OF WISE MEN AND FOOLS: Realism in the Bible

by David Edman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 19, 1972

Realism in the Bible is the subject of this book; and by realism Edman means humanity, in the sense of humanization. The people in the Bible were not all good or bad; they were all human, which means that they were a combination of both. How else to explain the various swindles and deceptions perpetrated by such Biblical heroes as Jacob or the sundry foolishness of the wise Solomon? And how else to understand that it was the prototypical villain, Judas -- and not Peter, or John -- who, on the last day of Jesus' life, found the courage to speak in defense of the man he had betrayed? If a fault may be found with the author's humanizing process, it is that he skirts dangerously close to attributing a 20th century mentality to men who lived in circumstances remote from those that produce the modern mentality. Yet, in the end, it makes a point with charm and style that makes one willing to forget such cavils: God's heroes were not, in effect, very different from God's rogues.

Pub Date: May 19, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972

Categories: NONFICTION