BOOK REVIEW:   Spokesman Review

Reviewed by Nina Culver

 This book takes nearly every well loved and popular story from the Bible and tries to shoot holes in it. The story of Noah and the flood, Egypt enslaving Israel for 400 years, Moses giving Israel the Ten Commandments, David killing Goliatb — all false, according to Greenberg’s book.

In his book’s preface, Greenberg writes that he looked at stories in the Old Testament that had at least two contradictory accounts in the Bible. His explanation for many of the stories is that they were rewritten over time, made up or were actually versions of ancient myths and legends from neighboring cultures.

Each Bible story is quoted from Scripture and is followed by several pages of arguments about why the story should be considered a myth. Greenberg divides his book into three sections: “Myths of the Beginning,” “Myths of the Founders” and “Myths of the Heroes.”

This book will probably either strengthen your belief or cast it into doubt. Just remember, there’s a reason it’s called faith. At any rate, it will make for lively dinner table discussions.

Greenberg is a lawyer and president of the Biblical Archaeology Society of New York. He is also a member of the Society of Biblical Literatures and the Egypt Exploration Society. His previous work includes “The Moses Mystery: The African Origins of the Jewish People.”
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