A History of the Bible: The Book and Its Faiths

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A History of the Bible by John Barton: The Gospel Truth?

A History of the Bible by John Barton

The Gospel Truth?

BBC Radio 4 - A History of the Bible by John Barton, The Gospel Truth?

John Barton’s challenging and engaging  A History of the Bible is read by Hugh Bonneville.

Hugh Bonneville reads from John Barton’s A History of the Bible and today asks how the New Testament came to be written and just how Holy is it?

John Barton’s fascinating A History of the Bible investigates the origins, development and contemporary meaning of this greatest of unread bestsellers. From a disparate collection of writings that first emerged deep in the distant past Barton charts the gradual emergence of both the Old and the New Testaments and their evolution into what have become the two revered volumes of authoritative Scripture that we know today. In a series of lively and engaging essays Barton shows how meaning has both been drawn from the Bible and been imposed upon it and explores how differently Judaism and Christianity approach and interpret the books of both the Old and New Testaments. 

Today Barton turns his attention to the New Testament and asks how the four great Gospels came into being. Written on Codexes and rather than scrolls, this begs the question just how ‘Holy’ is the New Testament?

Read by Hugh Bonneville
Adapted for radio by John Barton and Richard Hamilton
Produced by Karen Holden

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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Hugh Bonneville tells the story of the Bible and of the two faiths that hold it sacred.

Hugh Bonneville reads John Barton’s story of the Bible and of how the two faiths that hold it sacred have shaped it and been shaped by it.

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A History of the Bible by John Barton

The Gospel Truth?

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