Bible Babel: Making Sense of the Most Talked about Book of All Time »

Kristin Swenson is a professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of World Studies. She is the author of Living Through Pain: Psalms and the Search for Wholeness and lives in Richmond, Virginia.

Based on the most recent scholarship, Bible Babel is a lively and ery readable introduction to the Bible what it is, where it comes from, and what's in it.

Why does the film Magnolia end in a downpour of frogs?

Is the serpent in the Garden of Eden the devil or just a snake?

While watching The Ten Commandments, why did Metalica's base player think, "Whoa, it's like creeping death!" thus naming a hit song?

Who is the lamb with seven horns and seven eyes, who opens the seven seals of a cosmic scroll?

The Bible informs much of our culture, but most people know little about the book itself. In this intelligent yet humorous and highly accessible guide, religious studies professor Kristen Swenson answers the above questions and more as she provides readers with basic biblical literacy. Swenson incorporates contemporary pop references from Wall-E to Battlestar Galactica to rock music and more with the latest findings of biblical scholarship to offer contextual understanding of the Bible's often complex, ambiguous, and seemingly contradictory texts. Her engaging and illuminating book does not aim to convert readers nor undermine their beliefs, but to offer basic knowledge needed to comprehend arguments and answer vexing questions about the Bible, appreciate artistic and literary references, and interpret the most talked about book of all time for themselves.

The Washington Post - Michael Dirda

There are numerous guides to the Bible…but many of them are narrowly focused, sectarian or off-puttingly scholarly. By contrast, Kristin Swenson's Bible Babel is wide-ranging, objectively factual and written for the common reader…despite its sometimes overbright prose, this is a solid, readable work that doesn't shy away from the tough issues.