for him to cross into the Promised Land would have been a natural ford in the Jordan River just south of the Sea of Galilee, where the Damia Bridge is located today. Though we were already in the Promised Land, we decided to ask if the Israeli Army would let us walk across the bridge to the Jordanian side, then walk back, seeing what Abraham might have seen. Avner explained this idea to the sergeant, who remained at attention. After hearing the explanation, the officer removed his walkie-talkie and relayed our request.
The border post was astir that morning. It was a small crossing -- the Jordan here is narrow enough for a horse to jump -- but tidy, decorated with cacti, olive trees, and oleanders. The gate was blue and white. Every few minutes a Palestinian truck would approach, ferrying oranges, honeydew, or polished limestone. The driver would dismount and hand over his papers, which the guards would stamp and return. Then the guards would roll open the gate, the truck would pass, and the whole process would start again. We were just becoming lulled by the routine, when suddenly we heard static on the walkie-talkie. The sergeant removed it and held it for us to hear: "I don't care if they write a book about the Bible," the voice said. "I don't care if they rewrite the Bible itself. But they're not going to do it in a military zone, and they're not going to do it on my bridge."
The sergeant replaced his walkie-talkie and shrugged. "Sorry," he said, "only Palestinians."
We returned to the highway and turned west toward the mountains. Shechem is located at the northern edge of the central spine of mountains that traverse much of Israel and the West Bank...
Walking the Bible. Copyright © by Bruce Feiler. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.Table of Contents
Introduction: And God Said | ||
Go Forth | 3 | |
Book I | God of Our Fathers | |
1. | In the Land of Canaan | 39 |
2. | Take Now Thy Son | 63 |
3. | A Pillow of Stones | 93 |
Book II | A Coat of Many Colors | |
1. | On the Banks of the Nile | 123 |
2. | And They Made Their Lives Bitter | 147 |
3. | A Wall of Water | 165 |
Book III | The Great And Terrible Wilderness | |
1. | A Land of Fiery Snakes and Scorpions | 199 |
2. | On Holy Ground | 227 |
3. | The God-Trodden Mountain | 249 |
Book IV | The Land That Devours Its People | |
1. | Wandering | 277 |
2. | And the Earth Opened Its Mouth | 304 |
3. | The Land of Milk and Honey | 328 |
Book V | Toward the Promised Land | |
1. | The Wars of the Lord | 351 |
2. | Half as Old as Time | 373 |
3. | Sunrise in the Palm of the Lord | 394 |
And the People Believed | 429 | |
Take These Words | 431 | |
Index | 437 |
Reading Group Guide
Introduction
Walking the Bible is Bruce Feiler's engrossing 10,000-mile journey and archaeological odyssey -- by foot, jeep, rowboat, and camel -- through the Holy Land. A fifth-generation Jew from Savannah, Georgia, Feiler was overcome with the urge to reconnect with the Bible, musing upon the original seeker, Abraham, as his inspiration:"Abraham was not originally the man he became. He was not an Israelite, he was not a Jew. He was not even a believer in God -- at least initially. He was a traveler, called by some voice not entirely clear that said: Go head to this land, walk along this route, and trust what you will find."Along with noted Israeli archaeologist Avner Goren, who acted as Feiler's trusted guide, partner, mentor, and sidekick, Feiler embarks on painstakingly retracing through the desert the Pentatuech, the first five books of the Old Testament. Traveling through Turkey, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Egypt, and Jordan, three continents, and four war zones, Feiler converses freely with Bedouins and religious pilgrims alike. He visits actual places referenced in the Bible, including Mount Ararat, where it is believed that Noah's Ark landed after the flood, Saint Catherine's Monastery, the site of the burning bush where Moses first heard the words of God, and Mount Nebo, where Moses overlooked the Promised Land. In engaging and lucid prose, Feiler continually reflects on how the geography of the land affects the narrative of the Bible, and pointedly wonders whether the Bible is just an abstraction, or a living, breathing entity. Ultimately, Feiler concludes in Walking the Bible that the Bible "is foreverapplicable, it's always now…It lives because it never dies." The land that Feiler explores on his journey is timeless. Walking the Bible is not only a "good read," it's worth thinking about and savoring the people and places Feiler visits. This Study Guide is designed to help book groups explore and reflect on Walking the Bible through discussion. The Study Guide helps groups trace the large themes Feiler touches upon in his travels -- feelings about the land, its people, their history, the Bible -- and Feiler's own experiences on his journey. Whether you've journeyed to the Middle East or are content to remain an "armchair traveler," Walking the Bible is a fabulous adventure through a timeless world. And its accompanying Study Guide will deepen your experience and understanding of the region. Discussion Questions
Interviews
Exclusive Author Essay
Some books come from a deep-seated urge. Others come from an unexpected moment in time. Walking the Bible comes from both.
First, the deep-seated urge. Like many, after leaving home at the end of high school, I lost touch with the religious community I had known as a child. I slowly disengaged from the sticky attachment that comes from a regular cycle of readings, prayers, and services. I separated myself from the texts as well. And ultimately I woke up one morning and realized I had no connection to the Bible. It was a book to me now, one that sat on the shelf, gathering dust on its gilded pages. The Bible was part of the past -- an old way of learning, a crutch. I wanted to be part of the future.
Over more than a decade of living and working abroad I found that ideas, and places, became more real to me when I experienced them firsthand. But even as I traveled, I found that certain feelings from my past kept resurfacing. There was a conversation going on in the world that I wasn't participating in. References would pop up in books or movies that I couldn't fully comprehend. I would read entire newspaper articles about wars I couldn't explain. At weddings and funerals the words I heard and recited were just that -- words. They were not part of me in any way. And yet I wanted them to be. Suddenly, almost overnight as I recall, I wanted these words to have meaning again.
No sooner had I made this realization than I discovered how daunting it seemed. For starters, the idea of reading the Bible from cover to cover seemed undoable. The text was too long, its language too remote. I went to the bookstore seeking help, but found 50 different translations, with assorted concordances, interpretations, and daily inspirations. None of the classes I considered tackled these questions either. I was left with the book, which sat by my bed for months on end, suffering from renewed neglect.
Then I went to Jerusalem. On my first day I joined an old friend, Fred, who was giving a tour to some students. We stopped on a promenade overlooking the city. "Over there," said Fred, "is Har Homa [a controversial settlement]. And over there is the cliff where Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac." Real or not, that piece of information hit me like a bolt of Cecil B. DeMille lightning. It had never occurred to me that that story -- so timeless, so abstract -- might have happened in a place that was identifiable, no less one I could visit.
In subsequent weeks I had the same experience in a variety of places. In the Middle East, the Bible is not some abstraction. It's a living, breathing entity unencumbered by the sterilization of time. That was the Bible I wanted to know, and almost immediately I realized that the only way to find it was to walk along those lines myself. I would take this ancient book and approach it with contemporary methods of learning -- traveling, talking, experiencing. In other words, I would enter the Bible as if it were any other world and seek to become a part of it. Once inside, I would walk in its footsteps, meet its characters, and ask its questions in an effort to understand why its stories had become so timeless and once again so vitally important to me. (Bruce Feiler)