Overview

""The stories you are about to read are some of the most violent and sexually explicit in all of Western literature. They are tales of human passion in all of its infinite variety: adultery, seduction, incest, rape, mutilation, assassination, torture, sacrifice, and murder. . . ."" Sex. Violence. Scandal. These are words we rarely associate with the sacred text of the Bible. Yet in this brilliant book, Jonathan Kirsch recounts shocking tales that have been suppressed by religious authorities throughout history. Kirsch places each story within the political and social context of its time, delves into the latest biblical scholarship to explain why each one was originally censored, and shows how these ancient narratives hold valuable lessons for all of us.

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9780345418821

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"""This arresting and entertaining book is an important reminder that God cannot always be identified with respectable middle-class morality, and that some of the more shocking stories in the Bible have hard but necessary lessons for us today"".-- Karen Armstrong New York Times bestselling author of A History of God"

This arresting and entertaining book is an important reminder that God cannot always be identified with respectable middle-class morality, and that some of the more shocking stories in the Bible have hard but necessary lessons for us today .-- Karen ArmstrongNew York Times bestselling author of A History of God

This arresting and entertaining book is an important reminder that God cannot always be identified with respectable middle-class morality, and that some of the more shocking stories in the Bible have hard but necessary lessons for us today .<p>-- Karen Armstrong<p>New York Times bestselling author of A History of God

Author Information

Jonathan Kirsch , a book columnist for the Los Angeles Times and the author of two novels, writes and lectures widely on Biblical, literary, and legal topics. A member of the National Book Critics Circle, and a former correspondent for Newsweek, he lives and practices intellectual property law in Los Angeles.

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