The Bible is the most influential book in world history. Like all creations it has a biography – a family history with parents (God the Father and the Holy Ghost) and ancestors (gods and goddesses of the Ancient Orient). It has a developmental history, a history of interpretations, effects and side-effects – each of which has its own history.
To realize this, one needs additional information: The stories of Moses, Noah or the Queen of Sheba have a historical background. Reports about and interpretations of the life of Jesus by the Evangelists and apostles cannot be understood without a knowledge of the books of the Old Testament, the Bible of Jesus and his disciples. With the help of historically critical theological research, modern linguistics, archaeology, the historical sciences and especially natural scientific discoveries, Martin Urban shows us that the Bible has to be understood in a different way today than it was two thousand years ago.
Today, we know that the Ten Commandments are a construct. The psalms of David are not really from David, Solomon’s sayings are not really from Solomon. Peter was not Catholic, and most definitely not the first Pope, nor did he leave behind any letters. Only seven of Paul’s 13 letters are considered genuine.
Knowing this doesn’t make the Bible any less important, it makes it more plausible. Martin Urban concludes: "For me, the Old Testament together with the New Testament as one Bible remains the foundation of our culture and all our endeavours to seek and understand God and the world."
