If you are looking for a perspective on the Bible that is easier to read, that explains the Bible from its origin to where we are today, A Natural History of Scripture: How the Bible Evolved by Keith H. Adkins just may be what you're looking for. Having studied theology but never quite figuring out how to articulate what I learned in college, this book is a must-read for anybody who wants to know where the Bible comes from or someone who just graduated from college but is having difficulty figuring out how to piece everything together or how to articulate it to those s/he is ministering to. Below, I offer a review of this book with my own perspective.
First, a summary. This book has 8 chapters. It starts easy. So easy, in fact you can breeze through the first half of the book. The book is broken into four parts. Part one is titled, "Prenatal Stage: Storytellers." It only includes chapters 1 which is entitled, "Oral History: The Theory of Common Descent." Part two, "Infant Stage: Writers," consists of chapter two, which is called, "Written History: Earliest Fossils in the Bible," and chapter 3 which is about, "Prophets: First Branch of a New Species." Part 3 is entitled, "Adolescent Stage: Editors, and includes chapter 4 which is called, "Priests: Gradualism in Action, chapter 5, which is named, "Translators: Diversity Strikes Again," and chapter 6 which is entitled, "Evangelists: Adaptation at Work." Part 4 is entitled, "Adult Stage: Standardizers" and includes chapter 7, which is entitled, "Politicians: Natural Selection in Process," and chapter 8, called, "Publishers: Elements of Microevolution."
This book follows a very specific approach, meshing the Scriptures with Darwinian evolution. This may be shocking to some readers who may be attracted to the simple reading level of this book. But even if one is not an evolutionist, I think one can gain great value from reading this book.
The reason is that while Keith Adkins starts with a simple (not simplistic) explanation of how the Bible began, as the book progresses, he goes deeper and deeper into the history of the Bible. While he emphasizes the human aspects of the development of the Bible and one may think early on that he denies the synergism of the human with the divine, that is not the case. He underscores that in the end with a connection of the hypostatic (divine-human) nature of Christ to the Bible.
If one is interested in the King James Bible (KJB), one will gain an appreciation for the historical context of where that Bible came from. And if one is partial to more modern translations, s/he will gain an appreciation of where that Bible came from as well.
As I said in the beginning, this book summarizes very well my experience in undergrad and seminary, but especially undergrad. I can recall my professors saying things that were referenced in their classes. For example, Dr. Tom Phillips at Eastern Nazarene College at the time, who spoke of the diversity of the Church from it's inception in Biblical Literature and Dr. George Lyons spoke of redaction in his New Testament Interpretation class.
This is a book that would be good not only for college students or college graduates but also those who want to know more about the Bible. In fact, I'd like to use this book as a preface to a Bible study with students at the university I teach at in South Korea.
Thank you, Keith H. Adkins, a fellow Wesleyan, for bringing scholarship to the masses in a readable format that those with formal theological training and those without can gain thanks to your diligent work.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
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