The Bible
The New Oxford Annotated Bible
“It leaves you to think and read for yourself.” Religious studies professor Timothy Beal recommends the New Oxford Annotated Bible as a good version to read if you’re studying the Bible.
Recommendations from our site
“The Bible is the biography of Jerusalem. Nothing less, nothing more. My book’s called Jerusalem: a Biography, but The Bible’s the real biography of Jerusalem, up to the death of Christ. If you’re religious, you regard it as the word of God. But if you’re a secular historian like me, you really regard it as a library of different works, written at different times, by different people, with different aims and different target audiences.” Read more...
Simon Sebag Montefiore, Historian
“Chapters 7 to 12 of the Book of Daniel constitute, in my opinion, the first genuinely global history ever written.” Read more...
The best books on Global History
Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Historian
“I teach biblical studies at a secular university and I use this version a lot. It’s the standard critical edition for academic study, but many people use it for personal reasons. It uses the New Revised Standard Version translation, which I think is among the best.” Read more...
The Best Versions of the Bible
Timothy Beal, Theologians & Historians of Religion
“Feed the hungry is a central command of all religions great and small. But the question is, if that’s the case, and it is, how have we come into the 21st century with one billion chronically hungry people?” Read more...
Roger Thurow, Foreign Correspondent
“My father was a Korean Baptist Minister. When I was a child we did Bible study every day. I think people use the Bible for their own political agenda but the true message is one of hope.” Read more...
Dan Choi, Nonprofit Leaders & Activist
