ABSTRACT
The Bible is central to Christianity and Judaism, but it is also a classic of Western (though originally Middle Eastern) literature. It has been read and pondered for generations, translated, paraphrased, interpreted, preached on, and dramatized. It has been praised as sublime and attacked as barbaric. Throughout the world it sells more copies than any other book. I begin this introduction to it by reflecting on how it is typically read by believers, who might be called its primary readership, before going on to explain how it is understood by academic biblical scholars.
