John Riches - The Bible: A Very Short Introduction

clear and lively ... a distinguished addition to the series
Christopher Rowland, University of Oxford

John Riches reminds us that one of the most read books in the world
the Bible is now most widely read in unfamiliar places South Africa,
Zimbabwe, Botswana, the Philippines, and Peru by poor and
marginalized people.
Gerald West, University of Natal

Very Short John Riches book may be, but it is not simple nor could it
be. It is a masterly reduction, without minimizing the problems: indeed,
it exposes them as they need to be exposed.
Canon Eric James

This lively book will be read with profit and delight by a wide range of
readers. The authors many examples of the ways the Bible has been
used and misused in different parts of the world make fascinating, and
sometimes disturbing reading.
Graham Stanton, Kings College, London

John Riches makes the Bibles strong vitality abundantly apparent
Tom Butler, Bishop of Southwark

VERY SHORT INTRODUCTIONS are for anyone wanting a stimulating and accessible way in to a new subject. They are written by experts, and have been published in more than 25 languages worldwide.

The series began in 1995, and now represents a wide variety of topics in history, philosophy, religion, science, and the humanities. Over the next few years it will grow to a library of around 200 volumes a Very Short Introduction to everything from ancient Egypt and Indian philosophy to conceptual art and cosmology.

Very Short Introductions available now:

ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY Julia Annas

THE ANGLO-SAXON AGE John Blair

ANIMAL RIGHTS David DeGrazia

ARCHAEOLOGY Paul Bahn

ARCHITECTURE Andrew Ballantyne

ARISTOTLE Jonathan Barnes

ART HISTORY Dana Arnold

ART THEORY Cynthia Freeland

THE HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY Michael Hoskin

ATHEISM Julian Baggini

AUGUSTINE Henry Chadwick

BARTHES Jonathan Culler

THE BIBLE John Riches

BRITISH POLITICS Anthony Wright

BUDDHA Michael Carrithers

BUDDHISM Damien Keown

CAPITALISM James Fulcher

THE CELTS Barry Cunliffe

CHOICE THEORY Michael Allingham

CHRISTIAN ART Beth Williamson

CLASSICS Mary Beard and John Henderson

CLAUSEWITZ Michael Howard

THE COLD WAR Robert McMahon

CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY Simon Critchley

COSMOLOGY Peter Coles

CRYPTOGRAPHY Fred Piper and Sean Murphy

DADA AND SURREALISM David Hopkins

DARWIN Jonathan Howard

DEMOCRACY Bernard Crick

DESCARTES Tom Sorell

DRUGS Leslie Iversen

THE EARTH Martin Redfern

EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY Geraldine Pinch

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN Paul Langford

THE ELEMENTS Philip Ball

EMOTION Dylan Evans

EMPIRE Stephen Howe

ENGELS Terrell Carver

ETHICS Simon Blackburn

THE EUROPEAN UNION John Pinder

EVOLUTION Brian and Deborah Charlesworth

FASCISM Kevin Passmore

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION William Doyle

FREUD Anthony Storr

GALILEO Stillman Drake

GANDHI Bhikhu Parekh

GLOBALIZATION Manfred Steger

HEGEL Peter Singer

HEIDEGGER Michael Inwood

HINDUISM Kim Knott

HISTORY John H. Arnold

HOBBES Richard Tuck

HUME A. J. Ayer

IDEOLOGY Michael Freeden

INDIAN PHILOSOPHY Sue Hamilton

INTELLIGENCE Ian J. Deary

ISLAM Malise Ruthven

JUDAISM Norman Solomon

JUNG Anthony Stevens

KANT Roger Scruton

KIERKEGAARD Patrick Gardiner

THE KORAN Michael Cook

LINGUISTICS Peter Matthews

LITERARY THEORY Jonathan Culler

LOCKE John Dunn

LOGIC Graham Priest

MACHIAVELLI Quentin Skinner

MARX Peter Singer

MATHEMATICS Timothy Gowers

MEDIEVAL BRITAIN John Gillingham and Ralph A. Griffiths

MODERN IRELAND Senia Paeta

MOLECULES Philip Ball

MUSIC Nicholas Cook

NIETZSCHE Michael Tanner

NINETEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN Christopher Harvie and H. C. G. Matthew

NORTHERN IRELAND Marc Mulholland

PAUL E. P. Sanders

PHILOSOPHY Edward Craig

PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE Samir Okasha

PLATO Julia Annas

POLITICS Kenneth Minogue

POSTCOLONIALISM Robert Young

POSTMODERNISM Christopher Butler

POSTSTRUCTURALISM Catherine Belsey

PREHISTORY Chris Gosden

PRESOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY Catherine Osborne

PSYCHOLOGY Gillian Butler and Freda McManus

QUANTUM THEORY John Polkinghorne

ROMAN BRITAIN Peter Salway

ROUSSEAU Robert Wokler

RUSSELL A. C. Grayling

RUSSIAN LITERATURE Catriona Kelly

THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION S. A. Smith

SCHIZOPHRENIA Chris Frith and Eve Johnstone

SCHOPENHAUER Christopher Janaway

SHAKESPEARE Germaine Greer

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY John Monaghan and Peter Just

SOCIOLOGY Steve Bruce

SOCRATES C. C. W. Taylor

SPINOZA Roger Scruton

STUART BRITAIN John Morrill

TERRORISM Charles Townshend

THEOLOGY David F. Ford

Available soon:

THE TUDORS John Guy

TWENTIETH-CENTURY BRITAIN Kenneth O. Morgan

WITTGENSTEIN A. C. Grayling

WORLD MUSIC Philip Bohlman

AFRICAN HISTORY John Parker and Richard Rathbone

ANCIENT EGYPT Ian Shaw

THE BRAIN Michael OShea

BUDDHIST ETHICS Damien Keown

CHAOS Leonard Smith

CHRISTIANITY Linda Woodhead

CITIZENSHIP Richard Bellamy

CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE Robert Tavernor

CLONING Arlene Judith Klotzko

CONTEMPORARY ART Julian Stallabrass

THE CRUSADES Christopher Tyerman

DERRIDA Simon Glendinning

DESIGN John Heskett

DINOSAURS David Norman

DREAMING J. Allan Hobson

ECONOMICS Partha Dasgupta

THE END OF THE WORLD Bill McGuire