The Harlot by the Side of the Road: Forbidden Tales of the Bible
Books / Hardcover
Books › Religion › Biblical Commentary › General
ISBN: 0345407490 / Publisher: Ballantine Books, April 1997
Discusses the meaning and value of controversial stories in the Bible that feature sex or violence and have often been suppressed, and suggests portions of the Bible were written by women
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The Harlot by the Side of the Road is the first book to shed light on strange biblical passages which have largely been ignored by ministers, priests and rabbies because they semed too awkward to examine. Johnathan Kirsch retells these `forbidden' stories in con-temporary English, alongside thr original text, and demonstrates that the people in biblical times were as vulnerable, confused and prone to weakness of the flesh and failure of the spirit as any character in Homer, Shakespere or Dostoevsky, and wrestled with the same problems of the heart and mind hat still confront us today. He also explains how each story found its way into the Bible, why it was originally suppressed-and examines the rituals, customs and politics that bring these extraordinary tales alive for the contempoary reader.
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