Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction by Lawrence Boadt

Excellent book. GReat for a class or further understanding of the Old Testament. Required reading and text for our class!

the old testament

This is an excellent book for the class I am taking on the Old Testament. It is easy to read and contains the information I need.

Infected with Anti-Semitism and Anti-Catholicism

Lawrence Boadt strongly bases his discussions of the Torah on the theories of Julius Wellhausen, a 19th century German rationalist who doubted the "authenticity" of the Torah. A historic revisionist, Wellhausen claimed that he was presenting the "true" story of the Torah when in fact his theories called the whole foundation of the Jewish religion into question. Although this book is published by a "Catholic" press (Paulist), it is also infected with anti-Catholicism. One, after all, cannot be anti-Semitic and also pro-Catholic. To suggest that large portions of the Torah were falsified is also to suggest that Catholicism is falsified at its very foundations. Jesus, after all, was a Jew; and as Pope Benedict XVI has said, without Abraham, there would be no Christmas. The Jewish people are Catholics'elder brothers and sisters in the faith. Judaism and Catholicism go hand-in-hand. This book should be soundly rejected by Jews and Christians alike.