Subjects, Themes and Images of the Bible - New Thematic Index (Hardcover, 2nd Revised edition)

The Index of Subjects, Themes and Images covers both the Old and New Testaments in both the Authorised Version and modern translations, and is intended chiefly for the interested lay-person; also perhaps the writer or speech-maker looking for a useful quotation. Reading the entire Bible from the Creation to the Apocalypse may seem a formidable (not to say at times boring) task, and this approach by way of subjects and themes of particular interest may offer the reader an easy way in. Many of the references refer to imagery rather than hard fact, and at the risk of over-stating the obvious, it may be pointed out that the Bible is well packed with ancient history interspersed with parables and moral stories, and rich in symbols, allegories, analogies, metaphors and similes. Over-literal interpretation has frequently caused misunderstandings when devotion shades into credulity. In the Old Testament ancient parables have become entangled with historical record, and occasionally folk tales with a moral have become incorporated and thereby gained a measure of divine authority. The gruesome story of a gang of little boys mauled by bears for teasing Elisha (in the Second Book of Kings) could have come straight from some 800BC precursor of Grimm's Household Tales. The Bible represents a record of man's relationship with the divine, and the divine, or spirituality, being non-material, cannot be expressed in material terms. For example, nobody would look to the Bible as a farming textbook, and yet the "Farming" section of this index is substantial. Even prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel were close enough to the land for farming metaphors to come readily to their lips. Such references are all included here, for they form a valid picture of the rural scene and everyday concerns of those ancient people. The case is similar with "Buildings", in which category Ezekiel's purely visionary but extraordinarily detailed description of the temple of the New Jerusalem is given equal status to the historically real temple of Solomon. This is how the Bible works: because its individual descriptions originate some from outward and others from inward perceptions, the general structure can be seen as a fine balance between inner and outer. Inspired writing uses outward, material imagery to portray that which is inward and non-material