 About The Book
Words are tools to be examined for their provenance and honed to meet expression's present needs; if meaning-mining loses its attraction, then what's a metaphor?
- William Safire
- Over 150 metaphors examined
- Index to Hebrew and Greek words
- Index of Bible citations
- Pronunciation guide for transliterated Hebrew and Greek words
From the Author
The beauty of returning to the original metaphorical language is that this approach opens up the wisdom of the ancients to twenty-first century readers who may not be of a theist or a supernaturalist persuasion. Thinking people who have been educated in the natural sciences can approach the Bible and Christian tradition without compromising their intellectual integrity. When biblical language is understood primarily as metaphor, the insights of the scriptures are revealed to the skeptic as well as the conventional Christian, to believer and doubter alike.
- James Rowe Adams
What People Are Saying About FROM LITERAL TO LITERARY?
"The further we are from a word's literal meaning , the more abstract it becomes in our conscience. Hence the title of James R. Adams's book. Its main idea is that biblical language should be understood primarily as the metaphor. The author traces the origin of 164 words, from DESPAIR to SALVATION and from CHRIST to SATAN (even METAPHOR is there), shows how multiple translations of the Old and the New Testament from Hebrew and Greek color our attitude toward some of the most basic concepts, and does it in a lively, readable way."
- Anatoly Liberman
Professor of Germanic Philology
University of Minnesota
Author of Word Origins... And How We Know Them - Etymology for Everyone
"This book makes clear how extensively connotations picked up later have shaped our understanding of the original Bible texts and brings us closer to that original meaning. The organization and form of presentation make it readily available for sermon preparation and Bible study, and if it is widely used, it can contribute greatly to a more intelligent and informed Christianity."
- John B. Cobb, Jr.
Professor Emeritus
Claremont School of Theology
"I found the research and conclusions interesting, a very helpful bridge between the (post-) modern and the ancient worlds. I learned a lot of new, interesting, and surprising things about biblical terms that I thought I had studied a hundred times before. "
- Lawrence M. Wills
Professor of Biblical Studies
Episcopal Divinity School
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Author of Ancient Jewish Novels, an Anthology
"From Literal to Literary deepens my sermon research in a matter of minutes. It is semesters worth of Greek and Hebrew condensed into fewer than 400 pages. It should be on every minister’s desk and in the library of anyone who wants to explore deeply the Bible and the Christian faith."
- Jonathan Wortmann
Pastor Pilgrim Congregational Church
Southborough, Massachusetts
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