I am reading a lot of books by Jonathan Kirsch:
That's the order that I've read them, though I've not read "The Woman Who Laughed At God", it's next on the list.
Here's the thing: Jonathan is a liberal, Jewish, atheist writer. He's relies heavily on textual criticism and liberal research. Yes, he's highly readable, but he seems to approach the bible with respect yet without believing that it really is the Word of God.
And I'm loving reading him. I got turned on to him in a very roundabout way. The public library I go to has a bookshelf of books for sale, things that have been donated, removed from circulation, doubles, etc. For a buck you can get a hard-back book, often with the cool library plastic binding stuff on it.
I saw the book "Moses" and since we are reading through the bible in our Sunday School class and are in the middle of the Moses story (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and now, Deuteronomy) I picked it up, thinking it might be interesting. Thing is, it was. Very interesting. Kirsch is one of the best writers that I've ever read in terms of being accessible and interesting. You can read one of his books in two days, they are that easy to read. Yet, he handles tough academic questions in an accessible way.
There are times I want to throw his books across the room, since they spout a lot of liberal lines, but since he doesn't claim to be a believer, much less an evangelical Christian, I can handle it a little better.
The thing I like about it is that he does not give the pat answers to things that we expect from our evangelical brothers (which is why I like Philip Yancey). He shows arguments that we might never be exposed to, since no evangelical author would dare mention some of the textual criticisms that he brings up. And, as in the case of "Harlot By The Side of the Road" he talks about things in the bible that are rarely mentioned.
In "God Against the gods" he is basically defending the pagans and showing how monotheists cause wars. I don't agree with him one bit, but I learned a lot.
Would I recommend him? Not to a Christian who didn't REALLY know their bible and could rationally discern which arguments are valid and which are not. I wouldn't recommend him to someone who was not sure of their faith. But to someone who could "eat the fish and spit out the bones" he's a very good author who will show you how the "other side" thinks. He really does handle the arguments well, and he's not anti-faith, he's just not a believer himself.
It's been nice to read some things that make me think, instead of just the "party line".
The only thing I wonder is this: I heard someone say once: "There is not enough time in a lifetime to read all the good books, so don't waste time on the bad ones" and by bad he meant things that are unorthodox. I worry about that. The time I spend reading a liberal, secular scholar on the bible could be spent reading things that are more edifying, or by re-reading the bible. However, I think that if we can read something by a someone who does not think like we do and still keep the faith and maintain what we believe, we are all the stronger for it.
Call it intellectual resistance training.
What do you all think?
Incidentally, at this moment I am reading "Who Wrote the Bible" by Richard Friedman, which is an apologetic for the source criticism. A lady in my church read it and wanted to know what I thought. I don't agree with most of his conclusions, but at least now I'm better able to answer her questions. I now know what the arguments of the other side are.
Hey, it's better than reading anything about my best life now!
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