Objective Biblical Analysis Books

Hello. Christmas is coming up and I'm planning on getting some Hawking, Gould, and maybe an extensive unbiased (or the most unbiased I can find) Biblical analysis book. Anyone have any good suggestions? I'm not exactly interested in an atheistic tear-up of the Bible, but I'm not interested in a major Christian take either, just the most objective Biblical analysis book I can get my hands on.Has anyone here read anything particularly good?Thanks.

Tsegamla,Check out "The Bible Unearthed" by Finkelstein and Silberman. It's a very good read; it meets the specifications you requested.--Macavity

I've no quarrels with _The Bible Unearthed_, but it only deals with the earlier sections and mainly concerns the relationship to archaeology.A more general book that might be a good starting point is _The Unauthorised Version_ by Robin Lane Fox.

There is one I am awaiting the delivery of so I cannot yet give a review of it but it is called 'Secret Origins of the Bible' by Tim Callahan,

Tsegamla,The book I have in mind is "Basic Bible Interpretation" by a man named Zuck. Now this is more towards the side...well I guess I have to say it is heavily Christian. However, the reason I am recommending it is becuase the author sets forth some principles and considerations for making a proper and logical interpretation of the Bible. This is very good since an erroneous interpretation can produce all sorts of craziness that is simply not supported by the whole of scripture, much less by the character of God.I would definitely say it would be more the kind of thing to read if you were interested in making your own evaluation of the Bible. And I must stress, as best as I can remember, the author does not come off with a "see it my way or else" view, but rather a "hey, lets just take a logically reasonable approach to the Bible" stance.So then, sorry I took up so much space with a book that may turn out to be a rabbit trail item but I thought it might be of use.Russ

How about Asimov's Guide to the Bible? I've read other books about the bible but this one is by far my favorite. It's not an attack on the bible, but it does present a secular view of the stories within it. Although this book won't give you all the data you need to defeat the ever-changing arguments of young-earthers, it will give you a clear understanding of the background of all of the bible's stories, including creation, the tower of Babel, the parting of the Red Sea, etc. Each book of the bible is dealt with individually.So far I've only posted in two threads on this forum (I have more to learn than to offer here) and in each case it was to promote a book by Asimov. He's one of my favorite writers and his non-fiction works are the most entertainingly educational books I can think of.

I agree with berberry. Despite the fact that I am a fundie , I am a great fan of science fiction, and Asimov is one of my favourites; especially fascinating are the Black Widow Club detective stories. I have heard he attacked Christians but have never read anything of his that could be considered unamiable.
I was surprised though to hear he wrote a guide to the Bible. Don't know why... I never thought he would be interested by it.

Asimov never "attacked" Christians, in any sense of that word. He did not believe in Christianity nor any other faith. He believed in science. In his non-fiction works he often referred to Christianity, most extensively in his Bible guide but also in his Chronology of the World, his Guide to Shakespeare and in his Guide to Earth and Space. He had great respect for the Bible. He believed that it and the works of Shakespeare were the most important and beautiful written works western civilization has ever produced. If you are truly a fan of Asimov, you really should grab one of these non-fiction works and read it. You will see that he was much more than just a great writer of fiction.