One would think that after thousands of years of study and debate and discussion, there would not be anything more to say or discover about the Bible. WRONG!
I am a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, a worldwide organization of people who study and teach and preach from the Bible. As part of that membership, every week I receive by e-mail a set of reviews of new and recent books published by Biblical scholars from all over the world. Recently I received a notice about a book entitled Sound Mapping the New Testament. The description of the book says that modern understanding of the Biblical texts comes from translations based on silently reading to ourselves the written words. But in ancient times, in the Hellenistic world, writings were read aloud, heard, and remembered. That difference between ancient and modern approaches to literature, argue the authors, obscures the beauty and meaning in writings such as the New Testament. Read more…