Customer Reviews
An incredible read, allows to understand the historical context of the bible 
2009-01-30
I was amazed by the incredible erudition necessary to write this book. Asimov gives us a historical tour of biblical times, taking each book of the bible one at time, for which the book is absolutely incredible and accessible (it would be priceless in my opinion for the chapters on the books of Kings alone). His objectives weren't to analyze the spiritual and humanistic aspects of the bible, only to narrate and contextualize the environment in which the biblical stories take place.
The maps, especially from the Old Testament segment, are very interesting; but together with the coherent and continuous narrative this is an incredible way to dive into a historical context unfamiliar to most.
Since Asimov's ambition is to narrate historical events, he at times must point out discrepancies between known historical chronology and the order in which biblical events take place. His take on the synoptic gospels is to comment on a possible historical Jesus, the reasonableness of the described census that takes Mary and John to make their travel, the historical Herod, and many interesting facts. Don't go in expecting any spiritual analysis; he is going for the historical realities and a possible non-miraculous "historical Jesus". This is the basic proposal of the book; it is a valuable, informative and fun read regardless of the religious convictions of the reader, but you should go in expecting a Historical Guide to the Bible.
Fascinating glimpse into the history of the Bible, with some flaws 
2008-11-14
As other reviewers have noted, "Asimov's Guide to the Bible" provides an interesting historical context for many of the people and places described in the Bible. It does so unevenly, sometimes providing pages of analysis on a single word, then skipping whole chapters. But this is an inevitable necessity given the length and depth of the subject; even with its selective focus, the book comes in at over 1200 pages. If Mr. Asimov had covered all topics equally, it would have spanned a dozen volumes and he never would have had time to write all the wonderfully imaginative science fiction he's deservedly famous for.
Which leads me to my only serious complaint about the book: Asimov occasionally allows his imagination to get the better of him. There are several points where he offers a possible scientific explanation for Biblical events that are apparently completely unfounded speculation.
For example he offers his own hypothesis that Noah's flood may have been caused by a meteor strike in the Persian Gulf. Possible, but he gives no supporting evidence to back this unnecessarily exotic explanation.
Later, he suggests that Joshua may have brought down the walls of Jericho with sappers while his marching army distracted the city's guards with horns and shouting. Again, he doesn't give any evidence (in fact, archaeological evidence suggests Jericho was uninhabited at the time the events in Joshua take place).
Despite these occasional unsupported injections, for the large part Asimov's writing is clear, engaging and most importantly, educating. While it might not be my first choice for an historical bible companion, I would definitely recommend it.
Asimov's Guide 2007-12-28
My daughter suggested that I give her a Bible concordance as a Christmas gift. I bought one for her and then looked for Asimov's guide, which I have in my library and consider the best available guide to the Bible. Fortunately, I found it on Amazon. She was fascinated with it. Asimov knew what he was writing about. He wrote 200 books and I consider this among his best. He didn't just "translate the King James version into modern English"; he shared his vast knowledge of ancient history, geography, and languages.
Asimov's outdated guide; it's still a good read 2007-12-21
This work was published in 2 volumes: OT 1967 and NT 1969 and sadly, the information in this book is outdated because so many new discoveries and evidence about this subject has exploded in the 1990s and 2000s. So, to a student of biblical criticism this book was rather a bore at times but, if you are new to the game I would recommend this book to get you started.
I am sure this would have been a great read in the 1960s - 1980s.
Must have hot Biblical Historicity students 2007-08-19
This book can be only described with one word. AMAZING!
The insight and knowledge of the late Isaac Asimov is shown here with such an amazing simplicity. He can explain the mystery of life in laymen's terms with extreme ease.
This book, while vast and detailed, is a must have for all the people that have that itch to understand all the mysteries of the bible and only find books that only confuses them more.
Fascinating Historical Background of Biblical Times 2007-07-30
In
Asimov's Guide to the Bible, Isaac Asimov explores the historical, geographical, and biographical aspects of the events described in the Old and New Testaments. Asimov's attempts to illuminate the Bible's many obscure, mysterious passages prove absorbing reading for anyone interested in religion and history.
Great secular view of the Bible 2007-07-23
Asimov's book gives a very good secular view of the Bible and puts the events occuring in the Bible into historical perspective. It also provides an understanding of the the structure of the Bible, e.g., what is considered canonical (by Jews, Catholics, Protestants), who likely wrote what (although the scholarship may be dated), what was occuring in history when the various books were written, etc. Consider this a book for Bible 101 to teach basic Bible literacy.
Recomended 2007-03-25
The Great Asimov's writer's talant plus academic accuracy.
Both atheists and believers find what they are looking for.
Asimov analyses how and why different chapters of the Bible
are written, and the possible reason for differencies.
I feel so sorry I did not have more time to read it 2-3 times,
in parallel with the bible itself.
The Gospel according to Asimov... 2007-02-11
..Well not really but an engrossing non-theologian's guide to the Bible at any rate. Tracing the history of civilisation and laying both the mythology and the theology bare in Asimov's clear and precise style, this is a great student/adult reference book written by one of the century's greatest explainers.
A great addition to your biblical studies library! 2007-01-16
For someone not formally schooled in biblical studies, Asimov has succeeded in creating and informative and highly readable book which generally places the events of the Old and New Testaments within their historical backdrops.
Having said that, this book should be merely an addition to your biblical studies library because understandably Asimov has failed in three ways that ultimately render the helpfulness of his incomplete:
1) Asimov has failed to include substantial archeological finds which would have great added to his analysis. His publication dates show that his earliest book -- his Guide to the Old Testament -- was published in 1967. By that point in time, two archeological finds had been discovered which augured significantly in biblical analysis. The first was the Merneptah Stele found by Flinders Petrie in 1896. The Stele essentially boasts his victorious campaign in the canaan prior to 1215 BCE and is important because it's the first extra biblical reference to the "Israelities." The second find was the Pilatus stone which proved the presence of the historical Pilate at Caesaria Maritima during the time period of 26 to 37 CE. This stone was discovered in 1961...again more than ample time for Asimov to have been aware of it and included in his treatment.
2) Though his work obviously shows that he's familiar with the works Flavious Josephus(a 1st century historian of Jewish history), Asimov has failed to include other historical writings which may have helped his book. In this regard, Asimov failed to note that at the same time the septuagent was translated into Greek, under Ptolemy II, an Egyptian historian by the name of Manetho also wrote a court history of Egypt wherein he gave an Egyptian version of the Exodus. This is significant because it shows that twenty two centuries ago, the Egyptians for their part were not denying the fact but merely the details of the Exodus. In relation to New Testament writings Asimov failed to completely discuss the signifance of the Book of Enoch and apocryphal work in circulation during the time period of 4 BCE to 29 CE which essentially discussed the visionary teachings of a son of man who came on the clouds.
2) Though again, Asimov's lack of formal training makes understandable his failure to fully fulfill the mission of good history writing, having set himself to the task, he should have pursued the task with more vigilence...particularly in regard to the historical foundations of both the Old and New Testament.
For his part, when discussing the patriarchical period, Asimov merely treated the biblical accounts at face value and discussed what was going on in history when the biblical story was talking about the movements of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses. He took a similar stance on the New Testament characters.
In other words, though he didn't shy from saying that we were two thousand years and waiting on the apocalypse described in Revelations, he didn't discuss the mythic process by which history was recorded prior to the axial age.
Even despite these shortcomings, however, his treatment of the time when myth meets history was good history and makes this book well worthy of inclusion in your biblical studies library.
