Volume 3 covers the effects of the Bible on the history of the West between the Reformation and the publication of the New English Bible.

Volume 3 covers the effects of the Bible on the history of the West between the Reformation and the publication of the New English Bible.

Volume 3 covers the effects of the Bible on the history of the West between the Reformation and the publication of the New English Bible.

For 2000 years the Bible has provided evidence and witness for the beliefs of three major world religions. Some consider the Bible dangerous, while others have died for it, but the response to the Bible is always passionate. This book relates the story of such passions, from the Roman Empire to the present. It is a story primarily about individuals, the drama of their lives woven into the tapestry of their times: barbarian invasions, Black Death, Waldensian heresy, the pageantry of medieval romance, the debauchery of the medieval Vatican, the spirit of the Renaissance, the tradition of monk and scholar. All of these historical currents influenced the text--now corrupted and distorted and existing in a confusing number of versions. This book tells how today's Bible came to be what it is and provides an understanding of the richness of its text.

Introduction -- The early history of editing -- Jewish and Christian scholarship and standardization of biblical texts -- Classical and biblical text editions : editing in the age of the printing press -- Editing Homer : the rise of historical criticism in classical studies -- The history of the "editor" in biblical criticism from Simon to Wellhausen -- The history of redaction in the twentieth century : crisis in higher criticism -- Editing the Bible and textual criticism -- Editors and the creation of the canon -- Summary and conclusion